If you are in the market for a new home, it can be difficult to decide exactly what type of home you want to buy. In Calgary, the most popular options for many  is buying a single family home, or a condo. Each option has benefits and drawbacks depending on what your needs and desires are.  

Depending on where you are at in your life and what your needs are will determine which option is the better fit for you. Buying a home is a big expense, so it is always useful to look at the pros and cons of buying a condo compared to a house.

Let’s explore the difference between a condo vs house and you can decide which is the best option for you.

Section 1: Why Should I Buy A Condo?

Is A Condo A Good First Home?

If you are looking to purchase your…

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September 2021 Calgary Real Estate Statistics Recap

The headline for September real estate in Calgary? SALES REMAIN STRONG. CALGARY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS september 2021

The record for sales in September was set back in 2005 when Calgary witnessed some of it's most significant increases in value in the housing market. This month nearly reached this total with a combined (all property types) of 2,162 sales! This represents a year of year increase of over 26.7%. 

Chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie of the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®) said “While sales activity in the fall tends to be slower than in the spring months, the continued strong sales are likely being driven by consumers who were unable to transact earlier in the year when supply levels had not yet adjusted to demand,” 

Right now…

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Purchase plus improvements introductionpurchase plus improvements mortgage

Purchasing a previously owned home, that hasn’t been recently renovated, can mean that the new owners want to put some work into freshening things up.  Home renovations have been very popular this year as Canadians moved to larger homes and set themselves up for move favourable work from home situations.


Many of our client’s who utilize our partners at Spire Mortgage's use what’s called a, “purchase plus improvements” mortgage to help make sure that they were borrowing the cost of the renovations at the very best rate.  Purchase plus improvements mortgages can be a super useful tool for clients but they come with a little bit of fine print as well.  Let’s take a quick look at the pro’s and cons. 

Pros of a…

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Not all home-buying and selling experiences go as smoothly as they do on HGTV. We've definitely heard of some cases where home buyers are left with questions, concerns and regrets. To help you with this exciting time in your life, our social media team polled previous home buyers online to find out the top ten things Albertans wish their REALTORS® had told them, so you can feel better prepared and ready for this next step.

Not everything comes with the house

“One of my friends bought a multi-million-dollar home and when they arrived on possession day, they found out the previous owners took all of the appliances. Apparently, it was missed in the contract!” – Haleigh 

“Confirm whether every single item that's unattached to the home is staying or…

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It’s totally understandable to be excited if you’re moving into a new house. However, take a moment to think about what to do before moving into a new house. For your own safety, security MOVING INTO A NEW HOUSEand  peace of mind, it’s well worth taking care of a few things before you start your move.

Here’s a list of things to do when moving into a new house:

1. Get to know your circuit breaker box and main water valve

When the power goes out or you blow a fuse, you’ll want to know which breakers correspond to what areas in your home. You can test this by having one person stand at the breaker box and the other checking to see if turning circuit breakers on or off changes anything throughout the house. 

You’ll also want to know where your main water valve is if you…

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August 2021 Calgary Real Estate Statistics Recap

The Calgary market continues to trend towards being more balanced after a major kick off at the beginning of the year. CALGARY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS AUGUST 2021

Year over year trends are seeing major increases in areas like sales, new listings, and prices (across the board for all property types) it is important to note that we're coming off a COVID 2020 real estate year which did bring the market to a bit of pause for many buyers and sellers, this pent up demand has translated into a hot market for 2021. 

“Sales have far exceeded expectations throughout most of the pandemic, driven mostly by demand for detached homes. At the same time, supply could not keep pace and conditions shifted to favor the seller, something that has not happened…

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There’s no doubt about it: building a second story addition to your home is a challenge. Many homeowners don’t actually realize the magnitude of such a job, but seasoned professionals know what’s involved. Of course if it’s done right, it can be well worth it. Often times you can nearly double your home’s square footage with a second story addition.2ND STORY ADDITIONS

If you ask a professional contractor about adding a second story to your home by yourself, most will caution against it. They have seen what headaches such a process can cause for a homeowner. It can turn into a nightmare very quickly. 

That’s why hiring a contractor with experience and knowledge about second story additions is crucial. This is simply not a good choice for a DIY project. Contractors who…

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Roofing rebate Calgary

As of May 10th, the city of Calgary council voted and approved a new program to incentivize home owners to upgrade from standard roofing products to more impact resistant products to help protect homes from severe (but seemingly common) weather damage that has impacted the city year after year, the big culprit? Hail damage. 

This new change goes into effect June 1st 2021 - Keep reading for all the details about this program. 

Resilient Roofing Rebate Program

Calgary is now offering residents a $3,000 rebate to homeowners that suffered hail damage in 2020 who installed or are planning to install roofing that is impact resistant.  George Chahal the councillor for Ward 5 said “The rebate program is one way we can help Calgarians…

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If you’re looking to establish reliable, long-term wealth, there’s nothing quite like real estate. People have been using real estate assets to accumulate wealth for a very long time. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEMOLISH A HOME IN CALGARY

However, sometimes in order to build, you must demolish. You can’t renovate every property, so there comes a time when demolition is the smart option. If you’re thinking about demolishing a property, you need to know how much it costs to demolish it, understand the difference between deconstruction and demolition, and think about a few other factors before you begin the project.

What does demolishing a house mean?

Demolition is the act of tearing down an existing house. You can do it by hand, or with specialized equipment like bulldozers, cranes and excavators. A…

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Gifts To Buy First Time Home Buyers House warming gifts for buyers

It can be daunting moving into your house as a first-time homeowner. There is so much to think about and so much to buy that it can become overwhelming. So how can you help make the transition easier for the recent homeowner in your life? We’ve got a handful of suggestions for housewarming gifts people actually want or will need! 

Home Depot or Lowes Gift Card

Chances are, as soon as they move in, they will probably wish they had stocks in Home Depot or Lowes! Between renovations and general maintenance, they’ll find themselves forever walking the aisles of home improvement stores and spending more money than they care to. Gift cards never go out of style and they can truly be the best gifts, as it takes the…

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