Moving To Calgary Or Airdrie? We Came For The Summer.
Tara moved out here in 2003 thinking she’d be gone by September. She’s never left. If you’re weighing this move from another province or country, we’ve already made it. Already in Calgary and weighing up Airdrie? Tara made that exact move in 2005 and wrote the honest version, including who it does not suit.
Tara Molina Real Estate Group helps people moving to Calgary and Airdrie from another province or country find the right community and buy, often before they arrive. Led by Tara Molina, REALTOR® CCS®, brokered by Royal LePage Benchmark, serving Calgary, Airdrie and all surrounding communities.
What Is It Like To Move To Calgary Knowing Almost No One?
Winnipeg first. Then New York City. Then Winnipeg again. Then, in 2003, Calgary, for the summer, supposedly.
We can tell you what it’s like to arrive here knowing almost no one, and decide to stay.
A Summer That Never Ended.
Why she stayed, and why that matters to you.
Read more +
A Summer That Never Ended.
Why she stayed, and why that matters to you.
She stayed because of what she found here: room to work, room to live, and a place where building something actually seemed possible. Calgary first, then Airdrie in 2005, then eight communities across both.
So when you tell us you’re not sure about this yet, we know. We arrived with a return ticket too.
Should You Move To Calgary Or Airdrie?
What almost everyone moving here actually wants to know. Here’s our answer, from selling in both since 2017 and living in both.
Calgary
More than a million people and four quadrants that behave like different cities. Inner city walkability in the southwest, established family neighbourhoods in the northwest, newer everything in the southeast.
Choose Calgary if you want variety, a short commute to downtown, and established amenities that already exist rather than ones that are coming.
Our own Calgary record leans northwest and southwest. That’s where we’ve worked most, and we’ll say so rather than pretend otherwise.
Calgary Guide →
Airdrie
Roughly twenty minutes up the QEII to north Calgary, and genuinely a different life. More house for the money, newer community design, and a scale where people actually know each other.
Choose Airdrie if space and community matter more than proximity to downtown, and if you’re willing to drive for it.
We’ve sold more homes here than in Calgary. That isn’t because Airdrie is better. It’s because it’s where we started, and where Tara bought her first house in Airdrie.
Airdrie Guide →What Is Different About Buying A Home In Alberta?
A few things that genuinely surprise people arriving from BC, Ontario, Manitoba or Saskatchewan, and that change the math on what you can afford.
No Land Transfer Tax
Alberta doesn’t have one. There’s a land titles registration fee instead: a $50 base fee plus $5 for every $5,000 of property value, and the same again on your mortgage. On an $800,000 home with a $600,000 mortgage, that is roughly $1,500, rather than the many thousands you’d hand over in BC, Ontario or Manitoba. It’s the single biggest closing cost difference, and most people don’t know until we tell them.
No Provincial Sales Tax
Five percent GST and nothing on top. It won’t change where you buy, but it quietly changes what living here costs, every week, forever.
Chinooks Are Real
In the middle of January, the temperature can climb thirty degrees in a day and the snow simply goes. Nobody from outside Alberta believes this until it happens to them.
The Commute Is The Trade
Airdrie to north Calgary is roughly twenty minutes on the QEII on a clear run, longer to downtown at rush hour and longer again in winter. That drive is the entire Calgary versus Airdrie decision. Drive it once before you decide.
Can You Buy A Home In Calgary Before You Move?
Yes. Plenty of our clients buy before they ever land. That works fine, but only if the person walking the house is genuinely honest with you about it, because you cannot smell a basement over video.
How We Walk A Home For You.
Live, on camera, and honest about what is wrong with it.
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How We Walk A Home For You.
Live, on camera, and honest about what is wrong with it.
So we’ll walk it live, point the camera at the things you wouldn’t think to ask about, and tell you what’s wrong with it as readily as what’s right. If we wouldn’t buy it sight unseen, we’ll say that too.
Live Video Walkthroughs
Not a recorded tour. A real time walk where you ask questions and we open the cupboard you’re wondering about.
Honest Street Level Read
What the block is actually like, what’s being built next door, and what the listing photos are angled to avoid.
People We Trust Here
Brokers, inspectors and lawyers we’ve used ourselves. Our partners page has them.
The Whole Record
500+ homes since 2017 on one map. Zoom into the community you’re considering and see what we’ve done there.
Book A Relocation Call With Our Team.
Tell us where you’re coming from, when, and what matters most. On the phone or on a video call, we’ll tell you honestly which communities fit, and if the answer is “rent for six months first,” we’ll tell you that too.
