Eight tips to prepare your home for listing photos

There are many dramatic changes you can make when preparing a home for photos. Renovating a bathroom or kitchen can reap big resale rewards, while a fresh coat of paint or new siding can add serious curb appeal. But for those working with a limited budget or on a shorter timeline, there are more subtle changes that can have your house looking its best prior to an open house or having photos taken.

Artesia in Heritage Pointe merges luxury and landscape

Ordinarily, luxury and sustainability are not exactly two peas in a pod. However, Artesia at Heritage Pointe is no ordinary community. Situated just outside Calgary city limits south of the Bow River, the development combines urban and rural living, offering more space to roam, less maintenance and a tremendous sense of community, not to mention spectacular views.

"Our vision is to create a lifestyle community in the Heritage Pointe tradition that functions in tandem with the natural landscape and focuses on sustainability," said Bill MacDonald, project manager for land development at Heritage Pointe Properties.

You asked, we answered

The people have spoken! We asked you for your most pressing real estate questions, then threw them to our expert panel of experienced REALTORS®: John Hripko (Royal LePage Benchmark), Laura O'Connell (RE/MAX House of Real Estate), Sam Crick (RE/MAX Realty Professionals) and David P. Brown (The Real Estate Company Ltd.).

Fire safety tips to protect your home

In Calgary, a recent string of house fires has people thinking about fire safety in the home.

Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department, says kitchen fires are the most common residential call for the fire department, "and often it's because people leave their cooking unattended."

Read on for stats and fun facts about every community in Calgary's north. This is part two of a two-part series on Calgary communities.

The shifting popularity of new-build home upgrades

Home command centres, extra-large closets, gyms, secondary suites, energy efficiencies and more – the new-build bells and whistles homebuyers are choosing today are all about convenience.

No matter the size of the home, buyers want products that support a busy lifestyle, says Michelle Jakeman, director of sales and marketing for Calbridge Homes.

In-home wine cellars' popularity on the rise

Canadians love to kick back and enjoy a good sip or smooth tipple – after all, we spent $7 billion on wine alone in 2016, according to Statistics Canada. So it's no surprise that people are building the activity into their homes.

Whether a leisure-time imbiber, a hobbyist or a serious collector, wine racks, wine rooms and wet bars have become popular additions to new-home designs and renovated homes alike.

The broad appeal of secret-room renovations

If you love those scenes from old movies where a wall opens to reveal a secret room, you can now put yourself squarely in the picture. Hidden rooms in houses – usually custom-built homes, rather than existing structures – are growing in popularity, and for good reason.

"The demand for these rooms is huge right now, partly because thieves aren't taking televisions or stereos anymore – they're going after your identity," said Sandy Scheiris, CEO of Nulock Builders Inc.

Eighteen questions you should ask a Realtor before hiring

Buying or selling a home is likely the biggest transaction people will make in their lives.

For example, the average MLS® System sale price in Calgary, as of the end of April, was close to half a million dollars.

Whether you're a buyer or a seller, finding the right REALTOR® can be a daunting task. There are many to choose from; CREB® has more than 5,400 registered Realtors serving Calgary and surrounding areas. It's important to select a Realtor who can meet your needs, especially when you consider the stakes.

High-end housing market continues sluggish recovery, but slow sales bump up supply 

As a former long-time writer with the Calgary Herald focusing on the real estate beat, I knew how popular coverage of the real estate industry was to readers.

One aspect of the industry people always loved reading about was the city's luxury home market. So, I was curious how the high-end segment of the housing market has been faring lately.

Year-to-date sales – up to the end of April – of $1-million-plus properties totalled 204 transactions, which is down slightly from 211 during the same period a year ago, says Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist with CREB®.