Moving is often a time-consuming and stressful event, but you can make the process easier by using a variety of tips that are recommended by others. Here are 10 tips to use so that you can make the transition to your new home easier. Tip 1: Contact Professional Moving Companies Right Away  As soon as you know that you are moving, begin contacting moving companies in your city to receive estimates for services. When you have friends with trucks, you can recruit them to help you move a short distance, but you should still buy strong cardboard boxes or plastic totes, and you will want to protect your electronics, appliances and furniture with waterproof tarps. Tip 2: Begin Sorting Through Your Possessions Moving is an excellent opportunity to reduce…

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There’s nothing quite like the incredible feeling of finding your dream home, but a dream house can quickly become a nightmare if you don’t know what’s going on behind the walls. That’s why you need to get the electrical systems checked before buying it. A home inspector can inspect many aspects of a home you’re considering purchasing. Here are some things they should include in an electrical inspection:

1. Outlets and Receptacles

Most, if not all, of the outlets in the house should have arc fault or ground fault circuit interrupters. These protect you from electrical shocks and electrical fires.

2. Light Switches and Fixtures

Every switch in your house should connect to either a light fixture or an outlet. Any fixtures or appliances you’re buying…

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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…

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Like going to open houses? There's now an easy way to search open houses in the Edmonton area and Calgary area open houses. On EdmontonRealEstate.pro just click the "More Search Options" button beneath the search bar, then click features and "Search Open Houses." Or, you can just bookmark our Open House search page. You can also filter search results by any of the other options in our search, such as location, size, price, property type etc. As you can see below, there are 305 open houses coming up in the MLS® database currently: If you click on any listing, you can view the date and time of the open house: To search Calgary or Banff/Canmore Open Houses, you can bookmark Calgary Area Open Houses or Banff/Canmore Open Houses, go to our Advanced…

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A recent B.C. Supreme Court case favoured the buyer, who backed out a deal to purchase a mansion in Vancouver. She claimed she was misled by the seller and their agent when she asked why the seller was moving. Their answer was that the seller's daughter was switching schools. What they neglected to include in their answer, was the fact that she was forced to switch schools because of bad press surrounding the murder of her father, which took place on the property. Her father was allegedly a leader of the notorious "Big Circle Boys," a gang with roots in China. The buyer heard rumours about the murder after she removed conditions (back in 2009), and a simple Google search revealed the gruesome details. This story comes as welcome news to thousands of…

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According to an article in the Edmonton Journal, 140 residents in homesteader received notices from the Government of Alberta warning about soil and groundwater contamination, with a “laundry list of cancer-causing substances.” The notices were posted on doors of homes in a new development called Renaissance Estates just north of Yellowhead Trail near 44th street, where a wood-preserving plant called Domtar was once located.

In a concurrent article titled “Residents of Former Domtar unsure what to make of contamination news" a homeowner is quoted as asking: “what happens to my property value in Homesteader?” No one gave an answer in the article, so here is ours...

While it's impossible to speculate on the future value of the properties there, I can…

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Asphalt shingles are by far the most common type of roofing material used, but you will find a variety of roofing materials used on Edmonton homes including metal, wood and tile. If you have a low-pitched or flat roof, you’ll need a special roofing system altogether. Here is some information on different types of roofing, including the pros and cons of each. Photo Credit: Crest Roofing & Co.

Asphalt Roof

Pros: Asphalt roofing is the most affordable roofing option. Asphalt shingles are durable, stand up well to Alberta’s changing climate and can last 15 or more. They come in a variety of colours and can easily match your home’s exterior design. Roofing contractors in Edmonton usually offer good warranties on asphalt roofs that are owner-transferrable…

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You probably don’t think about your plumbing system very often, until there is a problem! Once you do detect an issue, it should get your immediate attention. Putting off repairing your plumbing could result in expensive water damage and even more costly repairs. It’s also important to look for plumbing issues in a home you might be considering to purchase. Anything causing water damage or moisture issues could mean there is mildew and mould lurking in the walls. If so, this can be hazardous to your health and will have to be dealt with immediately. Moisture can also damage the insulation, framing, drywall and other parts of the home and can be a real headache to deal with. Though the majority of the plumbing system is inside the walls, there are some…

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Over the years I've been involved in hundreds of sales where parents were helping their kids buy a property, and I've seen that "help" come in many different forms. There are some good ways for parents to help their kids by a home, and some things that should definitely be avoided. So, here are my tips for the best ways for parents to help their kids buy a property:

  1. Don’t make assumptions based on previous experience. The most dangerous thing I see parents do is to make decisions for their kids, based on what worked for them.  Real estate has changed considerably over the years and so have the trends.  Basing an important decision on outdated information could be a major misstep.  When I bought my first property, my dad told me not to buy a condo; at…

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So we have an interesting situation happening at our office at the moment... someone has created a fraudulent company that shares a name with one of our agents. We've been contacted by a number of people over the past week about "Mobey Real Estate" or "Moby Real Estate" because one of our associates is named Angel Mobey, and of course, when you google something like Mobey Real Estate you find us. The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) issued a consumer alert about the company on Friday stating the following: Mobey Real Estate is not a licensed real estate brokerage in Alberta nor are any of the individuals listed on the Mobey website licensed as real estate professionals. Mobey has been contacting consumers with offers of work-from-home employment…

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