- Which Calgary or Airdrie communities fit your life and budget
- Live video walkthroughs of any home you’re interested in
- Brokers, inspectors and lawyers we trust, so you start with a team
The Free Relocation Guide
Selling there and buying here, two agents and one plan, the Alberta file, and your first 90 days. A free PDF. No email, no sign up, just open it.
Open The Guide →Before You Fly In
Tell Us About Your Move.
Where you are coming from, roughly when, and what matters most: schools, the commute, a yard, a budget. We will set up a phone or video call before you book flights, so your first trip here is spent on the homes and communities that actually fit.
It comes straight to our team. No obligation, and if the honest answer is to rent first, we will say so.
Where Are You Moving To Calgary From?
Each guide covers what your money buys here, the taxes you stop paying, and how people from your province tend to buy.
Moving From Vancouver
What your money buys here, cost of living, taxes, and buying remotely from the Lower Mainland.
Read The Guide →Moving From Ontario
No land transfer tax, 5% GST instead of 13% HST, and where Toronto and Ottawa buyers tend to land.
Read The Guide →Moving From Manitoba
Tara grew up in Charleswood. No land transfer tax, no 7% RST, and what Winnipeg money buys here.
Read The Guide →Moving From Saskatchewan
Trevor is from Yorkton. Regina and Saskatoon prices side by side, no 6% PST, and still close enough to drive home.
Read The Guide →Community Guides →
Written from what we’ve actually sold, street by street, and in two of them, from living there.
Search Every Listing →
Everything on the MLS®, updated all day. No sign up wall, no obligation.
How We Work With Buyers →
What you get, what it costs you, and who writes your offer.
Choosing A Community →
Weighing commute, schools and resale before you commit to a postcode.
Get Pre Approved First →
What to gather, how to apply, and who we work with.
People We Trust →
Brokers, inspectors, lawyers. The ones we’d use ourselves, and have.
Questions People Moving To Calgary And Airdrie Ask
Can I buy before I move here?
Yes, and many do. You’ll want a mortgage broker who understands out of province income, a live video walkthrough rather than a recorded one, and someone willing to tell you not to buy something. All three are arrangeable.
Should I rent first?
If you genuinely don’t know the city, renting for six months in the area you think you want is rarely a mistake. It costs you some money and saves you from buying in the wrong quadrant, which costs considerably more. We’ll say so when we think it’s the right call, even though it means we wait.
How much cheaper is it really than Vancouver or Toronto?
Meaningfully, and the gap is wider than the sticker price suggests once you account for no land transfer tax and no provincial sales tax. But the honest version is that Calgary is no longer cheap, and 2015 prices are long gone. We’ll give you real numbers for the actual communities you’re considering. Read our Vancouver guide for the detailed version.
Is the winter as bad as people say?
It’s cold and it’s long, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. But it’s dry rather than damp, the sun is out constantly, and chinooks break it up in a way nowhere else in the country gets. Most people who move here from the coast complain for one winter and then stop.
What about schools?
Both cities have public and Catholic boards, and both have strong and weaker schools depending on where you land. Tara’s children went to school here, which is a different kind of knowledge from reading a ranking. Tell us their ages and what matters to you and we’ll be specific.
Do you only work in Airdrie?
No. We sell in Airdrie, Calgary, Cochrane, Chestermere, Carstairs and the surrounding area, and have since 2017. Both cities, every week.
Can you show me a home over a video call?
Yes. We do live video walkthroughs, not recorded tours: you ask questions in real time, we point the camera at the things you wouldn’t think to ask about, and we tell you what’s wrong with a home as readily as what’s right. Book a call and tell us what you’re looking for.
Does Alberta have a land transfer tax?
No. Alberta has no land transfer tax. You pay a land titles registration fee instead: a $50 base fee plus $5 for every $5,000 of property value, and the same again on your mortgage. On an $800,000 home with a $600,000 mortgage, that is roughly $1,500, rather than the many thousands you would pay in BC, Ontario or Manitoba. It is the single biggest closing cost difference for most people moving here.
How far is Airdrie from Calgary?
Airdrie to north Calgary is roughly twenty minutes on the QEII on a clear run, longer to downtown at rush hour and longer again in winter. That drive is the whole Calgary versus Airdrie decision, so drive it once before you decide.
Do you have a free relocation guide?
Yes. Our Calgary and Airdrie relocation guide is a free PDF. No email, no sign up, just open it.
Tell Us About The Move.
Where you’re coming from, when, and what matters most. We’ll tell you honestly which communities fit. Let’s make your next move a Positive one!
Tara Molina Real Estate Group | Royal LePage Benchmark