New Construction Homes in Calgary
View brand NEW HOMES for sale in Calgary below by community! From infills
in established communities to newly developed communities, Calgary home buyers have plenty of options when shopping for newly constructed homes for sale. While older homes may have more charm, and more unique layouts and styles in established communities, they sometimes simply sometimes can't offer the same needs that today's buyers are looking for, newly constructed homes are clean, modern, and equipped with the comforts that today's modern buyers are accustomed to.
Another benefit to buying new construction homes is the ability to work with the home builders directly, our team has fantastic relationships with all the major builders throughout the city and work routinely with many of the custom and smaller builders throughout, we consistently train and stay in tune with the current market trends, allowing us consult on the best upgrades or builders that will offer better incentives for the items that are most important for you.
Browse Upcoming Open Houses in Calgary
Resale Properties compared to New Construction Homes in Calgary
In Calgary you're faced with a few options, but generally speaking, you're typically looking at new construction, or resale properties. With resale, especially in established communities, you could be purchasing a home that was built prior to the first world war, these homes if still standing, are well taken care of, and sometimes will have work done on them to keep them up to date. Typically we see homes renovated every 20-30 years, it's not always major, and can include minor touch ups including new flooring, new windows, roof, kitchen remodeling, new baseboards, doors, etc.
With new homes, you're biggest advantage is the 10 year built in warranty which is part of the new Alberta home warranty program, covering many major components of the home. If you're buying directly from a builder, you'll be given the opportunity to pick from potentially thousands of customization options, and make the home truly your own.
New Homes for sale in Calgary
It's important that buyers for new homes understand the timelines, when buying resale properties, you can sometimes obtain possession in as little as two weeks or less depending on your situation and the sellers abilities, with vacant properties, and cash offers, this is something very achievable, typically though possession runs from 15-60 days on a property. With newly built properties, typically builders will deliver a home within 6-9 months unless you're purchasing something like a spec home or showhome which has already been built. Spec homes are essentially as they sound, homes that are built to specific specifications by the builder, where they utilize their experience and knowledge to develop properties that will appeal to the masses.
It's important that your agent asks the right questions with the builder to ensure that you know the exact timelines and needs for you as a new home buyer.
Calgary New Construction
New Communities in Calgary
New properties can be found throughout every quadrant in Calgary, as new communities continue to be announced, developed, and released, the cities expansion reaches closer and closer to proximity towns such as Chestermere, Airdrie, Cochrane, and Okotoks. In Calgary, some of the most popular areas and most active home sales are found in newer communities, these include Seton, Walden, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, and Shawnee Slopes.
The advantage to purchasing a property in these neighborhoods is their price points, finding the equivalent home in an inner city community is usually not possible, especially when comparing size of home, finishes, and style. Fortunately the downside to these homes is of course their distance from the downtown core, however, with the expansion of the LRT and the cities investment in infrastructure and roads, the commute times in Calgary are fairly reasonable throughout and will only continue to get better as major roadway projects are finished.
To illustrate this, an average sized home and lot in the deeper south / southeast of Calgary would typically sell for $200,000 to $250,000. While the same equivalent lot that is situated in a community that's closer to downtown would fetch pricing closer to the $400,000-$500,000 mark.
Cost of Building a New Home in Calgary
The cost for a new build (much like anywhere else in the world) truly will vary based on various factors, from square footage to finishes, lot size, view, neighbourhood, zoning and much more. We often tell buyers though to expect a minimum target of $150 per square foot on your average homes finish.
When you factor in higher end finishes, including flooring, cabinets, etc, buyers should definitely expect larger costs per square foot, we've assisted clients with custom new builds that have $25,000 front doors for example!
Bear in Mind When Building a Home in Calgary
When purchasing a new home, you are going to be paying the GST for this, meaning you'll be adding 5% to your total costs on the purchase, and while most builders now are pricing homes on advertising as the all in (GST included price) this isn't always the case, and it's vital as a new home buyer in Calgary that you are aware of whether it is included or not, this could ultimately cost you upwards of $20,000 to $50,000+.
When purchasing a new build in Calgary, you should work with a professional real estate advisor, there are many nuances, and hidden costs that you simply may not be aware of, and an agent will assist you in negotiating these terms and inclusions, and the best part is that you will not be paying more money to utilize a real estate agent when buying a new home from the builder! We've worked with buyers in the past who reached out to us in moments of panic when they approached builders individually, getting themselves into terms and contracts that were not in their favor, or were not getting what they were expecting.
In fact, one of our agents was working with a pair of buyers who decided to venture on out to show homes one night on their own as they were in the area, and after a series of events, found themselves in front of a contract with an offer that (at the time) they really couldn't refuse, it almost seemed too good to be true, and they decided to reach out to their agent. Bear in mind, at this point, the agent most likely wouldn't be compensated for their work, the builders rules state that an agent must be present with the buyers to register them on their first visit, some will vary on these rules, but ultimately it's at the discretion of the sales manager, and in this instance it was with a builder who is known to not bend their rules. Admittedly, the agent was disappointed that the clients had gotten to that point without after they had put in so much footwork, our team truly prides on being solutions oriented, and looking out for our clients best interests at all times, and they weren't prepared to end the relationship over this and continued to assist this client, knowing that they likely wouldn't be involved in the deal financially (meaning they'd be working for free).
When the agent received the contract for review, they quickly knew why the deal was so good for the clients! He asked them about their experience at the showroom, and then discussed what they thought would be included in the contract, as it turns out, the fridge, washer, and dryer, that they'd see in an equivalent show home were not included, nor were other items they expected including a developed basement, and being familiar with the area, the agent knew the lot they were looking at, and called the builder to verify, this lot had a big utility box on the front yard, and while that would have been discovered by the clients eventually, based on their rushed sales experience, at the time, they weren't aware, and this (the agent knew) was a major deal breaker for them.
The short version of the outcome was that our agent drove to this show home immediately to sit down with the buyers and the builder, upon arrival, they were even instructed by the sales representative that they wouldn't be included in this deal and the builder wasn't willing to pay them for their time. After thoroughly reviewing the deal, and discussing options with the client privately, our agent called a builder they knew in the area and asked if they had anything comparable, they were able to get a property put on hold for the next day (as it was getting late) and set a relaxed and comfortable booking that allowed the clients to truly digest the entire deal, and see everything that was included, it turned out to be one of the more rewarding transactions as the clients were forever grateful for the agents willingness to assist and drop everything to help them out, and later said they were most likely going to sign the agreement had the REALTOR® not picked up the phone. This isn't normal by any means with builders in Calgary though, plenty of them operate with clear transparency, upfront discussions, and disclosures, and a majority of the time buyers walk away knowing exactly what to expect with their new home purchase, but we ALWAYS recommend having an agent on your side that will review the contract on your behalf looking out for your best interests.