Pros & Cons for US Citizen of buying luxury residential condo in Downtown Montreal
- Thread starter ShyMan
- Start date
It is only complicated if you intend to violate our laws and by extension rob our people.
Yes they do. It says that young Canadians will not be able to purchase a home. That is exactly why foreigners should not be allowed to purchase residential property.
The democratic system is a failure, a cancer. What we need is leadership backed by the bullet.
We need more militarism and less 'democracy'.
I wouldn't have any problem being a dual citizen. I don't believe Canadian citizenship compromises my loyalty to the USA and these countries are not going to war any time soon.
I know a native Canadian who is a judge in Connecticut and holds dual US- Canadian citizenship. He did tell
me his dual citizenship status created questions in the judgeship application process about his loyalty to the US. I don't think he had to renounce his Canadian citizenship but he did have to swear loyalty.to uphold US laws.
I know a native Canadian who is a judge in Connecticut and holds dual US- Canadian citizenship. He did tell
me his dual citizenship status created questions in the judgeship application process about his loyalty to the US. I don't think he had to renounce his Canadian citizenship but he did have to swear loyalty.to uphold US laws.
Friz888 -- I know front some high end apt/condo complex in the States have music room as an amenity. You might find moderate to high end apt/condo complexes that have such an amenity. Otherwise, you would be wise to buy (even a used) instrument that produces the same musical notes like an accoustic piano that you can practice with a head phone. I have lots of friends who are professionals by day and musicians in their spare time; they find ways to work around the sound issues in their residences.
Further to EB's points, I knows lots of lawyers who happen to be Canadians that hold duel citizenships (either by birth, marriage or company sponsorship) and practice American law in the States and the international lawyers practice Canadian and American laws for their clients from their posh Manhattan, NY or San Francisco, CA offices. These good folks are loyal to both the Constitutions of the US and Canada.
Having been born and raised in the slums of Queens, NY, I would never ever give up my USA citizenship. If I were ever to obtain Canadian citizenship, I would be equally loyal to Canada (and Montreal). I have blood cousins who were born and raised in Edmonton but have to relocate to TO and Vancouver for jobs after the oil industry collapsed. They too are proud and loyal Canadians. But they coexist with "foreigners", they don't outright reject them because our ancestors came from the old counties, which forced them to leave due to abject poverty and zero economic opportunities.
Evexpt for for less than 1% of the population, everyone in the USA and Canada can trace their ancestries to the old world. Thus, everyone was once a foreigner.
As for me, my desire is to have a place in Montreal that I can proudly call home and stay there whenever I visit Montreal (and a nice place for my family and friends to crash there for free).
Further to EB's points, I knows lots of lawyers who happen to be Canadians that hold duel citizenships (either by birth, marriage or company sponsorship) and practice American law in the States and the international lawyers practice Canadian and American laws for their clients from their posh Manhattan, NY or San Francisco, CA offices. These good folks are loyal to both the Constitutions of the US and Canada.
Having been born and raised in the slums of Queens, NY, I would never ever give up my USA citizenship. If I were ever to obtain Canadian citizenship, I would be equally loyal to Canada (and Montreal). I have blood cousins who were born and raised in Edmonton but have to relocate to TO and Vancouver for jobs after the oil industry collapsed. They too are proud and loyal Canadians. But they coexist with "foreigners", they don't outright reject them because our ancestors came from the old counties, which forced them to leave due to abject poverty and zero economic opportunities.
Evexpt for for less than 1% of the population, everyone in the USA and Canada can trace their ancestries to the old world. Thus, everyone was once a foreigner.
As for me, my desire is to have a place in Montreal that I can proudly call home and stay there whenever I visit Montreal (and a nice place for my family and friends to crash there for free).
Of course I am for real, I am not a computer program obviously.
Who? Many that were or have been in the military tend to.
Of course it does, Democrats are anti-totalitarianism unless it's totally Democratic making them extremely totalitarian. It's amazing how much double-think must be employed to believe that democracy is a good system. It's not the absolute worst, that would go to Communism, but it's not that much better in the long-term.
There is a reason Democracy was considered the worst form of government for centuries.
I agree with the democratic system being a failure as it is not truly a democracy what we got is Corporatism where Corporations are controlling and regulating everything.
Are your screws loose? I mean seriously this statement is the complete opposite of your previous sentence. I do not get it. This is akin to Fascism far-right wing politics. We need less militarism and more pacifism.
A criticism of democracy and it's obligatory double think is not a refutation of my personal support of an authoritarian politic; which democrats generally refer to as 'totalitarianism' (which, again, is funny since democracies are quite possibly the most totalitarian of all the forms of a polity).
I want an intelligent, robust discussions on this top. PM is appreciated but I want a transparent discussion with Merb members, a ton of whom are extremely intelligent, knowledgeable and well traveled.
