Buyer's Market? Yes for Some

Buyer's Market?  Yes for Some

You may have notice some recent 'Listings Alert' emails from me. They show numerous active properties, but of interest, is that many of them show: "Price Change". What does this mean? Is this now a Buyer's Market? What is clear is that there are significant changes in the Real Estate Market for Calgary and the surrounding area.

Decline - CREB Has the Figures to Prove It

The Calgary Real Estate Board says sales totalled 1,272 in September, down 13 % from the same month a year ago, "well below" long-term averages. CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says, "Concerns in the employment market, higher lending rates, and shaken confidence are weighing on house demand."

Good for Buyers

From a price perspective, Gary MacLean, a 32-year realtor with ReMax Central, says prices at the end of September were sitting at 2014 levels. Recent figures from CREB show the biggest sales decline are those homes in the $600,000 to $999,999 range. Home sales, overall declined nearly 10 per cent in October across the city. Detached home sales are down to levels not seen since the late 1990's. MacLean says that it is, "Great news for those buying. I can think of nowhere you can buy a home in 2018 at 2014 prices."

Modern Family Home Ownership Trend

Sotheby International Realty president and CEO, Brad Henderson says, "Even though everybody is talking about it being a buyer's market, we’re not seeing buyers really being active." From the 2018 Modern Family Home Ownership Trends Report, Sotheby explains that, "about half of Canadians have abandoned the dream of owning a single-family home." This is due to challenges, preferences and home-buying habits of modern families, specifically between the ages of 20 and 45.

More Power for Active Buyers

There is reason to have a positive attitude about the future in Alberta. Oil is still at a good rate. Interest rates seem to be holding fairly steady with no major increases lately. There are no more changes looming for mortgage rules. November CREB Report states that there is some easing in new listing growth. If they are down that is a sign that inventory will slow soon. With the younger set waiting, that means the buyers that ARE active have more negotiating power. Keep your eyes on the listings then give me a call # 403-680-4479

Building a Home in a Brand New Community – What We Didn't Expect

Grass is not just a Decoration!

Building a Home in a Brand New Community – What We Didn't Expect

We have moved in. We love our new house but we are now in a community-wide limbo of development. Sure there has been some post-possession calming down for us but the neighbourhood is one big bustling construction site.

Noise - There is So Much going on!

The construction of other homes continues on in the Riverstone Community. These guys start early! During the summer, with the kids not having to get up early for school, we had hoped to sleep in a little but not a chance with all the noise. We often hear big trucks rumbling by as early as 7 AM. Excavators, bulldozers, Bobcats, dump trucks, delivery vehicles and other large vehicles operating heavy equipment all day long. Supplies are being delivered for building decks, screened-in rooms, backyard landscaping and pouring of concrete driveways. Oh wait. That was us. We were no different. We have contributed to that same kind of noise.

Dust – Dust – Dust and Mop

Green grass is not just a decoration. Without grass there is dust blowing everywhere. Remember the heat wave? Well, if we left the screen windows open at night to cool the house down then next morning the floors felt like grit. We had to dust, vacuum and mop every day.

Thinking Ahead – Hooray Albi Riverstone!

One of the things that we like about the community is that even though it is not finished by a long shot, there are already three small parks within a two minute walk. So that is a good thing.

Riverstone is actually connected to Fish Creek National Park via 145.6 hectares of environmental reserve. It is the second largest urban park in Canada, nestled in and around, the scenic Bow River, amongst the trees and plenty of wildlife. When completed, Riverstone will have 1,100 homes. It won't be long before it really is paradise and of course, a very good investment. If you are interested give me a call: 403-680-4479

To read all of the series of Blogs about our Custom-Built Albi Home visit: Chris Ashby Blogs http://www.liveinokotoks.com/or visit:

Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Our New House – What a Mess

Our new house is a mess. There are SO many boxes everywhere. There is still furniture to build, TV’s to mount and we don’t know where anything is! On move-in day we we're crazy busy trying to get the essentials setup and put away, build the kids' beds and our own, get food in the fridge for breakfast and the kid's lunches for school the next day, everything in a rush. All day Thursday, both Nancy and I had been driving back and forth from the old house on 'E' in our vehicles with not a minute to stop at the gas station that we kept passing on every trip! At 11PM, going back to the other house for yet another load of little things, I ran out of gas… right in front of my driveway! It’s a lucky spot and I am also lucky that the Petro is open 24 hours so I am soon on my way with a Jerry-Can full of gas.

