With the growing green revolution taking place across Canada and here in Calgary, potential buyers and homeowners are looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. This includes the willingness to pay a higher price for a home with longer-term sustainability and green features. Here are some of the best ways that you can use this to your advantage when considering home renovations that are practical, will save you money and will help to add value to your home.

Look for Energy Star rated appliances

If you're in the market for new appliances and fixtures make sure that they have an Energy Star rating attached to them first. The new fridge and stove that you purchase may end up being sold with your home in the future, and

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According to a new study, most of the millionaires in Alberta are self-made. The survey was geared towards individuals that had at least $1 million or more of assets and was carried out by BMO Harris Private Banking with the results being released on Thursday.Of the people surveyed, 72% said that their wealth was mostly self-made, with 44% being new Canadians. There were also 78% reporting that they held at the minimum an undergraduate degree from a university while 11% said that they had only a diploma from high school or even less education.

The study also showed that of these wealthy residents in Alberta, 36% of them are women. This isn't surprising since more and more women are taking an active role in contributing to the family finances.

Across the…

The Calgary Stampede is just a few weeks away. This is one of the largest events throughout the year and one everybody should attend. It's known as the greatest outdoor show on earth and includes all types of events. There's something for everybody from music to incredible food. Here's what you can expect at Stampede 2013.

Stampede Events

A tournament-style rodeo is the main event. This is the richest tournament-style rodeo in the world with over $2 million given out to the winners. The rodeo takes place every day at 1:15pm throughout the Stampede. Some of the best rodeo athletes in the world will be in attendance with daily prizes up for grabs, along with the Wildcard Saturday and Showdown Sunday. The experience is amazing for both the contestants

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It's a stunning announcement that will change the course of education and the marking system here in Calgary. As part of a pilot project that is scheduled to start in 2014, students from kindergarten up to grade 9 in some schools will no longer be receiving traditional marks on their report cards. Instead, phrases about their work and achievements will replace these marks.

Instead of sending home a regular report card, the teachers and parents will be working closely together to talk about the stronger and weaker points that their children have when it comes to their school work. This is an incredibly debatable matter that is destined to have the school board and the parents talking for quite some time.

According to Dr. Jim Field from the Education…

If you're looking for a great way to escape the cement buildings, hustle and bustle and all the fast moving features of the city, you can find peace within the natural beauty of Edworthy Park & Douglas Fir Trail. This is a densely wooded area with a trail running through providing views of the Bow River Valley. The trail isn't open during the winter, due to icy conditions, but it opened in early spring.

Throughout the trail, you will enjoy many Douglas-fir trees, which are not really fir trees, but their own genus. This is a great nature experience for anybody looking for an escape and provides some of the largest Douglas-fir trees in all of Alberta. Some of these trees are over 500 years of age. Along with the Douglas-fir trees, you can enjoy the many

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While everyone else is busy looking at the Calgary real estate market to figure out the best home or condo to live in, there are plenty of recreational properties available right now for you to explore. Spring is always the best time to get into a cottage so that it can be enjoyed for the rest of the summer and spruced up as you go along.

There's absolutely nothing better than heading out on a warm and lazy Friday afternoon to head up to the cottage for the weekend. When you don't have to worry about renting a property you can just jump in the car at a moment's notice and head off for the weekend to recharge your battery before Monday rolls around again. Investing in recreational property around the Calgary area is always a good idea. This is a city that…

Inventory levels for listings for homes ranging from condos to single-family dwellings have been going down this year making it a resale selling market right now in Calgary. Inventory is at less than normal levels causing prices to rise across the board on all housing types. While it's been a seller's market for a while now, it's getting stronger as time goes by.

In May, the inventory levels here in the city were down 17% when compared to last May's number of active listings. New listings were also down 2.26% when compared to May 2012 for resale housing. In total, there were 3,717 new listings in the market in May and a total of 4,743 active listings.

With the smaller inventory and the constant demand for housing, prices have been increasing at a

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As Alberta continues to grow, housing developments are doing their best to keep up with the pace. New construction for homes during the month of May in Alberta was higher than it has been during the last five years.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Calgary housing starts were up to 1,078 units when compared to the 949 reported in May of last year. There were 41,438 new construction starts on homes across the province and these types of figures have not been noted since 2008.

With the amount of new migration moving into the province, home construction needs to see this booming level to keep up with it. People continued to inflow into Alberta due to the prosperous economic conditions along with job availability here.

When

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If you haven't taken a peek inside your attic lately you don't know what may be up there. Even though your attic doesn't take up a lot of your attention when it comes to maintaining your home, it's still something that is there and should be checked at least once per year.

Potential problems that could be hiding in your attic include inadequate ventilation and installation, faulty wiring and of course, it could have been inhabited by a local squirrel or raccoon without you noticing it.

It's easy to check your attic for these types of problems and by doing so you may ward off more potentially dangerous situations such as structural damage, fire hazards and mold.

If your attic isn't properly insulated and ventilated, you will be losing a lot of

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When it comes to presenting the statistics for a luxury home, it is considered to be one that is worth at least $1 million. That, however, is a very narrow definition of a luxury home and there is so much more that can actually define true luxury. While everyone has their own opinion on what makes a home more luxurious than another, there are some common relationships between opinions.

Location still counts

Location still counts as the most important piece of the puzzle for potential home buyers even when it comes to luxury real estate here in Calgary. While this can differ from one customer to another; a great view, a fantastic architectural design and proximity to nearby schools are the common attributes that many luxury potential buyers are

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