Want to sell your house fast? Then add a little sizzle to your curb appeal, so potential buyers can see from the road how pretty your house is before they book a showing.

Sizzle is as simple as adding one or more fantastic flowerpots. Even an empty pot screams, "Hello, I have potential!"

The vibrancy of Calgary's downtown office market is a good indicator of the health of the city's economy, and since the oil price collapse that started in the latter half of 2014, they've both been struggling.

Want to sell your house fast? Then add a little sizzle to your curb appeal, so potential buyers can see from the road how pretty your house is before they book a showing.

One of the most interesting trends these days in the homebuilding industry is the growing popularity of net-zero homes.

What do you do if you only have one sunny bed to grow tomatoes and you use that same bed every year?

It may seem too early to chat about tomatoes, but like other gardeners, you might already be thinking about buying seed and questions are bound to follow.

In real estate, the one buzzword I hear all the time is "amenities."

Whether it's a new high-rise condo development in the inner city or a new community in the distant suburbs, the salespeople for the project will inevitably talk about amenities and their proximity to new homes.

Lighter snow than normal in December has gardeners in Calgary wondering about watering their trees and perennial beds this month.

I remember wearing shorts on the deck in December in the '90s, so this is not the first time we've had warm weather at this time of year. But dry winters are rare, so let's review the rulebook for gardeners about winter watering. The short answer is, don't do it.

When the Alberta economy was firing on all cylinders, Albertans were known throughout the country as the one demographic that was sustaining the recreational residential property market in Canada.

Dear Santa,

It's been an interesting year in Calgary real estate.

On the residential side, sales activity is struggling, as the city continues to recover from recession years in 2015 and 2016. In the downtown core, there's still an office vacancy rate of about 25 per cent.

I'm thinking of those dynamics as I ponder my Christmas wish list. Of course, I would like a nice bottle of scotch, concert tickets, more paid writing gigs or perhaps a trip somewhere. But as a journalist who tends to focus much of my writing on the world of real estate, I have some special requests.

My favourite Netflix show has a plot of murder and suspense. Unlike a dead tree in your yard, where the cause of death might not be determined for years, there is always resolution at the end of every season of Shetland.