Real Estate Blog - Ken Richter

Tax Savings

While Christmas is only ten days away, there is another big event looming. The year is almost over, which means that Tax season will be upon us before we know it.

Taxes are not fun. Whether you have a professional to do them for you or not, taxes are a massive chore that many dread all year long. For some, they look forward to receiving a cheque in the mail from the government. For others, they brace themselves for the cheque they will have to write to the government.

No matter how old you are or what your current occupation is, there are ways to save come tax season. With some strategic planning, you can prevent yourself from owing more than you need to.

Here are our top ways to save during tax season:

1). Be organized. Make sure you separate…

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Preventing Slippery Sidewalks

The snow may be melting, but the cold nights mean that the moisture turns to slick ice. While most ice is visible to the naked eye, some ice is far more dangerous and deceptive.The city is well equipped to handle the ice on the roads, as evidenced by all the leftover salt and gravel that washes up come spring, but the sidewalks are another story.

Sidewalks in urban centres, such as downtown and shopping areas, tend to stay clear since businesses want to avoid a lawsuit. However, your personal sidewalk is your own responsibility.

There are two major reasons to keep your sidewalk and walkways clear: the first is that when snow and ice build up, it can damage the pavement and produce significant cracks. The second reason is that having lots of ice and…

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November 2015 Statistics

CREB® has released the November housing summary recap. Here are some of the highlights that you should be aware of:

November was not a tumultuous one for the real estate market. Despite the downward trend in activity, conditions are remaining stable enough to not cause too much worry. One good thing about less activity is that the housing market is officially a buyers market right in time for you to close a deal before the new year.

What is the headline CREB® gave the November housing statistics? “Weak sales activity relative to inventory places downward pressure on prices.”

High inventory levels in the Calgary resale sector persisted through November. These inventory levels were paired with weak sales levels, leading to a buyers market. Monthly…

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Protecting Your Home From The Frost

There is something in the air. It bites at your cheeks and makes your nose run. It clings to your car and has turned golden fall leaves crunchy and brown. It has frozen your windows shut and has usurped your garden. The frost has arrived. It is in full force, making up for the lack of fluffy white snow. It may not look quite like winter, but it definitely is starting to feel like winter.

Monitor your home’s water systems. Water systems that are not properly winterized can do incredible damage, such as cracking your pipes, blocking flow and ruining any filtration systems. Turn off all outdoor water taps and make sure they are properly sealed for winter. Make sure that faucets indoors are all used frequently: run the hot water for a minute to clear away…

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October 2015 Statistics

Hello, Winter!

Calgary has received its first official dump of snow. As of today, Starbucks has rolled out their holiday drinks and Christmas lights are starting to join the city skyline. It is time to say farewell to crunchy leaves and pumpkins, which we hope you did by taking them to the city wide recycling centres. For more information on that, check out the following link: City of Calgary Leaf and Pumpkin Recycling.

As our final goodbye to crisp autumn days, we have the CREB (Calgary Real Estate Board) October statistics summery. Want to learn more about real estate market conditions so you can be an informed buyer/seller/investor? Read on.

Elevated inventory levels continue to dominate the market in the resale sector which is significantly…

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November 2015 Market Statistics

Fall has arrived! September, a month of transitions and new focus, has become a beautiful October. Let’s all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that September passed without gracing our lawns with snow. Thank you, September. You were good to us.

September was a good month for real estate. Not necessarily a great month, but nothing the market can’t handle.

After four months of relatively stable, unadjusted benchmark prices, September saw a 0.26 percent decline in benchmark prices, settling at $456,100, on average, per unit. This price decline was most strongly seen in the apartment sector where inventory levels rose higher than they typically are.

Residential sales were much lower than the five and ten year averages. Why was this? CREB®…

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How To Get The Job

Getting a job has become harder than ever before. Having a degree does not cut it anymore. Workplaces are looking for people with years of experience, the ability to adapt to new innovations and individuals who will be a long term asset. Thus, the job market is highly competitive and incredibly difficult to break into.

The problem is threefold: young adults fresh out of University in search of a job to pay off their student loans don’t have years of experience to back them up, the majority of people in search of a job have outdated knowledge of the industry they are attempting to get a job in or no knowledge at all, and the average job that people are desperately trying to get is not their dream job, so unless the salary and benefits are amazing, they…

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Fire Safety

With a new season slowly entering Calgary, citizens are taking advantage of the remains of summer. Soon golden leaves will start falling to the ground, but for now the sun is shining late into the evening and the flowers are still in bloom.Tis’ the season for last minute camping trips, BBQ’s and late night adventures. Summers in Calgary are precious, after all.

This summer had a very smoky finale. After weeks of raging forest fires in B.C and northern Washington, smoke drifted into Calgary. The sun was obscured, the air was thick and people were warned not to go outdoors. At one point, Calgary air quality rated at 17 on a 1-10 scale. Unfortunately in some cities bad air is a daily struggle. However, for Calgary this was quite the shock to the system.

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August 2015 Statistics

The resale market in Calgary’s residential sector saw a drop in units sold which has eased absorption rate. City wide sales declined by 27 percent with 1, 643 units sold in August. This is 12 percent lower than the ten year averages we have previously been on par with.

Why is this happening? “Persistent weakness in the energy sector weighed on sales activity this month, which once again retracted to levels well below the norm for the city,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. We may be back on our way to stability after the market crash, but it will still take a long time to fully recover. Luckily for us, Calgary is the ultimate comeback kid.

Weaker sales activity has resulted in properties being on the market for a longer time, the average…

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Cleaning Out The Clutter

Calgary is a city that leads in innovation and conservation. We may get a bad rap for being an oil industry centre, but Calgary is actually an extremely conscientious city when it comes to keeping the environment healthy. The city does this by educating students, striving to go green as much as possible, protecting natural areas around and within the city and, most recently, giving every house a black and blue bin.

As you know by now, the black bin is for garbage and the blue bin is for recycling. This includes bottles, cardboard, paper, glass, etc. While a lot of things can go directly into this blue bin to be collected by the city, there are many things you shouldn’t put in it. The city website says it best: “When you put items that don’t belong in…

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