MONTREAL VACANCY RATE APPROACHES 5%

WHY IT'S HAPPENING
WHAT IT MEANS
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

Lucky for renters, but unlucky for property owners: rental apartment vacancy rates across Quebec have been rising steadily. On the island of Montreal CORPIQ (a property owner's association), estimates vacancy rates at 5%. A balanced market is around 3% vacancy.

This is a far cry from the conditions of the "crise du logement" Montreal tenants were experiencing 2 years ago, where prospective renters had to line up for visits.


WHAT'S CHANGED? 

CORPIQ offers two explanations for this trend.

First of all, Montreal's condo promoters have been throwing up new constructions at a furious rate. In addition to this, cheap credit and a hot real estate market have taken the "top" layer of tenants out of the rental market. More condo- and house-buyers equals less renters, especially on the top end of the rental market.

In addition, very recently there has been a slight economic downturn in the Canadian economy more generally, and a specific change of the political landscape in Quebec. In more uncertain times, people refrain from setting up new households. Students stay longer with Mum and Dad, families put off getting bigger places to accommodate additional kids, and couples may put off establishing themselves in their own places.


WHAT IT MEANS FOR PROPERTY OWNERS
During the "crise du logement" landlords had the luxury of being able to rent just about anything at just about any price and this with a wide range of tenants to choose from.

Today, that is no longer the reality. Over-priced apartments in questionable states of repair stay on the market. The standard of applicants has dropped overall.

This is a good state of affairs for prospective tenants - if you're a renter, you may want to consider seeing what's now available. You might get lucky.


WHAT TO DO 
So, as a property owner, what are your options if you can't seem to rent your place.

1) Drop the price.
Sometimes a very small drop in price (from 600$ to 570$ for a 3 1/2 for example), may be the difference between renting your vacant place or having it empty. Most tenants fix a budget and won't even look at places that are more expensive.
Of course, landlords don't like to drop their prices especially with the Regie's laws about rent control. But in actual fact, if you do the calculation, one month vacancy represents a loss of 600$. Over a one-year period, if you rent for 570$ instead, you lose only 360$! This means it'll take almost TWO YEARS to recover one lost month of rent.
Think about it - two lost months of rent will take you three years to recover! Sometimes a small price adjustment makes sense.

2) Spruce the place up.
It always surprises me how people respond to fresh paint and minor upgrades. Chuck out any old furniture or garbage. Get a cleaning service in (costs about 60$). Burn some incense. Paint the place white or varnish the floors.
Even if these minor upgrades are cosmetic, they make a huge difference to how attractive your place will be to prospective tenants.


3) Get creative.
What overall rental statistics don't tell you is that the rental market is uneven. For example, Montreal currently has a high rate of vacancy in smaller apartments, while larger apartments and furnished places are in shorter supply.
You may consider offering to rent your place with minimum furniture (appliances, beds and a couch). You can usually get more money by offering to furnish your place, while appealing to a wider clientele.

4) Whatever you do - don't lower your standards !
Bad tenants degrade your investment, cost time, headaches and frustration, and are very very hard to get rid of. Given the choice, rather lose a month of rent now than pick a questionable tenant out of desperation. Trust me !

Repair bills mount very fast. It is costly and time-consuming to expel tenants for non-payment. And - worst of all - the rental board makes it very, very, very hard to evict tenants for just about anything besides non-payment. In other words, you may be living for a very, very, very long with the screaming kids, the rabid pitbull they keep in the basement, the bedbugs they bring into your property, or their persistent neglect of your investment.


Last of all, remember that December is just about the worst time of year to have a vacancy. No one moves before the holidays. There should be a second wave of tenants on the market in January : foreign students are arriving, and many households face stress or take stock over Christmas resulting in movement. The early new year usually brings more potential applicants !

Happy renting !

PLAGUE OF THE PIGEONS

8:00 am Friday morning.
I arrived at work to find that my new sign had been installed. It's vinyl and black and green although it wasn't actually shining, it did look damn classy.
I had a moment. It's not every day that you open an office and see your business' name and logo appear on the street front for the first time.

