When NOT to hold an Open House

If your property is fresh in the market, an open house can be very important. You never know whom in your neighbourhood is looking to buy a home like yours.
There has been some instances where the actual buyer came from a Open House visit. Although this isn’t always the case.

In fact, most visitors who come to open houses rarely buy the house. A lot of them don’t even know the price of your home when they stop by to visit; they probably just followed an “Open House” sign, got curious and came in. It will be the agent’s job to quickly screen the visitors and to identify them as “Potential buyers” or “Lookers”. (Your listing agent should know how to do that)

You might be wondering:
what is the purpose of holding an open house? Read more >>

How to calculate the Welcome Tax in less than 20 secs.

Every municipality must collect duties on the transfer of any immovable situated within its territory. These land transfer duties are better known as the “Welcome Tax”. This tax is payable by the buyer and is calculated as follows:

This article has been moved to: How to calculate Welcome Tax in Montreal.

Rainy Sunday Montreal Links

If you are looking for Montreal Rentals. Here are a few links that will help you find your new pad.

• Craigslist’s Montreal for Rent
• Kijiji Montreal
• Canuck.ca Montreal
• Louer.com
• More Montreal

Although not about Real Estate, these blogs are quite entertaining. Specially for the downtown and Plateau crowd.

• Midnight Poutine | Montreal Blog
• MetroBlogging Montreal
• Montreal City WebLog

Do you know of other interesting and informative websites related to the Montreal Market? Let us know!

Are you financially ready to buy?

So, you’ve finally decided that homeownership is right for you. Now you need to determine if you are financially ready to buy a house. Check out these formulas to calculate the size of your loan and evaluate your current financial situation.

Knowing your net worth is important because you will need this information when you discuss a mortgage with your lender.
Your net worth is the amount left over once you’ve subtracted your total liabilities from your total assets. It will also give you a snapshot of your current financial situation and show you how much you can afford to put as a down payment. Read more >>

The right of undivided co-owners to exclude a potential buyer

The buying of undivided co-ownerships is getting more popular in Montreal, specially in the Plateau area. And it’s quite understandable why. There are advantages over the divided co-ownership (condo), specially when talking about Condo fees.
When buying the undivided, this is an important piece of information to have, both for real estate agents, as well as buyers:

“A real estate broker or agent entrusted with the sale of a co-owner’s share in an undivided co-ownership property must know that the other co-owners have the right to exclude a potential buyer.

In this regard, it is important first to take a look at the indivision agreement that governs the relationship between co-owners. These agreements often require that a co-owner offer his share to the other co-owners before offering it to a third party, or provide for the other co-owners to be able to match the third party’s offer for this share, following the terms of the agreement. A seller who decides to ignore these terms exposes himself to legal action and potential liability for damages.

(…) Whether resulting from the indivision agreement or the Civil Code of Québec, it is important that the seller and any potential buyer be informed of the rights of the other co-owners and their impact on the transaction under consideration. In order to minimize the risks, it is recommended that a waiver of this right be obtained from the other co-owners as soon as the brokerage contract is taken up. This waiver should be drawn up by a lawyer. If it is not known whether such a waiver exists, it is suggested to make any promise to purchase conditional to the seller providing copy thereof to the buyer.”

Source : ACAIQ. Read the original article

Real Estate Glossary: C

Cadastral designation
Information concerning an immovable (location, area, value, etc.), contained in the cadastre for a given region.

Cadastre
Public register containing the technical data on each immovable in a given region (lot).
A lot number used to publish the applicable rights is assigned to each property indexed in the cadastre.

Certificate of location
Document containing a report and a plan, in which the land surveyor expresses his opinion on the location and condition of an immovable compared to the titles and the cadastre as well as laws and regulations governing the immovable. Read the complete entry >>

Is Home Ownership Right For You?

While you probably have a lot of good reasons for wanting to buy a home, you also have to consider your reasons for not wanting to.

Remember that buying a home is one of the biggest emotional and financial decisions you’ll ever make, so prepare yourself to make a knowledgeable decision. Although buying a home almost always seems like a great idea, it is important
to understand what homeownership involves.

Of course, being a homeowner is something to be proud of but it also means having to invest money, time and energy and take on added responsibilities. So, before you decide to buy a home, make sure you’re ready.

When most of us consider becoming homeowners, we immediately think of how wonderful it will be. It is true that there are a lot of good reasons for wanting to buy a home. Here are some of the main advantages of owning a home:

• Financial Security. If housing prices rise, your home can provide you with
some financial security due to capital appreciation.
• Flexibility. You can decorate or renovate your home to meet your own
family’s personal tastes and needs.
• Stability. Having a place of your own.

Although it is nice to think about the positive aspects of owning a home, it is
important to consider the downsides as well. Here are some of the main
disadvantages of owning a home: Continue reading >>

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