Mount Pleasant and area

[Mr_John]

How do you all feel about Mount Pleasant? Anyone live there that can share their experiences about the neighborhood?

I'm extremely interested in this property: http://beta.realtor.ca/propertyDetai...rtyId=14311420

Feeling that it might be a tad overpriced but I'm no real estate expert. Love that it's close to everything and have heard that it's a very desirable area. Wanted to get some feedback on it first.

[thrasher22]

I think these are the ones being built behind Autozone. Beautiful house, and would probably have city views, but... would have city views looking over 16th ave. Personally the traffic noise would be a deal breaker, but things like that bug me more than average.

[Mr_John]

Yep. Those are the ones . I agree the traffic would normally be bad for most, however it's going to be much much better than my current home haha which is one reason why I'm looking to move.

I'm more concerned about resale since I don't know much about that area at all.

Originally posted by thrasher22
I think these are the ones being built behind Autozone. Beautiful house, and would probably have city views, but... would have city views looking over 16th ave. Personally the traffic noise would be a deal breaker, but things like that bug me more than average.

[killramos]

Generally Mt Pleasant is great, but you end up paying a bit for the name. Thought that price looks quite good

That place confused me a bit as it looks like a normal duplex but its listed as a strata with maintenance? Do you know what you re getting for 174 a month?

Also single car garage will be to small, my double on an infill lot really only fits 1 car...

Noise would be pretty bad on 16th, its not like 16th is one of those nice major avenues where you want to be able to walk to anyhow...

[finboy]

its not far from my old place, honestly its a really nice area, albeit pricey. My mechanic also uses that street for parking curtomer vehicles, and the other condo's in the area make street parking an absolute bitch at times. the #2 bus stops right near there on 4th, and is pretty convenient, but 4th street northbound backs up pretty bad for rush hour. Also keep in mind, Druh would be your city council representative

[DeleriousZ]

I rented in the Mt. Pleasant area and really loved the area.

[Mr_John]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This is great - keep it coming!

The condo fees include basic maintenance (mowing and snow removal) as well as a bit going towards the reserve fund. The annual expenses report looked okay but I'd definitely be expecting those fees to go up. It's a 4plex unit so the condo corp. would consist of the 4 owners. So I guess the fees would depend on what the other owners want as well, but judging from other Mt. Pleasant 4plexes, $175 is on the low end for fees.

With Mount Pleasant being a bit pricier because of the name - would you still recommend it and is it worth the extra money?

The 16th Avenue noise and etc. is definitely a bummer, but I suppose that's the trade-off for the view (haha or maybe I'm just finding excuses to justify the place).

Again thanks everyone for the feedback on the biggest purchase of my life. Beyond needs a 'thanks' button for posts.

Edit: ughhh Druh haha
Edit 2: Forgot to mention that it's all concrete and not wood. Good so that nobody will hear their neighbors within the building.

Originally posted by killramos
Generally Mt Pleasant is great, but you end up paying a bit for the name. Thought that price looks quite good

That place confused me a bit as it looks like a normal duplex but its listed as a strata with maintenance? Do you know what you re getting for 174 a month?

Also single car garage will be to small, my double on an infill lot really only fits 1 car...

Noise would be pretty bad on 16th, its not like 16th is one of those nice major avenues where you want to be able to walk to anyhow...

[Strider]

I love the community, but the more desirable area is definitely as you get closer to Confederation park.

I do agree that it's overpriced, given its location and size (and that it's a townhouse and not a single family home). But I definitely wouldn't buy it based on the location alone.

To give you an idea, have your Realtor (or Jordan) pull up the history on the infills on 17th Ave NW just on the other side of 4th St (501, 503, 505, 507) the value on those houses has always been depressed due to the location.

The new townhouses on 23rd Ave just west of Centre street seem like a much better buy IMO. Not sure if there's any left though.

Otherwise, at $580k you're not too far off from a gently used 1800 sq ft infill... It won't be brand new, but it would be a much better value proposition.

[ExtraSlow]

I agree with the posters above. Mount Pleasant is great, and there is a reason it's higher priced than many other areas. However, that's possibly THE worst location in the entire community.

If that's your price point, there are dozens of other homes in nearby areas. Tuxedo, winston heights and highland park are all decent, and slightly cheaper than Mount Pleasant.

[Lex350]

I like the house.....that would be something I would like to get into when I downsize after the kids move out.....if they move out.



I had a friend that lived in the are for 7 years. He loved it.

[Mr_John]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
I agree with the posters above. Mount Pleasant is great, and there is a reason it's higher priced than many other areas. However, that's possibly THE worst location in the entire community.

If that's your price point, there are dozens of other homes in nearby areas. Tuxedo, winston heights and highland park are all decent, and slightly cheaper than Mount Pleasant.

That's interesting - I honestly thought that would be a very desirable area of Mt. Pleasant because of the school. How come its such a bad area of the community?

I'll definitely look in those other areas as well. Thanks!

