How to Find Canmore Land for Sale & Vacant Lots
“Here’s good!”How to Find Canmore Land for Sale & Vacant Lots
Want to build your dream Alberta mountain home, but don’t know where to find Canmore land for sale and vacant lots? If you’ve ever owned a property or thought about purchasing one, you’ve probably considered building your own home. Who hasn’t? It’s almost the quintessential image: a frontier person building their own cabin in the woods, from the land! (Queue flannel and beard).
Well, if you’re like me – and like most of the Canadian population – you probably don’t have the skills necessary to just up and build your own house. Yes, while we learned so much in all of those years of school, we never learned much about foundations, plumbing, electrical work or roofing. Dang!
Today, let me help you get the low-down on how to find Canmore vacant lots and bare land for sale, plus some pros and cons to building your own mountain home.
- Advantages to building your own House in Canmore
- Disadvantages to building on a vacant lot or bare land
- Where is the Vacant Land for sale in Canmore?
- Whats the best way to find and secure it?
My kind of mountain home!The Advantages of Building Your Own House in Canmore
If you have the desire to do it, the advantages could be never ending! With housing prices at all-time highs, not just in Canmore but across Canada, building your own home certainly has it’s draws. Major advantages include the following:
- You get to choose EVERYTHING!
- Potential to save big on costs
- The only limits are imagination (oh, and price…)
- You don’t need to inherit someone else’s choices (materials, style, layout)
- You can add cutting edge Green Technology to reduce your impact on our environment!
Disadvantages you might not have considered with a Canmore Vacant Lot or piece of Land, Building your own Home
Now comes the hard part – the draw backs. Of course building your own home on a lot is full of endless opportunities! The only issue is that these opportunities can be challenging. After all, there is a reason why we leave the majority of home building to the professionals. Some major disadvantages include the following:
- Most of the good lots are already built on!
- Potential for major UNEXPECTED costs: grading, flooding, clearing, insurance, wildlife habitat, planning, permits, zoning, builders, materials, accidents…
- Your budget is your limit – so make sure you have enough!
- Potential legal issues with designers, builders, neighbours, municipalities.
- DELAYS – builders, permits, supplies… Oh dear…
- Where are you supposed to live in the meantime?!
- You are putting up the funds – before seeing the results (see image below…)
“He said he was a professional! The plans looked good…”So where are the best Vacant Lots and Land for Sale in Canmore?
In Canmore, we have just a few areas with land still yet to be built upon. Due to the delicate and rugged nature of our landscape, land is hard to come by. Being in a high mountain valley, Canmore is constrained by natural barriers that make property in Canmore a finite resource.
80% of the land left to develop in Canmore is located in the Three Sisters Mountain Village area. Despite this area of the valley being one of the last places “left to go”, there has been some vocal opposition to building here. This is mainly due to an effect on the wildlife corridor, as well as a belief that further development will negatively impact the perceived community & values of Canmore.
However, much of the vacant land in Three Sisters Mountain Village is already owned by developers and slated for large-scale projects, like condos, townhouses and apartment-style residences. There are a few hidden gems of lots available around town that come up, from time to time. Usually these are pieces of property purchased years or decades ago, with intentions to develop on that never came to fruition.
Whats the easiest way to find Canmore land or lots, and secure it for a great price?
At any given time, there are usually 2-10 pieces of vacant or developable land in Canmore (as of this writing there are four). Another source of development property is old, tear-down houses (usually located in South Canmore, Lions Park, or Larch). Note, it usually will cost a minimum of $25K to knock-down and clear an old building. This is still a very viable option however.
The EASIEST way to find Canmore land for sale & vacant lots is to connect with a local REALTOR with a great reputation. I specialize in working with clients new to Canmore & the Bow Valley, and helping them to achieve their home ownership goals. If you are looking to buy or build a home, let’s connect and chat about your options! I’m always just a text, call or email away – no question or inquiry is too small. Cheers!
Like this post? Check out some of my other articles to learn more:
Feel free to call, text, or email Dan today for no-pressure advice,
tips and insights into the Canmore, Cochrane & Banff real estate market.