You check your mailbox, and mixed in with the bills and grocery flyers is a brightly colored piece of paper. It looks handwritten. It’s from a guy named "Frank," or maybe "Dave," and he claims to be a professional investor who just happens to be looking for a house exactly like yours.

He makes it sound incredibly tempting:

  • "We pay cash!"
  • "No repairs needed!"
  • "We pay closing costs!"

I see these letters - just like the pink one pictured above - all the time. As a homeowner, it is easy to read that and think, "Wow, selling a house is usually stressful, but this guy wants to make it a breeze!"

But before you pick up the phone to text Frank, we need to have an honest conversation about how these "cash buyer" business models actually…

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If you are skimming the news headlines about the Calgary housing market this July, you might walk away thinking that local real estate is slowing down. The broad city statistics show sales dipping by 4% compared to last year, with overall prices adjusting down by 2%.

But here is what the mainstream media is missing: those drops are almost entirely driven by an oversupply of apartment condominiums. When you strip away the high-density condo data and look exclusively at single-family detached homes in West, South, and Southeast Calgary, you discover a market that is aggressively defying the city-wide trend. In fact, select local pockets are actively hitting brand-new record highs right now.

The Detached Breakdown: Record Highs in West Calgary

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