December 2016

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24 Dec

Montreal's Best Restaurants of 2016 By Lesley Chesterman for the Montreal Gazette With rising interest rates in both the U.S. & Canada and much uncertainty in the world on the political front, this holiday season is a good time to turn to one of my favorite topics, "food", When it comes to food, Montreal is certainly one of the best cities! I fear it's no longer a well kept secret, in fact the word is out! There are so many delicious tastes and places to discover and savor, spread out throughout our many neighborhoods. What's really special is the local neighborhood fare...

01:44 / Montreal Real Estate
16 Dec

More Downtown Condos In Montreal? Do We Really Need More Downtown Condos In Montreal? Last night, it was announced in Montreal, that the land and building for the old Montreal Children's Hospital would now be revitalized as a development project for new condos, green spaces and affordable housing. With an over abundance of small condos for sale, we don't need any more 700 - 800 square foot units in the downtown region. There is an interest to attract more families to live downtown which is fantastic. But, in order to do so, developers need to construct townhouse type of condos that...

21:05 / Montreal Real Estate
14 Dec

Condo Buyers Should Beware Of New Inspection Rules Today's Press Review from the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board is a nice complilation of interesting articles. One in particular is an article by the Montreal Gazette "Condo Buyers Should Beware of New Inspection Rules", what you need to know. 14/12/2016 Condo buyers should beware new inspection rules Condo inspection alert: Before purchasing a condo, potential buyers should find out if the building is subject to inspection under 2015 amendments to the Quebec building act, the CMHC advises. CMHC estimates about 1,400 condo and rental buildings in the Montreal area are subject to the regulations that...

22:08 / Montreal Real Estate
13 Dec

Time For Music! As the holidays approach and things start to wind down, I thought I'd share a music stream that a friend shared with me this evening. Did you know that this year, Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same night. Does anyone know when this last happened...

04:16 / Montreal Real Estate
12 Dec

Canadian Homeownership For today's blogpost, I'd like to share with you the press review from the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board. The review consists of a few interesting articles about Canadian homeownership and real estate. 12/12/2016 The doomsday scenario: Why you’re more tied to real estate than you think and what you can do about it Canadian real estate prices only have three main directions they can go: Up, flat or down. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, this article is about what happens if they go down. It is not a prediction, but just trying to paint a picture...

18:58 / Montreal Real Estate
11 Dec

Montreal's Eater Awards for 2016 is out! This year there are two sets of selections for each category. One set was determined by the Eater Awards editorial team, the other, the people's or reader's choice vote. I really like the way they chose to do the awards this year, it's refreshing to have the people get their say and vote! What I also like about the article below, is the visual presentation of how the voting panned out in the final selection. The awards feature the picks for best restaurant, chef, design, bar or wine program of the year, and cheap and casual....

23:32 / Uncategorized
10 Dec

Featured headline photo by Jeremy Thomas Montreal Holidays 2016 Staycation If you'll be here in Montreal over the 2016 holidays, don't fret as there are tons of things to do for under $50, according to Montreal Blog's article "16 Montreal Things You Absolutely Must Treat Yourself To For Under $50 this winter" From spas, to Igloofest, skating and good eats, there's lots of choice and fun for everyone! Some other Montreal spots you might also want check out during your staycation are: Next Door Pub & Grill -  https://www.mtlblog.com/photos/a-night-out-in-ndg-at-the-next-door-pub/ Kampai gardens by Antonio Park - https://tastet.ca/2016/11/24/kampai-garden-montreal-shaughnessy/ Fitzroy -  cool vibe, billiard tables and dancing - https://www.montreal.tv/2014/10/fitzroy-remplace-le-boul-noir-sur-mont-royal/ Imadake -...

03:24 / Uncategorized
29 Nov

Ten Emerging Trends In Real Estate 2017 Ten emerging trends in real estate 2017, features a great article by Curbed, giving us a picture of the U.S. economic growth and  real estate returns. Despite all the recent political uncertainty with Brexit and the U.S. election results, the United States still seems to be a safe haven for investment. "According to the Urban Land Institute’s annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate Report, which was just released this morning at their annual meeting in Dallas, real estate in the United States shows a more favorable outlook than much of the rest of the...

20:26 / Uncategorized
26 Nov

Urban Farming And Emerging Real Estate Trends The truth is real estate became super interesting for me when I realized that it crossed over into my passion for good, natural food! I always said my heart was through my stomache and it still holds true today. Years ago, at the start of the major push to build endless condos, I had the crazy idea of integrating small urban gardens on rooftops. Well why not I thought, we put pools, gyms and sometimes skylights on roofs. Why couldn't we have our own herb gardens, how wonderful would it be to go up...

06:27 / Uncategorized
25 Nov

5 Things Changing Canadian Real Estate Canadian real estate was once something well understood.  Since the unexpected results of the U.S. election results the Canadian real estate market has followed suit. Mortgage rates are on the rise, with RBC Bank, being one of the first to implement the rate increase New mortgage rules  The Canadian government has imposed tighter mortgage rules trying to ensure that Canadians can afford their mortgages.  An overheated Vancouver market was cooled by the new 15% tax imposed on foreign buyers as well as a 1% tax added to properties left vacant for more than six months ...

05:16 / Montreal Real Estate