Drapes – Just in Time – Impressive Service

Window coverings are an important thing to consider. When your windows are completely open to the viewing public you feel exposed, especially at night! We plan for the drape company to be there right on possession-day to install our custom drapes!  They arrive just as the movers leave at 7:30PM. They continue installing drapes until almost 11:30 PM… what service! I have never been so impressed with the work ethic and care put into making sure we were all 'covered' up. The drapes look absolutely amazing and we are so very happy, Lynne’s Window Treatments gets a 10-out-of-10 from me, just superb.

 Closets / Pantry / Barn Doors – Looking Good

We removed all the wire shelving from the master closet and the pantry. These are major storage areas so without the shelves installed right away we had nowhere to put our stuff! We have Cherish Storage Solutions there on possession day at 11:30, right as we wrap up our possession walk-through and leave to rush off to meet the movers. They work hard all day and get things about half done but need to come back on Friday to finish. We are incredibly happy and impressed. I can't believe how good they look! Friday we also have the barn door people from Liken Woodworks arrive with our two barn doors, one for my office and one for the ensuite entrance. The office door is absolutely massive and very heavy! They struggle with it but it all fits perfectly. I thought to have backing installed prior to the drywall going up so they glide nice and smoothly! Everything is really coming together now!

Deck / Screened-in-Room / Fence – Wait We Need to Unpack!

There are still many other things to get done. We didn't intend to time this so closely together. The fence is scheduled to start in two weeks, the deck in three weeks and the screened-in-room in four weeks. Now that we are finally in and the interior work is basically done, we continue to unpack, organize, and unpack some more. We have a bridal shower planned here in eight days for a friend of Nancy's. Nancy is back to work and busy as ever with report cards to write and year-end preparations. She works until midnight every night and goes in on the weekend, too.

Bonus Room – A Bonus if You Have Kids

I do what I can during the days, juggling the kids' school schedule and my own work. The nice thing about the bonus room is that I can continue unpacking in the kitchen/dining room and still hear the kids playing upstairs in the bonus room. I guess that's a bonus! We manage to get most of the house ready for others to see it just in time for the bridal shower party!

Comments from Friends

Some of the comments from friends are, "Wow," McMansion!!! lol," and "Did you guys win the lottery?" The truth is, almost two years ago, now, we did some calculating and figured out that if we had a legal rental suite, it would help pay for the mortgage. The tenant moves in a day after us. So now rent is coming in. How else could we afford such a luxurious house? More on that in a future blog...

To view all my blogs visit Experience Counts: www.yourhomeinalberta.blogspot.com

Custom-Built Albi Home - Green Tape!

Nancy Enjoying all the Space

Custom-Built Albi Home - Green Tape!

Orientation Day – Green Tape Day!

Albi Riverstone organizes an Orientation Day for us, a week before the date to move in. It's a day filled with green tape. We move through the house with careful eyes trying to spot as many imperfections as we can, then stick a piece of tape on them. It becomes a game - who can find the most! These may be small splotches of grout or drips that are not cleaned perfectly. Our site super calls them 'goobers'. We also check the ceilings, corners and the floors for marks or damage. By the end of the day our house looks like a polka-dot mix of green and white! We also learn about our appliances, the thermostats and any regular maintenance that we are going to need to do etc... but the main purpose of the HOO is to use up as many rolls of green tape as possible. 

Our Driveway – Oops - What?

Driveways are very often not ready for possession and ours was no different. We actually had the driveway poured about a week before we moved in so we were expecting to be able to walk on it but not drive on it. You need to wait 28 days before you can drive on it. The Monday before possession we get a call from the builder saying, "Sorry, but we need to tear it out – We're not happy with the finish!" So we got lucky because now they explain that we can go ahead and drive on it. The moving truck is going to be able to pull right up to the door!

Proud Owner 

Move-In Day

We are crazy excited and can barely sleep the night before. Move-In Morning is full of anticipation with all the build-up that has been leading to it! But it is also stressful - the movers are coming at noon to our old house and possession of the new house starts at 10am. We are still frantically packing up the last little bits! During the first walk-through of possession we check to make sure all our green tape is gone. There is a painter on-site so that if we see any more imperfections they can fix them right away. Awesome!

Oops Again - Forgot to Pack a Lunch

We totally forgot about lunch. But the construction crew has actually brought in a huge platter of sandwiches, cheese and drinks for all of us! So thoughtful! Nancy and I go through the house, excited and also anxious. The lawyers still haven’t called to tell us the money has been received by our mortgage company! The stress is unbelievable but soon all the paper work is done. The lawyers did a great job.

