How to control almost everything in your home with your phone
Want to have the coolest home on the block? Then fill it with all the latest smart home devices.
“A lot of people are familiar with smart home, and they have bits and pieces of it, but are looking at expanding,” said Steven Toews, general manager of Best Buy’s Deerfoot Meadows location.
According to Toews, smart lighting is the top-selling smart home category.
Calgary’s established suburbs are full of vintage character and reno potential
There are tens of thousands of Calgary homes built from the 1950s through the early 1970s in what were then new suburbs. One thing many of those homes have in common is the need for updating to modern tastes.
When Lewis Cowie bought a home in Kingsland about six years ago, it was as if time had stood still in the classic, 1950s bungalow. Most of the home was still original, right down to the bathroom fixtures, so a major renovation project was in order.
Luckily, Cowie is a director with Corefront Custom Homes & Renovations, and his company was ready for the challenge.
How much home can you afford?
Shopping for the home of your dreams requires knowing how much you can afford to spend, which for most buyers ties directly into a mortgage.
Financial institutions in Canada look at a buyer’s Gross Debt Service (GDS) and Total Debt Service (TDS) ratios to help determine how much mortgage to approve, and therefore, how much home a person can afford.
Demystifying condo fees
We’ve probably all heard someone say they’d love to buy a condominium, but they don’t like the idea of paying condo fees.
“We see that $500 condo fee and ask, ‘what do I get?’ ” said Bernice Winter, CEO of Condo Check, a Calgary company that provides condominium services, including document reviews.
