New mobile-friendly Home Buyer's Guide helps educate and protect Alberta consumers

A new resource from the Real Estate Council of Alberta provides a step-by-step guide to anyone thinking of buying a home in Alberta.

The Home Buyer's Guide, located online at www.homebuyersguidealberta.ca, gives Albertans a perspective unique to the province. Featuring a wealth of information and advice, it provides helpful tips on everything from determining if you can afford to buy, to finding a real estate professional, to what to expect on possession day.

Buyer opts for a new-build condo in Calgary's desirable Beltline

Nav Basi knows real estate: it's what he does for a living.

This 41-year-old entrepreneur and real estate investor lives just north of the city limits, on an acreage adjacent to Cross Iron Mills. He's young and single and considering shifting lifestyle gears, from country-living to inner-city hip.

With that in mind, he made the decision to purchase a one-bedroom condominium at Park Point, a 34-storey condominium tower close to the city's core, overlooking Memorial Park. He purchased for investment purposes and plans to rent it out with eye to potentially using it as a future residence for himself.

Landed immigrants see home ownership as the key to success

For new Canadians, Andres Gutierrez and Isabel Echavarria, becoming real estate savvy in an unfamiliar country took persistence and bucket loads of determination. The couple, who work for the Canadian Red Cross, moved to Calgary from Columbia eight years ago via Montreal. Their goal was to purchase a comfortable home for their young family; they have a six-year-old daughter and a
five-year-old son. Another priority was finding a home with enough space to accommodate visiting relatives. They purchased the O Plan, an optional four-bedroom, two-storey Chalet townhome by Hopewell in the southeast community of Copperfield.

January market improves over last year

At 4,112 total units, January's inventory was 18 per cent below last year's levels, according to CREB®, which released its monthly housing summary today.

"While housing conditions continue to favour buyers, a slow transition toward more balanced conditions is helping to ease downward pressure on home prices," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. "Conditions have improved over last year, but people need to remember that last year's market was one of the weakest on record. Despite the appearance of a major shift in activity, the transition in the housing market is going to be a slow process."

Destination malls like Chinook Centre provide more than just shopping

CF Chinook Centre in Calgary has made it on a list of the most productive shopping malls in Canada.

According to the recent Retail Council of Canada's Canadian Shopping Centre Study, Chinook Centre was ranked seventh overall with sales per square foot of $1,057 for the 12 months ending Aug. 31, 2016.

Paige O'Neill, general manager of Chinook Centre, says the local shopping centre has some key elements that contribute to its success.

No new downtown office towers for at least five years, say experts

Despite the number of construction projects currently on the go, it is unlikely Calgary's downtown office market will see any new towers for quite some time.

Todd Throndson, managing director and principal for Avison Young in Calgary, says the millions of square feet of recently created new space, three new towers coming on line and a soaring vacancy rate will sideline any plans for more towers.

He says it will take several years – at least five – before the existing vacancy will be absorbed and a landlord will be prepared to take on the risk of constructing a new tower. Today, Calgary's vacancy rate is about 25 per cent.

Interior design experts set to hit the Home + Garden stage in March

Tiffany Pratt loves colour.

An interior designer, stylist and host of HGTV Canada's Home to Win and Buy It, Fix It, Sell It, she's also a self-proclaimed "rainbow hunter" and "rainbow thrower." Even her vibrantly hued hair, which takes inspiration from the rainbow, attests to her passion for palettes.

It's no surprise, then, that colour will take centre stage when Pratt makes her debut at this year's Calgary Home + Garden Show.

Front verandas bring the elegance of the southern lifestyle to Calgary

Hughues Lefebvre and Rachel Malone enjoy the easy grace and relaxed living that southern architecture inspires.

Rachel grew up in Alabama, sipping lemonade in a rocking chair on the veranda of her family's southern home.

"That's my thing and it's hard to find here in Calgary," said Malone.

How to freshen up houseplants in the shower

Do you have a layer of dust on your indoor plants from the pre-Obama era?

As the sun shines on my plants, I can see it's been too long. If I can write my name on the leaves in dust, I know it's time to send my greenery to the shower.

Light levels are so low in February in Calgary that any extra interference, like dust, slows houseplants down and blocks the already limited light. If leaf tips are browning or whole leaves yellowing, the plant is probably cutting its losses by getting rid of the lazy leaves that are too shaded to give back.

In nature, regular rains wash leaves clean, but in your apartment or house, plants need a helping hand.

Suburban condos appeal to those looking for good value

After renting a condo in Marda Loop for the past ten years, Kerri-Lyn Ouellette is moving: She's buying a condo in the suburbs. Her choice? Hopewell Residential's Sandgate development in Mahogany.

"Marda Loop isn't affordable for a single woman with a middle income. Condos in the suburbs, however, are affordable," said Ouellette, adding that Sandgate condos start in the $190s range.

Ouellette says market conditions played a primary role in her decision to buy now.