Diane Richardson

Cell: 403-397-3706 |

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Welcome to my Calgary Real Estate website

I have been adding some search functions, to make it somewhat easier for you to find your new Calgary Home.

You can now search for SE Calgary Bungalows for Sale, SW Calgary Bungalows for Sale & NW Calgary Bungalows for Sale. I have also created a search that helps you find Calgary Homes with Walk-Out and Fully Finished basement.

SW Calgary Homes for Sale with Walk-Out, SE Calgary Homes for Sale with Walk-Out. As well as those searches you are able to search by price starting at $200,000 and going all the way up to over $2,000,000. You are able to search for Calgary Homes for Sale by Calgary Community.I have added Bearspaw Real Estate Listings if you are looking for a Luxury Home minutes from Calgary possibly an Acreage. There is also a search for Homes for Sale in Okotoks, and also Homes for Sale in Airdrie.


I hope that you find these additions helpful. If you would like to contact me in regards to a specific Calgary Home for Sale or Listing your home for Sale. Please, Contact me @ 403.397.3706 or leave a message with my CHAT at the right side of the page.

 

Thank you Diane Richardson.,

 

www.Diane-Richardson.com

www.MyPadCalgary.com

www.SherlockHomesCalgary.com

www.FirsTTimeBuyersCalgary.com

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Selling your Calgary Home

Sell your Calgary Real Estate 

As the Calgary economy grows real estate gets hot. If you want to sell your Calgary home contact me for professional advice and tools that will ensure a timely sale at a maximized price. 

No obligation Calgary Home Evalutation

Correctly pricing your home for resale is the most the most important aspect of selling real estate. Don’t rely on a desktop analysis where you send in a few details and receive an email back with a price range. You can get started by filling out the Seller’s Details Form but in order to give you an accurate price I need to see your home and evaluate it in person.
 
Once I receive your details I’ll conduct a desktop analysis, then I’ll meet with you in your home so I can see the features and amenities that make your home unique. Nobody can give you accurate advice for selling your property if they don’t see it! This is a no obligation service where you can get to know me, understand how I would market your home and I can provide you with a true value for your property.

How Diane-Richardson.com markets your home

Next to properly pricing your home the most important thing in real estate sales is marketing (arguably the most important aspect of selling anything). My goal is to market your property quickly and effectively to gain you the best price in the shortest time…here’s how I do that:

Full Time Commitment

I’m a REALTOR®. Working with people to fulfill their property purchase and sales needs is what I do full-time, this is how I earn my living and I’m committed to success. If I don’t get results for my clients I don’t eat it’s that simple.

RE/MAX

Why wouldn’t you list your home for sale with the largest real estate company in the world? Consistently outselling every other real estate brokerage in Calgary, RE/MAX is clearly the market leader in this town and RE/MAX Real Estate (Central) has been the number one RE/MAX office in the world since 1999 (based on closed transactions)

Internet Marketing

More than 90% of real estate shoppers look online for their next home purchase. This means the Internet is where your property needs to be in order to get sold!
 
Using all the technology tools available I make sure your property listing is all over the Internet. This includes but isn’t limited to:
 
www.Diane-Richardson.com
www.firsttimebuyerscalgary.com
www.myPadCalgary.com
www.RemaxCentral.ab.ca (website of the #1 RE/MAX office worldwide since 1999)
www.Remax-Western.ca (RE/MAX Western Canada)
www.Remax.com (RE/MAX International)
 
Your listing will also appear on multiple syndicated real estate websites, online classified ad sites (don’t laugh, these work!), online video sites and social media. ie. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc.
 
Just listing your real estate for sale on MLS is no longer sufficient to get the exposure it needs to get you a sale for top dollar. Online marketing is now the most important way to sell real estate in North America. I have a fulltime Internet marketer working with me to get your property sold.

Photos

Diane-Richardson is committed to the highest quality marketing possible, that means professional photos that show your property in it’s best light to give your listing an important edge over the competition.
 
I’ll work with you to prepare your home for professional photos. I spend my life going through houses and I know what can make the difference between a place looking average and looking exceptional in property photos. This doesn’t mean you have to put in a new kitchen to make your house look good, there are simple techniques that will help make your house more attractive to potential buyers. 

Exceptional Feature Sheets

Nobody can buy what they don’t remember! Home shoppers typically view 4-7 houses per showing tour, after a while it can get hard to remember which ones made the short list. Using high resolution photos, professional printing I will create a Feature Sheet for your home that highlights all the plusses and makes sure prospective buyers don’t forget what your property offers.  

Communication

Getting the word out that your property is for sale in the right places is important but equally critical is your link to me, your REALTOR®. I will stay in touch by whatever means you prefer, you will be made aware of every bit of activity that relates to your sale. 

Listing and Leaving

Are you planning on listing then going on vacation? Do you need to get to your new job on the other side of the country now? Can’t stick around and wait for your house to sell? No problem, I have the tools and technology to make sure you can deal with any offers that might come in while you’re gone or in transit.
 
