Megan Ryder, 27, and Marcus Gverzdys, 27

clinic services director (Megan), business development manager (Marcus)

THE PLACE: a $1,060,430 two-bedroom at Queen and Broadview

MEGAN: Marcus and I moved in together in 2019, renting a condo at King and Spadina, paying $3,000 a month.

MARCUS: We loved living downtown. We would go out three times a week on date nights or for dinner with friends. I was a three-minute walk to my office and Megan was a 10-minute walk to her clinic. That all ended when Covid started. We turned our kitchen island into a workstation.

MEGAN: Our spending was down by a lot. We had probably saved more than $35,000 from staying in and cancelling vacations. And our condo was starting to feel really small. We decided it would be a good time to buy a place.

MARCUS: We weren’t ready to move out of the city yet. We still craved the vibrancy and nightlife that Toronto has to offer.

All our friends are still downtown, too. In October, we set our budget at $1,000,000. We wanted at least two bedrooms and a parking spot for

Megan’s car. We loved the idea of having a split-level unit with a staircase.

MEGAN: In December, we found a great unit in Riverdale. It’s a warehouse that was built in 1914 and later converted to hard lofts. It has that staircase we wanted, and huge south-facing windows. We got the place for $1,060,430—just under the asking price.

MARCUS: We’re in love with the area. It’s great to wake up and grab a croissant from the bakery around the corner, or get ciders from Brickworks.

MEGAN: We weren’t ready to move to the suburbs yet. We’re optimistic about the city getting back to where it was before the pandemic. We want to be here for that.

We weren’t ready to move to the suburbs. We’re optimistic about the city getting back to where it was before the pandemic