It was written for real estate agents but applies to all industry related service providers such as mortgage agents, movers, interior decorators and so on.  I strongly suggest you read it.

Here is an excerpt and a link to the article itself.

“Few absolutes exist in the world of adapting new technology to the real estate business, but almost everyone will tell you that you must embrace more technology than you will ever really need to. Those experts—and most webmasters and web designers—are operating with the now-obsolete concept that your website must give every possible piece of information that might be real estate related to all visitors.

That entire concept has resulted in a universe where 90% of agents and brokers fail in their Internet marketing efforts. In most industries, failure rates of 90% results in a complete change in the way things get done. In real estate, however, the same old things that don’t work continue to be treated as “must haves” for every agent…”

“Real estate sales have always been and will always be about individual agents, not corporate monoliths, and once that realization dawns on the agent base, perhaps the rate of failure will decrease as online marketing innovation increases.”

Copyright Carolyne Realty Corp – may be reprinted only by permission in writing.

The proper “representation” of your home can net you thousands of extra dollars. Ask Carolyne how she gets top dollar sale prices for her clients.

INSIDER TRADING – Be Careful What You Say – and to Whom
(How much did you divulge already?)

When you invite a Realtor into your home to be interviewed, as the prospective listing agent, typically the agent will ask you several questions and endeavour to answer yours.

However, before “you” answer any questions, be absolutely certain that you understand “agency”. You may even want to have the agent being interviewed sign off on a “Confidentiality” form.

There is no real need for anyone to know “why” you are moving: a divorce, a death in the family, retiring to a senior’s home, perhaps a relocation. Once you have chosen the agent with whom you are officially going to do business, then you can choose to divulge this information perhaps. In the meantime, the why related to your sale has nothing whatsoever to do with the value of your home – the bricks and mortar value. I have had countless numbers of agents tell me the why has a big impact on your business dealings and thus the “end price-sale price.” My question back to them is: WHY?

The house is the house. It is located where it is located. The market is what the market is. What and how does “why” you are selling it, impact its value. In my opinion, it simply does NOT. Even the definition of fair market value supports my thinking. Fair market value: what a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller, when the property has been sufficiently exposed to a given market, presuming neither the buyer nor the seller is under duress.

Perhaps preview other articles on our web site. There is an abundance of material there that will help you protect your position.

With no contract of any sort yet signed between you and the agent, covering agency/representation, you have none. The agent owes you nothing: no confidentiality, fiduciary duty, no representation of any kind. He, too, is merely “collecting information”. Granted he needs some information in order to formulate a helpful prognosis on how long your home will likely need to be marketed, and at what asking price. Based on his local expertise (and he should have plenty, specifically in your locale, if you are going to hire him to represent your best interests) in serving the area where your home is located, having viewed your property and assessed its saleability relative to current market conditions along with the condition of your home and how it shows – including curb appeal, and having compared it to existing market data, the agent will be able to suggest an asking price and a likely sale price.

Example: agent asks – “How much are you prepared to take for your house?” You answer.

You may have just given away your profit margin. Not only that, but if you decide not to hire this particular agent to represent you and the sale of your home, now you have committed to a possible acceptable sale price, to an agent who is not even “your” agent. That’s not to say you cannot change your mind, but you have provided him with ammunition to use against you at offer time, if he should be the one to ultimately bring an offer, while acting for the buyer, not for you as your representative. He’s working for “the other guy.” And there’s nothing to prevent him from sharing the information you have provided to him with his colleagues back at the office, when the listing appears on the system, with someone other than him, as the listing agent.

Think it through when you are interviewing multiple agents before choosing one you will work with. If you do not hire this particular agent, and your property appears on MLS at a particular price, the agent(s) you have “interviewed” are now all privy to your insider information. Each one now knows how much you said you would take for your house. So, since you haven’t engaged them with your for-sale contract (called a listing contract), and they appear with a buyer, in a typical transaction, the agent with the buyer will be working for – GUESS WHO? Not you.

He/she will be working for the buyer, not for you, and he will be the first one to remind you of what price you had told him you would take. He will likely have a buyer agency (there’s that “agency” word again) contract with the buyer. That means that he is working under contract FOR that buyer; his total onus is obligated to that buyer. That buyer, just perhaps, may have been willing to pay your full asking price, but you already told the agent you would accept a lesser amount and he has divulged this information to his buyer. He is now obligated while working for a buyer, to divulge all the information you provided willingly to him, to the buyer who is now his client.

So, since that agent is now working for the buyer and not for you, you can expect any offer coming through that process will be in favour of the buyer, not in your favour.

So, should you answer questions put to you, when you are interviewing agents?

