Congratulations to the following Calgary-area builders and developers, who are all finalists for the 2018 BILD Alberta Awards. The winners will be announced at the BILD Alberta Fall Conference in Jasper on Sept. 14.

Experts say you should buy a home with your head and not your heart, but it's easy to get caught up in the excitement when you find a home that seems perfect for you.

That's why a home inspection is a crucial step. It can uncover problems that might require walking away from a potential purchase, or at least mean reassessing your offer.

Next to "location, location, location," the truest maxim in real estate is "change, change, change." While your first home is a milestone, keeping pace with your changing needs is about making all the right moves.

"Move-up buyers have been through the process before and know what they want," said Michael Winiarz, vice-president of sales and marketing for Mattamy Homes in Calgary.

Almost 20 years ago with the advent of Seaside, a live, work and play development with a village-type feel on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in northwest Florida, the philosophy of new urbanism took root.

Based on concepts espoused by renowned urban planner, Jane Jacobs – who designed Greenwich Village in New York City – new urbanism takes the inner-city vibe and brings it to the suburbs. The concept is rooted in historical village-style planning structure, with a central amenity pool in the village centre and high-density housing peppered throughout. It's a design that draws people out of their homes, and walkability is a central feature. This provides a downtown feel and downtown-style amenities, and the concept is catching on big time in Calgary.

If keeping your various loans, lines of credit, bank accounts and a mortgage in order is becoming a herculean task, some Canadian financial institutions are touting a simple solution.

So-called all-in-one mortgages, sometimes referred to as all-in-one lines of credit, combine all your financial obligations into one chequing account.

To say that Calgary's Calbridge Homes excels at luxury design might be a bit of an understatement. For evidence, one need not look any further than the company's latest hospital lottery show home in Mahogany.

On Oct. 17 cannabis will become legal across Canada. However, the reality of legalization for many Calgarians who rent or own in multi-family buildings or condominiums might be completely different from that of a single-family homeowner.

In the early days of recreational marijuana legalization, NewLeaf Cannabis hopes to open five or six stores across Calgary.

Those retail outlets are planned to join another half dozen in Edmonton, Leduc and Lethbridge, with an ultimate target of 25 stores in eight different Alberta municipalities.