Please join me for an open house On Saturday May 19 from 2-4 pm at 151 Edwards drive.

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Making your Real Estate needs my Priority

Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: 780 457 3777

Direct: 780 446 3727

Fax 780 478 7017

Please join me for a look at this 1 bedroom 942 Sqft penthouse condo with a fantastic view, on Saturday May 5 from 2-4 pm.

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Ideal for the traveler, need a place to hang your hat between trips. This 1 bedroom condominium has everything you need. Spacious kitchen with stainless steel appliances open to the living room, large bedroom and in suite laundry. Only 15 minutes to the international airport, 2 minutes to the Anthony Henday ring road puts you close to anywhere. With condo fees of only $206 there is no need to worry while you are away.

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2 bedroom penthouse corner condominium.

Please join us from 2-4. Don’t miss this one it has the best view in the area!

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Economists predict strong year for Prairies

By John Shmuel, Financial PostApril 12, 2012

Home construction is booming in the Prairies – and Alberta, after years of  tepid housing starts, is leading the charge.

The rate of residential construction, especially condominiums, has lagged  behind the oil boom in Alberta in the past few years.

But blockbuster housing starts in March – they jumped 72 per cent year over  year – hint that residential construction is getting hot again.

The data, released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., showed starts grew  nationally by five per cent, to 215,600, from the previous month.

Starts in Alberta jumped to their highest levels since March 2008.

Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the numbers show the  Alberta housing market is finally picking up momentum again, something it lost  following the province’s housing boom in 2006-07.

“It looks like we’re at a point now where strong economic growth and stronger  population trends are starting to finally tighten that market up a little bit,”  he said.

“We’re seeing more sustainable momentum in housing starts in Alberta.”

Growth in Alberta comes as the entire Prairie region benefits from an  oil-fuelled economic boom, boosting housing along with it.

Data from CMHC show the Prairie provinces posted an annualized growth rate of  6.4 per cent in urban housing starts in March.

Housing starts in Alberta have grown 53 per cent in the first three months of  the year, while next door neighbour Saskatchewan has registered growth of 34 per  cent. Manitoba, meanwhile, saw starts jump 41 per cent.

Home construction has soared in Alberta’s biggest cities, especially the  condo segment.

In Calgary, while single detached home starts increased 55 per cent year over  year, multi-unit starts were up a whopping 407 per cent.

That’s good news for a market that suffered from a glut of supply following  the 2008 financial crisis.

Home construction went into frenzy mode in 2006 and 2007 as the province  struggled to keep up with a flood of workers from other parts of Canada who  worked in the oilsands. However, after oil prices crashed in 2008, many workers  were laid off or moved back home, leaving fewer buyers for the surplus of  homes.

A jump in starts suggests that excess supply has been absorbed, and the  province is starting to build again as it accommodates one of the  fastest-growing populations in Canada. While the Prairies recorded strong growth  in housing starts, it was Ontario and the blistering condo market in Toronto  which added the biggest numbers in March.

Multiple-unit starts in Ontario jumped by 50.4 per cent to 85,200 on a  seasonally adjusted annual basis – a number CMHC called “exceptional” but said  could “not expected to be sustained.”

Leslie Preston, an economist with TD Economics, said the surge in Ontario  housing starts was probably because of the warm winter weather, which led to  earlier groundbreaking on projects.

She said subsequent data for housing starts in Ontario, and particularly  Toronto, would likely disappoint in the second quarter.

“If you expected a certain amount of building projects over the first half of  the year, that has now likely been concentrated in the first quarter,” she said.  “I think the risk of disappointment in construction in the second quarter is  high.”

Economists say that despite the huge jump for Ontario in March,  home-construction growth will continue to be centred in the West this year, with  the Prairies in particular seeing strong numbers.

“We’re anticipating continued growth in residential and real estate  construction as a result of Western Canada’s economic strength,” said David  Onyett-Jeffries, economist with the Royal Bank of Canada.

“Looking at the Western provinces, we’re still seeing a pick up in housing  start activity in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C. and Manitoba.”

In contrast, Onyett-Jeffries said, housing starts in Ontario and Quebec  should cool off this year.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/real-estate/Oil%20and%20gas%20industry%20boosts%20Alberta%20new%20home%20construction%20in%20March/6446499/story.html#ixzz1rsz3wktJ

Making your Real Estate needs my priority!

 Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/Max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: (780) 457 3777

Direct: (780) 446 3727

Fax: (780) 478 7017

                                             Market activity for the month of March 2012

What do these statistics tell us?

