‘It’s all in good fun’: Local realtor and owner of historic Windsor home defend real estate listing video

Historic house to be demolished? A real estate agent has used some unique advertising tactics to sell a historic home. CTV Windsor's Michelle Maluske reports.

A video posted to Razvan Mag’s social media accounts indicates the Low Martin House has been sold and will be demolished.

“Walkerville’s Low Martin mansion sold last week to Toronto developer Liberty Properties, who plans to tear down the century old home and build a three storey condominium building on the corner lot,” the video explains.

It also includes what appears to be an interview with a contractor who said their new excavator can tear the home down in “45 minutes” but “it’s not going to cause any harm though”.

There’s also an ‘interview’ with a concerned neighbour, ‘Mike Powers’, upset with the prospect of losing the historic home in Walkerville.

The neighbour is, in fact, Vern Myslichuk, the owner of the Low Martin House.

“It's all in good fun,” Myslichuk told CTV News on Tuesday. “We're trying to sell the house, you know? And what better way to sell the house than throw it out there and push a few buttons? It has obviously worked.”

The video posted to Facebook has more than a dozen comments; evenly split between those who believe the home will be torn down and those who see the video as a joke.

On Instagram, however, Mayor Drew Dilkens isn’t laughing, posting “the property is designated on the heritage register. No developer can tear it down or make alterations with(out) proper approval under the Heritage Act.”

Realtor Razvan Mag responded that he was interested in talking to the city about future opportunities.

“In my heart of hearts, I do believe that (the home) could be owned by some form of government,” Mag told CTV News on Tuesday in an interview.

Mag said he believes the city or the province could be the potential buyer of the home to protect its heritage.

By the end of the social media video, Mag indicates demolition could be a reality if a new owner isn’t found; and one who loves the heritage as much as he and Myslichuk said they do.

He also confirmed it has not yet been sold.

“I just have a different vision on how things should and could be done. I'm not scared of taking chances.” Mag said.

“I've been in business for a long time and most everything we do is outside the box,” said Myslichuk. “Some of (the video) is fun. Some of it is historical. Some of it is educational, but it's just a whole different direction. And it's probably never been used before.”

Mag believes the video did its job.

“Because we're here talking today and I've gotten phone calls from builders (and) developers in Windsor,” he said. “They're all supportive of this video. They thought it was one of the funniest things they've seen in a long time.”

Construction started on the Low Martin house at the corner of Ontario Street and Devonshire Road in 1927 by Harry Low, a known rumrunner.

Myslichuk bought the home in 2012 and he spent two years completely restoring it.

He won’t say how much he bought it for or how much he spent on the renovation.

The house was initially listed at $3.4 million two years ago, but is now down to $2.9 million.