Real Estate Glossary: Z

Zero Balance
When the outstanding balance on a credit card is paid and no new charges are incurred during the billing cycle, the card holder’s monthly statement shows a zero balance. This means nothing is left owing to the credit card company.

Zero Lot Line
A zoning regulation which allows certain properties to have buildings placed up to the line dividing separate properties

 Zero Down Mortgage
This type of mortgage was a true 100% mortgage financing product that was available in Canada before. As of October 15 2008, $0 down mortgages are no longer available in Canada.

Zoning Bylaws
Municipal or regional laws that specify or restrict land use.

Zoning
An area or a region within city limits that is distinguished from adjacent areas by a distinctive feature or characteristic. Zoning usually pertains to the type of land uses that are permitted in the area. For example, a zoning ordinance might allow houses or apartments to be built, but not factories or warehouses.

Canadian Government injects $75-Billion into the financial system. Lower interest rates ahead.

Great news for home buyers. This is a clipping from the Newsletter of the Montreal Real Estate Board. The government injecting money to maintain the market growing, although no news for the 40 year mortgage or zero percent down payment- and we all wish it remains that way. If you can’t afford to buy, then you should not get a mortgage. But for those with the means, lower interest rates are coming ahead. 

Federal Government’s $75-Billion Purchase of Insured Mortgages Should Benefit Home Buyers

As part of its efforts to address the current financial crisis, the federal government announced that it will inject $75 billion of new money* into the financial system, by buying insured mortgage pools from Canadian financial institutions.

The purpose of this measure is to add liquidity to financial institutions – money they can then lend to businesses and consumers. The main effect of such an initiative is to increase the availability of credit while, at the same time, making the cost of credit more affordable. As a result of this plan, financial institutions’ mortgage interest rates should drop, which is likely to stimulate activity on the resale market.

This announcement is good news for our financial system and for the economy in general. Ultimately, it is borrowers who will benefit from this initiative, particularly future home buyers.

This federal government intervention was made necessary by the fact that the financial crisis has led to a significant reduction in the amount of credit made available by the private sector and, as a result, higher costs. In this context, banks’ financing costs increase, which translates into higher prime rates and mortgage rates.

The purchase will be made through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and will focus exclusively on mortgages that are already insured under its mortgage loan insurance program.

*Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, made an initial announcement of $25 billion last October 10, and announced an additional $50 billion on November 12.

Documents importants pour mettre en vente votre propriété

Vous planifiez vendre votre propriété, voici les documents dont vous aurez besoin :

L’acte (ou les actes) de vente: C’est le document de passation des titres que le notaire vous a remis lors de l’acquisition. Format légal (8.5 X 14’’) avec le sceau du notaire. Ce document indique qui est ou qui sont le(s) propriétaire(s) légalement autorisé(s) à vendre la propriété.

Le certificat de localisation: C’est le document qui indique les dimensions du terrain et de la ou des bâtisses faisant partie de l’immeuble. Il situe aussi la position de l’immeuble et de ses différentes composantes. On retrouve un schéma décrivant les lieux d’une vue aérienne. Document légal (8.5 X 14’’) avec les informations de l’arpenteur.

L’acte de prêt: Si vous avez une hypothèque sur votre immeuble, ce document décrit les termes qui lient l’immeuble et l’institution financière. C’est un autre document légal (8.5 X 14’’) qui doit vous être remis par le notaire avec son sceau. Il se peut que vous ayez pris une seconde hypothèque sur votre immeuble, il faut alors avoir les 2 actes hypothécaires. Read more >>

Montréal Real Estate Market Continues to Favour Sellers

According to the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board’s MLS® system, there were 36,955 transactions from last year until now.  4% less sales compared to last year.

In terms of property prices in the Metropolitan Area of Montréal, the median prices of single-family homes and plexes increased by 6% compared to the same period last year, condominium prices increased by 3%.

Compared to the first 10 months of 2007, condo sales grew by 5% in the Montréal Metropolitan Area. On the other hand, sales of single-family homes decreased by 7%, and plex sales decreased by 5%.

“The median price of a single-family home grew last month by 4 per cent, increasing from $220,000 in October 2007 to $228,000 in October 2008. The plex market retained a stable median price at $329,250, while that of condominiums fell slightly by 1 per cent. This decrease can be explained by the minor decline in median prices of condominiums on the Island of Montréal, the largest condominium market.
October’s resale market continues to favour sellers, despite a 9 per cent increase in the number of active listings in the MLS® system.”
Source: Montreal Real Estate Board

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What Undivided Co-ownership means

In your search for condos, you might have come across the term Co-propriété Indivise, or Undivided Co-ownership. In other provinces are referred to Co-op, but not here in Quebec. In this province, co-op means Housing Cooperatives; used for regulating housing fees and expenses, mostly rental properties. Since we are talking about purchasing real estate here, let’s stick with the two terminologies: Undivided co-ownership or Co-propriété Indivise.

What is Undivided Co-ownership?

According to La chambre de Notaires du Quebec:

A property of this type belongs to several individuals, called undivided co-owners. No one owner owns an exclusive portion of the property; rather, they each own a fraction.
For example, you buy a triplex with two of your friends and you all contribute equally to the sale price. After the sale, you decide to move into the second-floor apartment. The apartment does not belong to you exclusively; your two friends share its ownership with you, just as you share the ownership of their dwellings on the first and third floors. You and your friends are undivided co-owners of the whole triplex. In the example above, your shares in the immovable are one third each.

In a nutshell: When you buy into an undivided co-ownership you are acquiring shares into the ownership of the building, as an undivided co-owner.

Condominiums are divided by cadastral numbers, each unit has their own, sort of like a serial number for properties. When buying into a condominium, you are buying real estate property. While with undivided, the building has only one cadastral number (wheather it has 40 units or 2), and the undivided owners share the title of ownership to the whole building, with the exclusive rights to the units dictated on the indivision agreement.

In terms of property prices, we cannot say that condos are more expensive than undivided co-ownerships. The search results of condos sold in Plateau (2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 800-1000 sq ft) in the last six months gives us a median of $250,500. While with the same criteria, the undivided shows a median price of $244,000.

Undivided units are in buildings of different styles, sizes and in every type of neighborhood. We’ve noticed a great number of these properties popping up in Plateau, Downtown, NDG and Côte-des-Neiges. Also Westmount, Villeray and Rosemont are following up in listing numbers.

In a future article, we’ll write about Financing and shared costs of these types of properties. Stay tuned!

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