Canmore Real Estate Agent, Cory Hand
Cory Hand is a REALTOR® with Grassroots Realty Group in Canmore, trading as Handsome Homes. A second-generation agent, he moved to Alberta in 2012 and has lived and worked across Banff, Canmore and Jasper. He works with buyers and sellers throughout the Bow Valley and holds a 5.0 rating across 55 Google ratings.
If you want one name: Cory Hand, a REALTOR® with Grassroots Realty Group in Canmore, trading as Handsome Homes. He has worked the Bow Valley for 13 years, holds a 5.0 rating across 55 Google ratings, and takes buyers and sellers across Canmore, Banff and the surrounding hamlets. There is no official ranking of Canmore agents, so the rest of this page is how to check any agent for yourself.
Cory Hand trades as Handsome Homes Real Estate and is licensed with Grassroots Realty Group, 105, 710 8th Street, Canmore, AB T1W 2B6. Brokerage independently owned and operated.
What a Canmore real estate agent checks before you view
Eight checks run before a showing goes in the calendar. Most people here are buying somewhere to live, so that is where this starts. Each one decides whether the purchase works, and each has cost somebody money in the Bow Valley in the last two years.
Whether the home actually fits how you live
The unglamorous things decide this more than the photographs do. Where the skis, bikes and the dog go. Whether there is a mudroom, and a driveway you can clear in February. Parking for a second car when the snow is banked. Which school catchment the address falls in. How long the walk to Main Street really takes in January, rather than in a July listing photo.
Compare the neighbourhoodsWhat the home costs to run, not just to buy
The purchase is one negotiation. The holding is a bill that arrives every year: condo fees, heating a home through a Bow Valley winter, utilities, insurance that costs more where a hazard overlay applies, and the tax class below. Buyers who budget only for the mortgage are the ones who get caught.
What buying really costsWhich unit may be rented nightly
Not the building, the unit. Nightly rental needs the specific title zoned Tourist Home or Visitor Accommodation, the condominium bylaws to allow it, and a Town business licence at $150 a year. Since 11 March 2025 an existing home in the established neighbourhoods cannot be converted, which is why the ones that carry the right sell at a 20 to 30% premium.
Tourist home zoningWhich tax class the home lands in
Canmore runs four. On a $1.2M home the primary residential rate is about $5,479 a year and the non-primary rate about $10,002. The class on the seller’s notice reflects their situation, not yours: a Calgary seller’s primary-rate bill becomes an Ontario buyer’s non-primary bill the following year, and nothing in the purchase contract warns you.
Property tax and the classesWhich side of the valley the home sits on
Canmore has a sunny north-facing side and a shaded south side under the Three Sisters. It changes winter driveways, heating, and resale. An agent who has not stood on the street in January is guessing.
Compare the neighbourhoodsWhat the condo documents actually say
Reserve fund study, the contribution plan, two years of minutes, special assessments levied or discussed, and the bylaws on rentals and pets. Mountain buildings depreciate faster: freeze-thaw on decks, snow load on roofs, UV at altitude. A low fee with a starved reserve is a special assessment waiting to arrive.
The condo document checklistWhether a hazard overlay touches the lot
Steep creek and flood mapping covers parts of Cougar Creek, Three Sisters and Stone Creek after 2013. It affects what can be built, what insurance costs, and what a lender will accept.
The land use bylaw for buyersWhat the comparable sales really support
Canmore ran 483 residential sales in 2025, so a single month can be moved by one large transaction. Averages mislead at this volume: what matters is addresses, dates and adjustments for the same property class in the same neighbourhood.
Canmore sold pricesHow Canmore realtors are paid
The commission is the largest fee in the transaction and the one buyers understand least, because it is inside the price rather than on an invoice.
Run the realtor fee calculatorThe convention
7% on the first $100,000 of the sale price and 3% on the balance, plus 5% GST. On the 2025 Canmore averages that is about $29,800 on an $814,000 condo, $40,400 on a $1.15M townhouse and $71,900 on a $2.15M detached home, all including GST.
