Townhouses For Sale in North Richvale, Richmond Hill

Link homes and 1960s rows off Carrville

South Richvale, just below it, was one of the first commuter suburbs in the Greater Toronto Area, dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. North Richvale came later, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. The result is a neighbourhood of detached houses, link homes (attached below grade but appearing detached above), townhouses and smaller homes.

Townhouses here are older than in most of Richmond Hill, which shapes both the price position and the checks you need to make. Many are condominium complexes; some are freehold rows. Most have basements and small yards, and the layouts are typically two storeys, which suits buyers who want fewer stairs than a newer three-storey town.

Many units have been updated over the years, with opened-up main floors and finished basements. When a renovation is part of the appeal, ask whether permits were pulled and, in a condominium, whether the corporation approved any work that touched common elements.

A downsizer's case for an older Richvale town

Downsizers who have lived in the south end of Richmond Hill often look at North Richvale first. The appeal:

• Two-storey layouts are more common than in new builds, with fewer stairs from top to bottom.
• Established streets with mature trees, close to shops on Yonge and Bathurst.
• Hillcrest Mall on Yonge Street, recently renovated and expanded, is close by for errands.
• Richvale Community Centre and Pool, next to Richvale Athletic Park, offers pools and meeting rooms.

The things to weigh are the age of the building and, in condominium complexes, how well the corporation has kept up with major replacements.

Before you offer on a 1970s complex

1. Get the status certificate reviewed by a lawyer and read the reserve fund study yourself.
2. Find out what has been replaced. Roofs, windows, doors, decks and paving are the big items in complexes of this age.
3. Check for special assessments in the budget and board minutes.
4. Confirm owner versus corporation responsibilities in the declaration, especially for windows and doors.
5. Ask about plumbing and electrical updates. Original systems from the 1960s or 1970s may have been partly upgraded.
6. Look at parking. Many older complexes have one space per unit with shared visitor parking.

Yonge buses and the Langstaff end of town

There's no GO train station in Richvale itself, but bus routes run along Yonge Street and Carrville Road. Viva Blue on Yonge connects south to Finch station. Langstaff GO and the Richmond Hill Centre bus terminal, near Yonge and Highway 7, are a short drive south, and Highway 407 is close.

The Yonge North Subway Extension will end near Highway 7 to the south and east, with stations at Bridge and High Tech. It's expected to take about a decade. For a long-term owner, that's a meaningful improvement in access to the city.

Parks include Morgan Boyle Park, with a playground, splash pad, sports field and tennis courts, and Richvale Athletic Park, with sports fields, baseball diamonds and walking trails. Schools are run by the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board.

North Richvale's supply moves up and down, so watch the live data on this page and compare it with Langstaff and Observatory nearby.