22-year-old YouTube star just bought a $2 million home in Toronto
YouTube star Kyle 'Stromedy' Godfrey just bought a $2 million home in Toronto — and he' only 22 years old.
Godfrey grew up in Milton and started to rise in fame after he set up his YouTube channel while in high school. When he was 18 years old, he had more than 100,000 subscribers.
Now Godfrey's channel, Stromedy, has nearly three million subscribers and he has started Prime Capitol, a social media incubator.
Purchasing a $2 million home in the west end of Toronto, however, wasn't easy, Godfrey's real estate agent, Ara Khan told blogTO.
Khan met Godfrey in April of last year when he was looking for a rental home. Khan found a six-month term rental but after a few months, Godfrey decided he really liked it.
The home wasn't on the market, so Khan went to the owner and asked if Godfrey could buy it. After some negotiation, they were able to work out a deal, but the bigger problem was financing the home.
"Then we had to get the mortgage, which was crazy because everywhere I went, they were like 'YouTube, that isn't really a stable income – that could end at any time,'" Khan said.
Khan was determined to get the home for Godfrey and helped him approach banks to secure the mortgage.
"There were a lot of up and down battles," Khan said.
Banks normally don't offer mortgages to people without a full-time job or steady source of income.
Khan said he came up with a plan to put Godfrey forward in the best light possible to the banks, though.
"It is possible and people can do it," he said.
Khan said Godfrey was out of the country, filming in Los Angles, during much of the purchase process, but he came back to Toronto when necessary and had to quarantine during visits.
"Kyle worked really hard to get this house, he has got a good head on his shoulders," Khan said.
The home purchase process started in November and closed on March 1 — during that time, home prices have increased and the same home might go for $2.2 million today, Khan said.
The 4,100-square-foot, four-bedroom home was custom built in 2018 on a 50-foot wide lot, Khan said.
"It's a brand new house," he said. "It's a beautiful home."
The home purchase is an example for other young people, Khan said.
"I just want to encourage other young individuals that are in the same boat as him to not be discouraged about purchasing a home and also to think differently, think about what happens when the stardom runs out, think about what to with the money now."
In the end, Godfrey was happy with the purchase.
"I'm happy to have a house in the city that I call home," Godfrey said through Khan. "It's nice to have a place I can go to escape from the craziness of LA. And the biggest challenge in buying it was banks not believing someone like me could buy a house like that."
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