As spring starts to arrive in Calgary, homeowners might be looking ahead to the warmer months and the possibilities for home improvement or building something new on their property.

Many of the most popular projects involve fences, whether building new or breathing life into an old one. However, fence building can be fraught with frustrations: Who is responsible for fence construction between two properties? What are the costs? What should it be made of?

The vibrancy of Calgary's downtown office market is a good indicator of the health of the city's economy, and since the oil price collapse that started in the latter half of 2014, they've both been struggling.

Everything was overflowing everywhere, Jodie Tilley says, as she stands in the open-concept main floor of her 2,500-square-foot duplex in Richmond-Knob Hill.

"My life was unmanageable in this house," she said. "My dining table was a dumping ground, and lots of the house was unusable because of the clutter. It didn't feel like a home I could welcome people into."

Want to sell your house fast? Then add a little sizzle to your curb appeal, so potential buyers can see from the road how pretty your house is before they book a showing.

Just what is a "single-family" home these days? The distinction is getting blurrier, as many families opt for multi-generational homes.

Much like Calgary, the bedroom community of Chestermere didn't escape the real estate market pitfalls of 2018. However, some experts say that the worst is over, predicting that as the spring of 2019 takes root, sunnier days lie ahead.

Calgary's Chinatown is small but unique, blessed with the iconic Centre Street Bridge, a vibrant cultural centre, a prime location along the Bow River and a history stretching back more than 100 years.

It will also have the first cultural plan for any neighbourhood in Canada – perhaps in North America – that will help inform Chinatown's new local area plan, a plan last updated more than three decades ago.

Housing affordability was centre stage when the federal government announced the new First-Time Home Buyer Incentive program as part of their 2019 budget, and it promises to be a big campaign issue this fall.