Old Montreal building: now for sale by the City of montreal

I’ve been following the progress on the new look of this building. First it was this abandoned front, then the make-up crew came into action, with a beautiful new cover .
Before I even got the chance to write about the airbrush design on the new cover of 22-26 Notre Dame ouest, there was a new sign on it.

“A vendre par appel d’offres publiques”

So now the city is taking offers for this building, or whatever is left of it.
I made a call to see what the starting bid was at, and what I got is the following info: Read more >>

En bref – Crédit immobilier au plus bas (U.S.A)

Washington — Le taux moyen pour un crédit immobilier à taux fixe sur 30 ans aux États-Unis est à son plus bas depuis 1971, à 4,85 %, conséquence logique de la politique monétaire de la Réserve fédérale, selon l’organisme de refinancement hypothécaire Freddie Mac.

L’immobilier a montré des signes de stabilisation en février, avec des ventes de logements anciens comme neufs qui ont connu une légère reprise par rapport à un mois de janvier catastrophique. Mais les prix continuent pour leur part de baisser. Selon l’enquête hebdomadaire publiée mercredi par l’Association des banquiers hypothécaires (MBA), si les taux sont à leur plus bas, les Américains en profitent surtout pour renégocier leurs prêts, et moins pour en souscrire un nouveau. Sur la semaine achevée le 13 mars, les refinancements représentaient ainsi 78,5 % du nombre des dossiers de prêts, a indiqué la MBA.

(Thank you Patrice for this informative article)

New addition: Open House Tour March 29-2009

I just got word from Leonard Rosen that this lovely condo will also have a visite libre tomorrow (Sunday Mar29,2009). So instead of re-writing the already published article, we’re making a new entry with more information. You can find the complete listing by click the details link.

Côte-des-Neiges 6111 Av. du Boisé, apt. 5L $475,000 02:00 pm to 04:00 pm Sutton  |  Details The scoop: Le Sanctuaire du Mont Royal, Phase IV. Superb condo with large balcony , interior access to Sporting Club( with a membership) and Mediclub, 24 hour security, semi-private elevator, 2 garage spaces and locker. 1,460 sqft!!

Weekend Open House Tour: March 29-2009

Our first post from the new section: Weekend Open House Tour, features the best presented properties available to visit in the selected areas of Montreal. We’ve decided to include only three at a time for each category- in this case; Condos and Single Family Homes. While we are not too picky about the price (as everything is negotiable in real estate), the properties are chosen based on presentation (first impressions): images, layout and interior design.
For further info, a link to the detailed listing is included; you can find the specs, more images, the exact location and the broker’s contact info.

Condos

Note: the two projects listed below have information spaces. In the case of M9 and Benny, they are also open during the week from 2pm to 7pm. So if you miss the weekend visit, you can always go back during the week. And..Square Benny has now a BEAUTIFUL condo-model, finished and furnished.

Old Montreal M9 Evolution (Project) 90 Rue Prince From $239,000 + Sat & Sun. 12:00 to 5:00 pm McGill immobilier | Details	NDG Square Benny (Project) 4100 Av. Benny From $138,900 + Sat & Sun. 12:00 to 5:00 pm McGill immobilier | Details	Le Sud Ouest 01223 Rue Charlevoix, apt. 104 $164,500 + GST/QST 01:00 pm to 04:00 pm Sutton | Details

Houses

Something we noticed at the last minute: all the houses listed below have 3 bedrooms. Interesting? I think so. The interior spaces (even the empty ones) are photographed beautifully. It’s good to see listing exhibited in a professional manner. Let’s see the homes >>

Spring is Here…with Open House Weekends!

photo: Deya Bautista

Spring is here! It’s not warm enough to find blooming flowers, like the one in the picture, but they will soon be covering our gardens.

No more heavy coats to wear, and ugly winter shoes get stored in a dark corner of our closets.
For those like us who work outside, we look forward to the Restos offering outdoor spaces at lunch-time and dinner.

But in real estate, the greatest thing about spring it’s the weekend’s open houses. Lovely weather to walk around and visit homes. With that, here at the blog, we will begin a new section:

Open House Weekend.

A list of the best homes available to visit each weekend, chosen by a criteria of Best Presentation: Good photography, Design & Location.
We’ll post it on Saturday, so you’ll have the time to review and organize yourself for Sunday afternoon visits.

This Blog is Getting International Recognition

I wanted to share a little something with you…
Last Saturday I had the opportunity to talk about the blog and the use of social media with a radio station in Venezuela. Some of you may know, I was born and raised there (that would explain a lot all my grammar errors, eh?), so many of my contacts online are also from down south.

It was through a blogger-friend (thank you Croncho!) that I got referred to the radio station La Mega, to be interviewed with AnaIrene and Nacarid from La Makina on the subject of: How is the social media benefiting your business?
We had a great exchange of ideas and I was asked many questions regarding the way I use the web 2.0 (blog, facebook, twitter, etc..) to market myself and my services. As well as the different types of information we provide on this blog.

I was surprised to hear that not many people in my industry have been using (or being interviewed for using) social media. But even more surprised than me, they were astonished at the fact that here in Canada we’re a little behind (the Real Estate Industry) with the use of technology, web and social media to enhance our client communication and build new relationships. After all, we’re a developed country, n’est pas? I really hope that will change soon.
In any case, I took the liberty to record the interview, and will need to get the permission  first to publish it. But if I do, unfortunately it will be all in Spanish. Sorry in advance for those who: No Habla Español :)

It was a fantastic experience to be talking live in a radio show, about the two subjects that I’m very passionate about: Technology and Real Estate.

UPDATE (March 26,2009):
The program has released the interview in podcast version. The program is a little long and they talk about technology, you can find my interview almost at the end of the program itself. Here is the link. Again, is En Español.

Swatow: Brings a New Flair to Chinatown

The new development of the commercial building in Chinatown has symbolically adopted the name Swatow,

“Swatow, a city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of the treaty ports established for Western trade and contact, was one of the original Special Economic Zones of the People’s Republic of China established in the 1980s, but failed to blossom like other cities such as Shenzhen, Xiamen and Zhuhai.”

I find the name Swatow is appropriate for this new development, it symbolizes the beginning of a new commercial center in this neighbourhood which can stimulate more economic activity.

This construction style may start a new trend, with further projects taking on a modern design with a traditional Chinese flair.

The 20 million dollar project was anticipated to be finished at the end of 2008, although they did not meet their deadline, at the speed they are going now, I would not be surprised to see it finished before the end of this summer.

What this project has to offer: Office space, Store fronts, Restaurants and two underground levels of parking.

Read additional info on this project at MtlUrb Forum

Next Page »