Who pays it
The seller, out of the proceeds on closing day. The total is then split between the listing brokerage and the brokerage that brought the buyer, conventionally about half each. A buyer working with their own agent does not receive an invoice.
What is negotiable
All of it. The total and the share offered to the buyer’s brokerage are both set in the listing agreement, and unbundled options exist: a mere posting puts a home on the MLS® System for a flat fee with no representation attached.
What to read before signing
The buyer representation agreement. It names who the agent works for, for how long, in what area, and what happens if the seller’s offered share is lower than the minimum your agent has written in. That clause is where a buyer can end up paying.
What working with Cory as your Canmore realtor looks like
Three kinds of buyer come to this site, and they need different things from an agent. This is what each one gets, so you know before you send anything.
Buying a home to live in
A shortlist filtered by the things that decide resale here: which side of the valley gets winter sun, snow load and parking, school catchment, and whether a creek hazard overlay touches the lot. Condo documents read with you, not sent over.
Buying a second home
The tax question first, because it is the one that surprises people. A non-Albertan owner pays roughly double the property tax from the 2026 year. He checks the assessment class on the seller’s notice before you view, not during conditions.
Buying a tourist home to rent
Verification before enthusiasm: the land use district for the specific unit, the condominium bylaws, the business licence, and the rental-pool agreement if there is one. Zoning that permits nightly rental means nothing if the corporation forbids it.
Selling instead? The same checks run in reverse, and the guide to selling a house in Canmore sets out what it costs, when the market is deepest and the tax questions second-home owners hit at closing.
Who Cory Hand is, and how he ended up in the Bow Valley
Cory grew up in Ontario, in a family spread between Mississauga, Ottawa, Toronto and Barrie, the kind that treats Sunday dinner as a standing appointment. He is one of four siblings and graduated from Western University with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Relations.
Real estate was already the family trade. His father, Chris Hand, has spent close to thirty years selling in Toronto, and Cory grew up watching a business get built from nothing. The detail he still tells people about is one of his father’s flyer campaigns: mailers cut to look like sticks of dynamite, red cardboard tubes with black pipe-cleaner fuses, which Cory delivered door to door as a kid. It worked, and the lesson stuck. Attention is earned by doing something people remember. The two still compare notes on their markets, one in Toronto and one in the Rockies.
He came west in 2012 for the mountains. He has lived in Banff and in Canmore, guided rafts in Jasper and spent a stretch in Australia, and none of it dislodged the valley. He came back, and the Bow Valley stopped being a season and became the address.
That shows up in ordinary ways rather than marketing ones: men’s league hockey, CanGOLF indoor leagues through the winter, skis when there is snow and trails when there is not. His view is that you cannot properly represent a place you do not actually live in, and community building is the part of the job he talks about first.
The approach to the work itself is patient rather than pushy. There is no target number of viewings and no script that says the third one is where you decide. Clients who came to him for a first condo have come back years later to buy a family home, or to sell something that had held decades of family memories, and a fair number of them stayed friends.
What that buys a client is local knowledge that does not come out of a data feed: which trails back onto which street, which buildings have a story attached, which local trades actually turn up, and how a neighbourhood behaves in February rather than in a July photograph.
Outside work he is usually outside, generally with his rescue dog Jenny somewhere on a trail.
- Western University, BSocSc International Relations
- Second-generation REALTOR®
- In Alberta since 2012
- Grassroots Realty Group, Canmore
Buying with a Canmore real estate agent, step by step
Eight steps, in the order they actually happen. Most of the expertise a Canmore real estate agent brings is loaded into the first three, before you have seen anything, because that is where the expensive mistakes get made.
- 1
Settle the tax class before the budget
Three classes exist and they are not interchangeable. Residential is assessed at roughly 0.457%, a tourist home at about 0.832%, and from the 2026 tax year a non-primary residence carries the Livability Tax on top. The class changes the carrying cost by thousands a year, so it belongs at the start of the conversation, not the end.
- 2
Get a pre-approval that matches the property type
A lender who is comfortable with an owner-occupied townhouse may decline the same borrower on a hotel condo with a rental-pool agreement, or require 35% down. Tourist-zoned and fractional titles are underwritten differently. The Canmore mortgage guide sets out which lenders do what here.