Only some kinds of questions, but not the master question – how much are you willing to take? You may release this information to “your” agent, once you have chosen which one you are going to contract to have “represent” you, because “your” agent must keep your private information private. He must NOT share what he knows, with anyone else. When contract time rolls around, the contract will speak for itself, and “your agent” will guide you through it appropriately at that time. Market conditions may have changed since you initialized your contract. Your agent will keep you up to date throughout the process, and will bring you up to date again at the time of an offer presentation.

Use this information as a guideline only; but, know when not to talk. By answering this one important question, and by giving away your private information, you could be costing yourself thousands of dollars.

This information © is brought to you – compliments of:

Copyright (c)

Carolyne Realty Corp.  BurlingtonHomes@Carolyne.com www.MillcroftHomes.com

Karen Mazurkewich, Financial Post  Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009

A landmark investigation by the federal Competition Bureau may dramatically change the way homes are bought and sold in Canada.

The Canadian Real Estate Association has informed its members that a two-year inquiry by the Competition Bureau has been completed and that significant changes to their practices have been requested.

CREA is still negotiating a settlement with the Competition Bureau, but it is expected that the industry will be forced to loosen its restrictive access to the MLS system and allow discount brokers into the market.

Read more:

The Canadian Real Estate Association says 135,182 homes were sold countrywide in the third quarter, up 18 per cent from a year earlier and the most ever for the period.

It’s the biggest year-over-year increase since early 2002, the group said Thursday.
People walk past new homes for sale in Oakville, Ont., in April. Nationally, housing sales increased by 18 per cent during the third quarter, the CREA says. People walk past new homes for sale in Oakville, Ont., in April. Nationally, housing sales increased by 18 per cent during the third quarter, the CREA says. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Building on two previous quarterly increases, seasonally adjusted home sales on the agency’s Multiple Listing Service now stands 48 per cent above the low reached in the fourth quarter last year.

Quarterly sales increases in Vancouver (34 per cent), Toronto (11 per cent), and Calgary (19 per cent) were the largest contributors to the national increase.

The rise in sales activity is combining with fewer new listings to draw down inventories and drive up prices, compared with year-ago levels, the association said.

There were 208,215 homes listed for sale on MLS in Canada at the end of September 2009, down 16 per cent from a year earlier.

That’s the fifth consecutive year-over-year decline in active listings and the largest decline in more than six years, the association said.

On the price side, at $327,736, the average price of a home in Canada rose 11 per cent in the third quarter, compared with a year earlier.

The national average price continues to be skewed upward by a sharp rebound in activity at the higher end of the price spectrum in some of Canada’s priciest markets, the CREA said.

The national average price surpassed all previous monthly levels in September 2009, rising 13.6 per cent year-over-year to $331,602. July and August also posted new average price records.

Several provinces set price records for September. Ontario posted the highest average price on record in the province, at $326,698 — 10.7 per cent higher than the level during the same quarter last year.

Nationally, the number of months of inventory was 4.9 months in September, down slightly from August and well down from the recessionary peak of 12.8 months in January.

Agents must have all the accoutrements that run an office, just like where you work, privately: a computer, a fax machine, a photocopier, a printer (often more than one); some carry pagers, PDA’s and laptops, instant messaging machines; digital cameras, virtual tours, air miles, marketing materials, advertising, web sites, and email ISP contracts; supplies of Board forms that each agent pays for, cartons of paper, printer ink and toner cartridges, often by the case. Secretaries, personal assistants, answering services, and other in-house salaried staff must be paid for, along with a sharing of commissions between each co-operating agent and their appropriate brokerage houses. Revenue Canada takes a share of every commission earned, and Canada Pension fees must be paid as well. Although gst must be paid and is collected on every commission earned, staff must be paid to fill out all the required reports. Hours, every day, must be spent searching the MLS systems for related information on your area. No one person pays an hourly rate to the agent for this type of work. It’s just part of the whole package that the commission pays for.

Each agent must pay for mandatory insurance programs. Real Estate Boards and Provincial and National Associations charge massive fees for Realtors to belong to each one (mandatory participation), because they in turn have a business to run that requires that bills be paid along with the salaries of their related staff. Agents pay to run those associated businesses. Office rent has to be paid, and all the operating costs like hydro, heating, taxes and other related expenses just like you pay where you live and/or work. All these costs are supported and paid for out of the commission that an agent earns. It seems like a lot of money that the public pays, and it is. Usually you pay no money to a Realtor up front, so the agent fields all the expenses from his/her own pocket, often over a period of months, until such time as a pay cheque arrives, often many months after the consummation of a purchase or sale. Example: you buy or sell a house in February and you are scheduled to move in June. The agent can look forward to getting paid sometime in July, and must budget accordingly. When all is said and done after the sale or buying of a house, there is often very little left for the agent to spend on his/her own personal family needs. Although all sales commissions are deemed to be negotiable, due to the Competition Act and we are not permitted to discuss commissions among ourselves due to the fear of being accused of price-fixing, as with any sort of buying power, you always get what you pay for. Out of desperation the agent will sometimes agree to work for less, just to provide for his family a little bit for that one more month, hoping that soon he will make a “big” deal and make up any difference. Seldom happens. Some agents do work part-time, often when someone else in their family has a “real” job, and their commissions pay for personal pleasures such as family vacations. Many licenced agents are choosing to work as paid assistants to top performers, having their commissions totalled into the top producers’ earnings, electing to be paid on a more regular basis, themselves.

