Pros & Cons for US Citizen of buying luxury residential condo in Downtown Montreal

[ShyMan]

[l
I still am considering living in Montreal part time. I love the USA way too much to give up my American citizenship; despite the fact that many parts of the Us is dysfunctional, including government throughout the US, I would never leave my country permanently. I love it too much. But it does not mean I have to live in the US 365 days every year.

You can be a permanent resident anywhere in the world and be US citizen. It is called expatriate. So acquiring permanent resident status in Canada does not undermine your US citizenship in any way. . . . it is a myth that you automatically loose your US citizenship even if you decide to acquire a full citizenship status in some other country, especially country that is friendly and close to US such as Canada or UK.[/QUOTE]

Those are good points. I have many friends who do not want to obtain US residency or citizenship because they don't want to have to pay double income taxes.
Since I now have GOES and Montreal airport now have a lot more automatic custom verification machines, it's a lot more convenient to travel back and forth between Montreal and the States. I ran into many American families who fly into Montreal and drive to their homes in Maine and Vermont because it's actually faster for them to do so than to fly domestically within the States to get to those places and then drive twice the distance to get home from the nearest airports. As I told my cousins in the States, a USA passport is the king of passport as regards countries within the EU, many Asian countries like Japan and Singapore, and Canada with respect to traveling.

And if I'm lucky enough to get a teaching job as a visiting lecturer in any of the five major universities within downtown Montreal, I'm certain they are fewer paperwork to fill out to obtain temporary work permits. I don't need to make that much money anymore; it's now more important for me to have the quality of life I want. I've already paid my dues working 80 hour weeks in the States.

Waking up late this morning, on Christmas Day, I finally got my butt out the streets of Montreal, as I did last year, as well. It was a nice stroll, walking by Concordia University and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts -- the chill woke me up and it was good exercise; I realized I'm at peace with myself in this lovely city. And I really love this city, especially its downtown. I flirted with one of the hotel front office female employee, who speaks French, English, Spanish and German and is attending the hotel university, and realized people here are friendly and many woman are beautiful.

With the monies I saved, I can semi-retire in Montreal and still live a modest, comfortable life. Maybe I'll be an Uber driver to keep myself occupied, if I can't get a teaching job. :lol::nod:

 

[salving]

Here's a WSJ opinion page on how one US couple bought a place in MTL. One of them is a real estate agent.... (so does think buying is good.... not!)
http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324425204578599533804057360?

And most people here know all this but here's their report on what makes Montreal great: http://www.lovelettertomontreal.com/

I don't buy that whole buying thing though, after having looked into this in detail.
For around 4 months of living, rental is a far better option especially since everyone agrees that this is really a city awash with rentals.
Rentals also allow you to change neighborhoods every year.
And buying a condo means taking on all the headaches of the local bureaucracy. Dealing with low-level govt gatekeepers we-will-only-speak-in-French , dealing with all the utility companies, dealing with surprise issues (ice storm in 1998 and so on), is just not worth it unless you plan to live here more than 8 months in a year.

Buying real-estate for personal use is just pointless, except maybe one place somewhere as a security. Fine as an investment, but then should buy multiple properties and become a full fledged landlord.
That is the thinking where I ended up after flirting for years with dreams of a home in Montreal.. I still like to visit dupropio.com to see what's out there... but I know it would be very wrong for me to really buy a condo.

 

[ShyMan]

Here's a WSJ opinion page on how one US couple bought a place in MTL. One of them is a real estate agent.... (so does think buying is good.... not!)
http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324425204578599533804057360?

And most people here know all this but here's their report on what makes Montreal great: http://www.lovelettertomontreal.com/

I don't buy that whole buying thing though, after having looked into this in detail.
For around 4 months of living, rental is a far better option especially since everyone agrees that this is really a city awash with rentals.
Rentals also allow you to change neighborhoods every year.
And buying a condo means taking on all the headaches of the local bureaucracy. Dealing with low-level govt gatekeepers we-will-only-speak-in-French , dealing with all the utility companies, dealing with surprise issues (ice storm in 1998 and so on), is just not worth it unless you plan to live here more than 8 months in a year.

Thank you very much for sharing you great insights, which clearly is based on lots of research and deep thinking on your part, Salving!

Yes, I think renting makes a lot more sense for me, allowing me to explore different neighborhood and freeing me from expensive HOA dues and headaches and cash. Maybe I'll do 6 months lease and pay a little extra for the shorter term lease.

 

[Piratos]

If you are already dealing with BMO I suggest you take a look at their US subsidiary, BMO Harris. Over the last year or two they have greatly improved the ability to link US (BMO Harris) and Canadian (BMO) accounts and transfer funds back and forth.

 

[ShyMan]

Over the last year or two they have greatly improved the ability to link US (BMO Harris) and Canadian (BMO) accounts and transfer funds back and forth.

You're right. BMO is great. Thanks for the tip. I'll look into BMO Harris. It's just so much easier to not have to carry a stash of Canadian dollars when I come to Montreal; shit, even an Uber driver can rob my ass in the States.