Your dream house - perfect for young families!

Asking price: $350,000

 

Average listing price in Kilworth Heights: $459,950
The price is negotiable if you have no financial conditions (eg. upon the sale of your home).

Contact me: caroline (underscore) sori @ yahoo dot com
 

Kilworth is very dog-friendly! This is my Sheltie, Sammy.

Two-story house, for sale by the daughter of the builder. Built in 1983. Blueprints and subcontracting information available to buyer.

House size: 2019 sq ft + 755 sq ft finished basement.

• Main floor: 1215 sq ft
• Upper floor: 804 sq ft
• Finished basement size does not include utility room, workshop, or cold storage areas.

Lot size: 120' x 320' (nearly an acre!)

• Well-treed with mature shade trees
• Orchard at the back with ~ 100 apple and pear trees (Red Delicious, Spy, Bosc)

House specs:

• 3 large bedrooms, including master bedroom with ensuite
• 1 bath, 1 shower, main floor and basement washrooms
• Living room
• Family room
• Combined kitchen and breakfast nook
• Dining room
• Laundry room/mud room
• Double garage

Special features:

• Floor-to-ceiling hearth, with wood stove and sconces, in family room
• Oak floors in near-new condition in living room and dining room
• Imported crystal chandelier in dining room
• Ceramic tile in foyer, upstairs bath and shower walls, and kitchen backsplash
• Drywall ceilings throughout main floor and upper floor
• Central vac
• Oak staircase and bannister
• Wainscotting along staircase and in dining room
• Interior French doors with bevelled panes
• Bow window in living room
• Picture window taking up nearly the full wall in family room
• Large windows in all bedrooms
• Birchwood cabinets in kitchen, with upper and lower lazy Susans
• Flagpole
• Double-width driveway all the way from road to garage
• Mail delivered to your door! (well, to the mailbox at the foot of your driveway)

Exterior doors:

• Front door
• Sliding door from breakfast nook to back porch
• Laundry/mud room door
• Door to garage

Heating: natural gas high efficiency furnace (1st gen) + wood stove

Water and sewage:

• Deep well (120') at 10 gallons per minute flow
• Current pump at 5 gallons per minute, backup pump at 10 gallons per minute included with home purchase
• Septic tank
• Future sewer allowance figured into original plans

Finished basement has a sump pump, but it has never been needed. The basement is as dry as a bone, and extremely well insulated. The house's location on the lot has amazingly good drainage. You will never have a problem with standing water.

Please, no financial conditionals if at all possible. Willing to close anytime before April 2013. For the right offer, will be move-in ready for Christmas.


More posts and pictures are constantly being added!

To view:

This is not an open house. Please contact me: caroline (underscore) sori @ yahoo dot com to arrange a mutually good time for me to show you around. Please allow 12-24 hours for me to reply, although sometimes the reply will be faster.

Do bring someone with you who understands good construction! This house was built to high standards. You will probably want to make some cosmetic changes, but the structure is solid and in excellent shape.

Please, no real estate agents unless you are a buyer's agent for someone interested in this location and in this kind of house. I will expect offers through a buyer's agent to be at least enough higher to cover the commission.

You can also call 519-453-4585 to leave a message with a friend of mine (tell them the message is for Carol), but email is better. (I have no cell phone.) If you call, leave a contact number and a good time to reach you.

Overview

Imagine nature at your doorstep. Deer outside your kitchen window. All manner of birds having breakfast at your bird feeder while you are breakfasting. Imagine the birdsong in the soft, misty summer mornings when the mist hangs low over the river.

Deer, as seen from the breakfast nook

Imagine a neighbourhood of people who say hello to each other on the streets, and stop to talk in the summer evenings. Where nearly everyone walks and bikes and strolls through streets where the air is scented like a forest. Where neighbours hold block parties and barbeques. Where neighbours swap child care and yoga lessons and the gardeners swap plants.

Imagine a gracious foyer, with ceramic tiles and spun oak railings and interior French doors. Front rooms with oak wood floors in near-new condition. Three large upstairs bedrooms, one with a fully-tiled ensuite shower. Not one but two large beautiful main-floor rooms, perfect for family time. Imagine a fully-finished basement, you won't believe how big it is!

Imagine a lot where you are more than 50 feet from your nearest neighbour on all sides, and at the back your nearest neighbour is hundreds of feet away. There's your lot, going all the way back to his private road, and then there's his lot right up to an escarpment down to the Thames River, and then there's Komoka Provincial Park, which you can see from the upstairs windows. No one will ever build up behind you.

Imagine a place where children can play outside in safety. Where street hockey has not been forgotten. Where small groups of parents wait for school buses on your street or within a block of it. Where child care is a matter of asking your neighbour. (Or, if you prefer, more formal daycare is available just on the other side of Kilworth.)

