Luxury Address, Lowlife Clientele?

Heritage du Vieux-Port

The Toronto Star has a fascinating story today about the seamier side of one of Old Montreal's most exclusive luxury property's,  Le Heritage du Vieux-Port.

I don't know how long the link will be good so here's the gist of the story:

Hockey players and wealthy socialites call the Heritage du Vieux Port home.

Longer than a football field and crowned by four five-storey rooftop villas, it offers what the glossy sales brochure describes as “your private chateau in the city.”

But police also describe it as a virtually impregnable “bunker” for a handful of bikers, Mafia associates and other alleged organized crime figures who over the years found comfort and isolation behind the walls of the massive structure that once served as a refrigerated warehouse near the port.

How's that for a morning read?

The report goes on to enumerate at least 20 people with criminal records or ties to Montreal's underworld who have owned or lived in the 200-unit property in the last decade.

A Sûreté du Québec investigator told reporter Julian Sher of having carried out four search warrants on homes in the building and knew of a dozen more having been carried out since 1998.

True confession time. I was The Gazette's real estate reporter in 1999 when Toni Magi and his brothers announced their plan to redevelop a massive refrigerated warehouse on the edge of Montreal's Old Port.

No one had ever heard of the Magi brothers - I think remember there being four of them - at that point. In later years, Toni Magi evinced an amazing affinity for surviving being shot at. It got his name in the papers quite a lot.

I do remember the launch was held on a beautiful fall day, aboard a gleaming boat that cruised the harbour. Mayor Pierre Bourque, smiling and vacant, was in attendance.  There were hors d'oeuvres and light classical music. It was the splashiest PR event announcing the launch of new condo. (They usually involved visiting an unheated Dickie Moore trailer to pick up a sales kit and meet a sales agent who was chilled to the bone.)

The Magis couldn't bring the project to completion and ended losing it to TRAMS Property  Management, a large real-estate development and managemnt firm that does a lot of work in the U.S.. 

Radio-Canada's investigative news show, Enquete, will have a report on the dubious doings at one of Montreal's most luxurious addresses tonight. I, for one, intend to tune in.

In the meantime, if anyone is in the market for a luxury apartment in a bunker-like chateau on the edge of Old Montreal, give me a call. Prices start at about $2,500 for a rental and climb to $4.45 million for a penthouse.

After tonight, those prices might be negotiable.

What Were They Thinking?

Master bedroom of a $500,000 duplex currently for sale in Montreal. Wanna smoke crack?

New Listing in LaSalle 8997-8999 Godbout

Amy Barratt and I have just listed an impeccable 1965 duplex at 8997-8999 Godbout in LaSalle. The property has been inhabited by the same owners since the year of construction and has been carefully maintained.

It consists of two three-bedroom dwellings. The ground floor has a finished basement with powder room, laundry room and workshop, as well as a two-car, tandem garage. The ground floor is available for immediate occupancy.

The upper is rented for $800 a month, heated. It has washer and dryer in the bathroom.

Both units are heated by a single oil-burning furnace, with hot-water (radiator) heating systems that are independent of one another. The ground floor also has a wall-mounted A/C.

What I love about this property is that the original style has been lovingly preserved. The kitchen is straight out of an episode of the Brady Bunch, I'm pretty sure. Love the real wood-grain cabinets. Love the copper drawer pulls. Love the etched glass panels with geese in full flight.

.(Love the wallpaper a little less, but that is a cosmetic trifle.)

This property has gleaming, unsullied oak floors throughout the main level. The basement has wall-to-wall carpets which are being steam cleaned as I write.

The roof was installed in 2004 and is still under guarantee. The front and rear balcony railings, stairs and flashings were redone in aluminum within the last decade. Ditto the fibreglass balcony decks.

The thermopane windows date from 1992. The hot water tanks were replaced in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The oil tank was replaced in 1999.

The living room is large and quite bright, thanks to the southwestern exposure that provides lots of afternoon sunlight through a big picture window. Fabulous for entertaining.

The bedrooms are well proportioned with good closet space and big windows.

The bathroom is fully functional if a little retro with its pink wall tile, pink and white shower tiles and pink marble-effect arborite vanity. It has a large closet and could easily be remodeled for the washer and dryer. Again, a trifle to change.

The lot is also larger than average for the neighborhood, measuring 388 square metres or 4180 square feet. 

Asking price is $453,000, which is a very competitive price for the area. 

