Come and Gone and Gone Again

The story of the little house on Newmarch St. has another chapter. As it turned out, my young buyer was up against a contractor when he put in his winning bid. He had ambitious plans to expand the little house by building a mostly glass addition in the front yard and connecting it to the old house by covered walkway.

The contractor didn't give up easily. After the sale was finalized, his agent contacted me and asked whether my buyer would be willing to sign over his accepted promise to purchase in return for a financial consideration. As it turns out, my buyer was willing to do that. The original vendors also agreed to allow the buyer with whom they had struck the deal to cede his rights to the new guy. Everything was done on the up and up.

The contractor offered to allow my vendors to stay in the house rent free for an extra month. As for the young buyer, he made a little somethin' somethin' selling the house before he even owned it.

Turns out the contractor bought a similar property next door to our dollhouse. Sadly, he will be tearing both properties down in order to build a condo complex.

There's no doubt that the project will make more efficient use of the land but I'm sad knowing that a little bit of Verdun's small-town past, a few trees and the birds who lived in them will be disappearing from the landscape.

Progress.

Making Space Count

I visited a condo on the top floor of a Plateau triplex with a client today. It was a fascinating experience. The condo was a good 1,100 square feet of living space, not at all shabby by Plateau standards. It had good light, two good balconies and up to date plumbing, electrical and a new roof.

And yet...

There was something definitely off about this particular condo. The space was weirdly used. The owner, who had lived there for 25 years, had converted it from a three-bedroom into a two-bedroom but she'd done it in such a way that the place seemed cramped. How do you knock out a bedroom and make a place feel smaller?

The owner, une dame d'un certain age, was European and she'd done some peculiar things to the place, like adding a sauna where part of the south-facing kitchen should have been. Instead of a nice eat-in kitchen with windows on two sides, she had a  narrow galley kitchen. Oh yeah, there was no oven. Correction, there was an oven, the kind that is usually set into the wall, but it was sitting on the floor and was being used as a makeshift table, with a tablecloth draped over it.

Instead of yer basic Whirpool or Kenmore, she had a Super Wave Oven, a gizmo that looked like a popcorn popper or inverted crockpot. You will be surprised to learn that it is sold on TV and in the kind of catalog you find on long-haul international flights. Check out the video:

She assured us that she could cook an entire meal for a dinner party without a stove or oven. I was skeptical. More to the point, buyers are skeptical, too. Her condo has been on and off the market for three years. That tells me I'm not the only visitor who found the space weird and poorly concieved.

Semi-subterranean Homesick Blues

 Montreal's Plateau Mont-Royal borough has implemented new rules that will sharply curtail the construction of semi-basement or "garden-level" condominiums. 

For the purposes of the bylaw, a garden-level condo is one in which 60 per cent of the living space is located below the level of the sidewalk. This housing type made huge inroads during the go-go construction boom that began in the late 1990s, as builders sought to maximize the number of units they could cram into their buildings while still respecting height limitations.

 In the Plateau, for example, that often meant that buildings could not be taller than the area's triplexes. One strategy might be to build a half storey below the ground, and three stories up, still within the height restriction and conveniently less than four floors.  Another benefit of building fewer than four stories and yet more than three was that Quebec's building code states that buildings with three floors can be built of wood frame, while those measure more than four must be made of poured concrete.

The problem was that a lot of these half basements were pokey and dark, with windows that let in little light and less air. At least, that's what a 2010 Plateau study seemed to indicate. Of 29 proposed  projects, 19 were to be built in high traffic areas where basement windows would offer little natural light, unappealing views and too much noise.

From now on, Plateau semi-basement condos will be permitted only on strictly residential streets and even then builders will have to ensure that windows are set back a minimum of 1.5 metres from the sidewalk. The space between the window and the sidewalk will have to be 60 per cent planted, not paved. Further, the setback from any parking area on the property will be a minimum of two metres.

In most cases, the new rules will mean that promoters will incorporate the semi-basements into their ground-floor units. It might even be that by tweaking the bylaws, the borough will help make the Plateau more attractive to families looking for homes with room for kids to live, sleep and play.

So far, the Plateau stands alone with these new rules, though the Sud-Ouest borough is said to be looking at them with interest. You can read more about it in La Presse.

Space-age, Spacing-saving Italian Design.

