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Do you know that Westmount is recognized as historically significant for its opulent Victorian architecture and landscape heritage? Westmount got its characteristic styles and trends in architecture and landscape from the period between 1890 and 1930. The members of the municipality were keen to protect and preserve the features of their built environment and the harmonious integration of both its buildings and its good urban planning. Westmount is a gem in the greater metropolitan which is Montreal. Stay tuned for more about Westmount & other urban communities in the coming weeks.
September 15th, 2011
Get more energy efficient! Federal retrofit program has been renewed!
Posted by Joan McGuiganThe federal government renewed the EcoEnergy Retrofit program for the next seven months – until March 31, 2012, homeowners can get grants of up to $5000 to make their homes more energy efficient. Make home improvements that increase energy efficiency and lower energy costs your priority! The grant can be used for anything from improved insulation to energy- efficient appliances to toilets that use less water – as long as the expense will reduce energy consumption. First, register with the program and book a pr e-retrofit evaluation (before you do any renovation). An auditor will come to your home and give you a guide as to the types of improvements to make for a more energy efficient home. Once the work is complete, you book a post-retrofit evaluation where the auditor will assess the work. You will need to produce receipts for the work and materials. Participants in the program have seen their consumption go down more than 20 per cent. The program ends at the end of March so get started!
September 9th, 2011
Mauvaise presse contre les courtiers immobiliers dans Protégez-Vous ?
Posted by Joan McGuigan
Réseau des courtiers immobiliers indépendants du Québec
St-Hubert, 6 septembre 2011
À la lecture du reportage dans le numéro septembre 2011 du magazine Protégez-vous sur la pertinence de vendre une propriété avec ou sans courtier, le Président Fondateur du Réseau des courtiers immobiliers indépendants du Québec (RCIIQ) remet certaines informations en perspectives en rappelant l’importance de sécuriser l’une des plus importantes transactions effectuées dans la vie d’un individu.
Vendre ou acheter avec ou sans courtier immobilier?
Les courtiers protègent les consommateurs, tant les acheteurs que les vendeurs
Depuis le début des années 2000, l’immobilier a connu une grande effervescence. Le marché a grandement souri aux vendeurs qui ont vu leur propriété doubler de valeur et parfois même davantage. Les acheteurs ont eu, quant à eux, la vie moins facile, devant parfois surenchérir leur offre pour obtenir la propriété de leur rêve… Durant la même période, le nombre de courtiers immobiliers au Québec a bondi d’un peu plus de 10 000 à près de 20 000, un sommet inégalé alors que le nombre de transactions, lui, n’a pas connu la même hausse vertigineuse.
Toujours pendant cette même période, on a vu poindre de nombreuses formules de rémunération des courtiers immobiliers pour s’adapter au marché bouleversé par l’Internet, la concurrence entre courtiers plus nombreux et la présence de nouveaux joueurs. Ces éléments sont venus confirmer un fait indéniable : il n’y a aucune loi qui établit le taux de commission des courtiers à 7 %, 6 %, ni même 2 %. Cette affirmation a été corroborée par le directeur général de l’OACIQ (Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec).
Il serait temps de préciser et de répéter qu’il existe présentement sur le marché québécois, autant de formules de rémunération qu’il y a d’agences de courtage immobilier et de courtiers. Car chacun y va de ses propres adaptations de formules, que ce soit à commission, à forfait, à la carte ou autre… ce qui correspond parfaitement aux demandes du Bureau de la concurrence, soit dit en passant.
Une expertise pertinente
Dès lors, la question de vendre sa propriété avec ou sans courtier doit être placée dans sa juste perspective. Il serait dommage d’induire les consommateurs en erreur ou de les aiguillonner sur des pistes qui pourraient s’avérer hasardeuses pour l’avenir de leur patrimoine familial. Tout le monde peut comprendre que de nouveaux joueurs aient tout intérêt, commercialement parlant, à véhiculer que les services des courtiers immobiliers coûtent cher, en insistant sur le taux de commission élevé par exemple, ou en rabaissant la nature et la qualité des services offerts par ces professionnels du courtage immobilier.
Les faits démontrent toutefois le contraire. Les répondants du sondage du site Web de Protégez-vous provenant à 95 % de la clientèle de la firme DuProprio (est-ce un hasard?), le démontrent fort bien. Vendre sa propriété soi-même exige du temps, des énergies, des connaissances, des aptitudes à la négociation, de la disponibilité et une bonne réserve de sang-froid. Certains y ont consacré 90 heures, parfois bien davantage, quelquefois, un peu moins. Quoi qu’il en soit, cette démarche ne sied pas à tout le monde et comporte des risques qu’il ne faut pas occulter sous le seul prétexte de ne pas vouloir payer une commission qui n’a pas de taux fixe.
