The Gord Piper & Associates Real Estate Blog

It should come as no surprise that we love real estate, but we also love the history of real estate, especially in a city as diverse as Calgary! We recently sold a condo in this beautiful building and couldn’t help but take a peek into it’s past. The Athlone is a building located in Mission, and was built in 1940. Originally the land was occupied by Castel Aux Pres, home to Judge and Lady Winter beginning in 1895.

This home was demolished in 1939 and the Athlone was born. Built by Arthur Cumming LTD. It was the largest and one of the most interesting apartment complexes built in the 1940s. It features elements of classical revised architecture, such as the pilasters, and the decorative lintels over the windows and doorway, but breaks with classical tradition in its lack of a cornice. The main entrance has two features that were considered innovative at the time: a wall of glass blocks surrounding the door; and vitrolite paneling. Built with high quality materials and set back from the street with a spacious front lawn, the 46 suite apartment building was more luxurious than others in the neighbourhood. Quote by Jim Bowman in the Heritage Highlight.

It’s more than just the architecture that makes this building unique. The property has been restored and maintained to keep that 1940’s feeling. In the main entrance you will find a vintage Art Deco pendant light, one of four, circa 1925. The building’s hallways and stairwells feature glass light shades of the type originally found in the building. Even the incinerator chutes have been refinished with layers of paint removed to reveal the original red brick. The incinerator was retired decades ago but the care taken to preserve the buildings history just adds to its charm.

In 2008 the cliff Bungalow – Mission Community association recognized the Athlone as a community heritage site. If you are interested in seeing this wonderful building it is featured in the Calgary Historical Walking Tour of Mission. Click here to get more information on the walking tour and to get your own self-guided tour. Click here for more information on the Athlone.

Foreclosure can either be a great deal or your worst nightmare. If you are considering taking one on, there are some things to know…

Foreclosures:

• Are sold as is, so there’s an increased risk
• Come with no history of sellers
• May appear to be a good deal, but most are sold at market value and often above list price
• Offers are sometimes stacked to generate competing offers
• Provide no history of how the seller lives

Before you make a rash decision that could result in years of work and disappointment, seek professional help to assist you. Gord Piper and Associates

A newly elected provincial government in Alberta will create ripple effects as government priorities shift and new relationships and opportunities for advocacy efforts present themselves. In case you missed it, one element of the NDP platform was a promise to repeal the increases to mortgage registration/land title registration fees that were put forward in the PC budget in March 2015 and restore the current 2014/15 fees. Click here for the announcement of the campaign promise.

Recent statements from the NDP indicate that the government will be pushing forward in eliminating these increases. There is no official timeline yet for this to take place, as the election result represents a significant change and the NDP will require time to transition into office and be prepared to take real action on campaign promises.

Ikea may not be the first store you think about when looking for the latest in electronic innovation but this year they are launching a line of furniture capable of wirelessly charging your devices. Don’t want new furniture? No problem! They will also be selling everything you need to install their new inductive charging device into any piece of furniture you want.

If you’ve been thinking about getting in the wireless charging game, IKEA just made it a no-brainer. Later this spring, you’ll be able to buy the Jyssen wireless charger for just $30. It’s designed to fit in the cord management hold of the Micke and Stuva desks, but for an extra $5, IKEA will sell you a special drill bit so that you can cut the perfect slot in literally piece of furniture you already own.

Want a wireless charging station on the kitchen table? No problem. How about a charging pad for your dresser? That’s a five-minute job. What about the garage? If you drill the hole, you can charge your phone.

Of course, you could always just opt for the easier, prettier, and slightly less expensive Nordmärke wireless charging pads. Those are $28 for the single pad and $65 for the triple. If your phone doesn’t already support wireless charging—the Qi standard can be hard to find—IKEA is also selling iPhone and Samsung Galaxy cases that add the functionality for$15 to $25.

The easiest approach to adding wireless charging to your life would be to buy a piece from IKEA’s new wireless charging furniture.

We especially like the lamps with the capability built in already. You have to plug the lamp in anyway, why not enable it to charge your phone too? And let’s face it any time you can get rid of a cord laying around your house the better off you tend to be.

As spring approaches, many Canadians will be getting ready to buy or sell their homes. Some may enlist the help of a friend or relative who happens to work in real estate but experts caution that hiring a friend as your real estate agent could backfire. We wouldn’t advise to NEVER hire a friend, but you shouldn’t hire them BECAUSE you’re a friend. Don’t do it as a favor do it because they are good at what they do.

In some cases, people find that it’s easier to hire a friend than invest time interviewing several agents. In fact, about one third of people hiring an agent will select the first agent they meet. With this in mind, here is a look at the potential pitfalls of hiring a friend.

 Your friend may think they know what’s best for you

You want a move in ready home but your friend knows of some great deals you can get with handy man specials. They may even offer to help you but…. What if you know nothing of home renovations? Bottom line is a friend doesn’t have the same boundaries that a hired Realtor would and this has the potential to cause some friction.

A friend may put in less time

A friend helping you house hunt may not want to spend every weekend driving around the city instead of working with other clients. That would put the responsibility of finding homes you want to look at on you.

Your friend may not give you a reality check

You may not like hearing some of the things that a Realtor has to say to you like the list price you want to set on your home is WAY to high, or the offer you want to put in on a home is just too low. It’s an agent’s responsibility to give you the honest truth as an objective outsider. This can be difficult to do with friends as you don’t want to hurt their feelings or put tension in the relationship.

If things go bad they can get ugly… really ugly

While this last one is maybe not as likely there are many reasons that you may feel like your Realtor didn’t do their job or could have done it better. Maybe you put an offer on a house and felt they didn’t negotiate aggressively enough. When you have an agent that you’ve hired you can always decide to not work with them again but a friend… they are going to know the next time you move and those uncomfortable questions could come up.

While hiring a friend or family member may not ALWAYS work out that doesn’t mean it NEVER works. If your friend is experienced and treats you like a client, they take the job seriously and know the market you are shopping in it could end up being the right fit.