Kelley Skar (www.kelleyskar.com) : Blog

159 ROCKYWOOD Park, Calgary, Alberta

Kelley Skar — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:57:04 MST

I just finished uploading this House for sale, 159 ROCKYWOOD Park, Calgary, Alberta

One of Homes by Avi's most popular models - The Downing! Tucked away on a quiet street in the beautiful neighborhood of Rocky Ridge sits this large and fully developed home. This home has a huge BONUS ROOM, FORMAL DINING ROOM, FULLY FINISHED BASEMENT that adds an additional 2 EXTRA LARGE bedrooms and the Master bedroom has plenty of room to fit that King size bed and ALL of your bedroom furniture! This is the OPEN CONCEPT design at its finest. The deck is finished and includes the GAS BBQ! Look forward to the warm summer evenings in the WEST facing backyard. Everything is done with this wonderfully designed and well laid out FAMILY home! Don't wait for interest rates to go up! Good timing, right neighborhood, what are you waiting for?! Call me for your personal tour!

64 Citadel Close NW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:52:19 MST

I just finished uploading this Single Family Detached for sale, 64 Citadel Close NW, Calgary, AB

Welcome to this very solid Shane built family home! This home shows a lot bigger than it is at 1409sqft,with 3 godd sized bedrooms upstairs, especially the master that also has a 3pc Master Ensuite and walk in closet! The main floor has been freshly painted and the flooring has been replaced recently with an ultra durable Armstrong "Senegal Slate" Lino. Open concept at its finest, awesome living room with fireplace which includes a hearth and mantle for all your family photos. Picture yourself preparing dinner in the wide open kitchen and being able to watch your kids play in the HUMONGOUS backyard! It is fully landscaped with beautiful trees and perrenials. The deck is finished with Duradeck and wrought iron railing and ia a massive 12x26 for all of your upcoming summer bbqs! Basement is finished and includes a den/bedroom and a 2pc bath.Other features include STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES,MAIN FLOOR LAUNDRY,GARBURATOR,ROUNDED CORNERS! The time is right, call me today for your personal tour!

Copperfield Open House!

Kelley Skar — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:11:42 MST

We are proud to announce that this Saturday, March 6, 2010, 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 916 Copperfield Blvd SW in Copperfield, Calgary. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Single Family Detached for sale in beautiful Copperfield.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Copperfield Single Family Detached for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 403-457-3233 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Kelley Skar
Sutton Partners Realty Group

154 Panamount View NW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:33:14 MST

I just finished uploading this Single Family Detached for sale, 154 Panamount View NW, Calgary, AB

THE BEST VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!!** There is nothing left to do with this house, but move in! Everything has been done already, Basement Finished with 4th Bedroom and 4pc Bath, Deck is Built with aluminum railing and Duradeck finish. The front entry in this home will blow you away with the 17' ceilings! HARDWOOD floors THROUGHOUT the main floor, 9' ceilings on the main,Fully Air Conditioned on all 3 Levels, Open Floor plan, and the best part...CUSTOM BUILT IN CABINETS! There is a bonus room and flex room on the upper floor along with 3 large bedrooms, master with 4pc ensuite and a separate 4 pc bath, back on the main there is a corner fireplace with tile surround and Maple Mantle, large nook area for regular dinners with the family and a formal dining room for those parties with your friends! Great neighbors, close to shopping, schools and all kinds of entertainment!!Like I said, this house has it all! I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed. Call today for your personal tour!

307 736 57 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:53:31 MST

I just finished uploading this Apartment Low Rise for sale, 307 736 57 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB

What a FANTASTIC LOCATION!! You will not be disappointed by this 2 bedroom 2 bathroom fully upgraded apartment condo in trendy and popular Windsor Park. This home has executive living without the executive price! Crown mouldings, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, master ensuite with heated tile floors, huge walk in closet, south facing suite with CENTRAL A/C!! There are way too m any upgrades to mention here so you will have to take my word for it, this unit is SPECTACULAR!! The location is perfect as it is close to CHINOOK MALL, GLENMORE TRAIL, ELBOW DRIVE, DEERFOOT TRAIL, DOWNTOWN... This is the one, NOW is the time to get into the market! Call today for your personal tour!