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Brookfield Residential (formerly Carma Developers) has been creating communities in Calgary for more than 50 years. The company's commitment to Calgary is to create the kinds of neighbourhoods where people truly feel at home, with a level of quality that endures the passage of time.

 

Brookfield's Auburn Bay seems to resonate with customers year after year, as once again it is the winner of the Readers' Choice Gold award in the New Community category. Brookfield Residential remains committed to designing communities that meet the needs of new homebuyers, now and well into the future.

 

The company takes extra care to ensure a consistent standard of excellence in architectural guidelines, compatible home styles and quality finishing materials, plus the consistency that comes from working with the best homebuilders. All of these factors contribute to Brookfield Residential's unparalleled value.

 

What sets Brookfield apart from others is its passion and integrity, which comes with planning and developing beautiful, high-quality master-planned communities. Superior amenities, long-term commitment, quality standards and residents' associations combine to make Brookfield communities simply the best. As a result, Brookfield communities such as McKenzie Towne, Tuscany, Cranston, Aspen Hills and Auburn Bay have been Calgary Herald Readers' Choice award winners each year since 2002.

 

From the moment you enter Auburn Bay, you will instantly feel at home. A beautiful stone entry feature welcomes you in, with birch, pine and spruce trees lining the streets ushering you into a naturally tranquil environment. With architectural design taking its inspiration from cottage country, the community provides a cosy, warm and welcoming environment that people connect with right away.

 

At the heart of this 365-hectare (900-acre) community is a 17.5-hectare (43-acre) lake and a 5.25-hectare (13-acre) park, along with Auburn House, a 7,000-square-foot private residents' association facility. Auburn House offers year-round programming that ranges from fitness classes to mom-and-tot sessions.

 

Auburn House also hosts special events throughout the year, such as Easter and Christmas parties.There is always something fun and interesting happening at Auburn House. There is also a private community intranet site, www.auburnbay-connect.com, that allows residents to communicate with one another, discuss issues and events in online forums, see classified ads, register for programs, pay their fees or simply find out what events and programs are coming up next at Auburn House. Auburn Bay is situated next door to Seton, a vibrant new community that will soon provide easy access to all types of shops and services, as well as the under-construction South Health Campus Hospital (www.setonurbandistrict.com).

 

Homes in Auburn Bay start from the low $200,000s, ranging to more than $800,000 for lake-access homes. Auburn Bay offers a wide variety of living opportunities, with townhomes, semi-detached homes, single-family homes and estate homes.

 

It's a beautiful and distinctive community, with great value for new homebuyers and a true four-season cottage-country lifestyle. During the winter, you can bundle up and enjoy everything from hockey on the lake's Zamboni-cleared rink, to gliding around the skating rink that circles the entire lake. There's also a pleasure-skating area complete with an outdoor fire pit. Other neighbourhood activites include cross-country skiing and tobogganing.

 

In the summer, you can catch some rays and relax on the beach, or go for a paddleboat trip around the lake, enjoy family picnics and barbecues in the park, or experience the thrill of catching your first fish. Auburn Bay provides the perfect background for creating beautiful family memories, or simply reliving your own childhood. New show homes are now open by Baywest Homes, Cardel Homes, Cedarglen Homes and Jayman MasterBuilt. They are located just down the street from Auburn House, and provide new and creative plans to meet the needs of today's modern family.

 

Visit www.liveauburnbay.ca for more details, or visit a show home today.

 

You will find the following builders in Auburn Bay:

 

Townhomes:

Mosaic Lakeside

Chesapeake

 

Semi-Detached:

Brookfield Homes

 

Single Family Homes
(rear detached garage):

Discovery Homes

Brookfield Homes

 

Single Family Homes
(double attached garage):

Baywest Homes

Cardel Homes

Cedarglen Homes

Jayman MasterBuilt

 

Estate Homes:

Albi Homes 
Morrison Homes

 

source http://www.calgaryherald.com/columnists/Auburn/5599001/story.html

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Okotoks to seek water from other sources to accommodate growth
Town shifts gears after lifting population cap

By Eva Ferguson, Calgary Herald September 25, 2012 9:16 PM


CALGARY — The Town of Okotoks will have to be even more aggressive in its pursuit of finding more water for residents now that a long-term cap on population growth has been lifted.

After purchasing three new water licences along the Sheep River over the past two years, the latest for as much as $1 million, the town can supply water to all of its 25,000 residents.

 

But Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson hopes to purchase even more licences in an effort to provide water supply to as many as 60,000 residents in the future.

 

The burgeoning town just south of Calgary has for years fought to stay small under a 30,000-resident population cap enacted in 1998. But town council voted this week to lift the ban in frustration over development growth that continues to go up haphazardly around the town’s borders.

“Our backs are against the wall,” Robertson said.

“We keep seeing the M.D. of Foothills allowing all of this intense growth on our doorstep, but we’re not getting any of those revenues.”

