Originally from Montreal, Maude Carmel never thought of turning to the suburbs to buy her first property with her husband. Housing with a courtyard in the metropolis being out of reach, the couple finally turned to Chambly.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
“Never in my life would I have thought of buying in the suburbs,” admits the content creator, host and columnist. His first dream: to acquire a lower duplex in Villeray. But after having made the state of their finances, the couple understands that they will have to move away from the metropolis to have access to a piece of greenery.
Maude and her spouse, Gabriel, first eyed properties near Vieux-Longueuil for proximity to the metro. “When we were ready to buy in the fall of 2020, the houses that were [il y a un an] at $400,000 were now at $600,000,” she says. After a few visits, they make purchase offers on houses that are ultimately farther from the metro than desired. These are refused. “Even by putting in $50,000 more, we couldn’t do it. »
Maude’s spouse grew up in Chambly and the idea of settling in this city gradually took hold. The possibility of having a house with a yard, of getting around Montreal by public transit and of shopping on foot or by bike charmed young parents who wanted to maintain their green lifestyle.
They finally bought their house in February 2021. “We have a very pejorative vision of the suburbs, but there is a way to live in the suburbs by being more minimalist and having the best of both worlds and not the worst, especially with the telecommuting”, explains Maude Carmel, who still sees herself in Chambly for ten years.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Maude Carmel with her baby
They will have the reflex to return to the suburbs where they were raised and if this is not possible, they will look at the cities around.
Roxanne Jodoin, broker, about the first buyers
“If their professional situation requires them to go to Montreal, they look to see if the city is well served by public transit, but by being further and further away to be able to afford a property that has good sense,” she notes.
Victor Silvestrin-Racine has also returned to his roots for his first property, acquired last March in Saint-Lambert. The strategy consultant was looking for a condo in southwest Montreal with his partner, Katheryne. “Then we said to ourselves: why not jump off a bridge? And we found where I grew up, ”explains the young thirty-year-old.
They were able to find a condo with the cachet “cheaper than in Montreal and with more surface area”. They have also found a pleasant living environment “similar to Montreal”, while remaining close to their workplaces.
A recent Royal LePage survey released in August reported that 82% of millennials in Greater Montreal who are not homeowners believe they will one day be. But it is more than half of them who think they will have to move to access the property.
However, 75% of young Montrealers surveyed would stay in their city if the cost of living were not an issue.
“The more difficult access to property is, the more the first buyers will move back on the map,” believes real estate broker Roxanne Jodoin, who works on the South Shore.
A Montreal fairy tale
Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve and her spouse, Maxime, for their part, were patient before acquiring their condo in Rosemont last March.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Maude Nepveu Villeneuve
“We were a little resigned, we said to ourselves that it couldn’t be, that Montreal was too expensive,” says the author, publisher and literature professor at CEGEP.
Chance did things well. An announcement shared by friends of a condo in Vieux-Rosemont lit a spark. “The announcement was put on Wednesday, we visited on Sunday, we made an offer to purchase on Monday, and on Tuesday, we had it! “says Maude.
When we visited, we realized we were looking in the suburbs, but we weren’t really excited. We realized that we really wanted to stay in Montreal.
Maude Nepveu Villeneuve
The couple in their late thirties and with children had lived in a “cheap” apartment in Villeray for 13 years, which allowed them to “save a lot of money”.
“I think that if we had really wanted to be owners, we would have done it before and we would have been in the suburbs, but we were correct as tenants, we were really patient. That’s what worked in our favour. »
Their way of life has not changed. They still don’t have a car, the youngest’s school is around the corner and the eldest who is entering secondary school next year will go to the neighborhood school. “It’s like a fairy tale,” enthuses Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve.