What an amazing family home, and offered at an awesome price too! Super-clean with many upgrades and updates throughout the years. Maple kitchen cabinets with stainless steel appliances. Upgraded flooring and bathrooms. Fully developed basement including a full bathroom and deluxe laundry area. Large south back yard that gets plenty of sunlight has lots of room for playing and entertaining, and with space for a future parking pad or garage. Front veranda with access to the back yard, plus a 16.5’x10′ deck. Located in a family-friendly and quiet cul-de-sac.  Parks and playgrounds nearby. Plenty of street parking out front.

To view more photos, floorplan and virtual tour visit my webpage.

Great double-master plan. The bedrooms are at either end of the home, separated by a central cat-walk with views down to the dining room. Each bedroom has a large walk-in closet and their own full ensuite with jetted tubs. The large U-shaped kitchen with loads of storage and counter-space is open to the dining room, which features a 2-storey vault and a three-sided fireplace. Main floor laundry. Updated lighting fixtures and fresh paint throughout. The basement has three large windows and roughed-in plumbing, and awaits your storage items and/or development plans. There’s also a west back yard that is fully fenced, and which boasts a 13.7’x10′ deck and a 2-car parking pad.

To view more photos, floorplan and a virtual tour visit my webpage.

Just over a year ago I started giving clients the keychain pictured above, which has a “quarter” and a “loonie” that can be used in place of real currency in grocery shopping carts.  They have been quite the hit!  Yesterday I got a call from the Houston Airport to tell me that a set of keys was found there with my keychain on it.

Please give me a call or email if you think these lost keys may be yours!

People have often speculated on when exactly the best time to buy a house might be – what combination of a bountiful market and a scarcity of buyers will lead to the best deal on a great home. Charts and graphs have been studied, deep thinkers have thought deep thoughts.

Well, there’s definitely a right answer, but it’s hardly scientific.

The best time to buy a home is when you’re ready to buy a home.

Okay, maybe that’s a little anticlimactic, and a touch glib, but the truth is a buyer’s preparedness is the most important factor in making a successful purchase. If you’re thinking of selling and moving up to something larger, bear in mind that the high tide raises all boats: waiting for your property to go up in value is also waiting for your future home to get more expensive too. Maybe there can be an advantage to be found on this front when it comes to downsizing, but generally if we’re in a market that’s raising prices, it’s because there are an increased number of buyers at all levels, and so everything becomes more valuable.

Low interest rates are sometimes cited as a driving factor for more sales, but for the majority of us the purchase of a home requires a long term mortgage that will weather potentially massive fluctuations due to the health of our economy; the early 1980s saw rates as high as 22 percent, which dropped to around eight percent by the mid ‘90s. So, sure, today’s low rates can certainly make entry into the market easier, but they shouldn’t be the only reason to buy a home right now.

No, there’s no external factor that should shove a potential homebuyer who’s sitting on the fence into the market. Instead, look inward and examine your family’s financial position, anticipate upcoming expenditures and cash flow boosts, come up with a list of reasons to move and another of reasons to stay put, and have candid conversations with your family. Then, when you’re ready, get pre-qualified on a mortgage, spruce up your present dwelling, call a great Realtor, and, most of all, have fun shopping for that dream house. Good luck!

It’s a (bidding) war zone out there right now. There are nearly twenty percent fewer homes on the market than there were a year ago, yet sales are up just over three percent; well-priced, attractively located homes are being snatched up as quickly as hours after hitting MLS, according to the Herald. While this doesn’t mean people should be overpricing their homes, it does mean that sales for above-asking price are possible for savvy sellers.

Before you list, make sure you discuss with your Realtor (hey, I’m available!) which features of your home are the most appealing, and maybe put a little money into enhancing those areas as applicable. Then, when your home hits the market, your Realtor can ensure the right people are coming to take a look.

For buyers, there’s never been a more important time than now to ensure you have all your proverbial ducks in a row before diving into the market. For the love of Pete, get pre-qualified on your mortgage before doing anything else. Discuss with your spouse and any other stakeholders what the absolute must-haves of your next home are, and decide what you might be willing to sacrifice to obtain those features. Research the neighbourhoods at the top of your list to find out what kind of home you can expect to find there in your price range. Then, when the time comes to go shopping, bear in mind that you may need to move quickly to get an offer in before another buyer.

While it’s not a market for the timid, the right Realtor can reassure and guide you throughout the process so that you can find the right home, at the right price, for you and your family without too many sleepless nights.