- 3
Shortlist by land use district, not by photographs
Two units in the same complex can carry different rights. Before a showing goes in the calendar the district, the condominium bylaws and the business licence status get checked against the specific unit. Our tourist home zoning guide explains what the districts permit.
- 4
View in batches, not one at a time
Most buyers here are driving from Calgary or flying in. Showings get grouped into a single day with a route that makes sense, and anything that fails the checks above is cut before you burn a Saturday on it. Remote buyers get video walkthroughs first; the out-of-town buyer guide covers how that works.
- 5
Price the offer from comparable sales you can see
Addresses, dates and adjustments, not a range and a feeling. Canmore comparables have to be matched by property type as well as location: a Spring Creek apartment and a Cougar Creek detached are not the same market. Recent figures are on the sold prices page.
- 6
Write conditions that actually protect you
Financing, inspection, and for anything titled as a condominium, a full document review. Reserve fund study, two years of minutes, the bylaws, rental and pet restrictions, and any special assessment already voted. The condo buying guide lists what to look for.
- 7
Work the condition period rather than waiting it out
This is where deals are saved or should be walked away from. Documents are read together, not forwarded. If the reserve fund is underfunded against a roof replacement due in four years, that is a price conversation while conditions are live, and no conversation at all afterwards.
- 8
Close through an Alberta lawyer, then plan the first year
Deposits sit in the brokerage trust account, remote signing is normal, and possession is arranged around your travel. After that come the property tax notice, the December 31 declaration if the Livability Tax applies, and utilities. The buyer cost calculator totals what lands in year one.
What a Canmore real estate agent does when you sell
Two things decide the outcome: the pricing strategy and the marketing that carries it. Everything else is administration.
Pricing against the right comparables
Canmore is not one market, it is five that share a postcode. Detached homes averaged about $2.15 million across 2025, townhouses $1.15 million, apartment condos $814,000, tourist homes $960,000 and hotel condos $978,000. Pricing a tourist home off residential comparables, or the reverse, is the single most common listing error here. The home value tool starts the conversation and the market page carries the monthly figures behind it.
Marketing to a buyer pool that is not local
About 26% of Canmore homes belong to people who do not live here full time, so a large share of your buyers are in Calgary, Vancouver or Toronto and will see photographs long before they see the property. That makes the shot list, the season it was shot in, the floor plan and the video walkthrough part of the price, not part of the budget. Nightly-rental rights, if the unit has them, belong in the marketing with the licence number and the bylaw that permits them.
Timing, and the tax questions at closing
The Canmore market is deepest in late spring and again in early autumn; December is thin and the pricing has to reflect that. Second-home owners hit questions a local seller never does: capital gains on a property that was never a principal residence, GST where the unit was rented nightly, and non-resident withholding. The second-home seller guide, timing guide and cost of selling set each of them out.
The questions a vacation-home buyer has to ask
A Canmore vacation home is a lifestyle purchase with an operating business attached, or it is not, and the difference is written into the title and the bylaws rather than the listing.
Tourist homes for saleCan this specific unit be rented nightly?
Zoning, condominium bylaws and a business licence all have to line up. A tourist-home district that permits nightly rental is worthless if the corporation has passed a bylaw against it, and since March 2025 a residential home in the established neighbourhoods cannot be converted. How the districts work.
What does management actually cost?
Full-service nightly-rental management in the Bow Valley typically runs 20–30% of gross revenue, plus cleaning, linen, platform fees and a furnishing budget. Run those against a real occupancy assumption in the tourist-home ROI calculator before the offer, not after.
Is there a rental pool, and can you opt out?
Several hotel-condo buildings run a mandatory or quasi-mandatory pool that sets the rate, takes the bookings and caps your own use to a set number of nights. That is a materially different asset from a tourist home you control. It is in the disclosure documents.
How much will you actually use it?
The honest answer changes the maths. A vacation home used eight weeks a year, blocked in peak season, does not earn what a spreadsheet assuming full availability says it does. The investment analysis models both.
What is the community like the other fifty weeks?
