Jason Payne
I'm so glad that I asked Helen to help me when I came out to Calgary. She was waiting for me at the airport, after a long flight it was great to see a friendly face greeting me on my arrival. She took me to the B&B she recommended, which was wonderful too. She let me choose the pace at which I wanted to do things, but by the next day we'd got my Healthcare, Social Insurance and Alberta Driving license all sorted out. Houses are different out here and as I’d no real idea of the kind of house I wanted she was very patient, even though she knew I wasn't in a position to buy anything straight away. But we soon narrowed it down and when I was ready to buy she knew what I wanted and we got the house that all my family were happy with. She helped us on the day of the move too, above and beyond what I expected. Thank you Helen.
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Karen and Richard Masterman
Whn we first came into contact with Helen Parnell through the British Expats web site. We were trying to find out more about Cochrane, Alberta and Helen made the effort to answer our specific questions, rather than giving stock answers. She also told us about other things we hadn’t thought of, helping us prepare before the move. She went out of her way to find out about the schools, hotels and rented accommodation. Once in Canada, Helen was there for us immediately. She made the transition process much easier, helping sort out all of the administrative tasks you need to do when you first land. It was great to have someone who was always happy to answer even the most trivial questions. Once we had decided to buy, Helen took us to see a good cross section of homes. She at no time pressured us to buy beyond our means and always gave her honest opinion on each property. We have ended up with a lovely house in a prime location and it is all thanks to Helen. We now consider her amongst our friends and are very pleased to know her.
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The Ferson family
I would say – on reflection – that the most reassuring thing, over the past few months, is knowing there is someone you can rely on. Helen has been fantastic. She has given us help – beyond the call of duty – and tried, successfully, to give us relevant and accurate local information and guidance. The process of immigration can be confusing, stressful and frustrating. Having Helen there, when things were not going well, made everything so much easier. Helen doesn’t just require this testimonial, she deserves it. Thank you Helen,
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Robert and Beverley Moorehouse
We have wanted to immigrate to Canada since 2001 and have made numerous trips out there through the seasons. Finally we got everything together for our application in 2006. We met Helen Parnell via an advertisement in a Telecommunications Newspaper, when Robert approached her regarding possible employment contacts. We finally came face to face with Helen at the “Emigrate Show” in 2007 to further discuss life in Canada. Helen invited us to enter her Prize Draw Competition of paid Calgary accommodation of up to £500. With our track record of not winning anything, we were totally taken aback when Helen told us we had won. So in September/October 2007 we made another fact finding Canadian visit to Calgary and Edmonton with a view to deciding where our future lay.
We spent our prize staying at a lovely bed and breakfast in Airdrie, just outside of Calgary. As part of Helen’s prize, she invited us to view a wide selection of the different property types that are available in the Calgary area. This was not with an intention to buy at this stage, but to inform us of how Canadian homes differ from those in the UK. This exercise proved extremely informative and we would recommend anyone to do this prior to buying a Canadian home, as the houses are so different to what we are used to here. So if you are baffled by a ‘4-level split’ and a ‘bungalow with a walk-out basement’, Helen can tell you all you need to know!
Helen is an experienced and informative Realtor. She takes her time to fully understand what your requirements are and does not pressure you into a sale. Having emigrated herself, she can fully empathise with the stresses and strains of what will probably be the biggest move in your life. We would recommend Helen as a Realtor to anyone moving to the Calgary area.
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Clive and Heather Halligan-Davies
We would like to express our appreciation to Helen Parnell. Helen was very professional and extremely knowledgeable. She had her work cut out as my wife only had a few days here to find a house before flying back to the UK. Helen had to go though the buying procedure step by step as it is very different from the UK, Without Helens enthusiasm and commitment we would never have found a house in such a tight deadline. We will recommend Helen to anyone who is considering buying a house.