237 Everridge Way SW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:49:51 MST

I just sold this Single Family Detached at 237 Everridge Way SW, Calgary, AB .

View this recently sold Single Family Detached or see all my home sales

219 345 Rocky Vista Park NW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:49:31 MST

I just sold this Apartment Low Rise at 219 345 Rocky Vista Park NW, Calgary, AB .

View this recently sold Apartment Low Rise or see all my home sales

Copperfield Open House!

Kelley Skar — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:46:03 MST

We are proud to announce that this Sunday, February 21, 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 916 Copperfield Blvd SW in Copperfield, Calgary. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Single Family Detached for sale in beautiful Copperfield.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Copperfield Single Family Detached for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 403-278-9208 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Kelley Skar
Sutton Canwest Vista

For Sale by Owners

Kelley Skar — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:16:23 MST

For Sale by Owners...God love em! I gotta say that because before I was a Realtor® I was one of them! Let me explain, I met my gorgeous wife in 2004 and shortly thereafter we were living together(well maybe 8 months or so later). We decided to build a place and move into something that was ours not just hers.

So in doing this we had to sell a house, this was 2006, we thought how hard could it be?! Houses were selling in 6 HOURS with NO conditions at this time so we thought lets put a sign on the front lawn, run some ads, and BOOM we were gonna sell our house! No PROBLEM, right?? WRONG?! We tried the for sale sign in the front lawn, then we went and listed with one of those FSBO websites, I won't mention who, but it starts with a We.

Anyway, that did not get us the exposure we were looking for either, it seemed we got a lot of what we call in the industry "tire kickers". Tire kickers are people with no serious interest or ability in buying property, what they love to do is waste time. This is what takes me to my quick little run in with a FSBO this past weekend. When I look for houses for my clients I look at the FSBO websites as well as on Realtor.ca. I feel like if the FSBO is willing to work with Realtors then why wouldn't I suggest the FSBO house to my client as well?

This is what happened last weekend, I found a property that I thought my client would like, called the owner of the house and made an appointment to view the townhouse at 10am on Saturday morning. We had a couple of other showings booked but I was on a pretty tight schedule, the owner of the house NEVER SHOWED UP! Why on Gods green earth are you trying to sell your house on your own if you cannot even show up for an appointment to show it??

This is why I hired a Realtor® back in 2006, I was sick of trying to sell it on my own, waiting for people that would never show up, fielding phone calls from tire kickers, people knocking on my door wondering "how much", holding open houses and having the neighbors look through our closets, all of the things that you as an owner never ever know about when you HIRE A REALTOR®!!

My point is this in case you might have missed it and it is two-fold, first if you are trying to sell on your own you will wind up paying commission at some point either taking it off the price when you sell private or you will pay it to ME when I bring you a buyer for your home. Second, if you continue to go the FSBO route and you have a Realtor® that has a buyer...SHOW UP for the damn appointment! I know this sounds angry, believe me it is definitely not anger, take this as a little bit of advice from a guy that has gone both routes in selling a home! Incidently, when we finally did list in August of 2006 we sold in 6 days for 8k under our asking price!

That is all I have to say about that! Don't forget to check out my tweets on Twitter and check out my Facebook fan page!

Calgary Open Houses

Kelley Skar — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:04:43 MST

Hey everyone! My blog today is about open houses and if they actually work. There is a book that my Dad gave me a while back that he bought over 20 years ago when he first got into real estate. Before the advent of the internet and the use of computers as a major tool for us Realtors. This book had some stats in it that still ring true today, of course it does not have internet stats, but one of the stats that stuck in my mind was that 3% of all sales were derived directly from open houses. Wow think about that for a minute, 3%, not a big number! So this stat begs the question do Open Houses really work??

I think that open houses work the old school way and what I mean by that it is that it gets FOOT traffic through the door of your clients home. Now maybe one of those people will like the house enough to actullay write an offer, this doesn't usually happen. Some might be out kicking tires and might see something that their friend or neighbor might like. With the Virtual Tours out there now that show all of the rooms of the house, there really is no need to live your home to look at the house.

