Ontario Premier Doug Ford has officially sold his Toronto house after it spent weeks on the market, letting it go for much less than the original asking price.
Ford initially listed the six-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 6 Tettenhall Road in mid-July with an asking price of $3.2M. Less than two weeks later, the property was listed once again, but this time with a reduced price of $2,800,888. Now, almost a month after the reduction, the Ford family home has sold for $2.7M.
The Premier listing his home was bound to draw the prying eyes of curious Ontario residents wanting to see how Ford lives, but the listing garnered perhaps more attention than it might otherwise would have thanks to some interesting marketing tactics from Ford's real estate agent.
Realtor Monica Thapar distributed over-the-top flyers in June before the home was ever listed featuring photos of Ford, his wife Karla, and their home. The flyers were emblazoned with text reading, “Moving Ontario! We JUST LISTED Premier Doug Ford’s home in Princess Anne Manor.” Another version of the ad, reportedly sent out in a marketing email, features a cartoon version of Thapar clutching a maple leaf and wearing a shirt emblazoned with “Agent to the Premier!”
Unsurprisingly, the not-so-subtle flyers made the rounds on social media. Shortly after, Ford’s office told STOREYS that “the Premier did not authorize the ad and has instructed the real estate agent to remove it immediately.”
The legality of circulating such an ad without the client's consent appears to be questionable at best, with the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act code of ethics stating that when it comes to advertising, “a registrant shall not include anything in an advertisement that could reasonably be used to identify a party to the acquisition or disposition of an interest in real estate unless the party has consented in writing.” It then goes on to say that “a registrant shall not include anything in an advertisement that could reasonably be used to identify specific real estate unless the owner of the real estate has consented in writing.”
Despite the snafu, the Ford family kept Thapar on as their agent for the sale.
Whoever picked up the Ford home has bought themselves a 4,500-sq.-ft house with multiple walk-in closets, balconies, a finished basement, and an in-ground pool. As the listing states, "the backyard is your summer oasis to host pool parties and barbecues or to simply lounge and sunbathe."
The Premier's decision to move followed a number of safety issues at his home that came up over the past two years. In December 2021, it was reported that he and his family were unable to get inside their their home due to anti-vaccine protestors demonstrating outside. Protestors employed megaphones and flashlights, disturbing neighbours and causing distress. And several months earlier, in June of last year, a man with a butcher knife was disarmed and arrested after slashing neighbours’ tires and then making his way to the Premier’s doorstep.
Ford previously told the Toronto Star that he’s moving on because his children are getting older and moving out of the house,. He and his wife plan to move into his late mother’s house, located nearby.
