Tips
New Feature - Neighbourhood Update
I’ve just added a new feature designed to benefit home owners. If you own your home and are not considering selling in the near future, you may still want to stay up to date on what’s happening in your local market.
Sign up for my monthly neighbourhood activity report and you’ll receive an automated email once a month summarizing the current listings and sales in your community.
Attend Condo Board Meetings
These days, everyone is busy and it often seems like there are more things to do than time to do them in. One thing that seems to get pushed aside more often than not is participation in condominium board meetings and votes.
A condo-owning client of mine recently shared with me that fewer than 10% of owners at his condominium had attended a recent annual general meeting of the condominium board. Even with several owners sending their vote by proxy with attendees, there were not enough owners represented for the meeting to achieve a quorum.
This lack of participation forces the board to re-schedule the meeting and try again. This is inconvenient to the owners who attended but also costs all of the owners money to re-schedule and hold a second meeting, not to mention the delay in making important decisions about how to manage the condominium.
Condominium board meetings are the scene of important decision making that effects all of the owners in a condominium. These meetings address everything from the budget, to repairs, maintenance and upgrades to common property as well as dealing with any issues effecting the condominium owners.
Remember, when you buy into a condominium you’re purchasing the unit AND a part of the condominium corporation. These decisions affect you, both financially and by influencing the management of the home you live in. It’s worth your time to attend.
New Website & Features
You might have already noticed some changes here at Find Calgary Real Estate. In addition to a new design there have been some other changes. You can now view all of the details of featured homes, including maps and photos at this page. You can also schedule a viewing of the featured homes right from that page.
As always, I value your input and comments. You can contact me at this page.
Curb side recycling details
The City has released new details about the curb side recycling program coming to single family homes in Calgary next year.
The service will be rolled out by quadrant. Service will start in the South West in April. This will be followed by South East, North West and North East communities serviced by June. The service will be a mandatory $8/month charge for weekly pickup at the same time and location as the regular garbage collection.
The program will recycle “plastics labeled with the recycling triangle 1 to 7 (except Styrofoam). The program will also accept newspapers, magazines, mixed paper, cardboard, milk containers, food cans and glass.” Best of all, there’s no need to sort, everything will go in the same bin and be sorted at a depot.
Single family homes, duplexes and fourplexes will be covered but condominium locations will not have the curbside pick-up. These homes will not be charged the $8/month and will have to continue to use the community recycling locations throughout the city or rely on private companies that currently provide pickup services.
Tip: Register for Do Not Call List
The National “Do-Not-Call-List” launches today. You can register your phone numbers online at this government site and greatly reduce the number of unsolicited calls you receive.
Telemarketers have 31 days to update their lists once you’ve registered. According to the site there are a few organizations exempt from the registry but it should eliminate a lot of unwanted phone calls.
Win a free iPhone
The Calgary Real Estate Board launched a new website today. In exchange for providing feedback on the site you’ll be entered to win a free iPhone.
The website is here and the contest entry form is here.
Good luck and let me know if you win!
Q&A: My lease is up in 6 months, when should I start house hunting?
Q: I have a lease ending in about six months. How do I get ready to buy a place and when do I start?
A: You can start right away to familiarize yourself with the market and think generally about what type of home you’d like to buy. For example, do your budget and lifestyle lead you more towards a condominium or a single family home? What areas of the city or particular communities do you prefer? Consider what amenities it’s important for you to be close too and what level of access to major roads, LRT and buses you might need. Think about creating a custom home search for properties that match these requirements so you have an idea of pricing in the neighborhoods you like.
It’s not too early to speak to a mortgage agent regarding your options for buying. Find out as early as possible if you have any blemishes on your credit report so you can get them cleared up and have a clean mortgage application when the time comes.
When does your lease expire? Most properties are available with closing/possession dates ranging from 30-90 days from the time you make an offer to purchase. You should being looking at homes when you have 2-3 months remaining on your lease, this is not so soon that you’ll be rushed into making a purchase in a hurry, but it’s close enough that you’ll be ready to buy the right home when it comes along.
Consider ordering a free copy of my guide for first time home buyers. This is also a good time to make an initial contact with a Realtor. Discuss your needs and get your questions answered about the best way to proceed from here.
Q&A : How can I avoid paying too much for my home?
Q: How can I avoid paying too much for my home?
A: This is a great question and I wouldn’t recommend you enter into any Real Estate transaction unless you’re satisfied that you’re paying fair market value for the property. The answer to how you can avoid paying too much comes down to ensuring you have professional representation as a home buyer.
Buying Real Estate is a learning process, whether it’s your first home or not. One of the services I provide my clients is ensuring they are up to speed on the current market conditions and trends. My philosophy is that if I have any information or knowledge that will be important to you in a transaction I make sure this information is available for you to benefit from.
One specific way in which you can ensure you don’t over-pay for a property is to ask your agent to complete a comparative market analysis of the home you’re considering making an offer on - this is a service I provide to all of my buyer clients. This should include records of recent sales of similar homes (in the same neighborhood with similar features and characteristics). By analyzing what other buyer’s were willing to pay and other seller’s were willing to accept you can be confident that you’re paying a fair price for your home. Sellers control the prices in the marketplace but the market value of a home is not established until a seller agrees to accept a price and a buyer agrees to pay it.
Remember, you’ll be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars - usually involving some borrowed money. Having accurate market knowledge and information is crucial under any market conditions, and another important reason to ensure that you are represented by an agent who is working for you as a home buyer. Under Alberta Real Estate law, you have the right to be informed about who an agent is representing in a transaction. Make sure you understand, and are comfortable with the level of representation you have.
I'm committed to helping my clients buy, sell and enjoy their homes and I strive to provide an added level of value and service at every stage of the Real Estate transaction. 