Robertson and others who voted five to two in favour of eliminating the cap argue if they allow growth within their town’s borders at least they can control it and benefit from those revenues.

Coun. Matt Rockley agreed: “If we can plan the development, we can ensure it is more compact, it uses less land . . . and it can be serviced with transit, and with water.”

Historically, the town’s challenge has been accessing water services from the surrounding Sheep River, its nearest and only existing water resource.

In 2006, the province issued a final moratorium on allowing any new water licences from the South Saskatchewan River basin, which feeds into the Sheep.

But the Town of Okotoks has been able to buy up existing licences from private landowners or oil companies who have used the water for underground extraction.

Another option might be to build a dam upstream along the Sheep River, collect spring run off in a separate reservoir and use that for Okotoks’ needs.

The town is also looking to enact policies and guidelines that would make it easier for residents to conserve water on their own property, reducing their own rates and keeping existing supplies up.

 

Homes could be refitted to store dish water, rain water and other light waste waters in a holding tank to use for watering their property or even flushing toilets. Residents are already being asked to conserve water through a bylaw that only allows outdoor watering two days a week.

Robertson added how much Okotoks ends up paying for water will also depend on future weather conditions and how dry farmland in southern Alberta will be in future years.

As global warming becomes more of an issue, and depending how severe future droughts are, water markets can become very volatile in the near future, the mayor said.

 

“It just is what it is,” Robertson said. “We’ve got all these challenges, and we’ll have to deal with them head on.”

While other towns like Airdrie, Chestermere and Strathmore all benefit from water service from the City of Calgary, Robertson fears building a pipeline and paying for water from the big city might be too expensive.

“Going to the city is one of our options, but we’re not really looking at it right now,” he said.

But Paul Fesko, manager of strategic services for the City of Calgary’s water resources, said pumping city water into Okotoks is completely feasible.

He explained the Town of Okotoks would have to fund construction of a pipeline which could be built over two years, and then any increased costs would be built into the town’s water rates.

Fesko couldn’t say whether those increased costs would be more or less than having to keep purchasing water licences on the Sheep River.

“It’s all about what is the cheapest way to get a glass of water on the table in Okotoks,” he said.

 

eferguson@calgaryherald.com

 


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Calgary renters struggle to find vacancies

Finding a property to rent in this city is becoming increasingly difficult as demand rises.

That's generating stiff competition among some renters in desperate search of a home.

“It's a bit of a lottery, there were plenty of people here,” said renter Nicolas Gonzalez.

In fact, 101 people viewed the one bedroom beltline apartment Gonzalez had his eye on. Fifty people filled out applications and, after two interviews and a stringent screening process, Gonzalez landed the suite — a gruelling process he's never been through before.

"Never. Usually it’s me and a roll of cash and ‘Oh, okay it’s yours,’ 'here's the cash,' ‘thanks,’ done, keys."

Gonzalez says he's not sure what gave him the edge.

Darren Paddock, the co-owner of RentFaster.ca, advises renters to find ways to help them stand out from their competitors because properties are going fast.

"These people are getting a number of applicants in two to three days time," says Paddock.

"It’s really hot, we've never seen it like this before."

Paddock says an influx of workers and tighter mortgage rules are to blame.

And the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicts the current 1.9 vacancy rate will drop to 1.5 by next year.


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/calgary-renters-struggle-vacancies-001248854.html

CBC

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Relocating or Moving to Calgary

Calgary is rated one of the top five cities in the world in which to live: it’s one of the safest and cleanest cities anywhere on the planet.
 
Perhaps you are being relocated because of a new position with your company or you are just moving to Calgary for the opportunity. Moving to a new city can be a fairly daunting task and stressful. If you need help with purchasing a home please feel free to contact me.
 
Calgary is divided into four quadrants (NE, NW, SE and SW) and laid out in a grid system. Avenues run east to west.While,streets run from north to south.
 
 I can help you find your new family home or condo in Calgary. I will listen to your choices and put together a list for you of some potential homes for sale . We will then refine this list and I will help you to determine what might fit your requirements the best.
 

Whether your new family home needs to be close to your work or perhaps close to a School for your children or even if you need to live in a specific community in Calgary.

Keep in mind while looking: where you live will depend on where you work, whether you want to commute and the lifestyle you and your family desire

Relocating to Calgary can be made much easier if you have the help, and the relief of the stress of knowing that you have a Realtor working for you.

I am familiar with Calgary and the more than 180 communities, I can help make the move to Calgary more pleasant and less stressful for you.

There is plenty of information on this website that will help you determine what area of the city might fit the best for you. If you are looking for a 3 bedroom home in Tuscany in the NW or an Older Family home with a large lot in the SW.
 

Calgary is a growing city and has many New communities being developed with New homes being built, contact me for more information. I will get back to you by email or mobile. you can reach me 24/7 through this website. Don't hesitate to call.

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The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.