About Montreal Area, QC

It is telling that these days the majority of calls I get for Montreal home staging come in the form of home stagers looking for work. I know home staging in Montreal has yet to really kick off. We Montrealers are not at all impressed with, nor do we feel the need to follow, what our fellow citizens in other parts of the country nor the continent are doing. It's part of what makes us unique.

But it's also part of what makes it tough if you're a Montreal home stager looking for work.

I went from being a Montreal home stager to a Montreal real estate broker who stages for my sellers...and I have not regretted the decision for one moment, though during the transition the pocketbook was very lean and my energy reserves completely depleted.

Having just completed my second full year in real estate, however, and having reached my lofty business goals for the year, I humbly offer struggling Montreal home stagers the following suggestions:

1. Get a website and a professional-looking business card.

These are your "credibility" essentials, and you can't go anywhere without them. Make sure you've got loads of befores and afters on your website. If you need some work to get these befores and afters, ask your friends and family if you can transform their spaces for free.

If you're a Canadian Staging Professional (TM) or CSP like me, as part of your training fee and CSP membership, you have pages on the CSP website that you can use as your own personal website. I did this for the first two or three years with great results. The CSP website has truly awesome SEO power for google searches related to "home staging" and "home stagers." This alone is worth the price of the training, truly.

2. Do consultations with real, live results.

When we start out, often our biggest source of business will be in the form of staging consultations for homeowners getting ready to put their home on the market. Sometimes when I'm doing these consultations, there comes a point where I can see the homeowners' eyes glaze over. It's just all too much, and up to this point it's been all talk - good, important talk, but still talk nonetheless.

It is at this point that I roll up my sleeves and say to the homeowners, "How about we transform a room right now?" I get them to help me (if they are physically capable), and together we transform one space such as the master bedroom, the entry or the living room. I declutter, open curtains and blinds, move furniture around to create a better flow, and I rehang art -- and all the while, I am talking to my clients, educating them on why we are doing these things and doing them in this way. They are truly amazed at the end of the process and they end up taking my recommendations for other areas of the house a lot more seriously.

3. Get to know your local real estate agents, and be flexible in your offerings to them.

I got to know many Montreal real estate agents by going to their open houses and making some simple suggestions related to the home, respectfully presented of course, and always out of earshot of potential buyers. Most important, I explained to them why I was making these suggestions in particular.

One agent had taken on a hardship case. I did a hands-on staging for her, using the client's belongings. And then I came back and lent to them a few key pieces from my inventory at no charge. The goodwill this generated was astounding.

I was once hired by a real estate team for four hours: "Tanya, we've got a $400 budget for staging. Go to the house and do what you can please." That was enough for me and an assistant to work for four hours. What an adrenaline rush! And the results were amazing. We went in, sight unseen, and transformed every room using what they had. Both the agents and the homeowners were delighted, and the house sold quickly.

The key is to be open to working in different ways and to working quickly.

4. Build your own inventory.

OK, I know this is hard to do when you're struggling, but you can gain a lot of credibility and a lot of traction with the words, "I have my own inventory of accessories, art, lighting and bedding."

5. Leave your staging perfection at the door.

I know this one will raise some flak, but the fact is that I became a better Montreal home stager after I became a Montreal real estate agent. I just became more realistic and had more experience in terms of what buyers expect...and what they don't really pay much attention to.

Kids' bedrooms, for example? Unless the rooms are extremely small, buyers don't really care if there are 30 stuffed animals on the bed. A home office? Again, unless the space is really small and cluttered, buyers will forgive you the full shelves.

The key is to do your craft justice, but at the same time to do what you can to ensure the homeowners aren't so overwhelmed and find your suggestions so over-the-top that they end up ignoring everything you've said.

Good luck to you. It isn't easy, but when you find what you love and get to make a living at it, it's heaven.

Woodpecking His Way Through NDG, Montreal Without A Care

Walking over to a meeting with my client on Brillon avenue in Notre Dame-de-Grace (NDG) this morning and I hear this knocking noise closeby. I looked up and all around with no luck. Something caught my gaze down near the ground and there was this woodpecker going at it on a rotten tree trunk.

I was amazed how confident this bird was and how large it was. It stood more than a foor tall. I slowly stepped my way closer to him and only when I was 3 feet away did he feel I was too close.

He did not fly away, rather chose to move around the trunk to the backside out of my view. Well, I would have non of that and walked around to the other side. He studied me, likely sizing me up, and decided to walk, slowly, to another part of the trunk to continue his pecking search for food.

NDG has been rejuvenated over the last 15 years and is now one of the more sought out neighbourhoods in Montreal. Access to major highways, to downtown and services makes it a nice place to settle in. I offer a glimpse of real estate activity in my monthly NDG market report and provide more detailed, relevant statistics to my clients looking to buy or sell residential property in Montreal, Quebec. The homes on Brillon avenue are in the Eastern-most part of NDG and referred to as Westmount adjacent being tucked up against one of our most prominent neighbourhoods.

Anyways, It was incredible as it is the first bird who was not bothered by my presence. I guess it takes a large bird more to feel threatened.

A little research on the web and I have learned this was a Pileated Woodpecker, a very large North American woodpecker, almost crow-sized, it is the largest woodpecker in America. Adults are 40 to 49 centimetres (16 to 19 in) long, and weigh 250 to 350 grams (8.8 to 12 oz). They are mainly black with a red crest, and have a white line down the sides of the throat. They show white on the wings in flight. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat, in adult females these are black.

