Robb Leece

Renting your first apartment, or purchasing your first condo, can be a daunting task. With so many things to worry about and keep track of the experience can seem overwhelming.  Click here to visit our listing of available Apartments and Apartment Condos.  To help you select a good apartment here are 4 things to remember:

Especially if you are inexperienced at apartment hunting it helps to bring a friend or relative along who has purchased their own place before. Hire a REALTOR® that has experience in buying and selling condos and the intricacies that go with it.

2) Talk to your potential neighbours if you can

If you are seriously considering an apartment or condo try and talk to some of your potential neighbours when viewing the property. Introduce yourself and explain why you are there, then ask them general questions about the building. Is the place in good repair? Do they have any complaints about their neighbours?  What is the social scene like?

3) Go over the paperwork carefully

Your REALTOR will go over all of the details of your offer with you before you sign it.  You will often have a condition of a condominium document review, which will allow the seller some time to obtain all of the documents related to the unit.  You will then be able to examine the documents, and send them for a professional review if you choose.  Some of the bylaws of the Condominium corporation will effect you directly. Can you have pets? What if you have, or decide you want to have, children. Will they be welcome in the building? 

4) Research the neighbourhood

Make sure the neighbourhood is safe, and that you can easily access the services you need. How far away is the grocery store? If you have children, how far away is the nearest school? You should also check the crime rate in your neighbourhood. The Calgary Police Service offers an up to date Crime Map of the city, which shows how many of each crime occurred in each neighbourhood in the last year.

Purchasing your first condo, will be less stressful if you follow these tips. If something ever doesn’t feel right you shouldn’t risk it. The last thing you want to is get stuck with an unit that is not right for you. 

Ever wonder why your REALTOR® is looking in the closet?  When I'm showing a buyer a property that I have never been in, they always catch me opening closets to peek around.  No, I'm not some fashionista,  I'm checking for signs that the home may have been used for the illegal manufacture of marijanua.  

Some of the warning signs that I am keeping an eye out for, are any fresh drywall patches that may be present heading towards the attic space, as this is often where they will run vents to help mask odours coming from the property.  I will always take a look around the pipes coming into the water meter, to see if there's any evidence of tampering to bypass the meter.  Take a peek at the venting around the hot water tank to see if it looks like it has ever been used to supply additional Co2.  I'll also try and observe the foundation walls, especially around the breaker panel, and where the main power enters the property to see if it has ever been altered.  

There are a few other key indicators that we are looking for when browsing a property.  Active signs of aggression in the home can be a sign of methamphetamine contamination.

While these quick inspections are by no means a replacement for a proper home inspection by a licensed home inspector, they are a great way that I can help my buyers identify a stigmatized property long before writing an offer or paying for a home inspection.

How big is your home? How about the one you are purchasing? While most people can eyeball how big a property is they aren’t always accurate, and that accuracy can come back to haunt potential buyers. Multiple buyers in both Calgary and Edmonton have recently discovered that their properties are actually smaller than they were told when they purchased them. One woman, Pam Whelan, found out she had been duped. When she purchased her home in 2007 the advertisement said the property was 2580 square feet, but when she recently went to list the property on the market she found out it was actually only 2094 square feet. This significant 756 square foot difference meant that her home was actually valued at significantly less than she paid for it. When she did sell it was for much less than she had paid for it, despite putting nearly $130,000 into renovating the property.

To help protect buyers from misrepresented square footage the Real Estate Council of Alberta recently announced new guidelines regarding home measurement in the province. This standard will help ensure that consumers and real estate professionals are working with accurate and consistent property measurements when buying or selling homes. This will help people compare different properties accurately so they can better determine which property better suits their real estate needs. 

Previous measuring guidelines were broad and open to interpretation. This meant that realtors employed various approaches to measuring properties and sometimes included things like patios, balconies, decks and parking spaces. This meant that many property square footages were artificially inflated, making homes sound larger and driving up prices. 

The new measurement standards require realtors to:

1. Identify if the square footage is listed in metric or imperial, and require them to apply their chosen unit of measurement consistently.

2. Measure the outside surface of the exterior walls in order to determine square footage for single, detached properties.

3. Measure the interior perimeter walls (paint-to-paint) at floor level for all properties with common walls such as half-duplexes, townhouses and apartments. Any additional area representations may be made assuming the exterior measurements.

4. Include floor levels that are entirely above grade and exclude floor levels if any portion of that floor falls below grade. Below grade levels may be measured, but this area may not be included in the RMS (Residential Measurement Standard) area.

5. Include all additions to the main structure and conversions of above grade areas within the structure, so long as they are weatherproof and suitable for year round use.

6. Differentiate between rooms with minimum 2.13m (7ft) ceilings and rooms whose ceilings are lower than that. If the ceiling is sloped the area with a floor to ceiling height of at least 1.52m (5ft) can be included in the RMS area provided there is a ceiling height of 2.13m (7ft) somewhere in the room.

7. Include extensions from the main structure that have a minimum floor-to-ceiling height of 1.5m (5ft), such as cantilevers, bay and bow windows and dormers.

8. Exclude open areas that have no floor such as vaulted areas.

Welcome to Calgary! We are so glad you decided to make our beautiful city your home. Calgary has many things to offer, including a wide variety of historical buildings. This post includes a quick guide to help you get started. Have fun exploring! 

If you are looking for a character home in Calgary, try our Calgary Historic Home Search.  It will show you all homes available for sale in Calgary built between 1850 and 1940.

1) Heritage Park Historical Village

Heritage Park is a well known Calgary landmark, and Canada’s largest living history museum. Take a trip back in time to see how the West once was. This park includes five sections, organized by time period. 1860s Fur Trading Fort and First Nations Encampment; 1880s Pre-railway Settlement; C.1910 Prairie Railway Town; and 1930s, 1940s and 1950s Gasoline Alley Museum and Heritage Town Square. The park also includes a midway fair ground full of rides and games, and an authentic and fully functioning steamboat the S. S. Moyie that departs several times daily from the dock for trips around the Glenmore Reservoir. For hours and rates, please visit http://www.heritagepark.ca/

2)  Mewata Armory

The Mewata Armory is located in Downtown Calgary at 801 11th Street SW and was built between 1915 and 1918 and is home to The King's Own Calgary Regiment and The Calgary Highlanders. Built in the Tudor/Gothic revival style, this grand brick building is reminiscent of a medieval fort or castle complete with buttresses and and a crenelated roofline.

3) Lougheed House

The Lougheed House is a sandstone mansion set on an impressive 2.8 acres of ground. Built in 1891, it was home to Senator James Alexander Lougheed, his wife Lady Isabella Hardisty Lougheed, their six children and a full staff. It is open Wednesday to Friday from 11 am till 4pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. Feeling peckish? Visit Isabella’s Cafe for lunch or afternoon tea. For more information, please visit http://www.lougheedhouse.com/

4) Fort Calgary

This National Historic Site is the birthplace of Calgary, where the North West Mounted Police first laid the roots for this historic city. This impressive 40 acre site is located at the conflux of the Bow and Elbow Rivers and includes a museum as well as an interactive interpretive centre. Fort Calgary is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm (closed some holidays). For more information please visit http://www.fortcalgary.com/

Lake Bonavista is a well established and family friendly neighbourhood in South East Calgary. To help you settle into your new neighbourhood, here is a list of local businesses that will help you meet your needs.

Welcome to Calgary! We are so glad you decided to move here to our wonderful city! To help you settle in, here is a list of newcomer resources located here in Calgary.

So you have decided to purchase a condo. Whether you are upgrading from a rented apartment or downsizing from a house there are w few things to consider before you sign the papers.