CALGARY DREAM HOMES REAL ESTATE BLOG

Mortgage Information & New To Canada  |          Need a Mortgage?  Immigrants can apply for and receive a mortgage on a work permit without being a Canadian Citizen. You will generally need a work permit with 12 months or longer. It's important to have the employer backing your application. Also proof of full time employment will be required to obtain the actual work permit.      Your   Down Payment:  At the moment the minimum down payment is 5% it is required on any real estate purchase. This amount may increase to 10% depending on your mortgage or bank lender.       The  Canadian Banks:  Many of the Canadian banks will require a credit check and bank references from the country you are moving from. Make sure all your paper work is up to date and made available to the Canadian bank you choose to work with. We can suggest one if you have not yet selected one.     A   Calgary M...

Here are 6 Projects That Can Give Your Home Curb Appeal Make your home sparkle and look great to potential buyers as they approach it.  They take in the whole view from the outside, the landscaping, color and driveway condition. Now we are in Spring take a look at these 6 projects that can jazz up your home! 1) The Front Door Big tip- if you are preparing to sell your home, power-wash the front door/entrance. There is nothing that puts a buyer off more than looking at a front door, still covered in winter dust and grime. Landscaping Make the landscaping as clean and tidy as possible, even though it is only spring! Start by mowing the lawn, and watering and feeding it. After our Calgary winter, clean up the flower beds as soon and as best as you can. Further into spring, do some pruning of your shrubs, and maybe planting nice bright flowers.   Touch-Ups Make sure that you check your home outside for peeling paint and paint dinks. If you have siding it can warp, but most...

  Choosing A Calgary Community    If you are looking for that new Calgary home, always check out the neighborhood – or one that you can see has pride of ownership. Here are some things to look for: People who have pride in their homes . Take a walk around the neighborhood, get familiar with it . Looking at the homes, do you get a sense that people take good care of them? -Are the yards looking good, with lawns mowed, landscaping trimmed and flowers planted? Remember homeowners are more likely to look after their properties when they like where they are living. Home Improvements. What about home owners spending money fixing their homes? Maybe they are getting their driveways re-done or putting in new windows. This is a clear indication that homeowners like the area enough to invest in their properties. Recent   Home Sales . Is the neighborhood in demand from buyers, and are the prices steady with homes selling quickly. If people want to live there, it's a desirable a...

Things to Do Before You List  As more listings come onto the Calgary Market, and more home owners wish to take advantage of the current "Sellers Market", here are some things to consider. Firstly, consider your finances, and factor in expenses like moving costs.  Secondly, make sure that your property is ‘ready-to-sell’. Any parts of your home that requires repair should be attended to. Carry out the necessary improvements and upgrades through renovating or re-modelling, so as to create a home that is free of defects and has the features to hold its own against the competition in your area. Any parts that you leave unfixed can be picked up by a Home Inspector. This can cause a buyer to want something off the negotiated price, or indeed cause the offer to collapse. Your home must be ‘show-time’ ready the first day you get it listed, so do not leave the job of uncluttering and cleaning till the last minute. Take time and effort to give your home a thorough clean. Maybe even thi...

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Call before You Dig  Check First before Making A Hole . Drilling holes into the wall is a very common practice. This may be for hanging pictures, installing shelves etc. Always be careful before drilling holes into the wall as you might end up damaging the concealed wiring or plumbing pipes etc. Check what is behind the wall where you are planning to drill a hole into first. The garden is another place that you have to be careful. In Calgary we have “Call Before You Dig” so make use of it if you are planning some holes in the garden.   Another mistake is not checking whether the ground slopes adequately away from the house – not doing so could lead to water accumulating around the house, and leading to water damage to the foundation. Calgary has lots of mature older areas so watch out if you are cutting trees or long roots without checking everything. This is a great risk, as a falling tree could end damaging your house, or even the neighbor's. Find out where the main wa...

  Take a look at your “Things” and what makes you hang onto them. Our Attachment to “Things” Many of our things help give us a sense of our own identity. For instance, we may have lots of books that we intend to read. But now with Kindle etc they are just gathering dust. Closets full of clothes that we will never wear, why not send them to one of the Calgary Goodwill centers . Our old furniture that we hang onto, now looks out of place with our new minimal “Look”. Remember the furniture pieces you got from your grandmother? We also might inherent stuff from other family and friends and these “things” can have a powerful hold on us. Many times we can’t let go of them because they’re a link to a person we love. “Things” from our past can take on their own life!. Sometimes we buy things to make ourselves feel better after maybe a bad week, or we buy because we are bored. This is the recipe for a packed home that requires a big investment to keep up. From a cleaning perspecti...

  Our Market Consultation Finds Your True Calgary Home price - in Today's market.    Statistics show that   the best opportunity you have is to sell your home within the first few weeks  of putting it on the market. This can be good news, or bad, depending on your motivation. Some homes sell right away, while others sit on the market for months without a single offer. To  maximize your selling opportunity, it is important that your home be priced right . What is the right price? Many factors will determine your home's best asking price. The current real estate market will have a lot to do with it.  Using  20+ years experience in the Calgary Real Estate market, we can help you determine the right price range that your home sits in. We arrive at this price range through location, condition, the recent sold data, active comparable competition, and any upgrades or special features that set it apart from the competition. Some sellers insist, “...

  10 Advantages Of Living On An Alberta Acreage    1.     Lots of Space. 2.     Looking out your windows and not seeing your neighbors 3.     You can be as loud as you. 4.     Less Traffic Noise ! 5.     Listen to the quietness 6.     You don’t have to shovel sidewalk snow. 7.     Lots of parking if you have more than one car 8.     Feeling like you own a big piece of Canada 9.     Clear open big skies 10. Did we mention Space!! Take a good look at all Acreages / Rural homes in Calgary & Area.  

 What Buyers Look For Ok, so we are about to list your home and you think you have it right. We have given you our advice and some complimentary staging options, then you start to second guess what the potential buyers will like or dislike!. But this is where you have to relax because part of our service is to take away anxiety, and selling your home should not be stressful. So usually they are ok with the price range or they would not see the value in your home and their realtor would not be showing it to them. Remember first impressions, the home has to have good curb appeal, grass cut and weed wacked, front door and entrance washed down and sparkling clean. If they have a negative at the front door such as lack of TLC it will follow them through the home and everything they look at. Blinds up for showings, remember it’s show time! Light and space is what most buyers like and you already de-cluttered didn’t you? Tick the Boxes: They begin the walk-through and hopefully start to ...

  TALK TO A MORTGAGE BROKER Many first- time buyers don't take their time to get pre-Qualified. And most don't shop around for the best mortgage. it's important to ask lots of questions and make sure you fully understand the home loan process from your lender. In today's market with a lot of competing offers - you need to have all your ducks in a row. BE READY TO MOVE. This is especially true in markets with a low inventory of homes for sale. It’s very common for home buyers to miss out on the first home they make an offer on, because they are not ready or don't act quickly enough. By the time they decide to go for it - someone else has an accepted offer on it! FIND AN EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL With 20+ years experience we are able to understand your goals and move you through the buying process professionally with total communication - this is not our first rodeo!  MAKE A FAIR BUT GOOD OFFER. Remember that your offer is very unlikely to be the only one...