Imagine a Thames River trail just a few blocks away where the river is quiet and lazy in summer and you can launch a canoe just about anywhere. Imagine an off-leash dog park where over a dozen dog-owners get together each morning and evening while their dogs romp happily and freely. Imagine the autumn colours!

Imagine nearly an acre of space (120 x 320 feet) is filled with a 100-tree orchard at the back and mature shade trees and a cedar hedge overlooking the paving stone driveway at the front. Imagine the natural air conditioning from those shade trees in the summer, and the way the trees break the wind in the winter.
 



Imagine the privacy!

Now imagine the heating bills. Go lower. Lower! This house was insulated far ahead of its time, and the utility bills show it. Now throw in a wood stove in virtually pristine condition, set in its own floor-to-
ceiling brick hearth. Imagine, in a mild winter like last winter, never having to use the natural gas furnace at all!

Imagine all this with 5-minute access to a major city with its own international airport. Imagine no Toronto-style traffic headaches ever again. Imagine being on the first street in the neighbourhood to be plowed after each snowfall!

All this, just 10 minutes away from both the 401 and 402, and just 1 hour to the U.S. border. This place is perfect if you have a family and a travelling job, both for easy travel accessibilty and for the at-home retreat after.
 

This is Old Kilworth Heights. This is my house. For just $350,000, it can become your house, and your future.

Imagine it.

About Kilworth Heights

Kilworth Heights is almost in the middle of Middlesex County, which is in the middle of Southwestern Ontario. It falls in the township of Middlesex Centre, although it is just across the Thames River from London.

How to get here

If you are coming from Highway 401, take the Colonel Talbot Road exit. Go north on Colonel Talbot Road. Turn left (west) at the lights onto Southdale Road, then turn right (north) onto Boler Road. Boler Road intersects with both Commissioners Road and Oxford Street. Go left (west) on either of them until you hit the Oxford-Commissioners intersection. Go west on Oxford Street, as outlined two paragraphs down, and follow the directions from there.



Click to enlarge

From Highway 402, you can exit directly onto Glendon and go east until you reach Komoka. Kilworth is less than a minute away after that. You will pass two intersections, Jeffries Road (which has traffic lights) and Kilworth Park Drive (no traffic lights, but a tiny plaza with a gas bar). The third intersection is Elmhurst.

From London, take Oxford Street west from the Oxford-Commissioners intersection. Oxford Street is also County Road 14, and becomes Glendon Road after you leave London. Cross the Thames River bridge, go up the hill, and turn left at the Kilworth Park Drive gas bar (there is a passing lane).

You will actually pass Elmhurst Street (and the private road at the back of the property) on the way to Kilworth Park Road. It is at the very top of the hill, so the left turn into the subdivision is at Kilworth Park Road instead. You can turn in either direction when going out from Elmhurst Street onto Glendon.

I do not have a "For Sale" sign in front of my house, out of courtesy to my neighbours on the same street (closer to County Road 14) who are also selling. I am also asking more than they are. Please, do look at their houses (both smaller bungalows) and then look at mine (two-story). Mine is worth more, but maybe theirs will suit your needs better.

The layout of Kilworth Heights

Kilworth Heights is roughly divided into three parts: "old" Kilworth Heights, "new" Kilworth Heights, and "newer" Kilworth Heights. The dividing streets are Kilworth Park Drive and Jeffries Drive. The newest part of Kilworth Heights is west of Jeffries. The "new" part of Kilworth Heights, with estate-style houses, is between Jeffries and Kilworth Park Drive.

Click to enlarge

Everything between Kilworth Park Drive and the Thames River is "old" Kilworth, which is where my house is located. Most of the houses here are between forty and fifty years old, and their value rises as you go deeper in, away from County Road 14. The reason why three houses are for sale at the same time is simply generational: the original owners are retired, downsizing, and moving into the city. Young families have already bought up many homes in the area from this first generation of homeowners.

My house was built in 1983, which makes it a youngster in the region. Technically I am second generation, because I am my father's daughter, but my father was already retired when he built here. My father built this house to structural standards far ahead of its time. You won't have any structural problems with this house. The insulation levels are amazing!

If you walk down the hill from my house (and many people do), the road curves to match the curve of the Thames River. A house in that area recently sold for over $600,000! Another road curve later will lead you to where Kilworth Park Drive ends in a large open park which backs onto woodland and the Thames River. This is an extremely popular park among dog owners. (Almost everyone in old Kilworth owns a dog or two, and they're all friendly.)

My lot does not actually back onto the Thames River. It backs onto a private road which belongs to local developer Allan Drewlo. The entire area between the end of my lot to the Thames River was set aside by Allan's father for his personal estate. No one will ever build up behind you!

