Thorny Vineway Townhouses at Leslie and Finch: Flat Fees, Real Garages

If you want a three- or four-bedroom home in North York with a garage and a backyard for well under the price of a semi, the Vineway complex near Leslie and Finch is one of the first places I look. It is a 1987 condo townhouse community spread across four private streets, and it has a fee structure that is unusually simple. It also has an age, and an electric heating setup, that you need to understand before you write an offer. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Four streets, one corporation

The complex is larger than its name suggests. Thorny Vineway, Woody Vine Way, Pepper Vine Way and Elsa Vine Way are all private roads inside the same community, and you will see homes listed under any of the four. When you search, search all four street names, or you will miss half of the inventory.

The homes are brick and wood-sided row townhouses from 1987, each with its own front door, built-in garage and private backyard. It is townhouse living in the traditional sense: no shared hallways, no elevators and no stacked units above you. Visitor parking is provided inside the complex.

The location is the west side of Leslie Street just south of Finch Avenue East, near Van Horne Avenue. The City counts this as Bayview Village, but in daily life it is a Leslie and Finch address, closer to the supermarket and plazas at that corner than to the Bayview Village mall itself.

Layouts, garages and basements

Most homes here are three or four bedrooms over three levels plus a finished basement, and the current listings range from three bedrooms to four. One three-plus-one-bedroom home on the market is listed in the 1,000 to 1,199 square foot band above grade, with three bathrooms, hardwood on the main and second floors, and laundry in the lower level.

Parking is a real strength. Listings describe a built-in garage plus a driveway space, which gives you two cars on your own lot and keeps winter mornings simple. Backyards are private, and some face south, which matters if you garden.

The thing to notice is heat. The listing I reviewed shows electric baseboard heating with window air conditioning rather than a gas furnace and central air. That is common in townhouses of this era, and it changes your hydro bill and your renovation options, so ask about it on every unit you see.

Renovation potential is good. Because the homes are freehold-style rows with their own basements, owners have room to update kitchens, finish lower levels and replace flooring inside their unit. What you cannot do without board approval is change the exterior, so if you are planning new windows, a new deck or an addition to the back, read the declaration and rules first and budget time for approval. Some owners in complexes of this age have already replaced windows and appliances, and those updates are where most of the price difference between listings comes from.

A flat fee with internet and cable inside it

All five homes currently for sale carry the same maintenance fee, $638 a month, whether they are three bedrooms or four. A flat fee across unit sizes is unusual and it makes comparison easy: inside this complex, you are paying the same carrying cost for a larger or smaller home.

Listings describe water, cable, internet and snow removal as included, and one notes that the roof is maintained by the corporation with annual inspections. Bundled internet and cable can be worth a meaningful amount a month compared with paying for them yourself. Hydro, which here includes your heating, is on you.

As always, the listing summary is not the contract. The declaration decides who replaces windows, doors, decks and fences, and the status certificate will show the current fee, the reserve fund balance and any planned increases. Read both before you firm up.

Living at Leslie and Finch

Day to day, this pocket is practical. Grocery shopping, restaurants and services are clustered at Leslie and Finch, and Fairview Mall, Bayview Village Shopping Centre and the IKEA at Leslie and Sheppard are a short drive. Highways 401 and 404 are close, which is why commuters choose this corner of North York.

Inside the complex the streets are quiet and low-traffic, which families with young children appreciate. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and Walk Score, so I will not repeat it here.

What homes are asking, and how to read it

There are five homes for sale right now, asking between $678,888 and $739,000. That is a tight band, and it tells you that condition and finishes, not floor plan, are what separate one home from another here.

With the fee the same for every listing, the comparison comes down to the purchase price, the state of the kitchen and bathrooms, and the age of windows and mechanicals. A home with recent window replacements and appliances is worth a premium; a home with original windows and baseboard heaters may need several thousand dollars of work.

Against a freehold semi in the same area, these townhouses are the more affordable route into a family-sized home with a garage. Against a newer condo townhouse, you get more space and a lower price, but older systems. Five listings at once also gives buyers some negotiating room; check the recorded resales on this page for what has actually closed.

Building specifications

Amenities at Thorny Vineway Townhouses

There is no clubhouse or gym. What you get instead is a bundled set of utilities and services, water, cable, internet and snow removal, plus a private yard and garage for every home, which for a family is the more useful package.

Jatin’s honest take on Thorny Vineway Townhouses

Thorny Vineway Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.