Hi there
We're coming over to Calgary & Edmonton shortly for our first recce and a couple of interviews. We're doing a lot of research on the internet wrt housing etc- the MLS website etc.
Im not exactly sure what salary levels I should be expecting, but Im guessing around $75-80k.
We'll be bringing approx $40-50k in funds also.

What I want to know is, that on the above salary, and with a decent deposit etc, what sort of price range should we be looking at.
Although I'd be working downtown in either Calgary or Edmonton, I dont mind a reasonable commute- say 20miles or so.
I've got a young family, so ideally we'd want a decent community, and we'd really rather prefer a new build house than an older one.

I know the above is really vague, but any advice would be really appreciated!

Thanks

Sorry but 10% is not a decent deposit over here. If the money you are bringing is required to purchase car, odds and ends for the house, white goods etc you will have approx $20,000 left and that is without a contigency fund for the first 2-3 months living expenses, whilst you obtain work. Most houses in those two cities are likely to cost you in excess of $350,000 which means you will struggle to obtain a mortgage at a decent rate due to the deposit you will have to put down.

The salary you mention is likely to enable you to afford a mortgage of $250,000 providing you have no other debt and depending upon your expectations in regards to living expenses. Even with the full amount of your funds, that will leave you looking at a purchase price of $320,000 at a stretch

Insofar as a new build is concerned, you will be looking at a condo with that budget. A single family house (new build) is likely to be way outside of your budget.


HTH

What he said.

Unfortunately Alberta house prices have exploded in the last few years with the oil boom. Back in the early 2000s, my girlfriend's parents' house in Edmonton would have sold for $120-150,000, now their neighbour has a very similar house up for sale at around $450,000!

Which actually is still a pretty good deal compared to British house prices (not many places where you'd get a detached three-bed house with double garage for 225,000 pounds, though it would probably need less regular maintenance than a Canadian house), but not so good when you're on Canadian wages.

On the plus side, friends in Edmonton have said that prices seem to be stable or dropping right now, so maybe in a couple of years you'll be able to find something decent for an affordable price.

Edit: yeah, and deposit-wise you really need 30+% to get the best deals.

Hi dont be to put off, we come over in July with same funds and same wage, you will find you could get a mortgage for around 310k with 50k down, and now debts . plus you can use you credit rating from the UK if its good to very good ! this is about the only time you can use it over here !!! but if you need cars etc get a cheap on to start, but dont get excited, the Canadians dont do cheap cars there have old bangers for around 3k upwards normally with 200 000 km on the clock. but it will get you up and running.
My advise is dont put every thing into the deposit like we did to borrow less as you will be hardup before each pay period. if you are working down town then it may not be important to get a car as there is a C-train if your in Calgary !

and you dont need a 25% deposit to Buy, we got misled on here, you pay an insurance of about $6000 which is added into you mortgage

best of luck Lee

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't like to be without a car if I had a young family, as the original poster has.

We got caught out with the house price rises as well. We did what people do in the UK, I decided to commute further.
My round trip is 200kms per day.It sounds a lot but apart for the 20kms in Edmonton, the rest is on autopilot, its honestly really easy and doesn't take much more than 1 hour. This allowed us to get a nice detached 3 bedroom etc for about 100000 less than the city.
Good Luck

cheers for all the feedback. im more than happy for a reasonable commute, so an hours drive isnt really a problem.

Hold on to that idea and look at Mapquest/google maps. I live in Westlock, north of Edmonton. I work on the south side of Edmonton. That should give you an idea of what communities are within that 1 hour radius of Edmonton. Don't know too much about the roads into Calgary except from the north but you get the picture. Use this link to check out prices in those areas.
http://www.mls.ca/
Don't know about southern Alberta but north of Edmonton the market has fallen back a little and is generally flat over the winter. The advertised price is negotiable (I shaved $20000 off the asking price)

I have just been involved in some real estate deals this week where we have been looking at some areas in SW Calgary, close to C train. They have been 3 bedroom town houses some with garage some without and some with developed basements. All between $294,000 and $310,000.

These are great little homes and with the money you have and a good credit rating you should be able to get a mortgage as the stated above.