I do them because I want to provide a service to my clients that a lot of Realtors® are going away from. I also provide the Virtual Tour and believe in them firmly, mainly because I want to put my best foot forward right out of the gate when it comes to Marketing my clients home. I also like to take the chance that the person in that 3% might come by one of my open houses and we write up the offer right there and then. At the end of the day, it is about giving your clients VALUE FOR THEIR MONEY, after all it is the client that is paying my bills at the end of the month!

I hope you enjoyed this little diddy! Don't forget to check out my Facebook fan page and become a fan! You can also follow my tweets on Twitter!

Copperfield Open House!

Kelley Skar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:13:37 MST

We are proud to announce that this Saturday, February 13, 2010, 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 916 Copperfield Blvd SW in Copperfield, Calgary. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Single Family Detached for sale in beautiful Copperfield.

Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Copperfield Single Family Detached for sale.

As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 403-278-9208 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.

Kelley Skar
Sutton Canwest Vista

237 Everridge Way SW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:03:51 MST

I just finished uploading this Single Family Detached for sale, 237 Everridge Way SW, Calgary, AB

What an awesome opportunity to own your very own home in Evergreen! This is a fantastic family home with 3 bedrooms up and the Master Bedroom comes equipped with a 4 pc Ensuite! This home has been freshly painted througout in modern tones. The Large living room is perfect for entertaining and relaxing with the whole family. The Kitchen is HUGE with island, breakfast bar, gas stove, TONS of cupboard and counter space, large Nook area for the big dining table! The deck is already built on this home and takes you out into the spacious backyard for the little ones to play in without worry. Plenty of room to build a garage and still have lots of yard left. With interest rates still at all time lows, what are you waiting for? It is time to take advantage of this terrific opportunity before rates go back up! Call today for your personal tour!

916 Copperfield Blvd SW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:05:07 MST

I just finished uploading this Single Family Detached for sale, 916 Copperfield Blvd SW, Calgary, AB

What a GORGEOUS Home!! You will be knocked off your feet as soon as you enter this beautiful Broadview built, wonderfully designed family home! The list of upgrades are as long as my arm but here are a few for you to check out, GRANITE COUNTERTOPS, ASH HARDWOOD FLOORS, 4PC MASTER ENSUITE w/JACUZZI TUB, ROUNDED CORNERS, KNOCK DOWN CEILING, OVERSIZED DOUBLE GARAGE, WALK THRU PANTRY, HUGE BONUS ROOM w/VAULTED CEILING AND CEILING FAN. There is Natural Gas hookup for your bbq and the deck has already been built for you to enjoy this summer! The Basement is unfinished and awaiting your design ideas! This is a well priced home in a FANTASTIC area! What are you waiting for? Call me TODAY for your PERSONAL TOUR!! Be sure to check out the Virtual Tour and the Additional Photos link!

Excitement is Building

Kelley Skar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:44:14 MST

So I gotta say that I love my career! I love real estate, I love the Calgary Real Estate Market and I love it that things are really starting to heat up here! This is a great time to be helping people sell and buy houses here, the affordability gap is starting to close up a little bit and as long as the federal government doesn't mess with CMHC lending requirements I think we are going to be ok. Some Realtors® are talking about a bubble forming, that will only happen if we have a shortage of supply and an abundance of buyers like we did in 2006/2007. Keep in mind we had over 35,000 new people that moved to Calgary in 2006 and a lot of those people needed homes. Our population is still climbing but not at the same rates. We are in a very balanced market with an average of about 120 single family and condos coming on the market everyday. In my opinion the market here is strong and will continue to be one of the stronger markets in the country. If I were a betting man and betting on bubbles forming there are two markets that I would be worried about and they are Toronto and Vancouver. Vancouver mostly because of the huge amount of hype surrounding the Olympics, lets just wait and see how bad the "Olympic Hangover" is.

