City Offering $136 million in Subsidies and Incentives to Keep Homebuyers on the Island

The city of Montreal has quietly renewed a program to encourage tenants and families to buy and stay on the island. The on-again, off-again home ownership program received a $136-million cash injection with little fanfare in April. As in years past, the city will take applications for up to  three years, or until the cash runs out.

The cash tends to run out well before the three years are up.

Still, not a bad program if you fit the various criteria. For new homes, the incentives are on a sliding scale, depending on whether you are a single buyer, a couple without children or a household with children. The lump sum incentives range from $4,500 to $12,000 . Households with kids can also get a refund of the hated welcome tax.

Not bad! The program gets complicated when you look at the types of properties that are eligible. For single buyers, the maximum budget is $200,000, for a couple $250,000. If you're buying for a family, the budget can go as high at $360,000, but to qualify for the highest amount you must buy a three-bedroom unit.

The program will also refund the welcome tax on the purchase of a resale duplex or triplex, providing the purchase price is not more than $450.000 and $490.000 respectively.

Households with kids can also get six months of free public transit with the purchase of a one-year Opus card. It is not clear from the brochure whether this means a total of 18 months of public transit for the price of 12 or 12 months for the price of six.

As with any program, there's lots of small print. Still, worth looking into if it can save you several thousand dollars, right?

Here's the website, en anglais et en francais .

You can also download the brochure on the site.

Plateau Duplex, Ready for Its 2nd Act. $387,000

UPDATE  We sold this duplex in less than a week for four per cent over the asking price. (You do the math.) Our vendor is delighted.


 Amy Barratt and I are about to list a duplex on Hotel de Ville Ave. just south of St. Josph Blvd. The property consists of a two-bedroom apartment that occupies the ground floor and second floor of the building. The third storey is a one-bedroom apartment.

The entire building will be available to the buyer.

The asking price is $387,000, which corresponds to the building's municipal evaluation. At that price, you understand that this is a building that requires some renovation, including a new roof, wiring, plumbing and probably interior finishes.

The current owner has had it for 15 years and has happily inhabited the third floor while renting out the larger apartment to tenants.

This building occupies more than 90 per cent of its lot. There is no yard of any kind.

This would be a kick-ass project for someone wanting to create a three-storey townhouse with a roof terrasse. It could also be reconverted into three-smaller apartments. If you've got the skills and the time or the money and the vision, there's no limit to what you might be able to do.

Give me a call at (514) 978-6522 to find out more or to book a visit.

The property will be listed on the MLS just as soon as I can data enter all the information. Probably tomorrow or Thursday, March 7, latest.

Exterior view. The property is the left side of these twin buildings.

View from the third-floor balcony.

Street view.

View of the corner of Hotel de Ville and St. Joseph.