On the other side of the Thames River is Komoka Provincial Park. You can just see it from the upstairs windows of my house. If you want to drive there, it is a 2-minute drive away. You can also walk to Glendon Road and across the bridge. That takes about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fast you walk. Click the link for a very good aerial view of the entire Kilworth-Komoka Provincial Park region.

There is a third park about four blocks away which is more like a municipal park, with play equipment and a splash pad. Children go there to sled on its hills. This is where the neighbourhood gathers for community events like Canada Day, Octoberfest, and Family Day.

Local services

Kilworth Heights is a small, tight community. Some people run their businesses right out of their own homes: yoga lessons, framing. Even Allan Drewlo runs his development business from his own home. (He uses the private road far at the back. You will never notice the additional traffic, but it provides a bit of extra security for you from that side.)



Looking up Elmhurst Street towards Glendale Road

The small strip mall at Glendon and Kilworth Park Drive has a variety store with gas bar, a restaurant, a hairdressing salon, a spa, and a pet store (which offers grooming). An ice cream parlour across the road is a popular local stop during the summer. Most of these businesses close daily at around 6 pm, although the variety store is open until 9 pm.

You can find child daycare in the small commercial complex at Glendon and Jeffries. This is also home to the local animal clinic. (They are very good!)

Local climate

Even if you're coming from London, you know that one end of London can be snowy while the other has blue skies. The climate in Kilworth Heights has a few little quirks as well.

Summer storms usually form just east of us, after they get past Byron. This means that on average, Kilworth Heights has more sunshine than most of London.

All of Southwestern Ontario can have snowsqualls on occasion, so Kilworth Heights gets them too, but not so many as either Strathroy or northeast London. If you are not familiar with snowsqualls, they are extremely localized streamers of snow which come in off Lake Huron. If you happen to be under one, you can get 5 to 10 inches of snow in a few hours, but go just a few kilometres east or west, and you will be in clear blue sky.

Now we come to a really nice thing about living on Elmhurst Street. This street almost always gets plowed out first in the entire subdivision! How amazing is that? Add in that County Road 14 / Glendon / Oxford also gets plowed out first, and you'll have better plowing than most subdivisions in London!

Take a look inside!

It's time to go inside. We have three floors of rooms to explore!


Main foyer looking into breakfast nook

Main floor

When you come into the front door, you immediately enter the ceramic-tiled main foyer. French doors leading into the oak-floored living room are to your right. The stairs leading upstairs are to your left, with a one-step landing at the foot of the stairs. The bannister, spindles, and stairs are all of oak, with wainscotting along the side of the staircase. The foyer passes a good-sized hall closet, then ends in another French door, which opens into the breakfast nook.

From the breakfast nook, the house opens in four directions.
Turning right takes you into the kitchen, and then into the oak-floored dining room. The dining room also has a second opening, a large open doorway which connects back with the living room. Thus the entire right side of the house consists of three rooms which flow into each other and back again through the living room to the main foyer. (Yes, the living room is very big!)



The den area - 13' x 18' !

Turning left takes you into a short hallway which leads past the garage door on your left and another hall closet on your right to the family room. This is a perfect den area, with a wood stove on a warm brick hearth and a large picture window. You will probably find yourself spending a lot of your relax time here.


A second branch from the same hallway leads towards the back of the house. This passes a washroom on your left side to lead into the main floor laundry room / mudroom with its own access to the
 back porch. The breakfast nook also opens onto the back porch with a large sliding door.

The front side of the breakfast nook, right next to the French door, opens into the finished basement.

Staircase to upstairs hall

Upstairs



The stairs open into a hall leading right. All of the upstairs area is overtop of the breakfast nook, kitchen, dining room, and living room.



Queen-sized bed in the smallest bedroom

The main upstairs bathroom is just across the hall from the top of the stairs. The two smaller (not small!) bedrooms are to the right of the hallway, almost across from the bathroom, while the master bedroom is on the left side of the hallway. A hall closet is at the end of the hallway.

The smallest bedroom is also the closest. It is 10'8" x 11', not counting the very large, deep closet that extends out over the stairwell. It is not -- quite -- a walk-in, but it is the next closest thing.

The master bedroom
Left door leads to the walk-in closet.
Right door leads to the ensuite.
Second window is behind the photographer

Main upstairs bathroom

Every other bedroom is even bigger than that! Each bedroom has its own large window, and the master bedroom has two. The master bedroom also has its own ensuite shower room, as well as a generous walk-in closet.

Basement

The entire footprint of the house, except only the garage, has been turned into a surprisingly large basement. The wall layout roughly matches the layout above, with the foot of the basement stair corresponding with the stair landing heading up. The utility room and workshop are underneath the family room. There is also a washroom, and not one but two cold rooms (one each under the front and back porch).

