Everywhere Corinne Lyall goes these days, she’s asked about her views about what’s ahead for homeowners in southern Alberta. “People are understandably very emotional right now,” says Lyall, a broker with Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary. “I tell people that it’s going to take time to rebuild, and time to put the flood of 2013 behind us.”

Lyall urges people to rebuild their homes in a way that will preserve their resale value. Do things properly and to code, with building permits in hand to ensure you have the documentation to support what you’ve done, she says.

Those permits and other documentation are taking longer to acquire so be patient, says Coldwell Banker’s Susanita De Diego, who is a selling broker/owner in the Calgary market. The situation is “unprecedented in my 26 years in real estate. Some buyers are gun shy,” she says.

One of her clients had a conditional offer and pulled out of the deal. Another buyer had an offer on a property that was in the flood plain but was not affected by the flood. “These clients chose to go ahead. They figured it was a 100-year flood and that this property was dry. There’s no guarantee, but they felt comfortable buying it anyway.”

Hundreds of property owners are simply walking away, resulting in hesitation on the part of some lenders for properties in the flood plain.

In Calgary, some affluent buyers, rather than living through the chaos, are moving to higher ground while their homes are being rebuilt. This is creating a shortage of inventory.

As for sales involving homes that are no longer liveable, they are up in the air as everyone waits to see what the insurance companies do, De Diego says. Some other people will never go back, she adds. “We anticipate market value will be affected in the short term (but) memories are short,” she says.

After the last big flood, homes along the river became the most expensive properties. “The market will recover,” De Diego says.

Realtors are being called on to be advocates for their clients. They’re also joining other Calgarians and extending a helping hand in whatever way they can – a challenge as they work to keep their own businesses afloat and to rebuild their own homes.

Blair Gordon, broker/owner of Century 21 Foothills Real Estate remembers hearing stories of a flood of this magnitude that took place the 1930s, but he never thought he’d experience one first-hand. Although his house and office were spared, his daughter was not so lucky. She lost everything.

The grocery store and hospital in High River are closed and many ma and pa businesses downtown were flooded. People in the 40,000 trading area have been forced to go elsewhere, driving to nearby Okotoks to go to the post office, the grocery store and the bank, he says.

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