55 Collinsgrove Townhouses: 71 West Hill Homes With Built-In Garages

55 Collinsgrove Road is a 1980 townhouse complex in West Hill, a short drive from Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue. Listings here describe two-storey homes with walk-out lower levels, garages built in and driveways of their own, and at 71 homes the corporation has a reasonable base to share the cost of repairs. The first thing to sort out is which complex on the street you are actually buying into. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two complexes on one street

Collinsgrove Road has more than one condominium townhouse complex. Condos.ca lists West Hill Heights at 15 to 49 Collinsgrove Road as a separate property, so the numbers on the street run straight from one corporation into the next.

This complex is MTCC-534. Before you make an offer, make sure the listing, the status certificate and the reserve fund study all carry that number. The fees, rules, manager and finances of the neighbouring complex are not the same, and buyers do occasionally read the wrong set of documents.

The MTCC prefix places it in the early Metropolitan Toronto numbering that replaced the older York series around 1980. At 46 years old, it sits in the same first generation of Scarborough condominium townhouses as the YCC complexes registered a few years earlier.

Walk-out lower levels and built-in garages

The listings I have reviewed here describe two-storey townhouses with an open main floor, bedrooms upstairs, and a lower level that walks out to a private patio and connects to a built-in garage. Several mention a driveway as well, so many homes have parking for more than one car.

A walk-out lower level is the feature that sets these homes apart. It gives you a rec room, office or guest space with daylight and its own door to the outside, which is far more usable than a below-grade basement. The trade-off is that walk-outs depend on good grading and drainage, so have your inspector look at how water moves around the home.

Condos.ca also lists a parking garage and visitor parking for the complex. Find out whether the garage listing means the built-in garages or a separate shared structure, because only a shared structure becomes a major reserve fund line.

Brick and siding exteriors are typical of this era, and listings here describe that mix. Ask the manager who maintains siding, windows and patio doors, since the declaration decides which of them belong to the corporation.

MTCC-534 at 46 years: what to read

Duka Property Management is the manager listed on condos.ca. Ask for the current budget, the most recent reserve fund study and two or three years of board minutes, and look for the big exterior items: roofs, windows, siding, fences, retaining walls and paving.

With 71 homes, the corporation has a sensible base to share those costs, which is a real advantage over the very small complexes in the area. It still pays to check that the reserve fund is collecting what the study says it should.

Inside the home, plan for a full inspection. Furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, panels and plumbing are usually the owner’s responsibility in a townhouse condominium, and in a 1980 home they may or may not have been replaced. Ask whether the water heater is owned or rented.

Condos.ca does not publish what the fee includes for MTCC-534. Listings describe forced-air gas heating and central air in individual homes, which suggests owners pay their own heating, but confirm every utility in the budget and status certificate before you set your monthly numbers.

West Hill around Kingston and Morningside

This part of West Hill is a residential pocket of townhouse complexes and houses just off Kingston Road, with plazas along the main roads and the Highland Creek valley parks within reach. The data panel on this page lists the nearest transit, schools, shops and parks.

The University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial College are both within a short drive, which shapes the local rental market and the mix of buyers. The City’s planned Scarborough East Rapid Transit line would run from Kennedy Station past the University of Toronto Scarborough to Malvern Town Centre, but it is still in planning, with no construction or opening date.

Day to day, this is a car-friendly neighbourhood. Buy here for space, a garage and a walk-out at a townhouse price, not for transit you might get one day.

Kingston Road is the main shopping and bus corridor nearby. Expect a run of older plazas rather than a walkable main street, with groceries, services and restaurants spread along it. The panel on this page shows which are closest.

What 55 Collinsgrove costs

When I checked, there were no homes listed for sale or for lease, so there is no asking range I can quote, and condos.ca does not publish a price per square foot for the complex.

With 71 homes, a few sales come up each year, enough for a sensible picture over time. Use the aggregate figures in the panel on this page, and ask me for a building sold report before you make an offer.

The obvious comparison is West Hill Heights next door on Collinsgrove Road. Compare their fees, inclusions and reserve funds side by side, because two complexes of similar age on the same street can be in very different financial shape.

Within the complex, condition is what separates one sale from the next. A renovated kitchen and bathrooms, a finished walk-out lower level, newer windows where the owner is responsible for them, and a newer furnace and air conditioner are what buyers pay for.

Building specifications

Amenities at 55 Collinsgrove Townhouses

There is no clubhouse or pool here, just the practical items a townhouse owner uses: parking, visitor spaces and the freedom to barbecue on your patio. That keeps the fee pointed at the buildings, the grounds and the reserve fund.

Jatin’s honest take on 55 Collinsgrove Townhouses

55 Collinsgrove Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Scarborough Bluffs, West Hill, Guildwood, Woburn, Malvern and Rouge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.