Many would-be very good agents leave the business regularly as they figure out their “real costs” of being in the real estate business, when they discover that it is nothing like they imagined, and no one told them how expenses could ruin their lives before they even get started; kind of like student loans and start-up costs that other professionals have, that have to be paid back for years, before they start showing a profit in their own professional practice. It often takes a new agent about three years to start showing a real profit, if they are seriously into the business as producers, ones who are prepared to spend a lot of money initially up front to get their own name out into the marketplace.

Many agents are available 24/7, unlike in other professional practices, and they work very hard, often behind the scenes. The public has no way of knowing what is really going on as the agent tries hard to locate the perfect house for you, or the perfect buyer for your listing. In the up markets agents can earn a higher than average living, but in a down market there often is no income at all. A high percentage of listings never ever do sell, even though the agent has had the expense of carrying the listing and any related marketing costs. Even the costs for installing and removing signs is most often paid by an agent. Many do it themselves to cut costs. Some Realtors are fortunate enough to work in family teams, but when the production is divided among four or five family members, no one individual really has done a massive amount of business or has a lot to show for the hours invested, after all is said and done. The great Realtor works with plenty of kindness, patience and understanding, often needing to wear several hats at once, such as counselor, advisor, confidant, putting his/her own personal feelings aside in order to remain professional at all times, in all circumstances.

Finding the Right Realtor – Do You Know How?

Treat your Realtor right, and you will find that the person you have hired to “represent” you, will go to the ends of the earth for you and won’t permit you to put yourself in any jeopardy, by giving you the best possible advice; sometimes the best advice is simply – take it to your lawyer. In a divorce situation for example, the Realtor, regardless of how he/she may feel, cannot “take sides”, and must work with the real estate related “facts” only. No matter how many hours he/she has worked in a given day, a Realtor must always “keep his cool” and attend to the matters on the table; must be prompt and efficient and “do the job”, because a “job” it is; usually his/her only one. So far as can be researched, a job where all the financial risk is borne up front for what can be several months, by the agent, with no cost to the public, if in the end “nothing happens.”

Remember: your best investment in real estate is your choice of the Realtor you hire to “represent you.” Many apply for the job you are offering. If you are selling, you will sign a listing contract with a Realtor to be “your” agent. If you are buying, be sure to sign a Buyer Agency Buyer Broker contract committing a Realtor to be “your” agent; know that they are working “for you.” Ask “your agent” to spell it all out for you in clear language that you are sure you understand. Don’t rush. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are no dumb questions, except the ones that don’t get asked. Allow at least an hour and maybe two to discuss your options. To do business in today’s environment and protect your interests, agents cannot do their jobs in fifteen minute meetings. Permit them to do their job. Allow them enough time to work “for you”.

*Copyright Carolyne Realty Corp. May not be reproduced by any means without written permission. Protected by International Copyright Law. All rights reserved.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today released its 2010 schedule of eight dates for announcing decisions on its key policy interest rate and confirmed the announcement dates for the remainder of this year.

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The website recently celebrated over 10 years on the Internet and with the new technologies and social networking aspects inherent in Web 2.0  it was decided that we would combine the previous functions of our website with that of a blog site. We hope to add a lot more interesting content as well as get some contributors from across the country involved.

For those of you visiting us for the first time, you may feet that the site is a little small for such a big topic as real estate in Canada. In fact, we have received e-mails from visitors from other countries in the past asking for listing information about homes in Vancouver and Toronto in the same breath.  The size of our country is simply not comprehensible to people from smaller regions. Of course we referred the leads to real estate agents from those locations who advertise with us  as we always do.

So! We hope you will appreciate the new look and feel but more importantly that you will come back again and again and be able to find the type of information you are looking for.

Any comments about our posts, posts written by our contributors or about any information we can help you find would be appreciated.

Initially,  the Pages were developed as a portal to help promote the many related services on the web, but it seems that many business owners with websites still do not appreciate the value of links from high ranking sites  will have to there own. Over time our rank has declined and we are in the process of improving that as well.

If you would  like to become a contributor please send us an email or simply repond in a comment.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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