Give me a call to schedule a visit. Mary Lamey (514) 978-6522 or Amy Barratt (514) 718-6522

Ventura County Market Trends for 2013

Ventura County Market Analysis


Our Ventura County Market is marching in a very new direction for 2013. Last year we saw home prices beginning to edge up and home inventories dry up. Concerns about the world- wide economy, our national economy, the presidential election, the “Fiscal Cliff” and even the end of the world Mayan Calendar have had everyone second guessing our local real estate market.

Apparently our world did not end and people are still buying and selling real estate. Who knew Mayans could be such practical jokers?

Prices are still low but they are moving upwards at what I predict will be an accelerating pace. There has been data analysis of our market by San Diego based “DataQuick” which stated the median county home prices rose by about 7.5% last year and roughly 16.7% in Los Angeles. The median home sale price in Ventura County rose from $335,000 to $360,000. (See Ventura County Star – 11/14/2012)

One of the interesting sidelights of this new market is that more expensive homes appear to be selling again as well. In Ventura County, 55 homes sold for more than $800,000 in the month of October – up 52.6 % from a year ago!

In January of 2012, we had 421 homes for sale in Oxnard and Port Hueneme. By December of 2012 we had 122 homes on the market! In Camarillo, we went from 198 homes to 71 homes on the market for the same time frame. We simply do not have enough homes for sale to meet local demand anymore. With demand high and supply low there can be only one outcome. Higher prices.

Frankly, the market in many ways resembles the market we had in 2002 – 2007. Any single family detached home in reasonable condition for under $400,000 has frequently been the target of multiple offers, bidding wars and sale prices exceeding listing prices. Once again, cash is king, since appraisals frequently come in low for these homes. That is a typical indicator of a market with significant price increases.

Buyers must make up the difference between sale price and appraisal with cash. Often, first time home buyers must stretch to reach the list price, so trying to find an additional $5,000 or $10,000 to close the deal is difficult. Investors typically are not affected since they usually pay cash regardless of any appraisal. They may not even order an appraisal. Investor groups are very popular for this reason. They simply roll over and crush any loan financed competition.

So what’s next? I predict home prices will continue upwards and trigger the renewed building of new home developments. Certainly, more folks will decide to list their homes as prices begin achieving the levels where they are no longer upside down on their loans. Some of these folks will finally be able to refinance out of their arm loans and into today’s market interest rates. A great deal of financial pain will be relieved for these home owners, allowing them to use their earnings for a broader range of consumer products and services.

As more people list their homes, the upward pressure on home prices may moderate from present levels as supply begins to catch up with demand. I think prices will continue upwards in the double digits from this year for at least the next several years before we see prices slow again. There is just too much pent up demand.

Short sales and foreclosures will be with us for at least a few more years but the number of these sales is a much smaller portion of total sales today than just 2 years ago when over 60% of all our sales were distressed sales. I believe they make up less than half of that number today, but I don’t have any hard data on them.

Short sales have one year left as an advantaged viable option for home sellers. Congress did renew the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act for one more year. We are hoping that the State of California will do the same. (Additional conditions apply) This allows a homeowner to short sale their home, pay no commission for the sale of their home, ( the mortgage holding bank pays ) and no taxes on their capital gains mortgage debt. Personally, with rising home prices, I don’t expect to see this relief extended past this year.

Finally, interest rates may begin to see more upward movement before the end of 2013. As our economy continues to improve and more homes are built, I believe we will begin to see the beginnings of inflationary pressures on our local, and nationwide economies. That may signal the start of a more definitive increase in interest rates. I’m not an economist, but we have had several years of historically low interest rates and our market has responded. The Fed will soon have no reason to artificially hold rates down.

Competition for nicer homes will remain intense this year so buyers must have patience, be pre-approved and have the ability to make home buying decisions quickly. Putting off a home purchase for an extended time will probably be a costly decision.

For home sellers, the market is headed your way. Most folks should see prices high enough to list again in a much shorter period of time than they may have thought possible. Just remember if you delay in selling your home, the purchase of an equivalent home may cost more as well. Conversely, listing homes at wildly inflated prices may still cause them to sit while replacement homes increase in price. Neighborhood sold trends still are the best indicators of sales success when pricing your home.

We are in a time of transition now. I believe prices and interest rates will continue upwards this year and probably more quickly than most people expect. Home inventory will remain tight for most of this year until prices allow homeowners to refinance or list at a profit again. Home prices fell a long way over the last 5 or 6 years so this may take some time.





Mark Thorngren

Movewest Realty, Inc.



For more information you are welcome to visit http://realtytimes.com/REUv/MarkThorngren , or the blog tab of my website at www.markthorngren.com