Welcome to "The MLS® Portal"

Reverse The Home Hunting Process - Make Properties Find You - End Online Search Frustration!

Welcome to The MLS® Portal, your single access point for MLS® listing information, brought to you by Jerry Charlton

When you arrive at The MLS® Portal, you may find it convenient to save its website address as a favourite or bookmark in your web browser. This will enable you to easily visit The MLS® Portal at any time.

Listing Information is Provided By Jerry Charlton. 

Jerry Charlton may email listing information to you in two ways: manually or automatically. Both types of emails contain a hyperlink which you can click to visit The MLS® Portal and view the listing information Jerry has prepared for you.

• Manual ("Direct") Emails: Jerry Charlton may personally compile and send MLS® listing information for you. These emails contain a link to The MLS® Portal where these listings are available for you to view. This collection of listings will remain available for you to view on The MLS® Portal for 60 days.

• Auto Emails: Jerry Charlton may also arrange for you to receive auto emails. These are also personally set up and controlled by Jerry Charlton but dispatched by the MLS® system itself, based on your criteria. Auto emails also contain a link to The MLS® Portal where matching listings are available for you to view. Auto emails will continue to be sent to you until you ask Jerry to stop them or you unsubscribe from the service yourself.

On the Start tab, you'll see links to any Direct Emails and/or Auto Emails Jerry has prepared for you. Click on one of those links to view the associated listings.

For additional MLS® Portal Tutorials and Guides visit the link below:

Customer Portal Video Overview

Customer Portal Quick Start Guide

How Much Mortgage Will A Home Rental Payment Carry?

If you cannot pay for a home in full, you are renting. Either you are renting someone else's home or you are renting the money to be able to call it your own home. The big difference is in who gets the equity from your monthly payments. You can rent money via a mortgage and keep the equity or you can add to the landlord's equity every month. Much better to pay yourself by renting the money to buy a home.  

What can you afford? Well, you are probably paying rent plus utilities plus insurance and maybe minor repairs. So chances are good you can afford a mortgage payment based on your rent payments.

This first calculation should be How Much Mortgage would your current home rent payment carry. It's easy to figure out yourself with an excel spreadsheet. Or you could just ask me. Jerry@JerryCharlton.com

But here are the instructions to do it yourself.

You need the formula for a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet based on Canadian Mortgages.

This present value formula is for Canadian Mortgages with Interest Calculated Semi-Annually.

Replace Mortgage Rates with your rate or a cell reference. Same for Amortization and Payment You Can Afford.

=-((PV((1+Mortgage Interest Rate/2)^(1/6)-1,Amortization in Years*12,Monthly Payment You Could Afford)))

The next step is to divide the mortgage amount by the amount you need to finance.

Example 223,231.11 / 95% - 223,231.11 = the 5% Down You Need $11,749.01

Down Payment Plus Mortgage equals $234,980

Here's a quick reference table for you to see the possibilities. Of course, you still would need to qualify for a mortgage, but at least you would know what monthly payment range would be comfortable for you.

We have highly qualified Calgary Mortgage Agents standing by to help you.
Get started today and make yourself rich... not your landlord.

We will also help you become The Landlord as your Trusted Real Estate Investment Advisors!

What Is A Calgary Residential Real Property Report?

A Real Property Report for Calgary Residential Real Estate is a legal document that shows the property boundaries and anything on the property like homes, decks, garages, pools, sheds, etc.

It includes a visual scale drawing and remarks from the survey company;

Who needs a Real Property Report?

Homebuyers need to know what they are buying. Is the fence or garage on your property or your neighbours? Sellers are required by the Offer to Purchase contract to supply the buyers with a copy of the RPR;

How does a Real Property Report protect you?

A Real Property Report only protects you if you look at it and understand what you are buying along with the house. There could be problems on the RPR you do not want anything to do with. There could be a Utility Right of way from the gas company that prevents you from ever building a garage.

How does municipal compliance protect you?

There are a lot of garages that extend onto the City of Calgary’s property in back lanes. The City will charge you a fee for an encroachment agreement or tell you to move it. You need a Stamp of Compliance from the City to know what you are getting with the house purchase.

How long is a Real Property Report valid?

