Buying a plex in Montreal

Living in it or renting all of it: two different mortgages

The same triplex is financed two different ways depending on whether you live in it. That decision sets your down payment before anything else, so settle it first.

• You live in one unit, 2 units in total: an insured mortgage is possible with 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the rest, for a purchase price under $1.5 million.
• You live in one unit, 3 or 4 units in total: the minimum with mortgage insurance is 10% down, under the same price ceiling.
• You do not live there: it is financed as a rental property, outside those insured homeowner rules. Most lenders then ask for at least 20% down. Your mortgage broker confirms the exact figure for your file.

Lenders also count part of the rents toward your qualifying income, and they do not all count them the same way. Get pre-approved for the building type you are actually shopping for. A pre-approval written for a condo does not tell you what you can borrow on a triplex.

Insured mortgage figures: CMHC homeowner program, as published in October 2026. These rules change; your lender confirms what applies to you.

Read the leases before you fall for the building

In a plex, the tenants come with the building. Their leases continue after the sale, at the rent they pay today.

Ask for every lease, any renewal notices, and anything filed with the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL). Check who pays heating and hot water, whether parking or storage is included, and whether any unit is rented well below market.

That last point is where buyers overpay. In Quebec, a tenant can refuse a rent increase. The landlord then has one month to ask the TAL to set it, using the TAL's own calculation, or the lease renews at the same rent. A gap between today's rent and market rent closes slowly. I price a building on the rents it has, not the rents it could have.

Taking back a unit to live in it (repossession) is possible, but it is tightly regulated: written notice within set deadlines before the lease ends, the tenant's right to refuse, compensation in some cases, and added protection for certain older, long-time tenants. If your plan depends on moving into an occupied unit, budget time for it, possibly including a TAL hearing, and speak with a lawyer before you sign. If a unit will be vacant at the deed, the promise to purchase should say so in writing.

How plexes are priced: two methods, used together

The gross revenue multiplier divides the price by the building's annual gross rents. A triplex listed at $900,000 with $45,000 of rents per year has a multiplier of 20. It is quick for comparing buildings in one sector. It is blind to condition, and to rents far below market.

Comparable sales look at what similar plexes sold for nearby, adjusted for condition, unit sizes, parking and the quality of the owner's unit. Where owner-occupants compete for the same buildings, as in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and the Plateau, sale prices can sit above what the rents alone justify. Where more of the buyers are investors, as in parts of Hochelaga and Verdun, the multiplier carries more weight. NDG and Le Sud-Ouest have both kinds of buyers, street by street.

When the two methods disagree, the gap is the conversation to have before an offer. Usually it means the building is priced for its owner's unit, or for rents it does not have yet.

What to inspect on a Montreal plex

• Roof: most plexes here have a flat roof with a membrane. Ask for its age and the invoice.
• Exterior stairs and balconies: the steel and wood structures on the front and back take a beating in our winters.
• Masonry and foundations: cracks, loose bricks, leaning parapets, and water at the base of the walls.
• Water service: older plexes can still have a lead service line. The City of Montreal lets you check an address before you buy.
• Electrical: one panel per unit, enough capacity, and no leftover knob-and-tube wiring.
• Heating: electric baseboards in each unit, or a central system the owner pays for. Ask about any old oil tank.
• Separation between units: soundproofing and fire separation, especially where a basement or attic was converted into living space.

Hire an inspector who works on plexes regularly, and make sure they see every unit, not only the vacant one. The listing broker arranges access with the tenants.

The numbers I run before an offer

Before we write an offer, I put the building on one page:

• Today's rents, unit by unit, with an allowance for vacancy.
• Municipal and school taxes, insurance, heating and hot water if the owner pays them, snow removal, and a maintenance reserve.
• The mortgage payment at your contract rate, and at the higher rate your lender will qualify you at.
• Monthly cash flow after your own unit's share, and the cash you need at closing: down payment, welcome tax, notary and inspection.
• What realistic rent increases under the TAL rules do to those numbers over five years, instead of the projection on the listing sheet.

If a building only works with rents it does not have yet, I will tell you, even when you love the woodwork. For a longer read on returns, see the Montreal plex opportunity, honestly assessed and why cash flow still matters. If you are buying a condo or a house instead, the buyers page covers how I work.