The trend towards smaller condos is here to stay and with it comes a trend towards compact, space-saving furniture. One of my clients was recently looking for a murphy bed for the guest room in her sleek loft near the the Lachine Canal. She wanted something both stylish and practical - a fold-out bed hidden behind a desk and bookshelf set up, for example. This video is making the rounds just a little too late for my canal-side acquaintance, but it might be of interest to someone else out there hoping to add a little Italian brio to their home decor.

Best of all, Montreal's Fraser Furniture is the exclusive retailer for this totally cool line.

New Listing. Two-Bedroom Condo, Drolet near Laurier

Looking for a Plateau condo with tons of upgrades, superior soundproofing and steps from the metro?
Check out my new listing at 5121 Drolet, apt. 202. 

This two-bedroom condo is found in a 2005 concrete building. Concrete means solid construction and superior soundproofing. Just what you need in a Plateau property.
The apartment is located on the first floor of a three storey building, a few steps up from ground level. There's a balcony off the front and a second balcony/fire escape at the back. There are 8 units, two per floor,including two semi-basements.

The layout features an open living and dining area with big windows, a brick accent wall in the dining room and accent lighting.There are built-in speakers for the flat-screen TV. It has a wall-mounted air conditioner and an air exchange system.
The open galley kitchen has plenty of counter space, dark wood cabinets, a combined microwave oven and kitchen fan and a garburator.

Both bedrooms are to the back, one with the aforementioned balcony, the second with two good-sized windows. Both have large closets.
The bathroom is huge, with a corner tub and separate shower. Stackable washer and dryer are in a closet in the hallway just outside the bathroom door.

The condo has exotic hardwood floors, finished in a warm reddish brown. The place is impeccably clean.
Condo fees are $100 a month and there is a healthy $19,000 in the reserve fund. No big projects are on the horizon.
5121 Drolet is located just north on Laurier and one block west of St. Denis St. The Laurier metro is a two-minute walk. Drolet is a one-way south street with very little through traffic. Laurier is a one-way east, with a bike path that serves to calm traffic. All in all, a very quiet corner of the Plateau.
The asking price is $327,000.
The property can be sold furnished or unfurnished.

Luxury Address, Lowlife Clientele?

Heritage du Vieux-Port

The Toronto Star has a fascinating story today about the seamier side of one of Old Montreal's most exclusive luxury property's,  Le Heritage du Vieux-Port.

I don't know how long the link will be good so here's the gist of the story:

Hockey players and wealthy socialites call the Heritage du Vieux Port home.

Longer than a football field and crowned by four five-storey rooftop villas, it offers what the glossy sales brochure describes as “your private chateau in the city.”

But police also describe it as a virtually impregnable “bunker” for a handful of bikers, Mafia associates and other alleged organized crime figures who over the years found comfort and isolation behind the walls of the massive structure that once served as a refrigerated warehouse near the port.

How's that for a morning read?

The report goes on to enumerate at least 20 people with criminal records or ties to Montreal's underworld who have owned or lived in the 200-unit property in the last decade.

A Sûreté du Québec investigator told reporter Julian Sher of having carried out four search warrants on homes in the building and knew of a dozen more having been carried out since 1998.

True confession time. I was The Gazette's real estate reporter in 1999 when Toni Magi and his brothers announced their plan to redevelop a massive refrigerated warehouse on the edge of Montreal's Old Port.

No one had ever heard of the Magi brothers - I think remember there being four of them - at that point. In later years, Toni Magi evinced an amazing affinity for surviving being shot at. It got his name in the papers quite a lot.

I do remember the launch was held on a beautiful fall day, aboard a gleaming boat that cruised the harbour. Mayor Pierre Bourque, smiling and vacant, was in attendance.  There were hors d'oeuvres and light classical music. It was the splashiest PR event announcing the launch of new condo. (They usually involved visiting an unheated Dickie Moore trailer to pick up a sales kit and meet a sales agent who was chilled to the bone.)

The Magis couldn't bring the project to completion and ended losing it to TRAMS Property  Management, a large real-estate development and managemnt firm that does a lot of work in the U.S.. 

Radio-Canada's investigative news show, Enquete, will have a report on the dubious doings at one of Montreal's most luxurious addresses tonight. I, for one, intend to tune in.

In the meantime, if anyone is in the market for a luxury apartment in a bunker-like chateau on the edge of Old Montreal, give me a call. Prices start at about $2,500 for a rental and climb to $4.45 million for a penthouse.

After tonight, those prices might be negotiable.

Looking for Real Estate Deals

I just took part in a live chat hosted by The Gazette on the topic of finding real estate deals. The questions came at us fast and thick. It was a bit chaotic but lotsa fun.