Phénomène culturel
En parallèle, il est intéressant de souligner que le phénomène « vendre sa propriété soi-même » est un pur trait culturel québécois francophone. Il a très peu d’emprise dans les secteurs anglophones du Québec, ni dans le reste du Canada ou de l’Amérique du Nord. Il faut se rappeler que l’accès à la propriété des Québécois francophones ne remonte pas loin dans le temps.
Perçu bien davantage comme un geste de réussite sociale plutôt qu’un investissement, comme le voient les anglophones, il y a une grande part d’attachement émotif dans la vente d’une propriété. Ainsi, les propriétaires francophones estiment qu’ils sont les meilleures personnes pour faire valoir les atouts de leur demeure alors que les propriétaires anglophones préfèrent recourir à des spécialistes pour protéger leur investissement.
La distinction est importante et se reflète dans les statistiques. Alors qu’à peine 10 % du marché de toutes les transactions immobilières effectuées au Canada et aux États-Unis le sont par les propriétaires, ce chiffre gonfle à 45 % au Québec. On saisit mieux la vive compétition qui sévit entre les courtiers immobiliers qui se disputent les 55 % restants.
Un service professionnel gratuit pour les acheteurs
Compte tenu de l’augmentation de la valeur des maisons au Québec où même pour une maison secondaire, il n’est pas rare de débourser plus de 200 000 $, il est essentiel de prendre les précautions qui s’imposent. Quel est l’intérêt pour l’acheteur de ne pas recourir aux services gratuits d’un courtier immobilier?
Faut-il rappeler que la base du courtage immobilier structuré au Québec remonte aux années 1950. Les artisans ont alors établi des principes de base. L’un d’entre eux, qui n’a jamais été remis en question depuis, est d’offrir gratuitement aux consommateurs acheteurs, leurs services.
Dans ce contexte, l’acheteur n’a jamais eu intérêt à transiger directement avec le vendeur, à l’exception peut-être des spéculateurs cherchant la proie facile. Pourquoi en effet se priverait-il d’un expert qui connaît toutes les fluctuations du marché du secteur et tous les rouages d’une transaction? Pourquoi ignorer un professionnel qui, gratuitement, peut rechercher le type de propriété visé, trouver des comparables, coordonner les visites, négocier, etc.? De nos jours, quel organisme, gouvernement ou spécialiste en consommation pourrait encourager les consommateurs à se priver de protection lors d’une transaction qui a une incidence majeure sur la richesse du patrimoine familial?
Transaction protégée avec un courtier
En effet, il faut rappeler que les acheteurs recourant aux services gratuits d’un courtier immobilier profitent de la protection professionnelle de ce même courtier et ont droit au Fonds d’indemnisation. On comprend mieux pourquoi des milliers de consommateurs ont utilisé et utilisent les services d’un courtier immobilier.
De plus, la présence d’un courtier immobilier à côté de l’acheteur, dans une transaction où le propriétaire vend par lui-même, a le mérite de sécuriser la transaction pour les deux parties. Le devoir du courtier immobilier selon les règles et la Loi , l’oblige à protéger les deux parties tout en offrant les mêmes garanties. Seuls les courtiers immobiliers détenant un permis, peuvent apporter cette « protection » aux consommateurs, lors d’une transaction.
Aujourd’hui, le consommateur a plus que jamais un bon rapport de force. Il a accès aux informations grâce à l’Internet, à des professionnels encadrés par les exigences plus sévères de la nouvelle Loi et à des garanties. Il a également tout le loisir de choisir et de négocier le mode de rémunération et la formule de services désirés.
En tenant compte du fait incontesté que l’achat d’une propriété est généralement le plus important investissement effectué par un individu, la véritable question devrait être : ai-je les moyens de me priver d’une expertise et de garanties professionnelles en effectuant l’une des plus importantes transactions pour moi et ma famille?
Vous voulez réagir à cet article ?
Yvon Poirier
Président Fondateur du RCIIQ
Réseau des courtiers immobiliers indépendants du Québec
Lien vers le dossier de Protégez-vous :
Le RCIIQ est le seul organisme qui défend les intérêts des courtiers immobiliers indépendants. Soulignons que 37 % de tous les courtiers immobiliers ayant le droit d’exercer au Québec sont des courtiers immobiliers indépendants (quelque 1 000 agences immobilières regroupant environ 6 000 courtiers). Ils œuvrent partout au Québec dans toutes les sphères d’activité (résidentiel, commercial, industriel, agricole, location, etc.).
