Trains, a Part of Life in Montreal

The horrifying train derailment, explosion and fire in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Qc. earlier this month has given rise to a lot of talk about the wisdom of running trains through populated areas.

One of my Facbeook acquaintances even kidded me about whether there was going to be a run on St-Henri real estate as people dumped their homes out of fear for their safety. I was skeptical then and remain skeptical now. That's what I told CTV News, when reporter Max Harrold called me up.

Don't mind my dorky face. I was talking, ok. 

He had already interviewed a Management prof at UQAM who had studied the sale of 40,000 residential properties on Montreal island. His analysis indicated that living within 50 metres of a super highway reduced the value of a home by as much as 5 per cent, living within 50 metres of a rail line meant an 8-10 per cent reduction in property values.

This I don't dispute.

My larger point when asked about the impact of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy on Montreal home prices was that Montreal was built along rail lines. Think about all the communities where trains are a fact of life - Point St. Charles, St. Henri ( the level crossing pictured above), NDG, Westmount, Cote St. Luc, TMR, Griffintown and all those suburbs served by commuter rail service. That's a lot of trains.

Montrealers have long made their peace with trains and for all the horror of what happened in Lac-Mégantic, it says something that it is the only train disaster most of us can remember. I was chatting with The Gazette's Allison Lampert and she pointed out that the big difference between Montreal and Lac Mégantic is that CN owns and controls most of the freight rail track in the city and has a better track record for safety than the corner-cutting Chicago outfit MMA  whose freight train caused the fiery explosion in small-town Lac-Mégantic.

I think that the images of burning crude oil and a leveled downtown core are fresh in our minds but that within a few months those memories will fade and Montrealers will feel comfortable with the rumble and squeal of passing freight trains once more.

We buy homes near rail lines, like we buy homes near airports or near flood zones. 

You can watch the CTV report here. 

Smoking, Bad for You, Bad for Resale Values.

Trade publication REM Online (I read 'em so you don't have to) reports that 87 per cent of Ontario agents and brokers surveyed said that smoking in a house has a negative effect on resale value. Eighty-nine per cent of those surveyed said that houses where people smoke are harder to sell.

The surveyed professionals said smoking could hurt the resale price anywhere from 20 to more than 30 per cent.

It's true. Lingering cigarette smoke is one of the big turn offs when people visit a property, along with cat box smells, stale cooking odors and a lingering smell of dampness.

People notice weird smells first and those smells tend to linger in memory, often unconsciously. 

You can read the REM Online story here.

What Were They Thinking?

"If you buy this property, you can put carpets here and here. Also, you can make random heaps of stuff like this and maybe line up a few chairs and a sofa."

Beer At Last! Beer At Last! Thank God Almighty, Beer At Last!

After years of discussion, zoning changes, bylaw amendments, renovation and false starts, Verdun's first honest to gosh drinking establishment has opened its doors on Wellington St. Here's a report from those nice CBC radio people.

 Plus, a somewhat boring video tour.
  

Benelux, an authentic brewpub, has taken over the auspices of the former Bank of Montreal, near the corner of de l'Eglise, or Church St., as the old timers say.

A well-placed MontReal Estate reader, reports that for now the pub is only serving its house blonde but that should change as Benelux gets up to full speed.

A great event in Verdun history. The town, then city, then borough of Verdun has been officially dry for about 100 years.  It is a sign of changing times and changing demographics that  an upscale drinking hole is the first, and for now only, bar allowed to operate.

3-Bedroom Cottage in Lachine's Leafy Village St-Louis

Just listed, an impeccable 3-bedroom attached cottage in green and leafy Village St-Louis, a development in western Lachine.

You can check out the full listing on my Century 21 website www.marylamey.com

Village St-Louis was built in the early 1990s by Prevel, one of Montreal's most respected residential developers. Prevel is the company behind the Lowney and Imperial loft projects, the Soeur Grises condos at the foot of McGill St. near the Old Port, as well as a massive development project now underway in Griffintown. They build good stuff.

This development was built on the footprint of Lachine's former municipal golf course, incorporating many of its mature trees, water hazards and pretty fairways into the parks and walking path.

3582 Anatole-Carignan features about 1500-square-feet of living space, excluding the finished basement. The main floor has a entry hall with closet, open concept living and dining, powder room with laundry (which my vendor love love LOVES) and a beautifully upgraded kitchen with walk-out to a trellised deck and nicely landscaped back yard. There's even a vegetable garden.

The kitchen is done in a warm contemporary style  with12x24-inch matte black tile on the floor, offsetting the black granite counter and pearly white marble tile back splash. The cabinets are a warm mid brown and offer tons of storage. It's an easy kitchen for cooking, entertaining and hanging out.

The dining and living room have a bay window and wood fireplace and upgraded oak hardwood flooring.

Upstairs, two of the three bedrooms face the street and feature over sized windows, one with a semicircular fanlight. The master bedroom is big, with a walk-in closet and adjoins the main bath. The bathroom is done in neutral off-white, with a pedestal whirlpool bath set in a big bay window. The houseplants love hanging out there!  There's a separate shower.

The basement has the same upgraded oak floors, tons of room for toys, a library, a man cave, a home office or even a fourth bedroom. There are a few steps up to a patio door out to the back yard.

