Hamlet tomatoes don't come cheap, but store well

My daughter was the first to notice I paid $12.95 for Hamlet tomato seeds.

And as she looked over my shoulder at the price, I was embarrassed. I admitted I ordered them without price checking and I wondered: would these seeds really be worth three times the price of every other seed?

Wearable tech has the potential to revolutionize your physical fitness

We humans are great at finding shortcuts, simple solutions and quick fixes. We instinctively avoid doing things the hard way. This drive has spurred amazing innovations in areas from transportation to telecommunications and automation. Everything from the wheel to the silicon chip has sprung from our need to avoid work.

But there's a downside: the easier we make our lives, the less active we are and the more difficult it becomes to stay physically fit. And even though we all know there's no magic bullet that will make us fit, strong and healthy, that doesn't stop us from looking for one.

Canmore's Spring Creek aims to give seniors care options in a resort-like setting

Having to leave your home and the community you love, when it comes time to downsize or when you need extra care, is one of the worst things about aging.

While even the most grandiose new communities try to tick all the boxes that allow aging in place – like live/work units, mixed-use services, and a range of options from affordable to luxury single family and mutli-family homes – not all can claim to package those choices in a walkable, resort setting.

However, a 70-acre development in the mountain village of Canmore, is checking off every one of those uses in what is a "legacy" project for developer Frank Kernick.

Home buyer doesn't settle for less with her forever home

At 52, Leah Barber knows what she wants. The recently divorced mother of a university-aged son was clear on her must-haves when she began shopping for a new home.

Top priorities were a home with great curb appeal and a big deck adjoining the great room – a sunny spot where she could relax after a long day at work. Add to that a double master plan, so that when her son was home from school, he would have his own space. In addition, she had specific layout requests, including a smaller footprint – small enough to be low maintenance.

She found exactly what she was looking for in Hopewell's Xeno model — a 1,300 square foot, laned home with a double master plan and front kitchen in the southeast lake community of Mahogany.

Not your traditional suburban community

The rapidly growing community of Chestermere exudes an intrinsic lightness of being and a twinkling joie de vivre. You can feel it crackling in the air as you stroll down the pathways, watching people run, blade and bike during the summer months or cross-country ski in the winter, whooshing, swishing, all the while laughing.

"It's the people that really make this an amazing place to live," said resident Ryan Armstrong.

He moved his young family from northwest Calgary to Kinniburgh Estates in East Chestermere four years ago and hasn't looked back.

Calgary's luxury market showing staying power, say experts

A high-end fitness centre and kitchen to cater private events; a concierge service or tranquility room; a car wash and, yes, even a pet wash.

These are among the amenities today's buyers can expect with the purchase of a luxury condo in Calgary, a sector real estate experts say is showing some staying power despite soft economic conditions.

Starting this week, CREB®Now will be sitting down and talking with local homebuyers to understand why they bought, where they bought it and what advice they might have to others.

Jill Stephenson-Long and Chris Long fell in love with the mountain lifestyle 15 years ago when they moved to Canmore to begin their lives together and further their respective careers. The active, health-conscious and design-focused couple – she is a nurse and he is a chiropractor – have three young children: nine-year-old twins, a boy and girl, and a five-year-old son.

With the goal of eventually building their mountain-themed dream home over the years, the couple, purchased investment real estate and rental properties in Canmore to finance their down payment while they lived in a leased home, raising their young family.

Local designers offer advice on how to create personal spaces

One could describe Calgary-based interior designer Amanda Hamilton as trend averse.

"Focusing on trends is a sure way to date your home," she said, pointing to dwellings from the 1980s that show their vintage via their yellow-oak interiors and brass details. "We don't follow trends. Trends are interesting for people who are into fast design."

Hamilton added current economic conditions can also further influence trends' relevance.

What you should know about the year ahead for Calgary's housing market

CREB® has released its annual economic outlook and regional housing forecast. But what does it all mean? CREB®Now takes readers through the numbers.

18,335
After posting successive sales declines in 2014 (25,552), 2015 (18,839) and 2016 (17,809), CREB® is forecasting MLS® activity in Calgary to rebound slightly in 2017. Citywide sales are expected to total 18,335 units, a three per cent gain over 2016, but 12 per cent below long-term averages. By category, detached sales are predicted to hit 11,550 in 2016, while attached and apartment sales will reach 4,002 and 2,783, respectively.

Report notes mortgage lending rule changes could spell trouble for city's housing market

Recent changes by the federal government to mortgage lending rules will likely serve as headwinds for the city's recovering real estate market in the coming year, said CREB® in its 2017 Economic Outlook and Regional Housing Forecast.

Since 2008, the federal government has been tightening mortgage lending rules.