Integrity, Caring, Professionalism
Toronto REALTOR®Laneway developer & consultant
As featured in Toronto Life
On screenThe laneway house I designed, built and rented. Dovercourt Village, Toronto.
Keller Williams Advantage Realty, Brokerage
I bought my first house privately in 2004, converted it into a triplex, have been a landlord ever since, and in 2024 I built a laneway house on the same lot and rented it.
The specialty
Toronto's laneway and garden suite rules opened up an expensive opportunity for homeowners. As an early adopter and the developer of my own laneway house, I have the in-depth, hands-on knowledge of the steps required to help my clients plan an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), now or in the future. This is added value to my services, as most agents have not personally built one. Whether you'd like to plan an ADU for your current property or for a new purchase, I can guide you through the many complex steps it takes to get there.
Walk through it. Every decision in these rooms is one I can talk you through on yours: what it cost, what I'd do again, and what I wouldn't.
There's always a reason not to start. But if you're committed, get the best team, stay involved, and build it well. Marisa Janigan, on the build
I financed it, sat through the permitting, chose the trades and stayed involved the whole way. I also know what it did to the value of the property, because valuing property is my other job.
So when you ask whether a laneway home or a garden suite makes sense on your lot, you get an answer from someone who has both sides of it: the resale numbers, and what the build is really like.
Thinking about one? Ask me anythingAs featured in Toronto LifeJune 2025. Read the feature →
Photography and film: Reid Media Agency
Meet Marisa
I was born and raised in Toronto and grew up in Midtown, walking my dog past the kind of houses I decided early on I'd one day own. I listened to the adults around me talk about how families build wealth through property, and it stuck.
Before real estate I spent twenty-five years as a sales director in consumer packaged goods, leading teams and negotiating annual contracts with the head offices of Canada's largest grocers and mass merchants. When I negotiate the sale or purchase of your home, that quarter century comes with me.
In 2004, after eight months combing Toronto streets, I found a private sale myself: the worst house on the best street I could afford. I sourced it, negotiated it and bought it. Then I converted it into a triplex and became a landlord, which I've now been for twenty-two years. In 2024 I finished a two-bedroom laneway house on that same lot, and rented it.
I work as a solo agent and bring in the right people as each client needs them: co-listing partners, photographers, mortgage brokers, trades. I do my best to hire the best, because they represent my business too.
I live and breathe real estate, and I have since I was a very young person. Marisa Janigan
St. Clair and Yonge. This is where it started.
Sales director in consumer packaged goods. Loblaws, Sobeys, Walmart, Metro.
Found it myself, a private sale. Converted it into a triplex. A landlord ever since.
Six builders vetted, one chosen. Finished in June, and rented.
Through my own corporation, Marisa Janigan Real Estate Inc.
The market question
Toronto isn't one market. There are micro-neighbourhoods where supply is short and buyers are competing, at the same moment that small condos are plentiful and prices are softening. Both are true. Only one of them makes the news.
Which market? Why do you ask? Do you have plans to buy, sell, or invest? Can I pull some data for you? What I ask back
I look at all four. The listings that didn't sell tell you as much about your price as the ones that did. Then you get a range, with the reasoning shown. I'm not going to give you an exact price, because I'm not the purchaser.
The practice
From first-time buyers to families helping a parent move into care. Houses and condos across Toronto, with particular depth in multiplexes, conversions and additional dwelling units.
The first conversation isn't about property. It's about the life you're picturing and the real reason you're moving. Financing and listings come after that.
What sold, what didn't, and what quietly came off the market. Then a price range with the reasoning shown, and a home that launches fully prepared.
Can I build one on this lot? Should I? What will it cost, and what does it do to the value? I've asked all of those about my own property, and answered them.
On the market, and off it
People start shopping on their phone, so that is where your home has to look its best. Professional photography and video on every listing, drone where the property calls for it, and a feature that sells the neighbourhood as well as the house.
For sale
Play the film
King West Village, Toronto
A renovated, turn-key one-bedroom condo townhome with parking, in a family and pet friendly community. Minutes from the King streetcar, Liberty Village, Trinity Bellwoods Park and the lake. MLS® C13559878. Listed with Kiki Cianciusi.
Sold
Play the film
Cottage country
On the canals of Lagoon City, on the east shore of Lake Simcoe. Co-listed with Allyson Dublack. This is how I work outside the city: with a partner I trust who knows the ground.
Films and photography by Reid Media Agency.Current listings on Instagram →
This week at Keller Williams Advantage
How I work
Whichever direction you're moving, the method is the same.
The first meeting, and often the second, is about where you are now, what you picture your life looking like, and the single biggest reason behind the move. Only then do we talk financing and property.
What's listed, what sold, what was terminated and what was suspended. The full picture for your neighbourhood, not the national headline.
I'm not going to give you an exact price, because I'm not the purchaser. The list price gets set at the right moment. Markets shift between seasons, and sometimes overnight.
A walkthrough to find what genuinely lifts the sale price, like paint, hardware or a little landscaping, and honest steering away from the renovations that won't earn it back.
Your listing goes to my relationships with agents across other brokerages before it goes public. We may not even need to go on the market. When it does launch, it launches fully prepared.
Every week of the listing. And in between: if I'm not sleeping, I will answer quite promptly. An acknowledgement right away, even when the full answer takes longer.
Through the lawyer, the move, the broom-swept handover, the buyer's visits and the keys. The service doesn't end when the sold sign is put on the lawn.
Toronto
Local credibility is the first thing a Toronto client checks, so here's mine in full. I work across the city, and into cottage country through co-listing partners I trust.
Born and raised in Toronto, and raised in Midtown. Today I live in Dovercourt Village, where I built my laneway house. There are so many fabulous neighbourhoods in this city, and each one is its own micro community.
A brand built on honest numbers shouldn't inflate its adjectives. So here is the evidence, and nothing that isn't.
Toronto Life ran a photographed feature on the laneway house, and the design firm published a case study built around my own commentary. Third-party coverage is the one kind of proof you can't issue yourself.
A methodology, a system and a strategy for selecting tenants and running units that has held up for two decades. There's a lot of fear around tenancy in Toronto. I'm always happy to share those golden nuggets.
As a sales director in consumer packaged goods, negotiating annual contracts with Loblaws, Sobeys, Walmart and Metro. You get that experience on your deal.
A property had sat unsold for nine months. I co-listed it with a fresh strategy: professional photography, videography, drone and a real campaign. It sold in the middle of winter, with three groups competing.
No rankings. No deal counts. No "top agent." Just what can be checked.
White-glove, and then some
White-glove service is how I am. I support my clients from nose to tail on a dog: through the lawyer, the move, the handover and the keys, and long after.
It covers the household, too. When one client's cat had to stay inside during showings, I put a sign in the front window, written in her voice, with a photo of half a furry face looking out.
Education first
You don't have to be buying or selling. Tell me the street and I'll pull the real numbers for it: what sold, what didn't, and what it means for you.
It's a journey, not a destination. And you're not doing it alone.
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