PEOPLE who feel dejected that they can’t afford a home in Toronto can take heart — and then move to the Kingston area.

    A castle-like home in Inverary, Ontario — about 20 kilometers from Kingston — sold for C$660,000 (US$519,486) to a Toronto couple April 25, The Toronto Star reported.

    The 325-square-meter estate has three levels, four bedrooms, and over 600 meters of shore space along the Rideau River.

    There’s also an elevator, stone walls, wood-burning fireplaces, and wood flooring throughout.

    Outside grounds have open fields and trails, according to the property listing.

    Xin Quing Bai and his wife, Ying Ma, hit the road for the Kingston auction about 5:30 a.m. April 25 so they could tour the waterfront property before the 11 a.m. deadline for bid submissions.

    They submitted their bid against 13 competing offers just in time, said the seller’s agent. The minimum bid required was C$300,000.

    The Toronto couple’s bid was “right down to the wire,” said Manson Slik, a real estate broker with Gordon’s Estate Service, which handled the sale.

    The home was owned by a Whitby couple who bought it as retirement property in 2003. They furnished it and added a separate three-car garage and guest apartment. But when their children grew up and got busy in the city, Dieter and Jacqueline Finkeldey didn’t want to keep up the property.

    “They are feeling a lot better now,” said Slik. “They are satisfied. They feel like it sold for a reasonable price that allows them to move on with the rest of their goals,” he said.

    The Finkeldeys told The Star before the auction they had hoped to get more — at least about C$800,000, the property’s assessed value. But after listing in the past for more than C$1 million, Jacqueline said they were just anxious to be able to move on with their retirement and travel plans.

    The new owners plan on using the castle as a vacation property before retiring there.

    The castle is a bargain by Toronto standards — the average home price in the city was C$688,181 in March.

    In other words, these new castle owners are living like royalty — for less than the cost of a semi-detached home in the big city.(SD-Agencies)