What's involved in a private sale?

Fortunately, private sales are very straightforward!

All that is needed is for us to come to an agreement. We then set out the basics of that agreement in a letter, which we both sign and date. Make sure you mention any lighting fixtures, appliances, or other items you want to go along with the house.

Then you take a copy of the letter to your lawyer and tell him to make it into an offer. At this point, you will also be expected to have solid financing, if necessary, and proof of that financing.

Sign that offer and have your lawyer notarize it. This is your commitment to purchase the house at those conditions if I agree to it.

If you decide you really want this house, you can skip the agreement part and just give me the offer directly. If you go this route, your offer should definitely not be lower than the listed price.

At that point, you give me a copy of the signed offer. I won't sign it at that point. Instead, I will have my lawyer go over the offer and compare it to our original letter. The two should match.

If everything is in order, I will inform you that I have accepted your offer. I will sign the offer and my lawyer will notarize it.

My conditions

I have three simple conditions of sale.

1. No financial conditionals in the offer. This means that I will not look at offers which are conditional upon the sale of your home.
2. Close no later than March 2013. This one is slightly negotiable, but it will depend on the amount of your deposit.
3. Non-refundable deposit of $10,000 upon acceptance of the offer. If you want a closing date in 2012 or after March 2013, the non-refundable deposit is $15,000. This does count towards the down payment for mortgage insurance purposes.

Note to real estate agents:

If you are a buyer's agent and represent a buyer who is interested in this home, I am willing to talk. I will expect a solid offer which is enough higher than the listing price to cover my share of your commission.

What happens if there is more than one offer?

It is unlikely, but it could happen.

If more than one person gives me a notarized offer for the same amount, I will inform each person that there are other bidders and show you a copy of the other person's offer which is stripped of identifying information.

You can then decide how much higher you are willing to go, and make a new offer on that basis. If neither person wants to go higher, I will go with the first notarized offer I received.

If you are outbid, I will inform you and give you 4 business days to make a new offer. If you do not make a new notarized offer in that time, I will sign with the highest bidder up to that date.

Remember, your notarized offer is your commitment to purchase. I do not commit to sell until I accept your notarized offer.

What are the buyer's extra expenses in a private sale?

They are the same as for any other buyer in any other house sale. Ask your lawyer for details, but at a minimum you should budget for GST, land transfer tax, financial fees, and of course legal fees.

Disclosure

This house is ideal. It is not perfect. If it were perfect, I would be asking around $550-600 k for it.

So: here are the things that you will probably want to change or upgrade. If we close before February 2013, you will have first pick of contractors during the slow period.

1. Roof

The shingles could last another year, but it really is time for a new roof. The roof deck is solid. The chimney has been maintained and swept every year. If you want, this is a perfect time to put in a metal roof or solar panels.

2. Wallpaper and repainting

Some of the wallpaper is tired, and you will probably want to repaint. The drywall is in solid condition. I am willing to strip any or all wallpaper as a condition of sale, leaving the walls pristine for paint or your choice of wall covering.

3. Floors

The existing oak floors and ceramic tiles are in very good condition, bordering on excellent condition. However, you will probably want to replace the carpet and linoleum. You can do it all, upstairs and downstairs, for less than $15,000, or you may want to upgrade to tile or wood.

4. Kitchen

The kitchen is in solid shape, but you may find it dated. You may also want to remove one of the arms of the "U" to completely open the space between the kitchen and eating area: which will give you a very spacious area indeed. You can get a complete kitchen renovation for this size of kitchen for less than $20,000, although of course that won't include granite countertops and the like.

5. Furnace

The natural gas furnace is a high efficiency furnace, but it is first generation. It can be a little noisy when it starts up. With regular maintenance, it has a quite a few more years in it, and it is still very efficient. It does not need to be replaced yet, but you may choose to upgrade.

6. Iron water

I never bothered, but you will probably want to install a water softener.

7. Culvert

The concrete on top of the culvert has started to flake. The culvert structure is still strong, and the flaking concrete can be ignored for a few more years before it needs replacement.

8. Cable

The house is not currently wired for cable. There is cable at the street line. Of course, if you use satellite, it won't matter. There are no neighbourhood restrictions on satellite dishes.

9. Landscaping

My father and I planted every tree you see as a sapling. The patio and deck are up to you!

Which reminds me, there is one other conditional. There is a small blue spruce, not even 4 feet high, at the side of the house. I am going to take that one with me and transplant it. Trust me, you won't even miss it!

There are also a few thousand dollars worth of bulbs and perennials in the ground. The mass of daffodils and tulips outside the cedar hedge are amazing in the spring! If you don't intend to keep them, I will take some with me and share others with the neighbours. You can tell them it was your idea!