Ok that is it for now, keeping it short and simple! Don't forget to check me out on Facebook, Twitter and of course the new website that is almost ready for launch www.kelleyskar.com

Calgary Forecast Conference

Kelley Skar — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:27:07 MST

Well the conference started off with a very optimistic forecast for the Calgary Real Estate Market . In a nutshell, CREB has forecast that Single Family homes will rise approximately 6% and Condos will rise about 4%. WOW, talk about optimism! I would like to think it will be a little more conservative, my estimation is that we will see a rise of 3-4% in the average sale price of Single Family Homes and about a 2% increase in the average sale price of Condominiums. I would like to see a more balanced rise in prices so that affordability does not become a factor for the first time buyer!

The first speaker of the day was Jeremy Gutsche of Trendhunter.com. This guys can get a room going and has the ability to inspire! I really enjoyed his talk about branding and paying more attention to cultural connections to understand the needs of our clients. One of the biggest messages I took away from his seminar was "If you portray yourself (product) as Average, that is all you (it) will ever be." I don't think I am an average person, at least my wife doesn't think I am! But seriously, I am going to pick up this guys book for sure called Exploiting Chaos.

Then it was off to the Ian Watt presentation on social media and use of Facebook and Twitter in your business as a Realtor®. All I can say is FANTASTIC! This guy knows how to capture his audience and keep them captivated with his knowledge and his own personal story of success!

All in all it was a great day! I am very pumped about using social media as part of my business plan. As a result I have decied to go with one of the best Real Estate websites in the biz, Ubertor! Check me out at www.kelleyskar.com.

219 345 Rocky Vista Park NW, Calgary, AB

Kelley Skar — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:54:22 MST

I just finished uploading this Apartment Low Rise for sale, 219 345 Rocky Vista Park NW, Calgary, AB

What more can you ask for when everything you need is right where you live?! This 2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom condo has been updated with NEW CARPET, UPGRADED UNDERLAY, NEW FAUX GRANITE COUNTERTOPS, NEW PAINT and NEW CLOSET ORGANIZERS in the Master Bedroom walk-in. The kitchen has a ton of cupboard and counter space for the cook in the family. Natural gas hookup for your BBQ out on your nice and private balcony which leads you to even more storage. There is underground heated parking and more extra storage for your bikes! The master bedroom has a 3 pc Ensuite as well as a well proportioned walk in closet! The Pavillions of Rocky Ridge is a fantastic complex with tons of amenities including a GYM, SALON, STEAMROOM, GAMES ROOM and even a MEAL ROOM! With all of the shopping and the proximity to Crowchild and the Ring Road, how can you go wrong? Call me today for your personal tour!

521 STRATHAVEN Mews, Strathmore, Alberta

Kelley Skar — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:03:59 MST

I just finished uploading this Other for sale, 521 STRATHAVEN Mews, Strathmore, Alberta

ATTENTION ALL FIRST TIME BUYERS!! You can get into the market at a rock bottom price! Fantastic 2 bedroom 1.5 bath townhome in the beautiful community of Strathmore. Master bedroom has cheater ensuite, main floor has maple cabinets in the kitchen, fireplace in the living room along with 9 foot ceilings, open floor plan and a roughed in basement awaiting your personal touch! What an awesome way to start your real estate investing future! Call me today for your personal tour.

125 TARACOVE Way, Calgary, Alberta

Kelley Skar — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:03:32 MST

I just finished uploading this Other for sale, 125 TARACOVE Way, Calgary, Alberta

The WOW factor and LOCATION are two important considerations when buying a home and this BEAUTIFUL bi level has both! You are only steps to the Elementary School and you will be blown away upon entering this home with the ceramic tile inlay that greats you in the front entrance. New carpet with upgraded underlay, NEW paint with neutral colors, NEW lighting package, NEW lino are a few of the extras that have gone into this excellent family home! The kitchen has been re finished with gorgeous glass tile backsplash, NEW island, NEW lino, NEW countertops and a NEW Samsung fridge. The bathroom was also refinished with NEW countertops, glass tile, NEW toilet and NEW subway tile around the tub! This is an open concept at its finest, with vaulted ceilings, large windows allowing tons of natural light, large 2 tiered deck off the back and the beautiful stone faced fireplace! I GUARANTEE, you will not be disappointed! Call me today to view this exceptionally well priced home!