Jeff MacKinnon

When you are out driving around Alberta this weekend (June 12-13) you will see a familiar site at intersections - realtor sandwich boards advertising open houses.

Stage 2 of the province's COVID plan includes Alberta Real Estate Association once again allowing open houses; so there will be plenty to see this Saturday and Sunday if you are wanting to have a look at some places.

I'm going to be at a just-listed townhouse in Cedarbrae  (MLS# A117460) Satuday afternoon.

As with how we have entered any building for the past year and a half) the usual protocols remain such as wearing a mask, applying hand sanitizer prior to entering the property and proper social distancing. We all know the routine too well don't we.

There's now no limit on how many people can enter a property at one time. It's up to the discretion of the realtor and home owner. Me personally if I showed up to an open house and another family was already inside, I'd wait until the coast was clear.

Happy home shopping.

Jeff MacKinnon

Maxwell Capital Realty

homesinalberta@gmail.com

403-860-9525

REAL ESTATE sales activity in Calgary rose almost 12 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same time last year.

The Calgary Real Estate Board released their third quarter report earlier this week.

The increase is attributed to lower interest rates and previous price declines, the report says.

There were gains in all property types except for condominiums, which are down nearly 11 per cent for the same period in 2019,

“Most industries are not back to pre-pandemic levels, but over the past three months we have seen notable improvement across most industries.”

To receive a copy of the complete report email me at homesinalberta@gmail.com

I remember when I bought my first home with my wife — a townhome in Inglewood — we both weren't quite sure how the realtor fees worked. It was no biggie, because it was explained to us.

Still, now that I'm in the business I am very conscious of explaining it right away so there's no confusion. I'm dealing with a lot of first-time home buyers these days and they are naturally wondering about how much this is going to wind up costing them.

Typically, realtor fees are seven per cent of the first $100,000 and three per cent of balance of sale price and those fees are split between the buyer's realtor and the seller's realtor.

That's normally how it works and so there's no confusion when I'm dealing with buyers I write an extra line into our agreement that all fees are paid by the seller.

If you are thinking about buying a home and are curious about something please call or shoot me an email.

It's not my listing but a very unique property went on the market in the Calgary area a couple of days ago.

It's been called the Hobbit house and it's tucked into the hillside on 160 acres near Millarville, about 20 minutes from the city's southwest edge.

Built in 1971, this 1,036 square foot comes with an incredible view of the mountains naturally. A mix of pasture and woods as well as a natural pond featuring all sorts of wildlife, says the listing.

 The home was designed by Bill Milne, the architect behind the Calgary Tower and the city's pathway system.

It's very hard to see says the daughter of the builders, who grew up in the house, in an interview with CBC Calgary for a story that you can find on CBC.ca.

If you are up for the challenge of trying to find it it's at 258229 144 Street W.

"My parents were trying to figure out where a good spot would be. They really didn't want it visible on the ridge. They didn't want any of the neighbours to be able to just see this house, because to them, that would be a bit of an eyesore," Karen Lightstone told CBC.

If you go back to my home page and cut and paste C4305504 into the search window you'll be able to see all of the interior photos, which aren't available with the CBC story.

Here's the CBC link to some drone footage.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/hobbit-house-calgary-bill-milne-architecture-real-estate-1.5669331