You Know You’re in St. Albert When...

You know you’re in St. Albert when a conversation about traffic lights somehow turns into property taxes, snow removal, a restaurant recommendation, what used to be in that building twenty years ago, and why somebody would never live in that neighbourhood.

Give it another ten minutes and Costco will probably come up.

I hear versions of these conversations all the time.

At open houses. Showing properties. Sitting around after our Tuesday team meetings. Dropping the kids off at school or their activities. At community events. Grabbing something to eat.

And I’ll admit, put me anywhere near the Italian Bakery and there’s a pretty good chance I’m leaving with a chocolate croissant.

Between my kids’ activities, helping MC an event for the 533 Air Cadets, helping their parent support club with fundraising, attending local charity events, showing homes and hosting open houses, I spend a lot of time talking to people around St. Albert.

And I’ve learned something.

People here have opinions.

Strong ones.

And I actually love that about St. Albert.

What Do St. Albert Locals Actually Talk About?

The traffic lights aren’t synchronized properly.

Property taxes are too high.

The snow clearing is either terrible or fantastic, depending on who you’re talking to.

We need more development.

Just not that development.

We need more restaurants.

But not another chain.

Downtown needs more going on.

Until something is going on and there’s nowhere to park.

Everyone wants Costco nearby.

We’d just prefer if the rest of you stopped going when we’re there.

And traffic?

Apparently everyone else in St. Albert is either driving too slowly or too fast.

I’m beginning to suspect there may only be six people driving the correct speed, and somehow I’ve met all six.

People can also have remarkably detailed opinions about things most people wouldn’t think twice about.

Which way you should get out of a neighbourhood.

Whether the older houses were built better.

Which restaurant is actually worth the money.

Which neighbourhood has more prestige.

Whether the latest development is improving St. Albert or slowly ruining what made St. Albert good in the first place.

And everybody seems to remember what used to be where something else is now.

But underneath all the complaining and comparing, I think there’s something else going on.

People care about this place.

You don’t spend twenty minutes arguing about what St. Albert should become unless you already have a pretty strong idea of what St. Albert means to you.

Maybe complaining is sometimes just another form of ownership.

St. Albert Seems to Run on “Who Do You Know?”

I’ve noticed something else.

A surprising number of conversations eventually become:

“Who do you know?”

Who do you use for this?

Who fixed that?

Who would you call?

Is that company any good?

Have you dealt with them?

Where should we eat?

Who’s a good contractor?

And, of course:

Who’s a good Realtor?

I think that tells you something about St. Albert.

People aren’t necessarily looking for another name from Google.

They’re looking for somebody another person is willing to put their own name behind.

Reputation travels.

So does a bad experience.

That matters in real estate because choosing a Realtor isn’t only about who knows the latest sale price. It’s also about whether you trust the person sitting across the kitchen table when something doesn’t go according to plan.

I actually wrote about that separately in 12 questions I think you should ask before choosing a Realtor.

Because you should ask questions.

Including uncomfortable ones.

Why Does This Matter When Buying a Home in St. Albert?

Because nobody walks into a house as a blank slate.

I notice this constantly when showing homes.

People rarely talk only about the property we’re standing in.

They’ll tell me about the house down the street.

What somebody paid for another one.

The neighbourhood they used to live in.

Something their friend bought.

A problem they had in their last house.

The neighbourhood they’ve always wanted to live in.

I’ve heard people explain why one area has more prestige than another. I’ve heard people say they’ve always wanted a home in Kingswood.

And sometimes I can see the reaction before they say anything.

Someone crosses their arms.

They stop talking.

They look back at something.

Their expression changes.

I’ll usually ask:

“What were you thinking just then?”

I don’t want to guess.

The more I understand what you’re thinking, the better I can help you.

And quite often the answer begins with a story.

“We had one of those before…”

“Our last basement had…”

“My parents lived…”

“We had a neighbour…”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Because sometimes people aren’t reacting only to the house in front of them.

They’re reacting to what happened before.

What Should You Actually Look for in a St. Albert Realtor?

Local real estate knowledge matters. A lot.

I’m fortunate to work alongside Matthew Barry, whose memory for St. Albert real estate sometimes borders on ridiculous.

He can remember walking through a property years ago, what was wrong with it, what it sold for and probably what kind of countertops it had.

I bring something different to the table.

I read people.

That’s something I’ve done throughout my career, whether I’m sitting at someone’s kitchen table, walking through a property with a buyer or negotiating with the Realtor on the other side.

I listen to what people say.

But I also pay attention to what happens around what they’re saying.

What changed?

What made them hesitate?

What do they keep coming back to?

Is the objection really about price?

Is somebody genuinely prepared to walk away?

Is the other side moving?

Are they getting irritated, or are they simply negotiating?

Does somebody need another $5,000?

Or do they need to feel like they won something?

That’s one reason I like having two sets of eyes on a transaction.

One person may notice something about the property. Another may notice something about the people.

Both can change the deal.

I Don’t Think My Job Is to Convince You to Buy a House

Sometimes the best advice I can give a buyer is not to buy it.

Sometimes the best advice I can give a seller is that the price they want simply isn’t supported by the market.

And sometimes my job is to tell a buyer that I think they’re about to negotiate themselves out of a property they actually want.

You don’t have to take my advice.

It’s your house.

Your money.

Your decision.

But you should know what I really think.

I’d rather have that conversation than tell somebody what they want to hear just to get a deal together.

What Does a Good Realtor Actually Do During a Negotiation?

I don’t believe good negotiation means making the lowest offer possible and hoping somebody caves.

Sometimes that’s exactly how you lose the property.

There are times I’ll tell a client:

“I don’t think they’ll go for that.”

Other times:

“Let’s try this. Then let’s wait. I want to see what comes back.”

