As reported in the Calgary Herald, selling a home in Calgary these days is a very competitive enterprise as demand in the housing market keeps rising.

Any edge besides price point can be an attention-grabber leading to a possible sale.

Rebecca and Dean Klug have come up with a novel idea in the hopes of selling their New Brighton home which is listed for $409,900.

"Paying It Forward! This home is the owners 1st matrimonial home & they want to offer a $5k gift toward the wedding of the buyers of this home to keep the good karma going!," says the listing by realtor Robyn Moser & Associates.

http://bit.ly/KlxNrK

As reported on yahoo.com, do you find it hard to toss or give away perfectly good home furniture, even when you have no use for it? Before you get rid of something, think again--is there some way you can re-purpose it so it becomes useful again? Some things are junk, but others can be re-purposed into perfectly useful pieces of furniture. Old doors, dressers, tables, cabinets: How can you re-purpose your old home furniture? Here are some ideas.

To read these ideas, click on the link below:

http://yhoo.it/JpcCFx

In a blog by Susanne Hudson on huffingtonpost.ca, she discusses if any home is worth the typical $450 fee for a home inspection. In my opinion - yes of course. A home is usually the biggest asset for any person or family.

To read Susanne's blog, click on the link below:

http://huff.to/JlOiLj

As reported on thechronicleherald.ca,  a modest wooden house soaring over a rocky cliff has earned Nova Scotia architect Brian MacKay-Lyons a 2012 Governor General's Medal in Architecture.

"We're still the only architects in Atlantic Canada who've ever won it since it started in the 1950s so it's kind of special for sure," says MacKay-Lyons.

This is the sixth Governor General's medal that MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects of Halifax and Lunenberg has been awarded by the Canada Council through a peer jury process.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/M1t5mI

As reported on jsonline.com, buying your first home will likely be one of the most exciting and scary times of your life. Beyond the basic considerations - location, number of bathrooms, ranch style vs. multilevel - there are a number of important financial factors to determine before deciding which house is right for you.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Jp3ocf

As reported on cnn.com, buying a home just got even cheaper in the United States as interest rates on both 30-year and 15-year-fixed-rate mortgages set record lows for the third week in a row.

The 30-year fixed mortgage, the most popular mortgage product, dipped by 0.04 percentage points to 3.79%, according to a weekly survey by Freddie Mac. Last year, 30-year loans averaged 4.64%. The new low can save borrowers $50 a month for every $100,000 borrowed. Over a 30-year term, that comes to $21,874.

To read more, click on the link below:

Another sign that the U.S. housing crisis is starting to ease, the delinquency rate for mortgages on residential properties of four units or less declined 18 basis points from the fourth quarter to 7.4% in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its national delinquency survey.

That rate is down 92 basis points from year-ago levels.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/KT6wRw

As reported on CBC.ca, the ReMax real-estate sales organization says demand for high-priced housing was strong in most Canadian markets in the first months of this year, with records set in 10 of the 16 markets it tracks.

Vancouver was one of the six markets where the luxury market has cooled off after an especially hot period last year but demand in Toronto remained high.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Kiaf7i

As reported on CBC.ca, U.S. builders started work on more homes and apartments last month and requested more permits to build single-family homes. The increases suggest the battered housing market is healing.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground in April at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 717,000 homes. That's a 2.6 per cent increase from an upwardly revised March figure and near January's three-year high of 720,000. Construction rose for both single-family homes and apartments.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/KT4G3e

By Nancy DeVries, Urban Aesthetics - www.urbanaesthetics.ca

I enjoy a rewarding DIY project. Part of what makes a DIY project successful is having the right tools for your particular project on hand and ready for action in your own home toolbox. I've always been a little proud of my toolbox which contains an assortment of tools that I have purchased, but more notably, tools given to me by my dad over the years.

So when my parents came for a visit this spring, it was time to bring out the toolbox because I had a shade installation project waiting for my dad to help me with.

To read more of Nancy's blog, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Kbor40

Tara-Nicholle Nelson's blog on BusinessInsider.com discusses "verbal staging" for home sellers and is a great read for any person trying to sell their home.

To read the blog, click on the link below:

http://read.bi/MnOTvs

As reported on ctv.ca, one year after a wildfire devastated the Alberta town of Slave Lake, the community is abuzz with the sounds of construction as a new optimism takes hold.

