At Home With Valerie

If you are planning a holiday this year, you just might want to consider Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta . Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region , which is surrounded by Alberta's central region . The city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the " Calgary–Edmonton Corridor ".   The city had a population of 932,546 in 2016, making it Alberta's second-largest city and Canada's fifth-largest municipality. Also in 2016, Edmonton had a metropolitan population of 1,321,426, making it the sixth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada. Edmonton is North America's northernmost metropolitan area with a population over one million. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian .   Edmonton's historic growth has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalitie...

SOME HIGHLIGHTS: • With interest rates still around 4.5%, now is a great time to look back at where rates have been over the last 40 years. • Rates are projected to climb to 5.0% by this time next year according to Freddie Mac. • The impact your interest rate makes on your monthly mortgage cost is significant! • Lock in a low rate now while you can!

If you want proof of how carefully you need to weigh the alternatives before making upgrades to your home, you have only to look at the Florida couple who last year painted their house as an homage to the artist Vincent Van Gogh’s famous canvas, “The Starry Night.” It wasn’t just that it was an odd choice for an exterior – it was that the city of Mount Dora took them to court over it. “Graffiti,” the city calls it. “First Amendment!” counters homeowner Lubek Jastrzebski, an immigrant from Communist-era Poland, who argues that the city code didn’t address house colors or aesthetics. Yes, that’s an extreme example of unintended consequences. Though the homeowners would wind up off the hook legally, anyone now contemplating shelling out significant money on home improvements should read on for tips on avoiding costly missteps. • Don’t paint your house brown either. Since most people have it in the back of their minds that they’ll eventually want to attrac...