When Benj Fayle bought his 1,500-square-foot, six-bedroom Vancouver home in 2002, it was worth $598,000. Before he sold it last year, he invested about $80,000 in renovations, including a basement suite and an elevator to make it wheelchair accessible. The selling price? Nearly $1.7-million.

Mr. Fayle clearly benefited from rising real estate prices in Canada's hottest housing market. His story is one of many submitted to the Globe and Mail during a callout, in which we asked readers to tell us how their long-held properties have appreciated over time. Click here to see the slideshow.