New housing collective seeks group approach to affordability issues

Billed as the first of its kind in Alberta, Calgary's Community Housing Affordability Collective (CHAC) launched earlier this month as a collaborative engine for improving housing affordability in the city.

While a number of local organizations already exist to address barriers to shelter, CHAC is unique is its collaborative approach, said Kim O'Brien, executive director of Horizon Housing Society and co-chair of the CHAC steering community.

Hands-free camera technology offers applications for homeowners

If you had a camera that was always on, aimed and focused on whatever you're looking at, ready to shoot a photo, would you take more — and better — pictures?

Shota Takase is betting you would. That's why the young entrepreneur invented Blincam, a small, glasses-mounted camera that will photograph anything you're looking at, literally in the blink of an eye.

And it's completely hands-free, meaning you can take photos while riding a bike, carrying groceries, cooking or doing just about anything else you can think of.

Knowing your local snow clearing bylaws may not be cool, but it's necessary

Winter is coming, and with it the one chore that many homeowners dread: shoveling their snowy sidewalks and driveways.

And while snow removal is often the last thing homeowners want to do on a chilly winter day, officials say it is important in protecting the public's safety.

"Sidewalks need to be kept clean for public safety, [and] a snow removal bylaw shares that responsibility without adding to municipal costs," said Charlene Ruttle, Cochrane's manager of municipal enforcement.

How to get the sell and still be festive

With the holidays hot on their heels, homeowners will have plenty of opportunities over the next couple of months to indulge in outdoor decorations that range from the gruesome and garish to the feel-good and festive.

Yet housing experts still urge homeowners to keep curb appeal in mind when it comes to going over-the-top this Halloween and Christmas.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram helping real estate businesses build their brands

When Sarah Johnston began using social media, she didn't do it to promote her real estate business.

"My entire life is dedicated to this 'job,' and I needed an outlet," she said.

Instead, Johnston took a relaxed approach, using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share about her life and interests — including her real estate adventures — and just be herself.

But she quickly discovered the power of the medium as she began amassing followers and having conversations online. Johnston connected easily with her target market (young professionals) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as other real estate professionals on LinkedIn.

Local organizations bring it from niche to mainstream

Once considered a niche market, composting in Calgary has gone mainstream.

From grass clippings to chicken bones and leftover produce to dryer lint, urban composting has rapidly evolved over the past several years thanks to new curbside pickup capabilities, improved technology and world-class recycling centres, say local sustainability experts.

Since 2015, Hop Compost has diverted more than 900,000 kilograms of waste from local landfills thanks to a new "clean-tech" process called HotRot.

Founder and CEO Kevin Davies said the company turns waste into high-quality organic compost via a process that seals and computerizes the compost process, using live data to optimize microbe activity every 60 seconds.

Evolution of Beltline area only the beginning, say advocates

True urban living: that's how Beltline Communities president Rob Taylor describes the resident experience just south of downtown.

Taylor has seen Calgary's Beltline district – bounded by the CPR tracks on the north, 17th Avenue to the south, 14th Street to the west and the Elbow River in the east – evolve extensively since he first moved into West Connaught in 1983. (The Beltline is made up of four neighbourhoods: West Connaught, Connaught Centre, Victoria Centre and East Victoria.)

"There has been a tremendous amount of development in the Beltline. We're very much focused on creating a vibrant community with high-density, urban living."

Province examines low-interest home loans as part of Bill 5

The Alberta government is proposing legislation that could assist seniors looking to age in place.

The proposed Seniors' Home Adaptation and Repair Act would enable a new low-interest home equity loan program to help seniors improve the safety and sustainability of their homes.

Bill 5, the Seniors' Home Adaptation and Repair program, would allow senior homeowners who qualify to finance essential home repairs and adaptations, including widening doorways or hallways, installing walk-in tubs, roof replacements and electrical repairs.

Properties in arrears up for grabs

The City of Calgary is hoping the prospect of having their home offered up to the highest bidder is enough to encourage a few Calgarians to catch up on their taxes.

Each year properties with more than three years outstanding tax arrears are offered for sale by the City of Calgary. Owners are notified a year in advance of the sale in hopes the owners will make an effort to catch up on any outstanding balance.

Currently, the list of properties stands at four pages, with properties deleted from the list as the outstanding taxes are paid.

Experts warn Alberta a hot spot for land-title fraud

Calgary homeowners are being warned to protect themselves from land title fraudsters who are targeting active real estate markets across the country.

"Ontario, B.C. and Alberta are the hot spots for fraud in Canada," said Marie Taylor, director and national underwriter for title insurance company First Canadian Title.

Land title fraud, also known as fraud for title, happens when a person's identity is stolen and used to create fake documents and identification – which are, in turn, used to take out a mortgage loan on the victim's home.

When the bank approves the mortgage application, the fraudster will take the money and run, leaving the victim with another large debt on his or her home.