March 2016

Built on a gentle westward slope, the upscale community of Pump Hill is located on the west side of 14 St SW between Southland Drive SW and 90 Ave SW. 

In the early days this community was a collection of acreages and market gardens way out in the country that supplied the new city of Calgary with vegetables.  The city finally grew out to this area in the mid-20th century but it remained a tight-knit community of homes on one, two and three-acre lots until well into the 1970s.  Horses still grazed on the corner lot at 14th and 90th Avenue until 2000.

Land over the crest of the hill was developed in the 1970s with paved roads and large estate-sized homes, with an adult-only villa community constructed in the mid-1990s. But the majority of Pump Hill

Insurance policies make for pretty dry reading and not many have read their insurance contract line by line.  So it’s easy to get caught should you violate your policy or find out you’re not covered for certain things.

You might however like to education yourself about particular clauses that might eliminate your protection while renovating your home.  Things like a broken water pipe while doing your upstairs bathroom that drenches everything below it, or if you live in a condo, you downstairs neighbour’s unit.  No one wants to go through the whole rigmarole of submitting a complicated claim only to have it denied by your insurer.

You might like to call your insurance company and tell them you’re planning a renovation but this is not a 100%

What has made some of this city’s luxury neighbourhoods the way they are?  Was it history?  Did neighbourhoods evolve into luxury communities?  It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario as to what came first – the location or the plan.

Inner-city

Mount Royal was one of Calgary’s first luxury neighbourhoods.  Calgary’s elite settled in Mount Royal, just south of 17 Ave SW, in the early 20th Century.  It started out as American Hill, with large estate homes on huge lots, complete with carriage houses.  The real estate crash that occurred during the First World War in Calgary caused many to lose their homes, followed by the Great Depression.  It would have been easy for this neighbourhood to crumble and to age in place.  Somehow, this neighbourhood managed to

You have a shrine to the ’89 Saskatchewan Rough Riders in your home office.  And, you paid a lot of money at a fundraiser five years ago for a signed Iginla jersey, framed and hanging proudly in your front hall.  Or, there’s that Jacques Plante replica mask that your dad wanted you to have.

Now, you’re going to list your home and the home staging company you’ve hired thinks you need to put away this unnecessary clutter so as not to offend potential buyers as they parade through your home.

What?  Unnecessary CLUTTER??

As traitorous to your team it might be and disloyal to the memory of those who gifted you with such wonderful memories, if you want to play the real estate game it’s best to neutralize the playing field.

You simply can’t guarantee

There are some deep discounts right now in Calgary when it comes to the luxury home market.  By asking the right questions, you may just get the home of your dreams for even less than what it’s currently listed and provide tremendous peace of mind.

Ask lots of questions when you’re out looking at resale homes; not just the ones listed below.  Be prepared before you go to the showings that your agent has lined up for you. You will likely not meet the owners of the properties that you’re looking at, but your real estate professional should either have the answers or be able to get your questions answered in a respectable amount of time. 

Why are you selling?

There are plenty of reasons why luxury home owners are looking to sell.  They could be