August 10th, 2011
Article rank
10 Aug 2011
The Gazette
alampert@montrealgazette.com www.twitter.com/realdealmtl
Quebec housing slips on thin condo demand
Posted by Joan McGuiganNew residential construction activity waned in Quebec last month, even as national housing starts rose more than expected in July, fuelled by appetites for new condos in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
Quebec urban housing starts dropped 7.8 per cent in July, compared to the same period in 2010, because of declining demand for single detached homes and condos, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday.
“Housing demand in Quebec continues to shift toward housing types such as semidetached and row homes,” noted Francis Cortellino, senior market analyst at CMHC.
In Montreal, new condo starts dropped 14 per cent between July 2010 – when multiresidential construction was unusually high – and last month.
“There’s a drop but it’s still a very active market,” said David L’heureux, senior market analyst at CMHC.
“A large number of projects were still started.”
Nationally, CMHC said the annual rate of housing starts on a seasonally adjusted basis was 205,100 in July, up 4.3 per cent from June. That beat the median forecast of 194,500 provided by economists polled by Bloomberg.
David Onyett-jeffries, economist with rbc economics Research, said the surge in housing starts was driven at least partially by people wanting to take advantage of low interest rates before the Bank of Canada decides to hike its benchmark rate.
“We are, however, not assuming that this advancing of activity will continue going forward as we view starts currently at levels well above that warranted by the underlying fundamentals,” he said in a research note.
HOUSING Building to moderate
“As a result, we expect home building to moderate toward the more stable and sustainable pace of around 180,000 annualized units through the remainder of this year and into 2012,” Onyett-Jeffries added.
SHAUN BEST REUTERS Housing construction, already moderating in Quebec, is expected to do so across the country in coming months. In June, there were 1,265 empty condo units in Montreal. About 650 are filled each month.
Indeed, the trend toward more moderate levels of activity in Quebec is expected to spread nationally.
In Toronto, housing starts rose 13 per cent last month.
“Condo starts this year have already exceeded the total for all of 2010,” said Shaun Hildebrand, CMHC’s senior market analyst for the GTA.
And in British Columbia, starts rose 33 per cent, year over year, largely because of new condo construction, even as sales in Vancouver’s blistering resale market slumped 21 per cent between June and July.
Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist at CMHC’s market analysis centre, said he isn’t worried about units eventually sitting empty in Toronto and Vancouver, as the new construction market tends to lag by housing resales.
Laberge says he’s expecting new construction to moderate “during the second half of 2011” in Canada’s hottest real estate markets.
“There is no fear of over-construction,” he said.
Indeed, as of June, the absorption rate – an indicator of how long it takes for a new home to be purchased or rented when completed – remained stable in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, the CMHC said.
While numbers for July are not yet available, 1,265 Montreal-area condos were empty in June, with around 650 units being filled each month, L’Heureux said.
L’Heureux couldn’t say whether developers were having to significantly drop their prices to sell these remaining units.
August 1st, 2011
Window on the Market
Posted by Joan McGuiganThe electronic Newsletter of The QFREB’s Market Analysis fo July 2011
August 1st, 2011
Video on youtube
Posted by Joan McGuiganplease follow the link to discover our Condo -Monkland Village
July 21st, 2011
Trashy British tabs historically a breed apart
Posted by Joan McGuiganIconfess, though I know the News of the World scandal is occurring within my business, I watch it unfold as I might also read about cannibalism in a far-flung corner of the planet – it’s interesting as hell, as the repellent often is, but has nothing to do with me, what I do for a living or newspapers as I know and love them.
It was in the early 1970s that I first went to England.
I was still new to the business and went with a girlfriend who was also a rookie hack, both of us having been inculcated in the lore of Fleet Street.
Her parents had settled near Blackpool before emigrating to Canada, so we duly went there to see the illuminations, and better, watch the poor Brits on their annual holidays and who felt compelled to go swimming, pale flesh covered in goose bumps, despite the miserable weather, and who sat about on the cold beach, swaddled in towels and eating prawns out of paper cups.
In all sorts of ways, the scales from our eyes fell away pretty quickly.
What was supposed to be a trip by train turned into a hitchhiking adventure when, on our first night out in a club, we were pickpocketed by a couple of charmers whose lovely accents had rendered us careless (a weakness which in my case remains); we went fell-walking in the Lake District and carried so much food with us that we were frequently passed by the infirm, aged and disabled, and we actually read some of the newspapers we’d heard so much about.
