John Montagu ordered the first-ever sandwich from his butler in 1750, demonstrating that sometimes the greatest results stem from the least amount of effort.
Buying a house at the right time might be the best way to duplicate that same astounding work-to-reward ratio here in Montreal. Here's a few examples of how you could have done it in Montreal.
460 Mount Stephen - 1968 asking price $49,500 - current value $1.5 million.
Montreal five decades back was constantly rocked by terrorist explosions and the jobs had already started marching down the 401 to Toronto.
As a result, this prestigious abode in a posh area of Westmount could be had for $49k, ($350,000 in today's money). So for about $90,000 in today's cash - the bank would provide a mortgage for the rest - you could have scored an asset that grew 30 times to a value of $1.5 million today. If you had taken your $17,000 in 1968 and instead invested it at say, 6% over those 50 years, you'd have a mere $338 ,000 today.
670 Victoria, Westmount, asking price $43,500 - current value $1.5 million
The FLQ October Crisis saw tanks rolling down Montreal city streets, surely doing little to help home prices stay bubbly. This doll of a house near The Boulevard in Westmount could have been snagged with about $11k cash down with the bank picking up the rest in the form of an affordable mortgage. (the asking price was $287k in today's dollars). An absolute steal. You'd be driving a Ferrari, Rolls and helicopter if you had been in the right place and time for this one.
Many remember the era about 25 years ago when Montreal triplexes routinely sold for $90,000. But does anybody recall when you could put one in your pocket for less than one quarter of that price? The PQ's separation referendum of that time surely had an effect on pushing prices downwards.
Buying a house at the right time might be the best way to duplicate that same astounding work-to-reward ratio here in Montreal. Here's a few examples of how you could have done it in Montreal.
Sept 1968
460 Mount Stephen - 1968 asking price $49,500 - current value $1.5 million.
Montreal five decades back was constantly rocked by terrorist explosions and the jobs had already started marching down the 401 to Toronto.
As a result, this prestigious abode in a posh area of Westmount could be had for $49k, ($350,000 in today's money). So for about $90,000 in today's cash - the bank would provide a mortgage for the rest - you could have scored an asset that grew 30 times to a value of $1.5 million today. If you had taken your $17,000 in 1968 and instead invested it at say, 6% over those 50 years, you'd have a mere $338 ,000 today.
November 1970
670 Victoria, Westmount, asking price $43,500 - current value $1.5 million
The FLQ October Crisis saw tanks rolling down Montreal city streets, surely doing little to help home prices stay bubbly. This doll of a house near The Boulevard in Westmount could have been snagged with about $11k cash down with the bank picking up the rest in the form of an affordable mortgage. (the asking price was $287k in today's dollars). An absolute steal. You'd be driving a Ferrari, Rolls and helicopter if you had been in the right place and time for this one.
August 1980
4618 LaSalle Blvd, Verdun - asking $20,000, current value $495,000.Many remember the era about 25 years ago when Montreal triplexes routinely sold for $90,000. But does anybody recall when you could put one in your pocket for less than one quarter of that price? The PQ's separation referendum of that time surely had an effect on pushing prices downwards.
October 1995
4186 Melrose, NDG, asking - 189,000 current value $837,000
Days before the 1995 Quebec referendum nailbiter this and many other Montreal-area homes could be had ultra cheap. Prices remained low for about seven years following but in spite of the great deals many insisted that they'd wait until the next referendum to purchase property.
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Note: House prices plummet when mortgage rates are high. So an inexpensive house could be costlier than it appears when the loan is factored in.
Note: House prices plummet when mortgage rates are high. So an inexpensive house could be costlier than it appears when the loan is factored in.
Home ownership is a well-established racket based on what real estate companies have come to understand about the predictability of human behaviour.
ReplyDeleteExceptions such as sentimentality notwithstanding, the notion that a home owner could benefit "over the long term" makes the assumption that they will remain living in their house for many decades--an exception to the rule where most young home buyers sell at perhaps a small profit once their children have "left the nest" to move out on their own, which is generally long before market conditions would actually increase the property's value to a significant degree. You may very well be in poor health or at least not as physically agile to cash in for the purpose of "living the high life" that you naturally dreamed about when you were younger. Your best years are now behind you and your kids live far away across the country somewhere.
Generations ago, when families would commonly remain in the same location with children even being born in their original house and then themselves later raising their own kids there is uncommon, and it has been since the 1950s.
People now have many more reasons to move away: greater mobility, economic downturns, better job opportunities elsewhere, political uncertainty, deterioration of the neighbourhood over time, and just general fatigue by living in the same spot for too long.
How many people do YOU know who have remained in the same house their parents originally bought--parents who have since either relocated to a retirement home or passed away?
"Hot markets" are created by greedy speculators who treat real estate as if it were a Monopoly game--which, to them, it IS!
I remember those days...
ReplyDeleteStill fairly cheap to rent or buy than other cities...
Yes, if only I could have bought way back when, I wouldn't now have to retire til much later....
When you buy a house, you lose...
ReplyDeleteSee: https://ca.yahoo.com/buy-house-lose-141128997.html
Posted Oct. 14, 2018