While Calgary is (overall) a very beautiful and safe city to live in – we also have some significantly rougher parts of town where it really isn’t a great place to build a home for many families and individuals.  There are a number of communities in Calgary where there are serious issues with drugs, drug addicts, violence and even prostitution.  

In the past 18 months (with the booming real estate market) we have sadly watched a lot of homes being purchased in those areas by out of town buyers who are completely unaware of what they are getting into.  

There is no doubt there will be significant buyer’s remorse coming soon for many of them!  You can avoid this! (Even more disappointing for those families and individuals though – is the fact that they could have bought a BETTER HOME IN A BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD FOR LESS MONEY!!!  (Please – make sure you get professional advice on this!)

One really interesting pattern over the past couple of years in Calgary is a severe lack of housing inventory available on the market.  When potential home buyers look online for current home listings, it can be discouraging to see such a small number of options available – and many properties selling almost instantly.

Due to this perceived lack of options, sadly a lot of home buyers have been settling for less than what they want (and what they deserve!) because they are panicking and lacking confidence in their ability to find a great home.

So how can you approach this differently and not panic about a lack of options?  Quite easily – actually!   

One of our very first steps we take when working with new potential home buyers is to review great properties that have sold in the past few months that fit our client’s criteria.  After viewing dozens of excellent properties that would have been a great fit – our clients often feel a much greater sense of confidence that the right home will come up for them again in the near future!

The lack of options available at any given time has been quite discouraging to a lot of people in the past year in particular.  But with the right strategy and patience (this is important too!) – our clients are successfully buying beautiful homes that fit their needs perfectly – and having a lot of fun in the process!   

Request our Free Information Package for more information.

Unfortunately over the past couple of years in Calgary, there have been a large number of individuals and families buying homes that were full of problems, unexpected costs, and SERIOUS issues leading into the future.  

With the pressure of the market conditions, a large number of buyers have (unfortunately) thrown caution to the wind and went directly against their better judgment.  Buyers without any renovation experience or a real understanding of renovation costs have gotten in WAY over their heads on homes that needed repairs.  And in more serious cases, buyers have ended up inheriting huge and expensive issues by neglecting to do a proper home inspection.  

While in some situations we discuss the potential advantages of removing certain purchase conditions (depending on individual circumstances)  – it is also extremely important to REALLY UNDERSTAND the associated risks with this!  

We have several specific examples from recent inspections where failing to get a professional inspection on the home would have been nothing short of catastrophic!  If you choose to connect with us for a conversation we will be happy to elaborate on this issue.  (One particular situation was estimated to be a $60,000 - $80,000 urgent expense to the new buyers!   Ouch!)   But after doing our proper due diligence and inspections our clients walked away safely from the house…   

While evaluating market trends and keeping an eye on active listings for multiple clients, we have been quite surprised to see how much people are paying for below average properties in really rough communities of the city.  More surprisingly though – they could have bought a nicer home in a nicer community (with a better yard, easier access to major routes, etc.) for less money than what they paid.

So why would anybody do that – you ask?  Well – probably because they didn’t know any better!

Too much emphasis ONLY ON PRICE has been getting a lot of people into serious trouble in the Calgary real estate market lately.  Certain areas in Calgary will generally have lower home prices – but there are reasons this is the case!  Obviously, we understand that the price and budget is a very real factor and consideration, but read the next section and take a pause – because this is extremely important!

In 2023 we have been watching some houses in rough areas sell for nearly $600,000 (with drug addicts and prostitution happening just up the street).  While that was happening, we have had our own clients buying nicer homes in beautiful, safe neighbourhoods for $50,000 - $100,000 less.  (Even bigger discounts on price if location is a little bit flexible!)  

Additionally, many of these clients were initially looking at these rougher neighbourhoods because they looked nice online and the homes themselves looked OK.  But after a proper conversation and asking important questions, our clients have been relieved to understand the other options available.  

There are several communities in Calgary that are priced lower due to some of the problems mentioned previously. But there are other communities that are priced even better – and they are excellent places to live!

Having some knowledge of the city itself and your overall lifestyle goals is critical to making a move to Calgary a happy and wonderful experience.  Our initial conversations with new potential clients are always focused around REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS involving lifestyle, hobbies, children’s ages (when applicable), reasons for your move to Calgary, future plans and goals, etc.   

So while this may sound crazy to some people – we don’t want to just rush out and find you a house as quickly as possible!  We want to find you the RIGHT HOME for your unique situation.

With 8 Billion people in the world, it’s safe to say that there are plenty of personality types!  We know a lot of great Realtors® in the city, and they are all different too!

When we initially connect with our clients, we take the time to ask a lot of questions and find out as much relevant information about everyone as possible so we can be sure to not only add the most value that we can provide, but also to make sure that we connect every one of our clients with the best person on our team.  

Depending on the type of property you are looking for, timeframe, personality traits and a few other factors, we have several Realtors® on our small team so we can be sure to connect you with an excellent match to maximize your homebuying and relocation experience!