Happy New Year 2010!

Best wishes to all our readers from the Montreal Real Estate Blog Team.
May the new year bring you (and yours) a wealth of happiness, health and prosperity.

We’ll be seeing you in 2010. But not before we can recover from our hangover. Just as last year.

Top 10 Real Estate Articles of 2009

This year’s TOP TEN articles, from the most visited to the most commented are listed below.
We’ve noticed a lot of advice articles and tips are getting the most visits, as opposed to the property/development posts like in the 2008 top ten list.
Feel free to browse and comment. Happy reading!

1. Buying an Income Property to Live in
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/buying-an-income-property-to-live-in
2. Describing Homes: what’s a 3 1/2 and all those numbers means
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/describing-homes
3. A Staged house that sold in 3 hours
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/a-staged-house-that-sold-in-3-hours
4. Credit: Biggest Myths, Mistakes, and Misconceptions
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/credit-myths-mistakes-misconceptions
5. Property Hunting: Diligence is The Key to Your New Home
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/property-hunting-diligence-is-the-key-to-your-new-home
6. STOP Paying Your Landlord’s Mortgage!
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/stop-paying-your-landlords-mortgage/
7. Buying Real Estate for Non-Canadians
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/buying-real-estate-for-non-canadians/
8. Home Staging – 10 tips for better sale
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/home-staging-10-tips-for-better-sale/
9. Montreal MLS Barometer: Residential Market
   http://montrealrealestateblog.com/montreal-mls-barometer-residential-market
10. Condo Hunting: Price, Area and Size Matters
    http://montrealrealestateblog.com/condo-hunting-price-area-size
    À la recherche de Condos? L’important: Le prix, la superficie et les dimensions.
    http://montrealrealestateblog.com/recherche-condos-prix-superficie/

Lachine Canal in Time Magazine’s Top 10 Bike Paths

Photo courtesy: A.J Kandy.

Time magazine published their top 10 bike paths and Montreal made it to number 3 on the list.
In their article they make reference to different areas surrounding the path: Atwater Market, the water front properties, the Rene Levesque park, just to mention a few. It is interesting to see the developing of this area that not too long ago was still considered a bit rough. Still may will refer to it as Lil Burgundy area- wrongfully so.

The Atwater/Lachine Canal area has developed nicely into a neighbourhood that is now being featured in the Time magazine. How sweet can that be? Congratulation to all its residents!

Comment of the week

Ken Buxton on RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook 2010

“Outlooks are just that …outlooks. What all buyers should do in this market before buying is be comfortable and in a position to pay 5 to 6% interest on their mortgage when they renew. Don’t over extend and plan for a rate increase. If your are buying a family home and intend to live their for several years don’t be too concerned with forecasts , you will be fine in the long run. However, if you are a speculator, you better have a great sense of timing.”

You heard the man. Read and execute orders.

Thanks Ken for the great insight.

DuProprio.com sentenced to pay a fine

Yes, it is old news for many, but recent news to me. This is what happens when you stay away too long from news sites and relevant industry blogs.
So what’s the scoop?

The company owner of DuPropio.com site, was fined for registering under the section of Real Estate agents/Brokers in the yellow pages. Thus violating the Real Estate Brokerage act, according to the association of brokers and real estate agents of Québec (ACAIQ).

La Presse issue an article with the details of the story. I found out about it through Louis Sabourin (author of Le Blogue Immobilier) who wrote two very intense posts on the matter. And if I am not mistaken, he was the first one to blog about it. His first article: DuProprio et la malhonnêteté created a response (through comments) from one of the team members of DuPropio.com. To their defense, their reply was:

“If we announced in this section of the Yellow Pages is simply because, for a real estate service such as ours, there were no other places”

In addition to that, on their DuPropio Blog, there is a post where they explain further:

“Our intent was certainly not to impersonate officers”
(..) “le genre de service que nous offrons est relativement nouveau et unique. Nous sommes pratiquement les seuls à évoluer dans ce créneau. C’est pourquoi les Pages Jaunes n’avaient pas d’autres endroits pertinents à nous offrir pour nous afficher.”

It goes to show us all that the sole suggestion of being authorized to perform broker/real estate agent activities without a certificate from the ACAIQ has its consequences, and this case is the perfect example. And even if their intention was not to appear as real estate agents, nor they have carried out real estate brokerage activity, the courts decided that the inclusion of the company under Brokers and Real Estate agents was indeed sufficient to find it guilty. Facts rules over intention.

And there is more: the second article by Le Blogue Immobilier titled “DuProprio: allergique à la critique” opens up a new dialogue between the parties.

The moral of this story? Be careful when advertising real estate services. There are rules and regulations, that even if we’re unaware of, they can come and nip you in the (proverbial) derrière.

Stuck between rain and construction.

Photo by Deya Bautista.

I don’ usually write posts about the traffic, but in this particular day (today) it seems that anywhere you go, there is always some kind of construction on the streets and sidewalk that makes traffic unbearable.

The city has countless of renovation sites, just a couple of blocks away from one another. Roads are being blocked, detours signs are everywhere. And with that: traffic, frustration and more delays. Green lights takes forever to appear, and by the time you get close to the intersection, it has already turned red. Again.

If your job takes you on the road often, like mine does, we must not forget to pack up a little extra patience before we get into our cars. And today, apart from patience, we need an umbrella and warm clothes. We’re getting close to the official Summer Day, yet it doesn’t feel like it.

BIXI: The Bike Sharing System Now in Montreal

It’s hard not to notice the new bike system if you live downtown. They are everywhere! So far we’ve seen them in Rosemont, Plateau, Villeray, Downtown and Old Montreal.

I haven’t really figured out the payment options from the on-site screen, even after I stopped (a few times) to read the options/payments, terms and conditions before deciding whether I want to take a bike ride or not. The whole thing can be quite confusing, and I wished they worded the instructions in a simpler manner.

It was only after I visited their website that I was informed of their different fees and options. Yearly and monthly fees, as well as “pay as you use”, which seems pretty fair as rates. Considering the fact that they will implementing more bike stations nearly in every corner of the Metropolitan area, it saves you in parking costs, gas, etc. For those who wanted to buy a bike for the summer, now you can just rent it for the days you need it. No worries about storage space and/or people stealing your bike. We all know that happens a lot in this city. Which makes me wonder: How long do you think it will be before these bikes begin to *miraculously* disappear?

And before I forget: There is already an iPhone application for BIXI mapping. I found their business card taped to the payment stations. Here is the link.

Other blog entries on bixi:

Have you tried Bixi yet? – Spacing Montreal

BIXI Montreal: Canada’s first public bike system -Rabih Dagher

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