The asking price is $439,000. The municipal evaluation is $306,700 and the school and property taxes amount to a very modest $3500 a year. 

The vendors have taken excellent care of their home and invested in upgrades like the oak flooring, and classic oak handrail, newel posts and balusters for the staircase, a thermopump with air conditioning and a new roof.

I'm having an open house Sunday, June 2, 2013. 2-4 p.m. Drop by and see for yourself!

Sutton Brokers Were Left $600,000 Short When Their Agency Went Bankrupt

CBC Montreal recently had an excellent report on a group of former Sutton Royal agents who were done out of a combined $600,000 in real estate commissions when their agency was forced into bankruptcy.

The story began with an alleged cheque kiting scheme implicating the agency's director and his executive assistant. Two banks, the TD and National, stepped in when Sutton Royal accounts came up about $2 million short.

When it was discovered that the agency was depositing commission cheques for sales by its agents to a Bank of Montreal account, TD and National  asked the court to seize the money. Last December, the Dollard des Ormeaux agency was forced into bankruptcy.

That's when things got ugly for Sutton Royal's agents. Money they had earned selling homes and supposedly held in trust by their agency, as per the Real Estate Brokerage Act, was gone - poof - sponged up as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. To make matters worse, Sutton Quebec appears to have quietly paid off the collaborating agents (the agents who represented buyers in deals involving Sutton Royal's sellers) while stiffing their own people. Ouch.

I cannot imagine the nightmare these brokers are living. First, the agency they work for collapsed in scandal. Next, their revenue was snatched away - in the case of one agent, $300,000 ! The brokers allege Sutton Quebec president Christophe Folla promised to help them but has not.

An aside. When I was The Gazette's real estate reporter, I had a story about a Sutton agent (they were called agents then, not brokers) at the La Salle brokerage, who appeared to pretty much try to screw an old lady out of her condo. Her daughter came to me with the story. (Quebec's real estate authority later convicted him of breach of ethics and his license was suspended.)

I tried very hard to talk to Christophe Folla at that time. He never once called me back. I hope these agents have better luck. 

Click on the link above to read the whole story and watch the TV report. The CBC promises that a second report is coming up.

Stay tuned, as they say.

The Gap Between Asked and Sold Prices, Not All Montreal Neighborhoods Are Created Equal.

 Roberto Rocha, a tech-savvy reporter at The Gazette crunched some real-estate sales numbers to see which neighborhoods in Montreal have the smallest gap between asking prices and sale  prices in this softer than usual market. It makes for interesting reading.

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These are are average listing and sale prices for all housing types combined. Nice to see my favorite, Verdun, up near the top of the list. I think it might have done even better had the numbers been parsed more closely to exclude Nuns' Island. The island and mainland are very distinct real estate beasts. 

I do wonder how it can be that Outremont, home to Quebec's francophone business, legal and health care elites and that great bald-headed Cirque du Soleil git Whatshisname, can possibly have an average asking price of $450,000. That will buy you a nicer than average house near the water in Verdun, but certainly not a three-bedroom starter mansion in Outremont. Hmm.

The Plateau, where I do a fair amount of business, remains a hot commodity, with properties selling for just a shade under 95 per cent of asking price.

Westmount trails the pack, with a nearly 10-per-cent gap between asking and sold prices.

Have a look. 

The Stigma of Murder Didn't Block the Sale of this $900,000 Toronto Home

Some people won't buy a house where there's been a gruesome crime. Some people are less bothered. Their agent probably wishes he wasn't quoted in Canada's biggest broadsheet saying "It's a great conversation piece." 

Real Estate Brokers vs Du Proprio. We Ain't Scared

Here's broker Patrice Groleau, owner of Old Montreal's McGill Immobilier, talking about why he isn't particularly bothered by the likes of For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sites like Du Proprio.

As he puts it "Some people like to cut their own lawn, paint their own house, do their own taxes and invest their own money," He has nothing against those who do, but he sees value in working with people who are the best trained and most professional at what they do.

 Well put, M Groleau.

Plateau Duplex, Ready for Its 2nd Act. $387,000

UPDATE  We sold this duplex in less than a week for four per cent over the asking price. (You do the math.) Our vendor is delighted.


 Amy Barratt and I are about to list a duplex on Hotel de Ville Ave. just south of St. Josph Blvd. The property consists of a two-bedroom apartment that occupies the ground floor and second floor of the building. The third storey is a one-bedroom apartment.

The entire building will be available to the buyer.

The asking price is $387,000, which corresponds to the building's municipal evaluation. At that price, you understand that this is a building that requires some renovation, including a new roof, wiring, plumbing and probably interior finishes.

The current owner has had it for 15 years and has happily inhabited the third floor while renting out the larger apartment to tenants.

This building occupies more than 90 per cent of its lot. There is no yard of any kind.

This would be a kick-ass project for someone wanting to create a three-storey townhouse with a roof terrasse. It could also be reconverted into three-smaller apartments. If you've got the skills and the time or the money and the vision, there's no limit to what you might be able to do.

Give me a call at (514) 978-6522 to find out more or to book a visit.

The property will be listed on the MLS just as soon as I can data enter all the information. Probably tomorrow or Thursday, March 7, latest.

Exterior view. The property is the left side of these twin buildings.

View from the third-floor balcony.

Street view.

View of the corner of Hotel de Ville and St. Joseph.