Edmonton’s Best Community Leagues and Homeowner Associations
Posted by Sara MacLennan on
Before we dive into our round-up of Edmonton's best community leagues and homeowner associations, let's first break down what each of those is, as well as the cost and services included.
A Homeowner Association or "HOA" is typical in Edmonton's "planned developments," and their fees are collected on top of property taxes to assist with maintaining and improving the amenities in a particular neighbourhood. Most neighbourhoods in Edmonton don't have HOA fees, but they are becoming more common as developers add facilities to communities that the city will not maintain through property taxes.
Typically, HOA fees are small - around $100-$200 a year, but they can be higher depending on what is covered. HOA fees commonly cover things like…
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On Monday Edmonton city council unanimously voted to approve changes to zoning bylaws allowing suites in semi-detached, duplex and row housing. There is no longer a minimum lot size requirement for secondary suites, which opens up the opportunity to add suites on smaller lots. They also loosened restrictions on the size and location of secondary suites, relative to the primary dwelling.
All secondary suites must have one off-street parking space on the property unless the home is in an area with access to high-frequency transit, including 600m from LRT or transit centres, and 150m from transit avenues.
One of the benefits of these changes is that many suites that currently exist illegally in semi-detached homes around the city can be legalized. In…
On Monday, August 20, City Council will be voting on whether to approve changes to the Zoning Bylaw to make building secondary suites (basement suites) easier in Edmonton.
The proposed changes are extensive and would allow secondary suites to built:
You may have seen reports in the past referencing the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in other parts of Canada and noticed Edmonton was not included, well, the tool is now available in Edmonton! This means will be able to include "benchmark" prices and trends with our monthly stats, giving greater insight into what is happening in the Edmonton real estate market. We can also more accurately compare our market, with other markets across the country.
What exactly is the HPI?
It's a way of following pricing trends that is more accurate than using averages and medians which can swing dramatically when the volume of high-end or low-end sales change over time. A "benchmark home" is set for each area (based on the most common attributes of homes traded in that…
People looooovve making lists - best this, top that - and I've seen a lot of lists of the best places to live in Edmonton. Many are based on surveys, some are based on market stats, and some are just based on personal opinion. A number of these lists have been released in the past few weeks, so I thought it was good time to bring in a brokerage's perspective on things.
Everyone has different reasons for choosing a neighbourhood, whether it is proximity to something (work, school, amenities, relatives), affordability, property types... the list goes on. What I can say for certain is no neighbourhood will be on the top of everyone's list, or even half of everyone's list. Most people choose a fairly broad area when looking for a place to live and narrow it…