Suburbia was all the rage here in Calgary in the not so distant past but now the inner city reach for real estate is turning up the heat. Right now there are signs of shifting as the inner city becomes an explosive area for housing.

Becky Walters, Calgary Real Estate Board President, says that people are looking for the communities within the inner city to cut down on travel time. Instead of spending their valuable time on the transit system they're turning to the neighborhoods right inside the city for real estate.

The largest increases in average house prices between 2000 - 2012 were within the downtown core and areas surrounding it. There were 10 communities showing large increases with prices rising 205% up to 260% in these 12 years. According

We know that mentioning a musician on a realty blog is not something you'd expect but we felt it appropriate to pay tribute to the passing of Stompin' Tom Connors, who passed away just recently. Originally born in Saint John, NB Stompin Tom passed away at his home in Peterborough, Ontario from natural causes at the age of just 77.

It's hard to sum up what Stompin' Tom meant to the people of this country but his farewell message of “keep the Maple Leaf flying high" says more about the mans passion for the people and heritage of Canada than we ever could. The entire country remembers this musician for a number of different reasons, but he's best known for his signature black cowboy hat, stomping his left foot while he played and if you've ever been to a

China has always had a keen interest in foreign investment and given the recent crackdown on ownership of real estate in that country it could very well translate into Canadian profit with Calgary standing at the forefront. It's expected that this newest development will help the condo market especially. It is quite likely that some Chinese foreign investment money is going to make its way to Canada.

With Calgary's overwhelming real estate statistics it's more than possible that our city will also see more Chinese foreign investment in the real estate market here. In Vancouver and Toronto, this may be the much-needed boost the cities need to help with a softening real estate market.

According to developer Brad Lamb, the Canadian market always

It's been a while since we last fired up our lawnmowers to do the grass and while there is still some time left before you'll need to dig it out for use, you may want to take a second look at it now before you need it. How was it running last year? Will it need any repairs or a simple tune-up for the spring? Do you need to invest in a brand new lawnmower?

The time is now to step into the garage or shed to test your lawnmower for the upcoming season. If you know that you're going to be in the market for a new lawnmower you may want to consider getting a battery-powered one and ditching the lawnmowers that are powered by gas altogether. These are the newest mowers on the market and according to most reviews they are definitely worth the initial cost of

Most of us are aware that baking soda and vinegar make exceptional cleaning products and can be substituted for many of the toxic chemicals that are currently on the market. Here are some other surprising cleaners that you may have around the house that can also be used as an alternative to the regular cleaners available for purchase in a grocery store.

1. Cola

If you have a bottle of cola on your counter or in your fridge and have pots with burn stains on them, soak the pots overnight and in the morning you'll be able to wipe the stains right off without a problem.

2. Beer

Apply some beer to a soft cloth and then gently rub any wooden furniture you have that may have lost its luster. In many cases you are just dealing with a build-up of

It’s long been known that Alberta is a great place to live. Ask any Albertan and he'll definitely agree. This province stands up above the rest of the crowd in Canada, but why? Here are the logistical answers but some of the answers just lay in the spirit and tone found in the province that simply cannot be found anywhere else in Canada.

1. Low taxes

It’s here that you will find personal income tax, no sales tax, and the lowest income tax marginally. These add up to more money in a person's pocket at the end of the day that can be spent on services, goods or on the purchase of a new home.

Better employment rates

Alberta has the highest rate for employment when compared to the other Canadian provinces with numbers sitting at 70 .5%.

A

If you're planning on purchasing a Calgary condo in the near future you're probably wondering whether a home inspection is important or not. While it is rare to see a condo with severe problems being put on the market, it does happen.

In order to feel secure about purchasing a new condo it's definitely worth the small amount you’ll have to pay to get a home inspection done.

A home inspector can find things on the exterior that even the condominium corporation isn't aware of. For example, if there is a buildup of ice on the roof and the inspector notices it on time, the corporation can be informed and severe damage can be averted. This has happened!

In the interior of the condo in question a home inspector will check out all of the plumbing and

Like any modern and bustling city Calgary and its citizens rely on coffee to get them started in the morning and to keep them going during the day. It's not that we're promotion the consumption of excessive amounts of caffeine here but the fact is that Calgary has a plethora of coffee shops to choose from and enjoy. Now the question is which of these shops is going to sell you the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted...so we decided to conduct a quick survey.

What we’re going to do here is highlight some of our favourite coffee shops in the city, and we hope you like our choices:

Café Rosso
What sets this café apart almost immediately is the warm and friendly atmosphere you experience every single time you're there. Of course the coffee and snacks

Total sales for residential units this February was down 1% when compared to February 2012. There was, however, a leap-year occurring last February, which added an extra day to the month. Even taking this extra day into account, however, condominium sales were on the increase by 13% this February when compared to last year's February figures.

The level of supply declined for the month in the single-family housing market. According to Ann-Marie Lurie, the Chief Economist at the Calgary Real Estate Board, with the market tightening in the market for single-family homes, more people were looking at the condominiums available.

In downtown Calgary there were more homes available with a $400,000 price tag or under but during recent years they have become

As you've no doubt aware Calgary is one of the economic powerhouses in North America, thanks in no small part to the massive amounts of oil trapped in the oil sands in Alberta. In fact it's estimated that there are over 1 trillion barrels of oil trapped in these sands leaving Alberta second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of oil reserves. From a business, or potential business, owner point of view this means that opening an office here means that you can piggyback on the back of our economic success.

The reasons to set up a business in our city go beyond the fact that we're a really oil-rich part of the world though. If you look at the number of people migrating to Calgary from across North America and from elsewhere in the world you'll see that our