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The Web family
I was lucky, I found Helen by accident. I was looking for somewhere to rent in Calgary whilst I looked for somewhere to buy. Helen was the realtor for a condo which was being rented. She asked politely why I was moving to Calgary as she may have other suitable accommodation for me to rent. As soon as she heard I was going to rent and then start looking to buy she instantly said that she could help and also advised me on a better financial method of looking for a house in the area rather than get tied into a six months lease. I felt safe and trusting enough to discuss all my personal and family needs with Helen to ensure that she could get the best possible home for us. Helen began to send properties and suggested areas that would be suitable in my price range. We did not have any finance organised and she suggested options for me to consider. She offered contacts and also suggested I used my bank as well to compare offers. Although the amount we were able to spend was not a great deal Helen assured me that she would be able to find property for us to view which we would be able to afford. At no time did Helen show us properties outside the amount discussed and at no time was any pressure placed on us to view just properties that she had put forward to us.
On the viewing days she gave us local bed and breakfast information so that we would be near to our chosen area. She crammed as many viewings as possible for us so that we could see the wide variety of homes available to us. She pointed out positives and negatives for all the properties we looked at and also forthcoming builds near to any of the properties. Once we had chosen a property she kept us fully informed of how the purchase would work and the how the housing market operates. All of the information giving on the outset happened in the actual purchase. We were not an easy couple for Helen as we lived 3 hours away at the time and my husband was on the road. Although I felt that this would be a hindrance, Helen did not seem at all phased by this. Her famous saying is ‘don’t worry it can be sorted’ and it was.
What I felt during this contact with Helen was that I had someone that I could trust, someone who had my interests at heart and wanted me to feel right about the decisions I was making. Purchasing a property in Canada is like a whirlwind. Things move very quickly in the housing market and without Helen I would have felt very overwhelmed by the whole thing. I remember ringing with the most ridiculous questions and sometimes we would laugh together about them. But she always answered them and would put my mind at rest. I felt I could have asked her anything and unfortunately for her I did.
Helen is still making sure that if there is anything that I need to know that she is only at the end of a phone and no question is too much trouble for her to answer. If you want someone who you genuinely feel has your best interests at heart and will make every effort to ensure that your move to Canada will be a smooth transition then choose Helen.
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Liz and Jon Tomblin
My family and I qualified as permanent residents in Feb. 2006 and couldn’t wait to hot foot it across to Canada to complete the landing process and to establish exactly where we were going to live. Having already made contact with Helen via an expat web site we arranged to meet with her upon our arrival. We had a wonderful week with Helen; nothing was too much trouble for her. Helen helped us obtain our SIN cards, open a bank account and write resumes. Most importantly Helen helped us decide where we wanted to live and once we had established that, we looked at many houses both used and new to get a feel for layouts, house sizes and value for money.
Upon our return to the UK we quickly found a buyer for our house and we were on our way. We contacted Helen to view a house we had seen on the MLS web site and having established that it was the one for us via lots of photos and a video we successfully bought it from across the pond (are you mad everyone said!!!) We moved in 2 months later and have not been disappointed. We can wholeheartedly recommend Helen and the services she has to offer. Its a stressful enough experience buying and selling in the UK let alone adding a move to Canada into the equation, with Helens expert help and guidance we hit the ground running and what had the potential to go horribly wrong has worked out perfectly and our thanks go to Helen.
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Andrew and Dunja BOND
Helen has proven a valued and extremely competent aide to us, not only in finding property but throughout the whole process of moving to Canada. As our Realtor, Helen provided us with excellent advice and information on the process through informative guides and answering our many questions before and after arrival. This has ranged from help in finding a temporary rental property before our arrival, to our purchase of a small acreage. In addition, Helen’s advice has helped us save financially, by having all the right documentation before we arrived here and local contacts for services and purchases. Her knowledge and experience of the immigration process ensures the advice is explained in a UK context, a benefit you will greatly appreciate. We have no hesitation in recommending Helen as your Realtor, as greatly satisfied clients.
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