You can read the transcript here. There are some good tips for finding deals and knowing a deal when you see one.

1,600 Housing Units Slated for the Foot of Guy St. on the Lachine Canal

 Two of Montreal's better known residential developers have got the nod to build as many as 1,600 housing units on the Lachine Canal in the Sud-Ouest borough.
Canada Lands Co., a federal agency that sells off unneeded government land, has tapped Prével and Conceptions Rachel-Julien to be part of the redevelopment of the area called Les Bassins du Nouveau Havre.
They will build in area between William St. and the canal just west of the foot of Guy St.
The press release issued yesterday doesn't give too many details, but specifies that the first phase of construction will start late next year and will involve "various residential lots".  That implies smalleer projects, rather a mega-development of the kind Devimco is proposing a little further east.
What caught my eye about this project, for which no drawings or plans have yet been made public, is the fact that Prével and Rachel-Julien have committed to incorporating 400 units of social and community housing. They will work with Batir son Quartier, which coordinates the construction of housing cooperatives. They will also partner with RESO, Regroupement économique et social du Sud-Ouest, a community organization that looks out for the socio-economic interests of the people of southwest Montreal.
But then, Prével, at least has a track record for this kind of development. When it purchased the old Imperial Tobacco plant on St. Antoine St. several years ago, it committed to making social and community housing part of the project, as well.
The redevelopment of the industrial land around the canal is big project. You can read up on it and see computer models of the site's master plan by visiting this web site. 

Divided Versus Undivided Co-Ownership, What's the Difference?

I'm working with a new client ready to buy his first property.  He said he was looking for a condo, but I've come to realize that buyers throw that term around without knowing what it means.
In Quebec, there are two kinds of shared ownership properties: undivided co-ownerships and divided co-ownerships. People tend to use the word condo to mean both but they are distinct and there are things a buyer should understand about each before purchasing.
When buying into an undivided co-ownership property, you are, in fact, buying a share in a property as a whole. In a triplex, that typically means that you are buying about 33 per cent of the roof, foundation, walls and yard. You are given exclusive use of a portion of the property but you are essentially a shareholder in the whole.  The property has one tax account, divided among the owners according to their share of the property. One of the big advantages to this kind of ownership is that property and school taxes are substantially lower.
Undivided co-ownerships have their own particularities. 
As a rule of thumb, asking prices for undivided properties are lower than those for divided properties of similar size and with similar features. That's because buyers are obliged to provide a larger down payment when buying into an undivided property, 20 per cent down, versus the usual minimum 5 per cent.
Only two lenders will mortgage them: The National Bank and the Caisse Populaire. You can't choose, the lender will already be in place when you make an offer to purchase.
The third thing about undivided properties is that you have no automatic right to occupy the premises. Whaaaa?  It's true. If you lease your "apartment" in an undivided co-ownership building, Quebec law says that you cannot then reclaim it unless the tenant agrees to go.  It is equally true that if a rental building is turned into a undivided co-ownership property, the tenants cannot be turfed out, regardless of how many months notice they are given, or how much money you offer them as an inducement to leave.
For this reason, many undivided properties have clauses in their co-ownership agreements that forbid owners from leasing their properties.
Life is much more straightforward with a divided co-ownership property. Properly, this is what people mean when they talk about condos.  You own your unit, its walls, floors and ceilings. Your tax bill will be higher, because it will more closely reflect the market value of your individual unit. This kind of ownership is relatively new in Quebec. It only became possible to divide a property after the Quebec Civil Code was revised by the National Assembly in 1969.
Unlike an undivided, the down payment can be as low as 5 per cent and you can seek a mortgage with any lender you like.
Which is the better option? There is no easy answer. For some people, substantially lower tax bills trump all other considerations.  For others, there is a clean, simple logic to owning a unit, versus a share in a property.
The main thing is to consider what you're buying into. Read the co-ownership agreement. It will be so very booooooooooooring, but you'd be a fool not. A good agent will read it too, and advise you on potential problems. Are dogs allowed or not? Are carpets mandatory, or can you have hardwood floors? Are window boxes okay? Who has use of the yard or the basement? How much is each owner required to contribute to the reserve fund. All will be spelled out in a well-written co-ownership agreement.
Also read the minutes to the last two or three annual meetings of the co-owners. These will give you an idea of the issues and possible conflicts in the building. Examine the financial statements so that you know what big bills may be coming due and how much money is in the reserve fund.