SHOWING TOMORROW Christie and Dupont
AVAILABLE February 1 - August 31, 2025 $625/month


If you’re in a big hurry, skip to the last paragraph. But if I offer to show you the room, I strongly suggest that you read the whole thing before you come.

The room is partially furnished. There is a mattress and frame which the present occupant will sell to you for $60 if you’d like it. That’s between you and him. You can deal with that if I offer you the room. (You will see it, obviously, if you come to see the room.) It’s an IKEA bed, a year old. (There is also a queen bed frame available that you can use for free, but you would have to get your own mattress and box spring.) There’s a window with blinds, a table, a chair, a dresser, a fan, and a little garbage bin! It was newly painted (yellow with white trim) in the winter of 2021.

The window looks out onto the alleyway (which is fairly wide) between the two houses. So it is not super-bright. It IS however, on the second floor. (Not a basement room!) Not bad for $625 a month!

Almost all the housemates I have had have been fantastically considerate, clean, quiet (perhaps mostly introverted) and clean. I know I said clean twice, but why not? So that is what I would love to have again. Cleanliness, and the ability to clean up after yourself (especially in shared spaces like the kitchen and the bathroom) is really the one most important qualification. At the same time, having a bit of tolerance for other people’s mess is ideal too. (Think about it, What would be the ideal? Four housemates who all clean up after themselves but aren’t overly disturbed when others forget to. (As long as others don’t forget to too often, it works perfectly!)) Anyhow, you must be someone who’s in the habit of cleaning up after yourself. This is extremely important!!!

I rent this house from my sister and I need to have people in it who I can trust to take care of it and who can be left alone in it if I should go away for a few days. (I am looking for people who are trustworthy and alert to the ‘needs of the house’ and will let me know right away if anything is unusual. (But also not be constantly sending me texts. It’s a fine balance.))

I am a 54 year-old school bus driver, planning to do Waldorf teacher training in September (This is why the room is only available until the end of August. My sister will be renting it to someone else as of September.) The other housemates (also on the second floor) are a 26 year old who works as a security guard and a 28 year old international student from Nepal. I like them both, they’re both nice. I don’t care whether you’re male or female or where you’re from, as long as you’re easy to live with and clean up after yourself.

In terms of being “pet-friendly:” somehow two cats have made their way into the house. One of them had (it seems to be past tense now) a peeing problem and destroyed some furniture. I do not want any more animals in the house. The two cats that are here will probably be here until the end of August, but I’ve had enough, thank-you. Sorry.

I do have a “hangup” (perhaps) in terms of getting the garbage, recycling and (of course) compost sorted properly. I would really appreciate it if whoever moves in is either already familiar with the system or is willing to make the effort to figure it out. As a former housemate said to me, no, it won’t “stop climate change” if we sort our garbage properly, but as far as I’m concerned we either try to get it right or we let it be all wrong. I seem to be a bit stuck on trying to get it right. So if you don’t care, or can’t even imagine pretending to care, and know you won’t make an effort to learn, do not apply. (Toronto’s recycling system is byzantine and does require some effort to figure out. But you’ll also be paying at least $200 less a month in rent compared to other places in the neighbourhood, so consider that you’re getting paid $200/ month to learn. That’s not a bad deal.) Believe it or not, I’m more relaxed about this than I used to be. But I figure that this is not the best time at which to express a relaxed attitude. (You should know that it bothers me if people don’t pay attention to this and don’t seem to be making any effort. If you don’t seem to make any effort, I will get stressed and fantasize about giving you notice. This is not good.)

There is a washer and dryer in the basement, which you can use, except the dryer should be considered “emergency” use only. (It uses a lot of energy.) We have three drying racks that you can hang your clothes on, and a line outside in the backyard. Utilities are NOT included in the rent, however as long as you don't use a lot of electricity (such as by using the dryer to dry your clothes, installing your own air conditioner, using a space heater or anything that pushes the bill up a lot) then your rent should cover most of the cost of the utilities In 5 years of renting I have only ever charged one person for utilities, however for environmental reasons (ie to discourage people from not paying any attention at all) they are not officially included in the rent. Also, we just got a heat pump installed this summer which means we now have A/C, but it also makes the electricity bill higher. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you for sure how high it could go, since that depends on use. If I had to guess I would say maybe $20/month, but that is a guess.

The Wi-fi is new (we just switched to Bell) and cheaper than what we had before, so it’s back to being included in the rent. There is a backyard, with a bit of lawn, a little room for vegetables, an old BBQ, a table and chairs.

This room is the middle room. There is a shared bathroom (shared with two other people ~ three people live on the second floor). There is a small closet (normal sized for an old house). Wood floors.

There is another bathroom in the basement, which you are welcome to use if the upstairs one is busy. The kitchen is shared as well, between the four of us (total) who live in the house. There are pots and pans and dishes and kitchen utensils in the kitchen that you are welcome to use, as well as a (5 year old) oven (that now has two wonky elements), a new fridge and a microwave.

There should be a place to keep your bicycle, if you have one. We're close to the Dupont and Christie buses, as well as the Dupont and Christie subway stations (a ten minute walk to each). We're a 5 minute walk to Loblaws and Fiesta Farms, and our front door is almost literally (almost literally here people ~ I’m 54. There was a time when “literally” actually meant literally) right across the street from the new FarmBoy. The new traffic lights in front of the house have finally been activated (it took 3 years?) and you can now walk across the street on a green light (instead of dodging traffic.) Karma Co-op is a 15 minute walk away. We are also very close to Shaw Street and its bike lane (north-south to Davenport and Queen/Adelaide). We’re a ten minute walk north of Christie Pits.

The last paragraph:
If you are interested, please
1. Reply to this ad with at least some basic info about yourself (Do you work? Are you a student? Have you lived with others before?)
2. If you sound like you might be a good fit, I will reply to set up a viewing. I would like to show the room this Saturday January 11 (2025) starting at 10:00 am..
3. If we both think it might be a good fit after the showing, I have a Housemate’s Agreement that you can look at. Because we all use the same kitchen, you are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act if you live here, you are covered by the Housemate’s Agreement.

First and last month’s rent ($1280 for two months) to move in.

I will do my best to reply to as many inquiries as possible, but I can't guarantee that I will be able to answer every one. I may not be able to answer everyone tonight (I will try) I usually go to bed early, though. I may still answer in the morning. Thank-you for your interest! I look forward to meeting you :D