Montreal City Weblog

Kate 16:45 on 2022-02-18 Permalink Reply  

• Ian 21:05 on 2022-02-18 Permalink

  I’d love to see this mythical $932 apartment in Montreal… I know centreville is inflated but even out in the far west and far east these seem like strangely low prices…

• dhomas 21:40 on 2022-02-18 Permalink

  My 5 & 1/2 (3 bedroom) is rented for 1000$, next to Radisson metro. When I was looking to buy a house, there were a bunch of places I had to pass on because the owners had paid off their mortgages years ago and so never bothered to raise the rent. 600$/month might be fine for someone who has no mortgage, since it’s all gravy. But when they were asking $650k for their duplex, that rent won’t put a dent in the mortgage. My parents are some of those landlords who never raise the rent “because they’re good tenants”. They rent a 4 & 1/2 for about 500$/month toa tenant who has lived there longer than they’ve owned the house. All those “historical” rents likely drive down the average price.

• DeWolf 18:23 on 2022-02-19 Permalink

  Yes, exactly. I have friends who pay a little over $900 for a big 7 1/2 in a relatively central location. If they moved and weren’t able to transfer the lease, it would be renting for at least $2000.

• dhomas 22:57 on 2022-02-20 Permalink

  Here’s the thing, though. If/when my current tenant moves out, I will have to raise the rent to match the market rates. I didn’t last time and I ended up with a shitty tenant who in the span of 4 years wrecked my freshly renovated apartment and caused me $20k in water damage to my house (the unit I live in). Not to mention he’s rude (mysoginistic) to my wife, always pays the rent about a week late, and makes lots of noise in the middle of the night.
  If I charge the “cheap” rent that I’ve always charged for my unit and the apartment buildings not too far away charge the same amount, I’ll attract the same clientele as those slummy apartments. Someone considering those cheaper apartments would gladly take my upper triplex apartment for the same monthly fee. In order to attract a better renter, I need to charge more for rent. It’s unfortunate that it has to go down this way, but I need to think of my family and their quality of life. I’ve learned my lesson.

• j2 23:32 on 2022-02-20 Permalink

  Meh, I and separately my partner have fantastically cheap rents and we’re not assholes. The people who moved in upstairs from her place are paying more since it was renovated and ARE assholes (noise, overflowing bathrooms, parties during lockdowns, smoking weed indoors and on balconies in a no-weed building, etc etc etc).

  Oh, it seems to me late rent is one of the few things that can (eventually) get people evicted, no?