If there are no changes to the footprint or no bylaw changes, the RPR is good. When the City passed a new bylaw requiring window wells to be on the RPR, it created a huge headache for homeowners that had to get updated RPR’s before selling.

How can I get a Real Property Report updated?

There is not much difference in price between updates and new Real Property Reports in Calgary for some reason.

What is shown on your Real Property Report?

Legal address, lot dimensions, joining properties, easements, encroachments, utility right of ways, permit stamps, surveyor comments, etc.

How much does a Real Property Report cost?

You should be able to spend less than $1,000 on a Real Property Report. It is good to get a few quotes as there is a lot of companies competing for business.

The benefits of a Real Property Report

Problems can sometimes be resolved. Buyers know accurate locations and dimensions of buildings, improvements, rights-of-way, and encroachments relative to their property's boundaries. Financing sometimes requires verified survey information. Development and building permits will require a Real Property Report.

Where do you get more information regarding Real Property Reports for Calgary, Alberta?

Calgarians can start with the Alberta Land Surveyor’s Association. The ALSA website answers the above questions in greater detail. They also have the member companies listed for you to call and get some quotes.

You can also ask me or any other Realtor or a Real Estate Lawyer to refer to a good RPR company. We work with many and have a shortlist we can send you anytime.

Should You Buy or Rent A House in Calgary?

Buy or Rent is a question that gets asked and analyzed a lot in the Calgary Real Estate Market.

I am a Realtor so I’m obviously biased – Yes You Should Buy A Home – In Fact You Should Buy Many Homes – And You Should Move More Often – You should keep me employed and busy!

Landlords want you to stay as a renter and keep paying the mortgage for them. They want you to take care of the property like you own it. And do not cause any problems with neighbours. Pay the rent on time and hand the keys back to them when you're done with no claim on the property whatsoever.

Banks want you to be a homeowner and rent mortgage money from them. They want you to skip payments, defer payments, renew at posted mortgage rates, pay huge penalties for paying off your mortgage too quickly. They want to make a ton of money off you just like your landlord does.

The money side of the buy or rent analysis misses the huge peace of mind component that comes from being your own landlord. How much is it worth to not have to deal with landlord rules? Do this, do not do That….

If you want an easy answer to the Rent or Buy a Home in Calgary Question, just look at who owns the majority of houses in Calgary today. These people did the research, crunched the numbers, and took into account all the variables of home ownership.

These people can't all be wrong, can they? Most of them took out mortgages well over the low mortgage rates that you can get today. So, they are paying a higher rent on mortgage money than you can get, and they are not selling in a panic because of lower investment costs.

Back to the who owns more property in Calgary. Is it Landlords or Homeowners?

The answer is Homeowners live in over 70% of the homes in Calgary. And I know as a Realtor the 30% that are rentals are owned in a large part by the 70%. Many people own 2 or 3 homes. One to live in and the rest to invest in.

The City of Calgary House Data webpage offers up a lot of detailed home ownership information to help you in your buy or rent decision.

Call Me: Jerry Charlton at 403 831 0842 and I will help you help yourself!

What is this Poly B Water piping found in many Calgary Homes?

"Polybutylene is a form of plastic resin that was used extensively in the manufacture of water supply piping from 1978 until 1995. Due to the low cost of the material and ease of installation, polybutylene piping systems were viewed as "the pipe of the future" and were used as a substitute for traditional copper piping. It is most commonly found in the "Sun Belt" where residential construction was heavy through the 1980's and early-to-mid 90's, but it is also very common in the Mid Atlantic and Northwest Pacific states."

As a busy Real Estate Agent in Calgary, we see poly b piping quite often. Some people are very concerned and will not buy a home with poly b water pipes, while others have no concerns.

Here is a link to a Fact Sheet from the Government of Alberta concerning Poly B - Poly B Fact Sheet - AB Gov

No matter what type of water pipes are in the property you are buying, if it is a concern, do your own Due Diligence as a prudent buyer should do. Get the facts, weigh the facts, decide on the facts, and ignore those crying wolf who have no facts on Poly B water piping in Calgary Homes.

Start your Due Diligence with a google search for poly b as a start.

If you are staying awake at night thinking about poly b piping - A water leak detector like AuqaTrip might help you sleep a bit better. 

AquaTrip.ca