All Blog Entries by Call Centre

Trending right now in the bathroom line of products is the rain shower head. If you love your morning shower and want the spray to shower down "just so", you're either going to love or hate this product. It's being promoted as the new luxurious and stylish alternative to regular shower heads but it will be up to you as to whether this is really the next big thing or not.

Why People Love Rain Shower Heads

Engineers have come up with a way to make the shower heads feel just like you are standing out in the rain. Today's models offer a wider surface area and larger water droplets. When these larger drops come down from the shower head they bounce into each other forming streams of fine droplets.

The effect is really quite amazing but whether

First came the baby boomers, and then came Generation X followed by the millennials. You don't hear a lot of talk about Generation X as much as you do about the boomers and the millennials. While the baby boomers are thinking about their future retirements the millennials are busy preparing for their mid-age years. In the middle, Generation X, the people born in the 1960s and 70s, are purchasing real estate with a different mindset than the other generations.

What Do Gen X Homebuyers Want?

According to a recent survey conducted by TD Bank, Gen X home buyers want freedom from their mortgages and don't want home loans to cramp their lifestyles. More than 2/3 of those surveyed said that they didn't want to allocate their entire budget to a mortgage

There are numerous advantages to owning a home both inside and outside of the city. What matters most are the needs you have to meet as a home owner, as well as the budget for your home purchase.

Real Estate in the Suburbs

Real estate in the suburbs is normally better priced than inside the city where housing can be more scarce and costly. You will find that for the same number of square feet, you will pay less for real estate outside the city. If you have a family and would like more room without greater financial strain, it would be a good idea to consider looking for real estate in the suburbs.

You'll also have to factor in the time spent commuting back and forth to work. Living in the city will mean shorter commute times to work while

When you have purchased a new home you'll also be asked whether you'd like to buy mortgage life insurance as well. This is sure is that is offered by the same thing that you're dealing with for your mortgage. In some cases it will make sense to get this type of insurance and other times it's a complete waste of time and money.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed mortgage professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.

The Difference Between Mortgage Life Insurance and Term Life Insurance

There are significant differences to consider when choosing whether mortgage life or term life insurance is the best choice to meet your specific needs. Whereas mortgage life insurance is designed to pay off

As a seller, there are a lot of advantages when it comes to getting your home pre-inspected. Most buyers aren't willing to pay $400,000 or more for a home without seeing an inspection first. In many cases the buyer will end up asking for the inspection and paying for it but as a seller, it may be worth your while to shell out the $300-$400 it will cost to get the report. Here are some of the biggest benefits of taking a proactive role in getting your own inspection as a seller:

No Unexpected Surprises

While your home may look fantastic inside and out, it's really difficult to know what underlying problems may be hiding underneath. By getting a report, there won't be any last-minute surprises to deal with and you'll be able to handle some of the

Almost nothing on TV is as important to Calgarians as the weather. It goes along with that well-worn adage of which we never seem to tire – if you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes. So, our TV weather presenters are like personal friends of ours. We look to them for advice – how to prepare for the day, when to plant our gardens, change our snow tires and when will the current conditions outside change. They're important to us.

Here's a look at the weather specialists and meteorologists that we've either come to trust or be highly skeptical of.

Global TV Calgary

Calgarians wake up to Jordan Witzel's weather reports, something he has admitted are challenging to keep up with after growing up in British Columbia where weather is dreary

If you've been looking into real estate in Calgary you've probably run into the five-year rule and may not fully understand it. If so, here's a brief explanation that will help you get a grip on this rule and where and why it applies.

What is the Five-Year Rule?

This is a very general rule that means you should plan on remaining in the home you purchase for five years at least. If you don't, it will hit you in the pocketbook, in most cases. This is due to the closing costs that need to be paid when you sell your house and can be a substantial amount, depending on the value of the home.

As well, you'll have to look at how much equity you have actually built up in your property. When you first take out a mortgage you'll be paying mostly interest

If you are selling your home you may have considered using seller financing to get it sold quickly. By seller financing we mean lending money to the person that is buying your home and acting as a financial institution for them. Contracts can be made up that allow you to loan the money to the buyer and then collect the interest from it.

This can greatly speed up the selling time for a home since many people do not meet the stringent requirements for mortgage loans at a bank. Also, a lot of people have a very hard time coming up with the initial down payment for their first home. If you need a quick sale you may consider seller financing as a viable option.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a financial advisor before proceeding

Buying a home as a single person is a lot different than buying a home as a couple. When you have another person that is going to be buying a home with you, you have a sounding board to work with during the process. All of your concerns and questions can be discussed with your partner and at the end of the day it will be two signatures that are penned at the bottom of the contract instead of only one. When one person only has to sign, it can be a lot more stressful since you are assuming full responsibility for the new property and all of the payments that are going to go along with it down the line.

In order to help take some of the stress out of the situation, here are some tips you can use if you're a single person that is looking for a home:

Any decorator can walk into a home and date it back to its beginnings by its architectural style. Sometimes there are long transition periods from one style to the next but there's no question that throughout the years housing designs have been changing. What's in store for the next generation of homes and what are the latest trends for new design styles?

The next-generation homes are going to be bright and airy with plenty of space. The dark and narrow hallways of yesterday will be transformed into large passageways that lead from one open concept room to the other.

The Flow of Modern Homes Has Changed

There is a lot of concentration on the flow of the home and how the residents of it can make their way from one end of the house to the other