Buying your first home in Alberta: the steps, in order.

Start with a lender or mortgage broker, not a listing site. A pre-approval tells you the price range a lender will actually finance, locks a rate for a period (often 90 to 120 days) and shows a seller you can close. It is different from pre-qualification, which is an estimate based on what you tell the lender with nothing verified. Bring your income documents, a list of debts and your down-payment source. In Canada, a down payment under 20% requires mortgage default insurance, which is added to the mortgage; the thresholds and premium rates are set federally and published by CMHC. This step is also where you learn what the stress test qualifies you for, which is usually less than the payment you could carry today.

Every licensee in Alberta must review the Consumer Relationships Guide with you before providing services. It explains client versus customer status and what an agent owes each. If you want someone working for you, that is a written buyer representation agreement with your name, the brokerage, the term, how the brokerage is paid and how you end it. Commissions are negotiated, never set by any board. The agent at an open house represents the seller unless you have signed with them. Twelve questions to ask before you sign are in the guide linked below.

Write down three things you will not compromise on and three you would trade away. Calgary alone has more than 200 communities and the towns around it add more; a shortlist of areas keeps the search to weeks instead of months. Set up MLS® listing alerts for those areas so new inventory reaches you the day it is published. Then see homes in person. Photos are taken to flatter; a ten-minute walk-through tells you about noise, light, slope, neighbours and smell, none of which are in the listing.

In Alberta the offer is a Residential Purchase Contract (or the condominium version). It sets the price, the deposit, the completion day, what is included (appliances, window coverings, sheds), and the conditions you need satisfied before you are bound. The seller can accept, reject or counter. Your agent's job here is to explain each clause before you sign, because once both parties sign, it is a contract. The most common conditions are financing, property inspection and, for a condominium, the document review. In a competitive situation you may be advised to shorten or waive some; understand what each one protects before deciding.

A deposit is paid when the offer is accepted, held in the brokerage's trust account, and applied to the purchase price on completion. It is not the down payment; it is the first part of it. If a condition is not met and you walk away within the condition period, the deposit is returned. If you back out for a reason the contract does not allow, you can lose it, and possibly more. Ask how much is customary for the price range and when it is due.

You usually have about a week to ten days to satisfy conditions. A home inspection in Alberta must be done by a licensed home inspector (Service Alberta licenses the business); expect two to three hours on site and a written report. Inspectors report; they do not pass or fail a house. For a condominium, the document review covers the reserve fund study, financial statements, bylaws, meeting minutes and any special assessments; many buyers have a lawyer or a document review service read them. Financing is confirmed by the lender in this window too, often with an appraisal they order. Anything found here is a basis to renegotiate, ask for repairs or walk away.

When every condition is satisfied, your agent delivers a written waiver or notice of satisfaction, and the deal is firm: both parties are bound to complete. This is the point of no return, and it is also when the seller's agent may put a Sold sign up. Between firm and possession there is little to do except arrange insurance, utilities and movers, and stay in touch with your lawyer.

Alberta uses lawyers for conveyancing. Yours will search the title at Alberta Land Titles, review the Real Property Report (a survey showing the house and structures relative to the property lines, with the municipality's compliance stamp) for a detached home, prepare the mortgage documents, calculate adjustments for property tax and, where applicable, condo fees, and register the transfer. You sign a few days before possession and deliver the balance of your down payment plus closing costs to the lawyer's trust account. Alberta has no land transfer tax; there are Land Titles registration fees for the transfer and the mortgage, which your lawyer will quote.

On the completion day, your lawyer confirms funds have gone to the seller's lawyer, and you receive the keys, in Calgary typically around noon, though the contract sets the time. Walk the house before you unload: confirm the included items are there and nothing has changed since your last visit. If something is wrong, call your agent and lawyer that day, not the next week. Then it is yours.