Blkone seems well read and knowledgeable too. Being well read is one thing but digesting, deconstructing, reconstructing and interpreting what one has read is where the rubber hits the road.
I do have a romantic view of Montreal (for its culture, people, food, architecture, etc.); and I believe many do as well. Montreal has a soul!
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-12/23/content_27757323_5.htm
The conference sent a message that "houses are for living in, not for speculating on".
Seems like the Communists in China have their common sense hats on.
The conference sent a message that "houses are for living in, not for speculating on".
Seems like the Communists in China have their common sense hats on.
The housing markets (more like the condo markets) are dysfunctional fueled to super heights by speculative buying. I still can't figure out where the supposedly "middle-class" Chinese citizens are finding movies to buy speculative overpriced condos; yes, interest rates are low. But I couldn't care less for the Chinese housing markets.
Back to the subject about living in Montreal. I recently met a true Quebecois SP who considers herself more Angelo (she even pronounces Quebecois with an Angelo accent) than Quebecois or at least on an upper echelon of most Quebecois, who she considers lazy, lost their sense of identity, lacks aspirations to improve their educational, social and economic stations in life; she said even among her family, all they want to do is have long time boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and have children, eschewing marriage, and have no motivation to aspire to get outside their own French/Canadian community. But this SP is pursuing a university degree. I know this is but only one person view of her community, which she said is treated as second class citizens, especially by the Angelo Canadians in Montreal. I don't know what to make of this lady's views. She's well traveled and is fluent in English (and I presume French also). The few other Quebecois SP's I've met told me they had been with a boyfriend for five to seven years, since they were either 14 or 15, and they love their boyfriends. Some have kids with their boyfriends and many of these SP's have no intention of getting married until much later in their lives. This Quebecois SP hasn't dampened my affection for Quebecois ladies.
Walking around downtown Montreal, I have seen many women looking very sophisticated, speaking French, dressed smartly and seemingly working in high-power executives jobs. So, I'm totally confused about Quebecois men and women and how they are perceived and treated all in facet of life in Montreal, especially in higher education institutions and small and huge corporations and medical, scientific, engineering and academic careers.
I found this SP so interesting that I spent nearly 70% of our 90 minute session speaking with her. She was looking for a new sugar daddy, which I will never be, since I worked damn too hard to earn my monies. I'm not a good mark but despite barely any action, I have no regret about the session because I learned so much from this SP (who is not with any of the agencies I deal with and review on Merb); I took whatever she said with a huge spoonful of salt but sometimes education is more valuable.
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.
Back to the subject about living in Montreal. I recently met a true Quebecois SP who considers herself more Angelo (she even pronounces Quebecois with an Angelo accent) than Quebecois or at least on an upper echelon of most Quebecois, who she considers lazy, lost their sense of identity, lacks aspirations to improve their educational, social and economic stations in life; she said even among her family, all they want to do is have long time boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and have children, eschewing marriage, and have no motivation to aspire to get outside their own French/Canadian community. But this SP is pursuing a university degree. I know this is but only one person view of her community, which she said is treated as second class citizens, especially by the Angelo Canadians in Montreal. I don't know what to make of this lady's views. She's well traveled and is fluent in English (and I presume French also). The few other Quebecois SP's I've met told me they had been with a boyfriend for five to seven years, since they were either 14 or 15, and they love their boyfriends. Some have kids with their boyfriends and many of these SP's have no intention of getting married until much later in their lives. This Quebecois SP hasn't dampened my affection for Quebecois ladies.
Walking around downtown Montreal, I have seen many women looking very sophisticated, speaking French, dressed smartly and seemingly working in high-power executives jobs. So, I'm totally confused about Quebecois men and women and how they are perceived and treated all in facet of life in Montreal, especially in higher education institutions and small and huge corporations and medical, scientific, engineering and academic careers.
I found this SP so interesting that I spent nearly 70% of our 90 minute session speaking with her. She was looking for a new sugar daddy, which I will never be, since I worked damn too hard to earn my monies. I'm not a good mark but despite barely any action, I have no regret about the session because I learned so much from this SP (who is not with any of the agencies I deal with and review on Merb); I took whatever she said with a huge spoonful of salt but sometimes education is more valuable.
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.
[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.[/QUOTE]
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. The only problem is that you still have to report to IRS and show your income and holdings even if you don't own any taxes in US (there are several treaties between US and Canada against double taxation). Also though US does not formally recognize dual citizenship with majority of courtiers (some are exemption such as Israel and Poland), 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.
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.[/QUOTE]
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. The only problem is that you still have to report to IRS and show your income and holdings even if you don't own any taxes in US (there are several treaties between US and Canada against double taxation). Also though US does not formally recognize dual citizenship with majority of courtiers (some are exemption such as Israel and Poland), 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.
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: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.
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.
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.
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