$200,000 per door and a gross rent multiplier of 13.6. Those are the two ratios that place a plex before any showing, and they come straight from the published figures: $400,000 asked for two units, and $29,400 in gross revenue.
One precision on that amount. The Centris sheet enters $29,400 under potential gross revenue, and the seller's description says the building currently generates it. Both come from the seller. The leases are what count, and we request them before any offer, along with renewal notices and the state of accounts.
What the sheet does not give is expenses. Without the actual expense record there is no credible net figure, and we do not publish numbers we have not verified. What is known: taxes are $2,843 a year, or 9.7% of gross revenue.
The building holds a 4½ and an 8½. The main unit has 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms and one bathroom, and it is the one recently renovated. The basement has over 6 feet of clearance.
The lot is 6,900 sq ft, grassed and hedged, with a shed for the tenants and five parking spaces. In a rental building parking is not a detail: it is a leasing argument and sometimes a separate revenue line.
The building is 105 years old. The seller describes it as well maintained, with few major expenses expected in the short term. That is a seller's statement, not an inspection finding.
On a building of this age, three items get checked before committing: the electrical system and wiring type, the plumbing and its original materials, and the state of the structure and foundations. A well-kept 1921 building can be excellent; it is not assumed.
The occupancy date is according to the leases. That is the most important line on the sheet for a first-time plex buyer: you are not buying an empty building, you are buying one with its tenants and its rents. Leases transfer to the new owner, the rents in place become yours, and increases follow the Tribunal administratif du logement's rules.
If the plan is to live in one of the two units, repossession by an owner-occupant has its own conditions and timelines. It is all set out in buying a plex as an owner-occupant, and the general framework in buying a plex in Quebec in 2026.
Another of the team’s Cowansville listings: 218-224 Boulevard Saint-Joseph, a 1930 quadruplex also fully rented, at $560,000. That is $140,000 per door against $200,000 here, and a multiplier of 12.8 against 13.6: comparing two buildings in the same market shows what more doors does.
The 2022 roll lists the building at $230,600, of which $90,400 is land. The asking price is 73.5% above. The gap is wide and comes from two things: a 2022 roll describes an earlier market, and the municipal assessment of a rental building follows its own logic, not the rent multiplier.
The transfer duty base is the higher of the price paid and the adjusted roll value; here it is the price. The transfer duty comes to $4,110.50. Below $500,000, every Quebec municipality applies the same grid: 0.5% to $62,900, 1% to $315,000, then 1.5%.
Cowansville counted 15,234 residents at the 2021 census, up 12% since 2016. That is strong growth for a town this size, and it is exactly what a rental owner wants to see: more households, so more demand.
The address scores 81 on Walk Score, which is high and uncommon outside the major centres. For a tenant with no car or one car, that is a concrete argument. Nearby: daycare and CPE, a park, a bike path, primary and secondary schools, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowmobile and ATV trails.
For anyone starting or growing a rental portfolio without aiming at Montreal, where $200,000 per door no longer exists. For an owner-occupant who wants to live in the 8½ and have the 4½ cover part of the mortgage, keeping the repossession rules in mind. And for anyone who prefers a building already rented to one that needs filling.
Before making an offer, five documents are worth the detour: the leases and renewal notices, the expense record for the last three years, the tax and energy bills, the certificate of location, and an inspection by someone who knows pre-war construction. We obtain them and read them with you. Tell us about your project.
Two rented units, $29,400 in gross revenue.
A 4½ and a renovated 8½, 6,900 sq ft lot with shed and five parking spaces. Walk Score of 81.
Description, chiffres réels et détails, envoyés par courriel.
Prix : $400,000. Ajustez la mise de fonds, le taux et l'amortissement.
