To Buy or not to Buy?
Danny Despatie and Natalie Cox,
Natalie Cox and Danny Despatie knew they wanted to buy downtown, but with house prices going through the roof, they also knew they would have to get creative to make their dream a reality. In 2010, the couple found their perfect starter home on a leafy Centretown street. It was a generous red-brick house with an expansive porch and enough front lawn to allow them to design a pretty garden. Each floor (basement through third) had been turned into an apartment, meaning they could live on one floor and rent out the remaining three to create income. The downside? The place was totally run down and in need of a complete overhaul.
“Danny’s really handy, and I’ve watched a million renovation shows, so I had a vision of what needed to be done,” says Cox. Armed with a can-do attitude, the couple moved into the third-floor unit, living there while they gutted and renovated it and the basement apartment. They then moved downstairs to the main floor (where they reside today), settling in while they renovated their unit and the second-floor space. It made for a chaotic three years, but by 2013, the classic Centretown house had been restored to its former glory, with Natalie and Danny retaining many of the features that made the dwelling so special — original floors and fireplaces, cozy rooms, and a cool porch.
While they had concerns about being landlords, they looked to their own situation for assurance. “We had previously rented for 10 years, and we were good tenants. All our friends were renters, and they were good tenants. It made us feel confident that we’d have dependable tenants too,” says Cox. Indeed, the past two years have gone so smoothly that the first-time landlords are seriously considering buying and fixing up a second Centretown rental property soon. But for now, they’re extremely happy in the role of on-site landlords. “Everything’s a positive. We know our tenants well, we’re right here if there’s a problem, and we only have one garden and one driveway to maintain.”