May 2013

We're lucky in Calgary, that most communities in our city have community associations. Knowing about your community association and where it is located, can offer you a ton of opportunity to get involved in the neighbourhood you live.

What is a community association?

Community associations are neighbourhood-based volunteer organizations providing support, and opportunities in recreation, education and social life. In Calgary, nearly 100 community associations even operate facilities and/or halls.

The Federation of Calgary Communities is a great resource on community associations in our city. According to their website:

Collectively, the community association network is the largest collective volunteer movement in Calgary with more than

The weather is the big story in Calgary this week, with heavy rainfall warnings causing flood risks to be on a lot of Calgarians' minds. An estimated 100mm of rain is expected by the end of the weekend.

City officials are urging everyone to take precautions and flood-proof their homes as best as possible to prevent water damage at home. Here are some tips:

• Ensure your eavestroughs are clear, and downspouts are facing away from your home.
• Ensure sump pumps are in proper working order.
• Remove any valuable items from your basement.
• Check drains on your street to ensure they are working properly, if not, call 3-1-1 to report.

The City is also advising Calgarians to be safe around our waterways:

• Stay off the Bow and Elbow Rivers, and stay away

Well prepare for our city's suburbs to keep on growing. According to a new City of Calgary report, population growth is expected to grow almost 120,000 people over the next five years, 94% of that in the suburbs. The 2013-2017 Suburban Residential Growth report says of the 50,600 additional Northwest Calgary Homes for sale to be built in the next five years, 77% will be in suburb developments.

Some trends associated with this report, are that as of the 2012 census, our population is sitting at over 1.2 million, and housing sales are up 10.4% currently.

An article on the report in the Huffington Post reads:

"Calgary has approximately 10-12 years of planned land supply, which will accommodate 310,834 people in mixed single, semi and

Okay we won't say these are top secret tips, but these are definitely some easy industry tricks that will make a huge difference when selling your home.

1. Keep the closets half-empty: every buyer is looking for storage, and the more storage the better. Making your rooms and closets look emptier and decluttered will give the illusion of more space and storage.

2. Hide your pets: not everyone is a lover of pets, so having evidence of your pets around (or having them there at all) can sway some buyers to look elsewhere. And in a lot of cases, buyers assume that with pets comes home and yard damage.

3. Remove the 'home' from your house: the buyer wants to be able to imagine themselves living in your house, so make it as much of a blank canvas as

Calgarians found out yesterday that nine schools would be built, which puts a lot of ease on certain strained communities. The following communities will have new schools by 2016:

Martindale
High school (CBE)
Elementary school (Francophone)

Royal Oak
Middle school (CBE)

Saddle Ridge
Middle school (CBE)

Evanston
Kindergarten - 4 (CBE)
Kindergarten - 9 (Calgary Catholic)

Auburn Bay
Kindergarten - 9 (Calgary Catholic)

New Brighton
Kindergarten - 4 (CBE)

Copperfield
Kindergarten - 4 (CBE)

This is great news for families living in these communities, or those who plan to move there. New schools will certainly help with transportation concerns and will help with property value.