They were pretty much trash even then – the Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Express (it was still a broadsheet I think), NOTW, the Daily Star, and probably more I blessedly forget. Perhaps, back then, these papers also produced good traditional journalism, but I have no recollection of it, or perhaps lacked the will to work through the crap to get to it.
I should say I’m no tabloid snob. No one who worked for and loved the Toronto Sun could ever say that, and I did for many years.
The Sun relied in those days (and still largely does) upon the traditional tab recipe for success – sports, hard news with an emphasis on crime, pretty girls, columnists, snappy headlines – but its collective reporting was as solid as any and better than some.
Reporters gathered the information and had to have sources. Editors usually asked who they were. (There was a notorious case at the Sun, years ago, when this didn’t happen, to the later chagrin of those involved and at a sizable cost to the company.) Notebooks, and in later years, transcripts of taped interviews, would be produced upon request.
In other words, the usual imperfect array of checks and balances – copy editors and on tricky pieces, lawyers, and an internal sea of eyes looking at the copy – worked imperfectly, but pretty well.
Except for the physical format and its political leanings, the Sun was indistinguishable from the then-good, grey Globe and Mail or the then-stolid and earnest Toronto Star.
Now I am no historian, but tabs always seemed different in the U.K., and those which were merely bad when I first read them grew worse, their development perhaps fusing with the advent of full-blown celebrity culture.
More likely, they led the charge as an offshoot of their and their readers’ royals obsession.
NOTW was typical – a steady diet of pain caused, reports of affairs, absurd royals stories (the latest, is Kate too thin and pregnant both?), celebs caught with drugs, other people’s spouses, or otherwise behaving badly.
In that milieu, intensely competitive, it was always improbable that the phone-hacking scandal now rocking the country was ever the work of a rogue reporter or two, as was first claimed. Much more likely was that a great whack of editors weren’t asking their reporters the standard questions (Who is your source? How did you get this?) or that they didn’t need to ask because they already knew.
Either way, phone hacking, blagging (pretending to be someone else), surveillance, the use of private investigators and paying for stories and tips – these aren’t usual or approved practices at newspapers in this country.
What is equally serious, and becoming more apparent by the hour, is how extensive and cosy were the relationships NOTW staff and management forged with police (Scotland Yard’s Nos. 1 and 2 have resigned) and the political establishment. How this awful rag ever came to wield such enormous influence is bewildering.
Seems to me virtually everyone in power knew or ought to have known how it all worked, including the staff at NOTW, some of whom are now bleating about the terrible pressure they were under or how Rebekah Brooks, a former editor and most recently, until her arrest, Rupert Murdoch’s lieutenant, was mean to them.
I’d be stunned if any of this happened at a major Canadian newspaper, not that there aren’t worrisome developments here.
There are, among them a new style of journalism, where the already fallible reporter is at a greater-than-ever remove from his subject, and hires a local – an interpreter, fixer or instant journo handed a video camera – to take the risks not with him, but for him.
That may be a troubling practice (I think it is), but at least it’s not illegal, and is a question for the profession, not the police. Small comfort, but at the moment, in this business, you take it where you find it.
July 21st, 2011
Sale bares province’s
Where are all the Quebec millionaires?
Posted by Joan McGuiganSale bares province’s
‘quiet mediocrity’
As private lakefront properties go, John Hooper’s 17,000-square-foot mansion nestled in the trees of Hudson should have been an easy sell.
GRAND ESTATES AUCTION COMPANY John Hooper sold for $3.4 million in a rare open auction with no minimum bid after he put his estate up for sale three years ago for $6.9 million and received no offer on the home, which has eight bedrooms and sits on 5.4 acres.Eight bedrooms on 5.4 acres of land; two-storey indoor pool and spa; guest house; geothermal heating and cooling; even a charming, if clichéd, secret passage behind a bookcase.
So when the founder of Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc. put the estate up for sale three years ago for $6.9 million, he wasn’t ready for the shock he got. There were no takers.
Some people blame the asking price, saying it was set far too high and wasn’t sufficiently reduced. Others note the location scared away buyers – owning a property off the island of Montreal is frequently a commuting nightmare as traffic congestion rises.
Hooper finally sold his home last week for $3.4 million, resorting to a rare open auction with no minimum bid. The whole ordeal laid bare a naked truth: There simply aren’t a lot of people in Quebec with the means to afford a mansion. In fact, there simply aren’t a lot of people in Quebec with the means to afford half a mansion.