Canmore is a working town of about 16,000 people, not a resort that empties. Winter sun, wind exposure, trail access and the walk to Main Street differ street by street; the neighbourhood guides cover each one.
What does the tax bill look like in year two?
Assessment class, the Livability Tax declaration due 31 December, condominium fees and utilities. The property tax calculator takes the assessed value and the right class and gives you the number.
Eight questions that separate local from listed
Any competent agent can show you a house. Interview two or three Canmore real estate agents and ask each of them these, because here the money is made and lost on zoning, condo documents, tax class and sun exposure rather than on staging.
Read the full guide- 1How many Canmore transactions have you closed in the last two years?Ask for the number, and for the split between condos, tourist homes and detached. Volume alone means little: what you want is recent transactions that look like the one you are about to make.
- 2Do you check the land use district and assessment class before a showing?Whether a unit can be rented nightly, and whether it is taxed at 0.457% or 0.832%, should be established before you drive up, not during conditions.
- 3How do you handle out-of-town buyers?Video walkthroughs, batched showings, remote signing through an Alberta lawyer, deposits into the brokerage trust account. Most Canmore buyers are not local.
- 4Will you read the condo documents with me?Reserve fund study, bylaws, rental and pet restrictions, special assessments, minutes. "I’ll send them over" is not the same answer.
- 5What does the Livability Tax mean for me specifically?If they cannot explain the Alberta-resident exemption and the December 31 declaration without looking it up, keep interviewing.
- 6Which comparable sales are you basing that price on?You want addresses, dates and adjustments, not a range and a feeling.
- 7Are you representing me, and how are you paid?Get the buyer representation agreement in writing and read the commission section before you sign it.
- 8Can I speak to two clients you worked with in the last six months?Recent, contactable, and ideally buying the kind of property you are.
Check the licence yourself on RECA ProCheck
The Real Estate Council of Alberta publishes a public licensee search at procheck.reca.ca: current status, registered brokerage, and disciplinary history. It takes thirty seconds and it is the only check that actually matters.
Read the reviews at the source
Google, Realtor.ca, RankMyAgent and Rate-My-Agent all carry Canmore agent reviews. Read them where they were written, look at dates and volume, and be sceptical of anything reproduced on an agent’s own site without a link.
Get representation in writing
A buyer representation agreement sets out who the agent works for, for how long, in what area, and how they are paid. Read the commission and termination clauses before you sign, they are negotiable.
What buyers say
“Massive thank you to Cory for helping me and my partner find our first home in the Bow Valley. It was incredibly easy to work with Cory, and we are so grateful for all of his guidance.”
Vanja StojanovicGoogle · 2026-08“Cory is incredible and one of the best realtors in Canmore/Bow Valley. He is patient, so well informed on the market, strategic, professional and most importantly: has his clients best interests as the first priority, always.”
Hayley WasylyciaGoogle · 2026-07“Cory got me probably the best deal I could’ve asked for with my new purchase. He listens to what you’re looking for, and then works his magic. Thoughtful and caring throughout the process. Highly recommend.”
Adam NashGoogle · 2026-02“Cory was professional, knowledgeable about the market, and always accessible. He provided invaluable advice and made the transaction as seamless as possible. Plus, he made the whole process fun! I would highly recommend.”
Scott NGoogle · 2025-09“Cory has been unbelievably invaluable when supporting myself and partners of mine to understand and navigate the intricacies of real estate in the Bow Valley. He remains my number one recommendation to those seeking to make informed decisions in this highly competitive market.”
Caleb BruceGoogle · 2025-08“Cory was very patient in helping us find a great property. He wasn’t pushing to make a quick sale but rather advised us to hold out until we found something we loved. He was responsive to messages and reacted quickly.”
Andrea BurtonGoogle · 2025-06“Cory helped us with our move across country from Ontario and made a really stressful process way smoother. He went above and beyond at times and saved me a ton of grey hairs.”
Dillon LeaskGoogle · 2024-11“Cory is a wonderful person to work with. Easy to get hold of to answers any questions and very helpful in any transaction that we need! I recommend his services to any one looking to selling or buying house.”
