244 Sydenham Street

The rental picture is changing in the downtown core and around the university campus. Hundreds of student-aimed condominiums have been built along Princess St, great shadow makers, a looming sort of honour guard for the cars and buses. But there will always be a strong market, I'm convinced, for a classic red-brick four bedroom home two-blocks from the main drag, and a barely-awake fifteen-minute amble from Stauffer. You add a self-contained bachelor suite to the back of that metal-roofed late Victorian classic, and the lure becomes just about irresistible. The front unit is already vacant and the rear will likely be the same way at the end of August (tenant is month-to-month and has plans). There is also opportunity here to convert back to a single-family home, and with the quite brilliant Central Public School directly across the street, that feels an eminently reasonable future. In that scenario you use the bachelor suite to help with the mortgage, or you absorb it into the main house and gain a bathroom and a family room. There is lots of period character to go along with all the modern conveniences, and McBurney Park is right around the corner.