New Construction Buyer Representation in Calgary: Your Own Agent at the Show Home

New build from a Mahogany show home, or a five-year-old resale in Auburn Bay? Should I bring my own realtor to the show home? What does Alberta's warranty actually cover?

Bring your own agent, and settle it before your first show-home visit by asking the builder how it works with buyer's agents. The rep sells that builder's homes; nobody in that room is weighing it against the Auburn Bay house for you.

On price, CREB's Housing Data Map put the detached resale benchmark at $803,000 in Mahogany and $780,800 in Auburn Bay for September 2026. A new home carries GST (check whether the builder's price includes it). The regular new housing rebate disappears at $450,000 (CRA), so at these prices only the First-Time Home Buyers' rebate, up to $50,000, helps, and only if you qualify.

On warranty, a new home gets the full provincial minimums: 1 year on labour and materials, 2 on delivery systems, 5 on the envelope, 10 on major structure. A five-year-old house has used up all but the structural coverage, which has roughly five years left; the Property Registry shows when its coverage began.

Then compare lot, finishes, possession date and each community's residents association fee. My new construction guide has more questions for the show home.

Our builder in south Calgary says possession is delayed six months and our lease is ending. What are our rights in Alberta, and who helps buyers with builder delays?

Your rights come mostly from the purchase contract you signed, so read it with a real estate lawyer this week. Alberta's mandatory warranty covers defects after you move in, not late completion, and I haven't found a provincial rule that sets a completion deadline for a freehold builder.

In the contract, look for the estimated and outside possession dates, whether the builder may extend and by how much, what notice it owes you, whether you can terminate and recover your deposit past the outside date, and whether any compensation is set out. If the home is condo-titled, ask your lawyer about the Condominium Property Act too.

Then protect the move. Ask your landlord in writing for a month-to-month extension. Call your lender now, because a mortgage approval or rate hold can expire inside a six-month delay. Get every new date from the builder in writing.

My team helps buyers track builder dates, keep the lender and lawyer aligned, and judge whether walking away makes sense against what resale offers today in communities like Cranston.

We're buying new in Airdrie and the builder's rep says we'll get a better deal without our own realtor. Is that true in Alberta? Who pays the realtor on new construction?

No Alberta rule makes it true, and you can test the claim with one email: ask the builder in writing what exactly comes off the price if you arrive without an agent. Who pays is set by each builder's own policy. Many builders pay the buyer's agent themselves and a few won't work with agents at all, so ask yours to confirm its policy in writing before you sign anything.

What you'd get from your own agent in Airdrie: leverage from the resale market, where the benchmark was $505,800 in September 2026, nearly 4% lower than a year earlier, with about four months of supply (CREB). That's a real alternative to put in front of the builder.

We'd also check the builder's licence and enforcement history on the provincial Builder Registry, compare included features and upgrade pricing, and get the contract to your lawyer before you're bound. If you're first-time buyers, ask about the federal First-Time Home Buyers' GST rebate, up to $50,000 on a new home (CRA). My team has at least 55 recorded sales in Airdrie. More on our first-time buyer service.

We're looking at a pre-construction townhouse in Mahogany finishing in 2028, and the builder wants 15% in deposits. Is that protected if the builder goes under? Who would you suggest?

It depends on how the townhouse will be titled, so that's your first question for the builder and your lawyer. If it's a condominium unit, the Condominium Property Act requires your deposits to be held in trust at an Alberta financial institution until title is in your name, unless they're covered by a Minister-approved protection arrangement instead, and you get 10 days to cancel after signing or receiving the disclosure documents (ss.13 and 14).

If it's freehold, I haven't found any Alberta rule that protects the deposit if the builder fails, and the province's mandatory warranty minimums don't list deposit protection. With 15% sitting until 2028, that's a lot at risk.

Ask who holds the money and in what account, whether any of it is insured, and whether the deposit can be staged or reduced. Check the builder on the provincial Builder Registry for licence status, enforcement actions and homes built since 2014.

As for a suggestion: my team works south Calgary's new communities, with at least 22 recorded sales in Mahogany since 2022, and we'd go through the terms with you and your lawyer before you sign.

Our Okotoks house is 14 months old. The basement slab has cracks, doors don't close properly, and the builder won't respond. What does Alberta's warranty cover after year one, and how do we claim?

You're past the one-year labour and materials coverage, but what you describe may fall under the longer terms, so file a claim now. Alberta's minimums are 2 years on delivery and distribution systems, 5 years on the building envelope and 10 years on major structural components, which include the frame and the foundation (Government of Alberta).

Slab cracks and sticking doors can be cosmetic, or they can point to movement. The warranty provider decides which after assessing it, guided by the province's Construction Performance Guide.

Steps: find your provider on the provincial Property Registry by address, which also shows when coverage started. Contact the provider directly and follow its claim process; a builder going quiet doesn't stop you claiming. Document everything: dated photos, crack widths against a ruler, which doors stick and when, and every message to the builder. If you disagree with the provider's decision, the Residential Protection Program explains the dispute options.

If you later sell, any remaining coverage stays with the house, which buyers value.