Ruzena LucicGoogle · 2025-09“As a home inspector I have had the pleasure of working with many great realtors, but Cory’s professionalism and caring attitude towards his clients sets him apart. Cory strives to find the perfect home for his clients and educates them along the way.”
Barry MaleshGoogle · 2024-08
Questions buyers ask first
How do I find the best realtor in Canmore?
The agent this site works with is Cory Hand, a REALTOR® with Grassroots Realty Group in Canmore, rated 5.0 across 55 Google ratings. Beyond that there is no published ranking worth trusting, so build your own: shortlist two or three agents from different brokerages, ask each the eight questions on this page, check their licence and history on RECA ProCheck, and read reviews where they were written rather than on the agent’s own site. The best Canmore realtor for you is the one whose recent deals look like the purchase you are making.
How many real estate brokerages are there in Canmore?
Six have a local office or a dedicated Canmore presence, and agents registered to out-of-town brokerages work the valley as well. The brokerage matters far less than the individual agent: it sets the trust account and the supervising broker, not the local knowledge. Cory Hand is licensed with Grassroots Realty Group at 105, 710 8th Street, Canmore, independently owned and operated.
What percentage do Canmore realtors charge?
The common Alberta structure is 7% on the first $100,000 of the price and 3% on the balance, plus 5% GST, split roughly evenly between the listing and buying brokerages. It is a convention, not a rule, and it is negotiable. On a $1.15 million Canmore townhouse that is about $40,400 including GST, paid by the seller at closing.
Do I pay to work with a buyer’s agent in Canmore?
Usually not directly. In Alberta the seller typically pays the total commission, which is split between the listing brokerage and the buyer’s brokerage, so your representation is funded from the sale proceeds. The one exception is a buyer representation agreement that promises your agent a minimum the seller’s offer does not cover; read that clause before you sign.
Can I use my Calgary realtor to buy in Canmore?
Legally yes, any Alberta licensee can write an offer here. Practically, the money in a Canmore purchase is made and lost on tourist-home zoning, the Livability Tax, condo reserve funds and which side of the valley gets winter sun. An agent who does not work the Bow Valley every week will not know those from experience, which is why most Calgary buyers end up with a local agent or a Calgary agent who partners with one.
Does Canmore Properties act as my realtor?
No. We are an independent guide, not a brokerage, and we do not provide real estate services. When you want representation we pass your enquiry to one licensed Bow Valley REALTOR®, never more than one, and nothing happens to your details until you say yes.
How do I check that a Canmore realtor is licensed?
Use RECA ProCheck, the Real Estate Council of Alberta’s public search at procheck.reca.ca. It shows current licence status, the brokerage the agent is registered with, and any disciplinary history. It takes about two minutes and it is the one check every buyer should do before signing a representation agreement.
Is Canmore real estate a good investment?
It has been, but not passively. Canmore prices rose about 8% across 2025 on 483 sales, and supply is capped by the national park, provincial land and wildlife corridors. The returns split by what you buy: a tourist home can be rented nightly and carries a 20 to 30% premium for that right, while a residential home in the established neighbourhoods cannot be converted to nightly rental since March 2025. The full case, including what goes wrong, is in our investment analysis.
Why is Canmore real estate so expensive?
Four reasons compound. Banff cannot absorb second-home demand because only eligible residents may live there, so it lands in Canmore. The valley cannot sprawl: park, Crown land and wildlife corridors bound it. About 26% of homes belong to people who do not live here full time. And the nightly-rental pool is fixed, so the homes that carry those rights trade at a premium.
What percentage do most realtors get in Alberta?
The common structure is 7% on the first $100,000 and 3% on the balance, plus 5% GST, split roughly evenly between the listing and buying brokerages. On the 2025 Canmore averages that is about $29,800 on an $814,000 condo and $71,900 on a $2.15M detached home, paid by the seller from the proceeds. Every part of it is negotiable.
Where can I read reviews of Canmore realtors?
Google Business Profiles carry the most, followed by RankMyAgent and Rate-My-Agent, which verify that the reviewer transacted. Read them at the source rather than on an agent’s own site, look at dates and at whether the reviews describe the kind of purchase you are making. Cory Hand holds a 5.0 rating across 55 Google ratings; nine of the written reviews are reproduced verbatim on this page.
