Me and a multiplex of millennials

Sixty-something had to convince landlords she'd be a good fit. They all bonded over dirt

- SUSAN DITCHBURN

Real estate is emotional. Why? Because a home is more than walls and a roof, it’s a canvas and container for our lives, our families, our communities. As part of an ongoing series, we’ve asked local writers to share their stories on real estate and housing. Want to write for the Home Truths series? Email [e-mail].

In the winter of 2017, after losing my business and my house, I managed to rent the main floor of a little house on a leafy side street in the west end of Toronto just south of Trinity Bellwoods Park.

The street was only one block long, with a mix of owners and renters in old Victorians and rundown row houses. The house had just been purchased by two couples as a retirement investment and had three apartments, one on each floor. I was approved as a tenant, but only by a hair. Mainly, I didn’t seem like the right fit being in my 60s among the other millennial renters, but I had a great rapport with one of the landlords and she convinced the others it would work. I would balance the house.

My flat was a splurge for a onebedroom, but it was the entire main floor with original hardwood floors and a quiet bedroom addition.

It also had the one thing I had been craving for many years, a piece of earth that was in need of some love and care with six hours of direct sun — a garden waiting to come to life. It was in the front of the house and had been neglected for years, didn’t have grass, nothing but dirt.

This is probably how I got the apartment, with my eagerness to do something with the yard. I wanted to get my hands dirty.