It's Time To Sell... Do You Know Where Your RPR Is?

As I write, I'm sitting in the Planning Department of the City of Calgary waiting to apply for a stamp of compliance on my Real Property Report (RPR)... For the Second Time.

If you're a home owner in Alberta, you my recall the Real Property Report. It's a document prepared by an Alberta Land Surveyor that shows the boundaries of the property and the location of permanent buildings and improvements on the property. A Certificate of Compliance is a confirmation by the City of Calgary that the locations of improvements on the property comply with the Land Use Bylaw.

When you sell a property, as the seller, it's your responsibility to provide the buyers with an up-to-date Real Property Report showing all permanent improvements on the property. Most Realtors, buyers, lenders and lawyers require that your RPR shows a current a stamp of Compliance from the City of Calgary.

The reason I sit here today - for the Second Time, is that during the past ten years, my husband and I have made some changes to our property. We added a fence, repaired the deck, and changed the landscaping. So of course, when we decided to sell, I knew that we would need to have a new RPR done. But when the report came back, it came with a little surprise... an Encroachment Advisory. When we changed the landscaping, we had built a retaining wall for a garden in the front yard. Little did we know when we built the garden wall that it actually crossed over our property line into City-owned property. Had we consulted our RPR prior to digging and stacking up concrete block after concrete block, we would have planned and measured quite a bit differently.

So our options at this point, were either to apply for an Encroachment Agreement from the City or re-build the wall within the property line. We opted to re-build the wall -- a painful, but relatively quick and less expensive solution. This involved paying to have the Real Property Report re-done, and applying once again to the City of Calgary for a Certificate of Compliance. And so, here I sit today, with a number in my hand, waiting to get my stamp of compliance.

I have a habit of learning things the hard way... so I hope, at least, that you can take something from my experience that will help you save both time and money.

•· If you own a home, and are planning to make improvements, first find your RPR, and determine exactly where your property lines are. Next, before you purchase materials or invest your time & effort, give the City of Calgary a call to find out if there are any specific rules for the type of improvement that you are planning, so that your project complies with the Land Use Bylaw.

•· If you're planning to sell, find your existing RPR, and determine whether or not you need to have it updated. If so, get that done early, so that you'll have time to deal with any issues that may arise prior to the sale of your home.

If you've had unexpected issues arise with a Real Property Report that you have had to deal with in one way or another, I welcome your comments. That way we can all learn from each other's past experience.

Bernice Dubon,

Realtor, Royal LePage Solutions

www.yourhomeincalgary.com