Real estate sales of homes in Westmount have risen this October. Drop by and read the Westmount October market report now posted in the Neighbourhoods category on my new blog site: johnbjoseph.com

Victoria Hall In Westmount Quebec

Westmount Quebec has some of the nicest architectural buildings in Montreal. A nice example is Victoria Hall, located beside Westmount Park on Sherbrooke Street West.

Victoria Jubilee Hall opened in 1899 and was destroyed by fire in 1924. It was originally petitioned by citizens as a community centre. The architect, Robert Findlay designed Victoria Jubilee Hall using the same style and materials as the Westmount Library. After the fire, a second community centre was built in stone in the neo-Tudor style by the architectural firm Hutchison & Wood. Gothic details, a square crenellated tower, the four turrets, the oriel window above the ogival doors and the buttresses of the two wings were done with Sandstone. The centre has a large hall with balcony performance stage. To date, its’ most recent renovation and restoration was performed in 1998 effected by the firm Fournier, Gersovitz & Moss.

Until December 16^th, from 10 AM to 9 PM, at the Victoria Hall Gallery come visit the exhibition of Montreal painter and glass worker Guido Nincheri (1885-1973). The exposition looks at the influences through which the works of art on both canvas and glass were created. Presented in collaboration with the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

I've been working with buyers for a couple of months now, a lovely couple merging two families. I spent many Sunday mornings with them touring Montreal West Island homes for sale, looking at comparables, discussing neighbourhoods vs price vs features.

We had an appointment scheduled on Monday to write up an offer on one particular property, a great home for sale in Beaconsfield, Quebec. It was going to be a great start to my week.

One hour before the appointment, she called, her voice breaking, to say that they would not be coming to the appointment, that they were putting off their home search until next year some time, and that the house in question was definitely out.

I know this happens, but still I was devastated - after all that work, all that energy, all that excitement, all that time away from my own family.

I called her later that afternoon to see how she was doing. She was still in tears.

And that's when I was blessed with perspective. I had lost a deal (and perhaps a surprise Christmas vacation for my family), but these people had lost something much more significant. I don't know whether it was their relationship, or a job, or financial security, but it was enough to bring them to tears and to put their future together on hold. And it was definitely more significant than "a deal."

And with that, I'm off to count my blessings...

Sellers DO NOT Always Pay For The Certificate Of Location

What is a certificate of location?

It is a document, prepared by a land surveyor, consisting of a report and plan on the current situation and state of real property (the lot and all things attached [immovable] to it) with respect to titles, lot and zoning regulations and municipal bylaws.

The certificate of location provides an expert opinion on whether there is a need for any changes because of existing encroachments, illegal views, discrepancies between the measurements taken and those originally deposited with respect to the property, etc.

At best it can take one week to obtain a new certificate of location; however, there can often be a several-week delay, especially during the high spring real estate period. A new certificate of location for one property or lot can cost from $400 to $1,000 depending on the land surveyor’s firm, time delay in which it must be produced (required before the closing date of the transaction), and the extent of work involved.

Who reviews the certificate of location?

One of the first steps notaries take is to verify if the certificate of location, provided by the seller*, is still valid. This is an essential document for the completion of the title exam on the property. The buyer’s financial institution requires it to provide a mortgage. It is required before the closing/date of the transaction.
* See "Who pays for..." below.

Why a new certificate of location?

Because of any of the reasons below, often the seller is informed that a new certificate of location is necessary for the upcoming sale and is at the seller's expense. This generally results in an upset seller demanding, “Why is the certificate of location that was used in the previous purchase no longer valid for this resale?”

First, the most common reasons a new certificate of location is necessary:

- A physical change has been made to the property since the purchased by adding, modifying or removing a shed, cabana, swimming pool, garage, fences; certain landscaping changes; enlarged a deck or dwelling.

- The lot cadastral number has changed since you bought your property (Quebec’s cadastral reform has been ongoing since 1994).

- The certificate of location is deemed “too old” by the buyer's financial institution (most institutions insist that the certificate of location not be older than 10 years, some even request one be under five years).

Second, it is not always the seller who is informed to pay for the new certificate!

Who pays for the certificate of location?

In Quebec, the bylaws say either party can pay for one. However, when using a real estate broker the mandatory forms are quite specific. Clause 6.4 in the Promise to Purchase states that the seller must provide a certificate of location describing the current state of the property. What is not clear to buyers and sellers is that it also states that the cost of any new certificate of location shall be borne by the buyer where the previous certificate proves not to have been amended.

Clause 6.4 (Promise to Purchase)

I always advise my sellers to validate and update their certificate of location prior to a sale. The fewer barriers or impediments in a sale will result in less frustration and less dollars lost should a sale be diminished or fail due to bad paperwork and resulting arguments between the parties. Yes! It happens.

However, buyers should be aware that they could very likely find themselves bearing the cost of a new certificate on the day of closing at the notary should the notary discover a certificate does not accurately represent the property being sold. Notaries have been known to accept shortcuts such as having the buyer and financial institution sign off on a faulty certificate when there are minor faults that are accepted by all parties.

What can you learn from this post?

The lesson here is to stop listening to the rumour mill and advice from friends, family and even professionals; READ ALL CONTRACTUAL PAPERWORK BEFORE YOU SIGN. If your broker runs you quickly through it or you are not provided a reasonable and sufficient time delay to make or respond to an offer, INSIST ON A TIME DELAY EXTENSION and review your contracts.

REMEMBER, YOUR BROKER WORKS FOR YOU and not the other way round.

Be careful out there people! INTERVIEW YOUR REAL ESTATE BROKER BEFORE YOU HIRE THEM.