Brian and Susan Vos "upsized" after their downsized lifestyle no longer met their needs

Empty nesters Brian and Susan Vos are at the forefront of a growing downsizing trend. It has taken them full circle from a single-family home to a condominium and then back to a single-family home.

Six years ago they took the traditional downsizing plunge, moving from a large, single-family home where they had raised their three children into an executive bungalow-style condominium.

Growing trees and shrubs in pots around your condo or townhome deck saves space, money and time

For Mike in Lethbridge, it started as a rescue operation.

He found dead-looking shrubs in the garbage behind stores and homes. He revived them, not as full-sized trees, but as miniature, windswept versions of their bigger selves.

His rescues became bonsai, and he built a delicate forest of trees in tiny pots.

Before I met Mike, I had never seen a crabapple or potentilla in a bonsai pot.

Why bother with bonsai? While a crabapple tree at 10 metres tall is a big tree, a 60-centimetre version in a bonsai pot is the perfect size for a patio. And the brilliant red crabapples, 1.5 centimetres across on a full-sized tree, are still the same size on a bonsai version of the same tree.

When you shrink your square footage, your furniture needs to follow suit

You've decided to sell your current home and move into a smaller house or perhaps a modest-sized condominium.

That means making some decisions, including how to downsize your furniture.

Liz Nandee, owner and head designer at Basic Black Designs, says as North Americans we tend to have a lot of possessions and "we like to keep everything."

But Nandee says some of your current furniture may just be too big for your new place, and you don't want to start downsizing after the mover has unloaded your possessions into a jammed-packed new home.

Downsizing baby boomers have different needs than previous generations

What's the difference between the baby boomer generation of empty nesters and retirees, and previous generations?

According to Calvin Buss, president of Buss Marketing and a boomer himself, today's empty nesters, if they retire at all, want to "do things" instead of retiring "to die."

And that new view of aging has also changed their approach to downsizing, says Buss, who has marketed and sold large condo projects in Calgary for almost three decades.

Allan Klassen wears a few different hats these days. He has his husband-and-father hat, of course. Then there's one as senior vice-president of housing for Brookfield Residential and another as chair of BILD Calgary.

The fourth hat he wears is as chair of the Gordie Howe Centre for Alzheimer's Research and Education Society (GH CARES). And like everything else he's involved in, Klassen brings a strong level of passion to this undertaking.

The highlight for this non-profit that provides assistance to the 45,000 Albertans who suffer from Alzheimer's or dementia is the pro-am hockey tournament held annually in Calgary in April.

Determining the best RV storage solution for you and your family

Having a recreational vehicle (RV) is a great way to enjoy a weekend retreat with family and friends, but storing an RV during the offseason can be a challenge for owners.

"The number one thing is you need to look at the bylaws of the community you live in," said Chris Swift, sales manager at Woody's RV World in Calgary, adding the rules pertaining to parking and storing RVs vary by city.

Most strictly limit or prohibit storing a vehicle on a city street, but there are exceptions. For example, Swift says, in Airdrie you can park an RV on your driveway provided it does not extend past the property line.

Downsizing can be the right move in a variety of situations

Cindy Beaudet owns and operates Destinations Seniors Downsizing, a Calgary company helping seniors "declutter, downsize and decide what stays and what goes."

"I tell them the first thing to do is to call their kids and tell them to get their stuff out of the basement," said Beaudet.

Most of Beaudet's clients have been in their homes for more than 40 years.

"It's so overwhelming for them. They've been in a house for 40 or 50 years, and now they're moving to 587 square feet of space," she said.

How much is your home worth? 

It’s a simple question with a complex answer, but one thing’s for sure, if you want to find the current value of your home, you can’t rely on your property tax assessments alone! 

First-time Home Buyers' Plan offers a path to ownership

A house can be a great investment, but saving enough for a down payment can be difficult. The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP), offered by the Government of Canada, is a program that aids the purchase of a first home by allowing part of a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) to be withdrawn as a tax-free down payment in cash.

"This is about the only program that is available now through the federal government," said David P. Brown, president of CREB®.

The importance of a Real Property Report when buying a house

While many documents come into play when purchasing your home, one of the most important is the Real Property Report (RPR).

A real property report is a requirement during a standard real estate transaction and, in Calgary, Alberta Land Surveyors' Association (ALSA) members complete those reports.

"A Real Property Report is a legal document that shows the boundaries of the property in question and the improvements relative to those boundaries. When I say improvements, that includes of course the house, but also the deck, shed, garage and fence that may be on the property," said Brian Munday, executive director of Alberta Land Surveyors' Association (ALSA).