Movers – Wow -These Guys are Great!

As our possession meeting wraps up we see the time and rush back to our old house to meet the movers. We start to panic. It's raining! The professional crew work hard. Four guys with a big truck make the furniture (wrapped-up) and boxes go in quickly. They cover our new floors with runners to protect the carpet. It takes three trips and seven hours of packing, unpacking, putting the boxes and furniture in the right rooms.

We are finally in. The house is ours but the fun isn’t over yet. There is still so much to do with all the things that we have planned on, after we take possession but more on that in the next blog!

Albi - Custom-built Home - Floors Can Be Beautiful

Floors Can Be Beautiful.

Now that the protective covers are off we can admire our floors. They are gorgeous! Nancy and I are getting very excited to move into our brand new custom-built Albi home. No more delays.

Move-in Date – Soon!

We make arrangements with a Moving Contractor to come when we are ready to move the big stuff. They give us a quote of $1,200, for a two-story, four-bedroom house with a finished basement. I think the price is right. The small packing we start to do ourselves.

Packing Party with Friends

How did we accumulate so much? Now, we start to feel the pressure. But, we have a great idea. Let's have a 'packing party' and get our friends to lend a hand. We invite a few close friends. They are happy to help.  We order in food. The night is fun for us and it's nice to know everyone is carried away with the excitement too. We have about 20 boxes to go in one night. There is still a lot more packing to do. We make several trips to get more boxes from Home Depot.

Fencing between Good Neighbours

There are still some extra costs that we need to deal with. For example, we knew about our requirement to help pay for the fencing on one side on the neighbouring property. When we actually move in, it moves to the top of the priority list. But planning a house-warming party is also on the agenda. Since we have out-of-town relatives who will visit this summer, we may actually have two!

Albi Custom-built Home - Drywall – Whoo-hoo!

Drywall – Whoo-hoo!

Before the drywall was up, light was just coming in everywhere because there were no walls!! Now we can see exactly what the natural light looks like and it's absolutely wonderful and bright! So many windows it's going to be expensive to cover!! Once the drywall is finished we can also start to take measurements and start shopping for furniture, for example the dining room table.

Kitchen Cabinets -Wow!

Looks can be deceiving. The camera angle makes the kitchen look bigger. It's smaller than what you may imagine but there's room for everyone. The counter tops are just what we ordered. It is a dream. We love it.

Lights - Tiles - Backsplash - Fireplace - The Works!

Nancy and I are happy about our choices, especially with the tile on the floors and walls of the master bathroom. We love the backsplash in the kitchen too. Also, the lighting system we decided on is turning out nicely through-out the whole house. Our lights are modern, like us.

Can't Wait to See the Flooring

The floors once laid, were covered up immediately to protect them. We can't wait to see them. We know we have to be patient.

HVAC Last Chance – Before the Inspector Comes

HVAC Last Chance – Before the Inspector Comes

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is a sub-

discipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Basically it's the comfort, health and safety of the air in your house. It is an important part of your home. But for our custom-built Albi home, it is more complicated due to the legal suite.

Challenges with a Legal Suite
Building a legal suite from the get-go has saved a lot of time and effort vs. doing it afterwards, but there certainly are some negatives to the process. Primarily the ductwork in the furnace room has to be routed a certain way because it all has to be dry-walled prior to the installation of the furnaces. This basically results in the ducts all being lowered and a very complex system being designed to keep both living spaces completely separate for ventilation etc...

The Duct Work - A Wonderful Mess!

The duct work seems like the challenge similar to a difficult maze. Mike from Arpi’s did a great job.  He is an Absolute Pro when it comes to designing a system that maximises my ceiling height throughout the basement while giving us the ideal flow of air and heat. He designed a system that is exactly what and where we needed it! I am very impressed with his skills! In the end the ductwork looks like it was a puzzle put together with perfect accuracy.

Plumbing, Electrical and Mechanical – Smooth Sailing
Now here is where things get really intense and exciting for me. I don’t know why but I have always been fascinated with what is going on behind the walls in my house. Here is my chance to not only see everything but see how it all goes together and makes my house tick! Progress is fairly quick in most areas. The plumbing goes in fairly smoothly, mechanical and the electrical too. Insulation is installed. We are happy and excited that the city inspectors can now come through. It is the last chance, forever, because the drywall is next. But the Move-in date is ---no! Delayed.