Because I’m reading the other Realtor too.

What are they volunteering?

What aren’t they saying?

How quickly did they respond?

Did the tone change?

How much did their seller move?

Where did they refuse to move?

What happened after our last move?

Every response gives us another piece of information.

I’m not reading minds.

I’m reading behaviour.

And after enough years of negotiating real estate, business and contracts, you start recognizing patterns.

Sometimes I’m wrong.

But I’d rather explain what I’m seeing, tell my clients what I think is likely happening and let them make an informed decision than simply transmit offers back and forth.

What Does “Going Above and Beyond” Actually Mean for a Realtor?

That phrase gets thrown around a lot.

I’m not even sure I consider some of the things I do “above and beyond.”

Sometimes there’s simply a problem sitting in front of you and somebody is relying on you.

So you deal with it.

Recently, I was sitting in our Tuesday team meeting when I realized one of my sellers had misunderstood how much time he had left to get his belongings out before possession.

So I left.

I drove over and started loading the remaining stuff into my CR-V.

If you’ve spent much time around St. Albert, you may have seen the CR-V.

It’s difficult to miss.

My face is plastered across the side of it.

Apparently whoever approved the picture also concluded that I don’t have wrinkles.

I’m not correcting them.

People constantly tell me:

“I saw you at…”

“I saw your vehicle parked at…”

Yes.

That was probably me.

So if you ever see a CR-V driving around St. Albert with a suspiciously younger version of me on the door, now you know.

And on that particular day, it was being used as a moving truck.

Was loading boxes part of my listing agreement?

No.

Did the boxes need to be moved? Yes.

That’s usually how I look at these things.

Yes, this is the CR-V. And yes, the photo has fewer wrinkles.

Sometimes Going the Extra Mile Means Asking One More Question

My brain also doesn’t shut off just because something technically isn’t my responsibility.

I was helping buyers with a property where they had already brought in their own contractor/builder to look things over.

Something structural still bothered me.

I could have said:

“Your contractor looked at it.”

And moved on.

Instead, I hired an engineer at my own expense.

We discovered that a wall near the main-floor entrance had been removed.

Now we had something concrete to work with.

Ultimately, my clients received another $5,000 off the purchase price.

Could I have left it alone?

Sure.

But something bothered me.

That’s usually enough for me to ask another question.

It’s also probably why clients start asking me things that aren’t necessarily traditional Realtor questions.

Can I extend the driveway?

Do I need a permit?

Where do I get an RPR?

Who should I talk to about insurance?

Can this wall come out?

Who can inspect this?

Who do you know?

I don’t pretend to be an engineer, lawyer, municipal planner, inspector or insurance broker.

I don’t always have the answer. But I’m usually pretty good at figuring out who does.

Sometimes “Home” Is Outside St. Albert

Then there’s another conversation I’ve been having quite a bit lately.

“We want some space.”

Sometimes that means a bigger yard.

Sometimes it means:

“I don't want a bigger house. I want fewer neighbours.”

I particularly enjoy helping people make that transition.

I've spent quite a bit of time this year helping St. Albert-area clients look at acreages in Sturgeon County and Lac Ste. Anne County.

In St. Albert:

“How old is the furnace?”

Out on an acreage:

“When was the last time they shocked the well?”

Suddenly we're talking about water quality, septic systems, pumps, foundations, access, outbuildings and equipment.

On a recent purchase, I wanted an inspector who actually understood rural properties and was familiar with the area. I found the right guy nearby, and my clients were genuinely happy we did.

That's the job again.

Not knowing absolutely everything.

Knowing when something deserves another question and finding the right person to answer it.

If moving outside the city has crossed your mind, I've put together more about buying acreages and rural property around Edmonton, Sturgeon County and Lac Ste. Anne County.

And sometimes the move goes the other direction.

After years of maintaining land, wells, septic systems, tractors, snow and everything else that comes with rural living, somebody decides:

I've had enough.

They want restaurants nearby again.

They want the trails.

They want the convenience.

They want their people.

They want St. Albert.

You're not just changing houses.

You're changing how you live.

“I’m Originally a St. Albert Gal”

That brings me back to something a woman told me at one of my open houses.

She was considering moving back to St. Albert.

She didn’t give me an analysis of property values.

She didn’t start talking about resale.

She smiled and said:

“I’m originally a St. Albert gal.”

That was enough.

Because I’ve heard another version of that sentence from people looking at acreages:

“I grew up on a farm.”

One person is coming back to St. Albert.

Another wants to get back onto some land.

Completely different properties.

But psychologically, maybe they’re not that different.

They’re both going back to something they know.

Maybe We Don’t Choose Homes as Rationally as We Think

Real estate gets reduced to numbers.

Price.

Square footage.

Bedrooms.

Bathrooms.

Lot size.

Days on market.

Comparable sales.

I need to know those things.

But they're not the entire decision.

There’s also memory.

Routine.

Pride.

A bad experience.

A good experience.

The neighbourhood you always wanted.

The kind of place you grew up in.

The trail you actually use.

The restaurant your family always goes to.

The school your kids attend.

The people you trust.

And apparently how quickly you can get to Costco.

That's why I listen.

Because sometimes somebody tells me one little story that explains more about what they're looking for than the entire list of features they gave me.

The property is only part of the deal.

There are people on both sides of it.

Understanding the St. Albert real estate market matters.

Understanding the property matters.

Understanding negotiation matters.

But understanding people matters too.

And that's probably the part of this business I enjoy most.

Because sometimes where you're moving next has less to do with finding somewhere new...

and more to do with finding somewhere that already feels like home.

And if home happens to be five minutes from Costco and a decent chocolate croissant...

apparently that doesn't hurt either.