[killramos]

Originally posted by Mr_John
[B

With Mount Pleasant being a bit pricier because of the name - would you still recommend it and is it worth the extra money?

[/B]

It's a great neighbourhood, no doubts there. Just that I found the price divide between Mt Pleasant (NW) and Tuxedo (NE) to be around 100 grand. With almost no justification aside from postal code.

It just means that you need to work harder on the price negotiations, though fortunately Mt pleasant will hold value just fine. I just consider if you really want to pay interest and property tax on the extra money for no better house.

As a reference I was looking in the same area and the nicest place by far was the one I bought in tuxedo and it was also cheapest. Hard to argue with that.

That being said the place you showed looks fantastic and really good value. I would jut work really hard to stay on top of the strata finances with the 174 a month. That's a lot of money to shovel snow and mow grass...

[Strider]

Originally posted by Mr_John
That's interesting - I honestly thought that would be a very desirable area of Mt. Pleasant because of the school. How come its such a bad area of the community?

I'll definitely look in those other areas as well. Thanks!

Proximity to 2 busy roads and commercial property. Look at the house values for any of the homes that line 4th street, even the brand new infills at around 4th and 18th? sold for considerably less than similar but better located homes.

If the noise doesn't bother you, then go for it... but don't expect the resale value to keep up with other homes in the area.

Originally posted by Mr_John
With Mount Pleasant being a bit pricier because of the name - would you still recommend it and is it worth the extra money?

Originally posted by killramos
With almost no justification aside from postal code.

To say that it's purely because of name or postal code is a little silly and absolutely untrue. There's many factors that play into it, but here's a few that easily come to mind:
- High-density zoning - cheap apartments, 4plexes, etc = low-income tenants living in the area, parking issues, etc.

- Proximity to commercial and light industrial - Centre Street businesses and the industrial area off Edmonton Tr = more noise, crime

- Proximity to parks/green spaces - People love their parks, Confederation park is one of the biggest selling features for Mount Pleasant (2 storey attached infills within a block of the park go for almost $950k per side)

- NE ... well, that one's self explanatory

That said, there's a few pockets of Tuxedo where none of these are an issue, and those usually present a great value relative to Mt Pleasant.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by Mr_John


That's interesting - I honestly thought that would be a very desirable area of Mt. Pleasant because of the school. How come its such a bad area of the community?

I'll definitely look in those other areas as well. Thanks!

It's not "bad", it's just the proximity to 16th ave that makes it less desirable. Nearly the entire inner-city will be near schools, so that's not really special abut this location.

Actually, the number of school is one of my favourite things about the inner city now that my kids are getting closer to school age. Can get into any kindergarten we want around here.

Also, the condo fee is kind of strange. Hundreds of inner-city infills similar to this, and I don't think the condo fee is common. Be pretty hard to vote on contentious issues with only two parties involved too.
My duplex infill isn't set up like this, and it's been no issue dealing with my neighbor.

[Strider]

For anyone who's curious about the condo fees or the small size...
It's not a duplex / attached infill
It's a 4 unit townhouse


» Click image for larger version

[Evo prec]

The reason for the condo fees are because this is a multi family dwelling or also known as a Fourplex.

Personally i would stay away from this area due to the high amount of half way houses, addiction homes and low income housing within a block of you.

If you are looking around that price range i would go north and away from 16th and and center street it is much quitter and more peaceful.

The area is fantastic from personal experience currently living in the area but just a heads up 580 isn't going to get you much besides an older home or a condo.

[ExtraSlow]

Ugh, one of my pet peeves, they made the main floor 9' ceilings, but top floor is 8'.

[Mr_John]

Originally posted by Evo prec
The reason for the condo fees are because this is a multi family dwelling or also known as a Fourplex.

Personally i would stay away from this area due to the high amount of half way houses, addiction homes and low income housing within a block of you.

If you are looking around that price range i would go north and away from 16th and and center street it is much quitter and more peaceful.

The area is fantastic from personal experience currently living in the area but just a heads up 580 isn't going to get you much besides an older home or a condo.

Okay well that might be the deal breaker then. Had no clue that there were so many half way houses and addiction houses around.

Sounds like I'll I have to continue my search in the areas around Mt. Pleasant since my budget isn't sufficient. Drats.

[Evo prec]

Well if this is the home you really like i would do some research and double check if they are still in the area.

I am pretty sure they are unless they have sold the properties which could have happened because there has been a large influx in sales in the area

[Mr_John]

Good news:
Haven't found any half way houses, addiction homes, etc in the area yet from google and http://www.informalberta.ca/public/c...ndex_Search.do
Also called the Mt. Pleasant community centre hoping they may know - no dice though.

edit(s): nothing here either - http://www.calgaryaddiction.com/page...nformation.php, https://charityvillage.com/directori...nce-abuse.aspx

So far so good.

Bad news:
Still need to do more investigating because I'm sure all the homes aren't listed on the informalberta website.

I'll keep this thread updated since there's tons of great information in here from other posters. Surly someone will do a search on this community in the future.