This deserves a photo, I thought to myself.

I went inside to get my camera from my desk.


I got a phone call. My colleague arrived and we chatted a bit. 30 minutes later, camera in hand, I was ready to take the pics.

 Look again my friends (bottom left corner of the sign) : the pigeons has begun their dirty work ! There were at least four of them perched on the white siding just before I took this pic. They were giving me the evil bird eye !

And it didn't stop with one poo. Throughout the day, I checked on their progress. There seemed to be more and more of them huddled on the siding, bums perched over the edge, poised to dump their business on my nice new sign.

Moral of the story: solve one problem (eg. the sign) and another (pigeon poo) will appear in its place. It's a never-ending cycle !

And so began my quest for pigeon spikes.

I went to the small Rona in the neighorhood, and then the bigger Home Depot that's not far away.

"We don't carry those things," the staff told me.

Odd, I though to myself. Surely I'm not the only one with a pigeon poo problem.

Until I went to the really big Reno Depot that's really far away, on Saturday morning at 9 am. I finally found a store clerk who could offer me some real info.

Me: I'm looking for pigeon spikes.

Store guy: We don't sell those.

Me: Why? You could make a lot of money.

Store guy: They're illegal.

Me: What???

Store guy: Yes. The SPCA lobbied to have them outlawed because they can damage the pigeons.

Me: Seriously? Did they also outlaw rat traps too?

Store guy (laughs): No. Only pigeon spikes. You can take a board and put nails in it and then stick it upside down on your surface. Just make sure the guys from the city don't see it.

Arrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Grand opening on Tuesday. Pigeons pooing in vast numbers on my sign. What's a girl to do ??

The internet will save me ultimately, although maybe not by Tuesday. I managed to find some lovely bird spikes on the internet :

E-Spike Economy Stainless Steel Bird Spikes

http://www.nixalite.com/EspikeModels.aspx?gclid=CKKo6sKOjrQCFUWo4AodXH0A6Q

I think this company is based in the USA. 

My only question : do you think they'll get through the border? Or are the customs guys looking for illegal pigeon spikes?!

SHARED OFFICE PROJECT OFFICIALLY OPENED :)

So after long, long months of managing the office-construction project, its finally DONE. Cleaners are coming on Monday to get rid of the final construction dust. 

Heaters, lighting, bathroom and security system are now all up and running. Oh and the facade ! That was a whole chapter-and-a-half (or a blog entry) by itself! All done. DONE. 

Grand opening evening in next Tuesday (Dec. 11th) from 5 to 7pm at 3965, Sainte-Catherine Street Est. If you have nothing better to do, stop by!

Why did it take so long?
Well, first of all, we have 2000 square feet of space. Lots of paint, plaster and putting up drywall to form offices. Everything is done to commercial standards (and by guys with commercial construction cards of course :) !) the whole thing was a big learning experience for me and my team. We normally do residential projects and manage residential space!

What's the concept?
We have 8 fully furnished turn-key offices to rent to start-ups and independent workers, in addition to the offices MyRoom (my company) occupies. We're aiming to create a collective shared office-space / incubator environment.

Fresh from three years of running my company out of a room in my (admittedly large) apartment, and a PhD student before that, I'm aware of the challenges faced by small business, doctoral students and independent workers.


Sure working from home means you get to stay in your PJs all day, but social isolation, seeing your desk from your bed, and the impression that you never 'switch off' because you live and work in the same space are just a few drawbacks.

In business, sometimes the most valuable ideas are cooked up having a coffee or a smoke with someone with a different perspective.

And small business face similar problems: accounting questions, how to run their internet and data packages, how to register for TPS and TVQ, or to hire new workers just to name a few issues.

 Very often a five-minute conversation with someone who's had to resolve the particular issue you're facing can help you save bundles of money and avoid costly or complicated mistakes.

If you're got nothing better to do check us out :)
Or at least savor the pics ! It's been a long time coming.

By Terrie Schauer