No more ‘looky-loos’: Deal nearing for Markle’s house

T O R O N T O • Time ran out to buy the Toronto house where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent time before announcing their engagement last month, as the sellers were expected to choose a buyer as soon as Wednesday night.

Real estate agent Alex Beauregard says the twostorey, three-bedroom house — which the future princess rented for two years — drew a lot of interest since it was listed last week, at $1.395 million. The sellers were to begin taking offers at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Markle, who is from Los Angeles but lived part-time in Toronto since 2011, and Prince Harry announced their engagement on Nov. 27 after a courtship that involved visits on both side of the pond.

Markle is best known for her role as paralegal Rachel Zane on the NBC hit Suits, which is filmed in Toronto.

Beauregard, an agent with Freeman Real Estate Ltd. said the added curiosity surrounding the engagement drew 150 people to its open house last weekend, with some waiting as much as 20 minutes to get access. That’s roughly 50 per cent more visitors than at a similar showing in the neighbourhood, he said.

However, Beauregard said many of those were “lookyloo” viewers with a royal fascination and roughly 20 appeared to be actual prospective buyers. “You can figure out fairly quickly who is serious,” he said.

The sellers, former Flare magazine fashion editor Elizabeth Cabral and Kevin O’Neill, had three registered offers by Wednesday afternoon and Beauregard expected them to select from between 10 to 15 offers.

Still, the real estate agent didn’t expect to get a “princess premium” on the house, located in the Seaton Village neighbourhood.

“Would you pay an extra $20,000 because the prince used this washroom? I don’t think most people would pay a premium.”