Qualico Communities Blog

Searching for a New Home in Edmonton? Check Out These Resources

Written by Kirsten Warwick | March 8, 2016

Buying a home can feel overwhelming. Which neighbourhood will best fit your needs and lifestyle? How do you estimate your monthly mortgage payments? Which amenities are most important to you? Narrowing down your options can be the hardest part of beginning your new home search. These resources can help point you in the right direction.

Edmonton Home Buying Guides

Pacesetter Homes offers a few helpful guides to help you in your home search. 

Five Critical Questions: This planning guide offers tips for getting financially prepared to buy a new home and advice to help you choose a home that will be a good fit for you and your family.

Monthly Budget Worksheet: Balancing all of the costs associated with homeownership can seem overwhelming at times. Thankfully, this guide makes budgeting for your new home easy and accountable.

Essential Moving Checklist: This checklist will help you get ready for the big move once you’ve decided on the perfect home. 

Calculators 

Connect Homes offers two calculators to help you estimate the cost of buying a new home. Their mortgage calculator shows you how much you will pay per month based on your interest rate, loan amount, and loan period. 

The GST rebate calculator shows you how much you can get back on the purchase of a home. New home buyers can apply for a rebate of the 5% GST if the home price is $350,000 or less, or a proportional GST rebate for homes priced between $350,000 and $450,000. 

City of Edmonton Activities & Recreation

If nearby recreation options are important to you, a visit to the City of Edmonton's website may help in your home search. Here, you can view all recreation centre and pool locations in the city to help narrow down your search for the perfect neighbourhood. 

Edmonton Schools

Choosing the best schools for your children is important, and so is their proximity to home. It is a good idea to do your research on the available schools in each Edmonton community before you make your decision. Start your search at the Edmonton Public and Edmonton Catholic School Board websites AND to view a map of schools in the district. You can also use data from the Fraser Institute to see school rankings.  

Community Overviews

If you aren't yet familiar with the many communities in Edmonton, visit our overview of neighbourhoods  to learn more about the activities, features, and lifestyle options offered by Edmonton’s most popular areas to live in. 

Which Amenities Are Important to You?

As you explore the different areas of Edmonton, ask yourself which amenities are most important to you. Consider neighbourhood amenities before home features, as you can't move a home, but you can change it later.  Master-planned communities are more popular than ever in Edmonton, so you will have no trouble finding a community with plenty of features. There are many factors that’ll determine which neighbourhood you choose, including the distance from your job, schools in the area, proximity to shopping, and more.  

To help you find the perfect place to live, you need to answer some key questions.

Starting Your Home Search

You have many options available to you when it comes time to find homes for sale in Edmonton. Most buyers begin their search online by viewing home listings and looking at home builder websites. You may also expand your search to print publications in the Edmonton area or rely on referrals. Once you have narrowed down your options to your favourite neighbourhoods, try driving through during the afternoon to get a feel for the area and look for show homes and signage.   

Choosing the right home can seem like a huge task, but breaking it down into more manageable bits of research can make the process much easier.