Per capita, there are far fewer rich people in this province than in Ontario. Barely 3.9 per cent of taxpayers earn more than $100,000 a year in Quebec compared with 6.3 per cent in Ontario, according to 2008 revenue department statistics, which are the most recent available. The ranks of the truly moneyed are even thinner.
A hangover of its cultural history and values, today that lack of affluence is also one of the starkest symptoms of a larger problem. Many Quebecers have a deep distrust of wealth and wealthy people. And some of Quebec’s leading business leaders warn that if that doesn’t change, Canada’s second-largest province will slowly slip into what Montreal writer Alain Dubuc calls “quiet mediocrity” – a kind of non-ambitious lethargy that will hurt not only itself but the rest of the country.
“We elevate people who like to keep things small. And we decry companies
that are becoming big.”
YVES-THOMAS DORVAL
July 21st, 2011
Article rank
19 Jul 2011
The Gazette
Rick Spence Growth Curve
If you don’t know, ask a pro
Posted by Joan McGuiganSprouter a Web startup for startups
“If you were learning to play golf, would you want to learn from Tiger Woods or some guy who played in high school?” Sprouter’s website poses to perspective users.
This is the premise of the Canadian startup for startups, a website that features questions from real, information-hungry entrepreneurs answered by a handpicked team of business experts: successful entrepreneurs, A-list investors, and numerous other advisers, including (full disclosure) a certain weekly Canadian entrepreneurship columnist.
Founded two years ago as a general portal for startups by Toronto entrepreneur Sarah Prevette, Sprouter refocused last year on its most popular feature: providing a serious, moderated Q&A forum for entrepreneurs. It now offers its members (registration is free) a rich and robust source of information on all aspects of running a business: from finance and marketing to strategy and business plans. But don’t take my word for it. Read on to see how Sprouter’s insights come in many forms:
Detailed insider knowledge/rules of thumb. How much of your company would you have to give up to raise $250,000 to $500,000 from angel investors? Silicon Valley startup guru Dan Martell has the answer: “Typically if you’re living in Canada, you’ll give up 20% to 30% of your company for that. If you’re in the valley, 15% to 20%.”
Strategic counsel that helps you focus on the big tasks. Toronto product marketing expert April Dunford suggested this strategy to an entrepreneur who has developed a breakthrough product for the shoe industry: “Figure out if there is some way to build a partnership with a company that can bring you to the customers you want to reach. That might be a large retailer, a company that sells to their retailers, or a big brand that has a presence with either the retailers or distributors. I think it would be easier if you could to somehow a more attach established yourself brand Marketing in the market.” tactics from
established pros. When an event planner asked how to drive more traffic to her website, search marketing specialist Ryan Kelly from San Antonio, Tex. offered: “Write compelling content that people want to read, solves their problems, answers their questions. For example, you could write an article like the Top 5 Things That Will Kill Your Event. Don’t feel like you’re giving away any secrets; at the end of the day, people don’t have the time to do what you do, and they will hire Recommended you for it.” resources. In answer to a question about where a startup can go to develop a good website, multiple startup founder Corey Kossack replied: “My favourite easy website builder is squarespace.com.” I suspect that’s many miles of bad road summed up in one sentence.
Local resources you may not know. When someone asked online marketing guru Mitch Joel about raising funds for web-marketing firms in Montreal, Joel suggested the entrepreneur consult Start-Up Montreal for leads, and look into the entrepreneur program from “the good folks at YES — Youth Employment Services.”
Simple-sounding mantras that sum up a whole new way of doing business, founded on hard experience. For example, a Sprouter member asked Saul Colt, a Toronto-based word-ofmouth marketer and consultant (FreshBooks, Zipcar), for his best advice on building a brand. His reply: “Treat your customers better than they expect to be treated by a company, and inject a lot of personality in everything you do. I hate to over simplify it, but that is the secret.”
Off-the-wall ideas you might not trust if it came from a friend. Andrews Patricio of Toronto-based BizLaunch is a master of simple, game-changing tactics. When asked how an aspiring franchisor could convince potential franchisees that it’s a serious and profitable business, he suggested offering a money-back guarantee. When a Vancouver retailer with a hard-to-find store in a busy tourist area asked for help drawing traffic, Patricio replied: “Get somebody to dress up as a rabbit and invite tourists into your store.”
Financial Post
❚ Rick Spence is a writer, consultant and speaker specializing in entrepreneurship. His column appears weekly in the Financial Post. He can be reached at rick@rickspence. ca.