The vicious fire swept through the town almost without warning, destroying roughly 400 homes and businesses and leaving thousands of residents homeless.

Miraculously, all residents survived. But the inferno claimed the life of helicopter pilot Jean-Luc Deba, of Montreal, whose firefighting chopper crashed while scooping up water.

And while some decided to move on after the blaze, many decided to stay.

More than 200 new-home building permits have been issued in the past year in Slave Lake and the town is busy with the hum of work.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Mkc1eq

Canada's housing market continues to look balanced, but location matters greatly - and fundamentals appear to be driving most local market performance, according to BMO Economics' analysis of today's Canadian home sales numbers for April.

"On a national level, there does not appear to be a housing bubble," said Robert Kavcic, Economist, BMO Capital Markets. "At the regional level, though, things get far more interesting."

"If oil prices remain high enough to continue supporting strong economic growth and migration flows, Calgary could again become Canada's real estate hot spot," concluded Mr. Kavcic.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://on.mktw.net/JGj0Mb

As reported on popularmechanics.com, keep in mind that a dirty floor is a damaged floor. Dirt and grit under the foot of an appliance can increase the friction enough to rip vinyl pretty easily. So the first step in ­rearranging appliances is to damp-mop the floor. When it's dry, lay down a piece of -inch hardboard (often referred to as Masonite), shiny side up. Lift or lever the appliance and lower it onto the hardboard, then gently coax the appliance forward.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Mk9lNL

According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged up by less than one per cent in April 2012.

Highlights:

• Home sales up 0.8% from March to April
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 11.5% above levels in April 2011
• The size of the year-over-year increase reflects a slowdown in sales last April following changes to mortgage rules which came into effect on March 18, 2011
• The number of newly listed homes edged back 0.2% from March to April
• While still well balanced, the combination of stable new listings and slightly higher sales activity resulted in a tighter national housing market
• The national average home price edged up 0.9% on a year-over-year basis in April

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/KjCmok

Nearly nine in 10 Canadian homeowners (87%) indicate that "being debt-free" is very important to their definition of a successful retirement according to a recent debt and retirement survey conducted by Manulife Bank of Canada. This is second only to "having good health" (94%) and slightly higher than "having sufficient income to maintain my current lifestyle" (85%).

This is the first time that Manulife Bank has focused on surveying Canadians about debt in the context of retirement planning.  The survey found that half of Canadians - more women (54%) than men (46%) - would find it extremely stressful to reach retirement age with debt still outstanding.

To read the rest of this press release, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/J8MO5Y

As reported on CanadianBusiness.com, for months, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said he expects CMHC to remain within its $600-billion limit for insurance outstanding. Since it's already nearing that cap, this greatly constrains underwriting activities. In April, Flaherty placed CMHC under the supervision of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Then came a bombshell: he hinted CMHC might one day be forced to exit underwriting altogether.

Just what provoked Flaherty is unclear. Some believe he's looking for ways to raise borrowing costs to calm housing markets. Others suspect he's gained a belated appreciation of the risk CMHC's activities present to taxpayers. Regardless, the minister may find getting out of mortgage insurance hard to do.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/JdXwsS

Today, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) presented Habitat for Humanity Edmonton with the CMHC Award for Outstanding Contribution to Habitat for Humanity Aboriginal Housing.

The award was presented at Habitat for Humanity Canada's National Conference Awards Gala.  Habitat affiliates from across Canada are in Regina this weekend for their annual general meeting and national conference.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/KatOy7

As the weather becomes warmer and the grass becomes greener, many of us will spend more time working in our yards and gardens. For me, this is the time of the year to get more fresh air and partake in more outdoor activities.

However, it is important to be physically prepared for yard and garden work and use proper movement mechanics to avoid soreness and injury. Getting in good physical shape is the first step, and I recommend a program consisting of strength training and flexibility exercises.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/KlNmnK

Living in a mobile or manufactured home does not have to limit your decorating possibilities. You don't have to put limitations on your decorating scheme because it's not "mobile home appropriate". The only person who can choose what is or isn't appropriate is the person living in the home. Your home can be as beautiful and stylish as a mansion.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/IZIpSH