I talk a lot about the detached home market in Calgary, and how remarkably well its doing, but our city’s condo market is also on fire right now. The Herald reported recently that new condo sales are near the records set in 2005 – when prices were significantly lower – as people look to live closer to the action of our downtown core.

Condos have a lot of great benefits for the right homebuyer. First, you get the financial advantages of owning a home with a lot of the mitigated responsibilities (for things like shoveling snow, replacing the roof, and so on) that go along with renting. Second, singles may feel a greater sense of security living in a highrise condo building, surrounded by helpful neighbours and with a monitored entrance, rather than in a big suburban home. Third, a major element of the condo lifestyle is living with less stuff: you just plain don’t have the room to store a pile of collectables, and so you learn to live with less.

It’s not for everyone, of course, and it does have risks: a poorly managed condo board can leave maintenance undone, for example, leading to major repairs paid for out of residents’ pockets. For those who do their research and know what they’re getting into, though, condos hold a lot of value and appeal. If you think you might like getting into the condo market, give me a call or visit my web page to view those I currently have listed.

59 Wentworth Ci SW

**Open House Sat Jan 25 1-4pm** Absolutely loaded! This open plan, fully developed 3-bedroom home boasts many, many extras- Custom made hand crafted built-ins throughout. Upgraded flooring including tile floors, hardwood up to and in the bonus room, and upgraded carpet with 11 lbs underlay. Large master bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and a secondary room that would serve well as an office, exercise area, or extra closet / dressing room. 50 year metal roof. Navien tankless water heater. 3-ton air conditioner. Other bonuses include a reverse osmosis water system, top-of-the-line water softener, electronic air cleaner, and concrete front step. This home has never been smoked-in and the owner has no pets; it’s super-clean. Hobbyists will appreciate the huge garage which is wider and much longer than normal, is plumbed with water and wired with 220V, is insulated and boasts a storage loft! All this and low-maintenance xeriscaped landscaping and a large deck that hosts an 8 person hot-tub. Ahhhh!

To view more photos, floor plan and virtual tour visit my webpage.

1520 18 Av Nw

Fully developed gem in Capitol Hill with an income-helper basement. Close to everything including the C-Train, North Hill Mall, SAIT, and Confederation Park. Soaring vaulted ceilings on the main level with a wood-burning fireplace that boasts a floor to ceiling rock mantle. Huge windows to let the light shine in. Huge kitchen with loads of counter space and lots of room, plus newer stainless steel appliances and a rear sun room overlooking the back yard. This home boasts numerous upgrades including: newer hardwood and tile floors, new roof including skylights, new high-efficiency furnace, and new ground level deck. Upstairs the master boasts dual closets and a massive master ensuite with dual sinks and a dressing area. The suite downstairs has a separate entrance, separate laundry, and lots of windows. The den could easily be converted to an additional bedroom, if wanted. Air conditioning and a double garage add to the home’s appeal. Located on a no-through-road. This is the one!

To view more photos, full listing details, floorplan and virtual tour visit my webpage.

The New Year is off to a great start in the real estate market, with the Calgary Real Estate Board predicting strong growth in both prices and the number of newly-built homes. While that’s a familiar-sounding tune these days, we’re coming off a year that saw more than 12 percent growth in the number of sales made with prices rising by six percent; to see sales increase by what’s predicted to be a little under four percent from last year is a really impressive sign of a healthy, robust market.

With interest rates now predicted to remain low for the foreseeable future (as opposed to the ‘there’re going up next month!’ prognostications we’ve been hearing for the last few years), this is an good time to build your ideal property or find a great resale home to move up into. A couple weeks ago I posted about some things you can do around your home to get it in saleable condition; I recommend having another read of that, and make a game plan if you want to enter the market in the spring. A few touch-ups can really affect your bottom line, which in turn will help you get that new home you want.

Want a personal, no-obligation evaluation of what we could sell your home for today, and what you could do to sell it for more? Contact me!

802, 281 Cougar Ridge Dr SW

This wide-open, top-floor stacked townhouse is absolutely perfect for a new start or as an income property. Kitchen boasts ample counter space and loads of storage including a pantry and maple cabinets. Bedroom has a walk-in closet with organizers. 9-foot ceilings enhance the large and airy atmosphere. Attached garage with extra parking on the driveway, as well as visitor parking right across the lane-way. Views to the west from the living room picture window and balcony. All the appliances are included, along with the washer/dryer. Situated close to a large green-space and a playground, and two blocks from the ski hill. Fast Possession is available.

To view more photos, floorplan and virtual tour visit my webpage.