Today’s blog is full of nostalgia that was brought on when I went to look at a house into my old neighbourhood yesterday. The first home I bought in Calgary was in the community of Beddington. You never forget your first home, so it should be no surprise that this evoked some feelings. However, it was not what you would expect. What I could not stop reminiscing about is how neighbourly the community was and is. When I was at the house yesterday, the next-door neighbour was out walking his dog and he stopped by and said “Hi” and we chatter for a few minutes. After my appointment on my way home I decided that instead of going to my current grocery store I will go to my ‘old’ Calgary Co-op. The feeling of neighbourhood friendliness just kept on coming. It was great seeing neighbours talking to each other in the store and even stopping their cars to get attention of their friend/neighbour in the parking lot. All these experiences are so in line with how I felt when I lived in Beddington. I made my neighbours my friends with whom I still keep in touch….even though we may no longer be residents of Beddington.

Aside from its friendliness, Beddington offers a lot of green spaces and pathways to walk. It is just minutes from Nose Hills, where I spent many hours with my dog June.

Please feel free to comment below, I would love to learn more about your neighbourhood and its residents.

I have a strong attachment to Calgary’s Downtown, and my recent walk through my old stomping grounds left me feeling a bit down, but I am hopeful for its future… this is why.

I have spent a lot of time downtown Calgary; at one point I was a resident, I worked in numerous restaurants while I was in school. During my professional career in oil and gas I spent many years working in the office towers that define our downtown. I had the pleasure to watch some of those amazing buildings come up over the years and change our landscape to something amazing.

When The Bow was coming up it seemed like an architectural marvel and the recently completion Telus Sky…. well, its just so neat!!! Aside from new office towers we have seen the new Central Library and the Bell Centre being recently added to Calgary Downtown…. And that is just to name a few.

Our city council is not done, and our downtown will continue to grow. Calgary City Council recently approved an investment of $200 million to address vacancy, along with improving the neighbourhoods and making it a greener network for a healthier environment.

I am excited to watch this plan unfold. If you want more information visit the City of Calgary website, sign up for my Blog, or just call 403.921.5798 to learn more.

I recently heard a story about an individual who bought a home and upon possession of the property they were surprised that all the new carpets were gone. Imagine that surprise!!! I think this story is very unusual and most likely none of us will ever experience it; or at least let’s hope for that.

The reason why I wanted to share this story is because this is an example that many of us do not take enough time to understand the documents that we are signing, what impact it has on us, and what our responsibilities & obligations are under contracts. When you are buying or selling a home you will find yourself signing contracts that I hope are explained well to you and that you take the time to ask a lot of questions about. To learn more, I invite you to look at my pages about contracts, where I go over things that you will need to know to be well informed before you sign.

As always, if you want any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 403.921.5798.

I almost forgot, I guess you might want to know what happened at the end of the story. Now, I don’t know how much of this is anecdotal versus fact, but here is what I heard. The problem that we encountered here is that the seller was in the wrong; they were poorly educated or miss informed about the difference between chattels and fixtures. Click on the link if you want to learn more. The carpet, although it seemed to the buyer as their personal property, was actually a fixture, or an attached good that formed part of the home and was not to be removed. At the end, the buyer held the seller responsible for recarpeting the home.