   February and March have got the year off to a great start with increases across the board, with the slight exception of average condominium prices in March, which showed a slight decline ($3,344 / 1.4%). These numbers do require a little clarification. When examining the sales numbers we see an increase of 75 in March with the majority of these in the $150,000 – $249,000 price range, therefore dropping the average. This is more of an indication of the price range that buyers are looking at not a direct reflection of the value of an individual property.

 There have however been some challenges in the condominium market, most notably the Bellavera, complex in Leduc, and the safety concerns surrounding it. In the last year or so a number of condominium complexes have had problems. Whether it is with construction and developers or the poor financial condition of the corporation, these have hurt the market, with buyers understandably very sceptical.

 The accompanying article goes into the importance of closely examining the condominium documents provided by the seller.

  February and March have both been very active months. Sales increased in February above expectations as did March. While it looked like it was going to be a sellers market coming off the February numbers in March listings kept pace with the slowing of sales, but still at a significant increase of both at just over 19%.

 If sales continue at this pace and the number of new listings start to trail off we can expect to see prices increase through the spring and summer.

Making your Real Estate needs my priority!

Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/Max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: (780) 457 3777

Direct: (780) 446 3727

Fax: (780) 478 7017

Making your Real Estate needs my priority!

Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/Max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: (780) 457 3777

Direct: (780) 446 3727

Condominium documents are a set of documents including bylaws, meeting minutes and financial statements relating to the condominium corporation.

After receiving these documents I have heard clients say, thanks but you know I’m not going to read them, I’m not paying someone to read them for me and there are other people who bought here,that are more educated than I, so there can’t be anything wrong. – Wrong these “smarter” people may have the same assumption as you. They may have found something in the bylaws or meeting minutes that did not concern them but may concern you.

Now I have talked you into looking at the documents. Do you look at them or have your Realtor, a lawyer or someone else examine them?

Your Realtor may say sorry thats really not my thing, and he is in all honesty not being lazy it really is not his thing. A real Estate lawyer may very well be comfortable looking at, and advising you as to the condition of the condominium corporation. There are also companies that look at and evacuate condominium documents. I encourage my clients to take the time to go through the documents themselves and also have a professional take a look at them. This performs two purposes 1) They become personally familiar with what is involved with being a member of a condo corporation 2) It may raise questions that you would like answered.

So what are we looking for? Like any corporation we want to know financial status, the condition of property owned by the corporation and whether the corporation is functioning well. The financial statements can tell if money is being spent responsibly, if for example is the management fee in line with industry norms? One of the most important documents in this package is the the reserve fund study this will tell how much the corporation expects to spend in the future and how much of the condominium fees should be going to day to day expenses, such as snow removal or lawn care, and how much needs to be going into a savings account (reserve fund) for future repairs and maintenance. A comparison between this and the financial statements can tell if the reserve fund, condominium fees and reserve fund contributions are in line with the reserve fund study.

Meeting minutes can tell us a number of things. Is the board working as a team with common goals. Is the corporation moving in a proactive manner or are there actions reactive. What are the problems in the building? What are the short term goals to deal with problem areas in the building? In a complete set of minutes you should be able to answer these questions.

You would not buy a brand of car that you had never heard of without doing some research: so why buy property and an interest in a corporation without doing some research.

The money you spend to check out your new condo is well worth it. Some feel that if nothing is found in the documents to raise a red flag it is money wasted, and well spent something is found. If something is found to raise a red flag and the deal is not completed then it can possibly save you thousands of dollars and years of heartache and headaches. If nothing is found you have peace of mind and all your questions have been answered to your satisfaction.

Making your Real Estate needs my priority!

Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/Max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: (780) 457 3777

Direct: (780) 446 3727

Fax: (780) 478 7017

Please join me for an open house at #324 151 Edwards drive on Saturday March 31 from 2-4 pm.

Ideal for the traveler, need a place to hang your hat between trips. This 1 bedroom condominium has everything you need. Spacious kitchen with stainless steel appliances open to the living room, large bedroom and in suite laundry. Only 15 minutes to the international airport, 2 minutes to the Anthony Henday ring road puts you close to anywhere. With condo fees of only $206 there is no need to worry while you are away.

Property details

Making your Real Estate needs my priority!

 Dave Dry

Realtor, Re/Max Real Estate

Website: www.davedry.com

Blog: blog.davedry.com

Office: (780) 457 3777

Direct: (780) 446 3727

Fax: (780) 478 7017