This week, two properties caused some frowns among the curious: a Montreal house ravaged by flames for sale for nearly half a million and an old property to give away in the corner of Portneuf.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
The first, placed on the market for about a month, looks gray, with its blackened bricks, its boarded up windows and its rear wall completely collapsed. Considered a total loss by insurers after the disaster, this house in the Southwest dating from 1900 is displayed at $449,000.
As we specified in our file on Montreal slums sold at high prices, this type of transaction targets entrepreneurs or promoters who would like to rebuild on the ground by densifying them, rather than individuals. The sheet also insists on this point: “Possibility of demolishing and rebuilding on 3 floors, implantation of 70%”, it is specified. Visits are also impossible, because the places are not considered safe.
The broker Sandro Marzitelli, in charge of the case, says he received the offer from a promoter at the beginning of the week; a proposal “to work on”, he specifies. “It is sure that we will sell it, but we do not yet know at what price”, foresees the broker.
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER ACCOUNT @MCGILLES
A house to give away? We investigated behind the scenes.
The other property that recently made internet users wince, relayed by host MC Gilles on social networks, is not for sale, but rather to give away. It is located in Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, about fifteen kilometers from Portneuf. Looking very tired, the residence displays a sign “To give away” with a telephone number for those interested.
A joke ? A renovation trap? A haunted place? Out of curiosity, we dialed the number; you never know, a free house is taken well…
A friendly interlocutor replied, to indicate that the house had just been sold to two residents of Saint-Raymond, while explaining the how and why: the Ressourcerie de Portneuf, a social economy enterprise of which our interlocutor is the president, has just purchased the land to use as a storage area. As the house built on the site was no longer habitable, the company decided to offer it to whoever wanted it, on the condition of dismantling it, recovering the materials and clearing the space. “It’s done with a view to the circular economy,” said the president of the Ressourcerie.
We also spoke to the previous owner, who confirmed that this more than 100-year-old residence, which he previously lived in, was no longer viable. A pinch in the heart to see her boned? “It was costing me $10,000 a year just in taxes and electricity, so it doesn’t hurt my heart to get rid of it!” “, he launched.