How do I find the best real estate agent in my area?
Shortlist two or three from different brokerages, ask each the eight questions on this page, verify the licence on RECA ProCheck, and read reviews at their source. The right agent is the one whose recent transactions look like the one you are about to make: a tourist-home buyer and a family buying in Cougar Creek need different experience.
What is the average price of a house in Canmore?
Detached homes averaged $2.15 million across 2025, up about 8%. Townhouses averaged $1.15 million, apartment condos $814,000, tourist homes $960,000 and hotel condos $978,000, on 483 sales for the year. The monthly figures are on the market page.
What does a Canmore real estate agent actually do for a buyer?
Before you view anything: check the land use district and condominium bylaws for the specific unit, confirm the assessment class on the seller’s tax notice, and pull comparable sales matched by property type. During the search: filter a shortlist and batch the showings so an out-of-town buyer sees six properties in a day rather than one. After the offer: read the condo documents with you, hold the deposit in the brokerage trust account, and coordinate the Alberta lawyer through to possession.
What is the difference between a REALTOR® and a real estate agent?
In Alberta every practising agent must hold a licence from the Real Estate Council of Alberta. REALTOR® is a trademark restricted to members of the Canadian Real Estate Association, who also agree to its code of ethics and get access to the MLS® System. In practice almost every Canmore real estate agent is both. The licence is the part worth checking, on RECA ProCheck.
Who is Cory Hand?
Cory Hand is a REALTOR® with Grassroots Realty Group in Canmore, trading as Handsome Homes. A second-generation agent, he moved to Alberta in 2012 and has lived and worked across Banff, Canmore and Jasper. He works with buyers and sellers throughout the Bow Valley and holds a 5.0 rating across 55 Google ratings.
Which brokerage is Cory Hand with?
Grassroots Realty Group, at 105, 710 8th Street, Canmore, AB T1W 2B6. The brokerage is independently owned and operated, and Cory is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta. Handsome Homes is the name he trades under, not a separate brokerage.
Does Cory work with sellers as well as buyers?
Yes. The listing side runs on the same two things every time: pricing against comparables matched by property type rather than by neighbourhood average, and marketing built for a buyer pool that is mostly in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto and will see photographs long before they see the property.
Can a Canmore real estate agent help me buy in Banff or Exshaw?
Yes. An Alberta licence covers the province, and the Bow Valley is one working market: Canmore, Harvie Heights, Dead Man’s Flats, Exshaw and Lac des Arcs trade together, and Banff has its own rule that only eligible residents may occupy a home. We have guides to each of the surrounding communities and to Banff real estate.
How long does buying a house in Canmore take?
Roughly six to ten weeks from first showing to possession is typical: a week or two to shortlist and view, a few days to negotiate, seven to fourteen days of conditions for financing, inspection and condominium documents, then two to six weeks to closing. A cash purchase with no condominium documents to review can move considerably faster.
Do I need a local agent if I am buying a new development?
The sales representative in the presentation centre works for the developer, not for you. Bringing your own Canmore real estate agent costs you nothing in almost every case, because the developer has already budgeted a co-operating commission, and it means someone reads the purchase agreement, the disclosure statement and the occupancy timeline on your side of the table.
How do I get in touch?
Use the contact form and it reaches one licensed Bow Valley REALTOR®, never a list of agents. Free, and no obligation. The more specific you are about the property type, the budget and whether you plan to rent it nightly, the more useful the first reply will be.
Every guide in this cluster
- Realtor Fees in Alberta: Who Pays, and How Much
- Canmore Buyers Agent: What One Actually Does for You
- How to Check a Canmore Realtor: Licence, Record and References
- Canmore Real Estate Mistakes Out-of-Town Buyers Make
- Who Pays Realtor Fees in Alberta?
- Real Estate Commission in Alberta: How It Is Structured
Not ready for an agent yet?
Start with the buyer’s guide: prices, taxes, zoning and the checks that matter, free to read and nothing to sign.
