2024-04-26 02:13:49
The city of Longueuil plans to auction off nearly 600 properties after they were seized for unpaid property taxes. However, we should not be surprised if the number of homes that actually end up at auction is more like around twenty, says an expert.
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“In 2023, in Quebec City, at one point, we were talking about more than 500 properties going up for auction. In the end, there were 28 properties, and the majority of them were land, says real estate agent for The Agency Montreal, Vianney Godbout.
The specialist mentions that there are also buyers who “chase” after this type of bargain, some of whom do not necessarily have the best intentions.
“These are people who will take advantage of people who are less equipped and who don’t know how to cope,” he explains. They will approach someone, for example, who owns a house worth $500,000 and owes $8,000 in taxes. They are in a bit of trouble, they can’t see the end. They don’t think about putting their home on the market – ask me why – people will tell them, “I’ll offer you $320,000, we’re going to the notary in three weeks.” They make an open promise to buy that they can transfer, and then they will turn to social networks and try their promise to buy for $400,000.”
It’s a way of doing business that Mr. Godbout considers “morally dubious,” but that exists.
“They are just trying to make money from human misery,” he criticizes.
However, Mr. Godbout explains that several scenarios are possible for the owners, and the banks, before the city administration can seize the house or plot.
“If the bank allows [la propriété] go there for non-payment of taxes of 7,000 dollars, the bank will lose the mortgage, he specifies. So the majority of the houses will be repossessed well before they go to auction.”
“Often, if people pay the mortgage but can’t pay the tax, the bank will add it to the mortgage,” he continues. There are many things that can happen. Sometimes it will happen that the bank lets go because the property is in too bad a condition for a number of reasons, but there are plenty of things that can happen, he repeats.
***Watch the full interview with Vianney Godbout in the video above***
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