The Bower Blog

Customer Service does NOT stop at the sale

I had a purchaser visit showing on a property last night.  Although it was not my buyer's first purchase, I was reminded how encompassing a process it is to buy and sell a home by regular people and why our services as realtors are so valuable.  Let me explain.

The home purchase was a woman in her 80's who was selling the family home.  June and Bob (name changed to protect their privacy) had lived in the home for almost 50 years.  The process of selling, moving and signing the documents was overwhelming to them.  During the course of the viewing by my buyer, June asked me multiple questions about what was going to happen on the day of closing, how they were going to get their money, etc.  I carefully explained it to her, even though she was not my seller.  Frankly, I liked her a lot and I was happy to do it, but it got me thinking how we should have a simple step by step guide to help people thru the process.  Even if we verbally explained it, there is so much to understand that a written manual as such would be helpful.  My buyer (bless his boots) complimented my patience in explaining everything but as he expressed to the seller, the process was overwhelming to him and best left in the hands of professionals, i.e. realtors, lawyers, etc. 

Soooo, today I've started a user-friendly, how to guide on maneuvering through the wonderful world of real estate sales in Toronto.  Stay tuned; I'll give you some exerts.

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty ltd.

What I've learned about Buying a New Condo

After my dad died in 2004, my mom found it necessary to scale down from our 3,000 square foot family home in Etobicoke and trade into something more managable.  It was a daunting task and it was decided that besides everything that was of sentiment to my two sisters and myself, most of the furnishings would be sold in a content sale; mom got lucky and one fellow bought most of her household large items.  The smaller stuff was put out in a yard sale on a very cold April morning. 

So the task of buying a condominium needed some criteria, but we weren't too fussy.  Basically, it had to be in Etobicoke.  My mom had lived here her whole adult life and was comfortable in the area.  At the time, Rob and I were considering gearing down in our careers, went with mom to her sales presentation at 1050 The Queensway and quite impulsively, bought a condo as well.  So here has been (mom's and)my experience in buying a new condominium.

1.  There is a 10 day cool off period for a lawyer to look at the mountains of documentation which serves one person only-the builder.  Once you agree to the purchase, there are no good loopholes if you want OUT.  You have to really want this place.

2. Unless you are an engineer, the plans always look huge in comparison to what you actually get when you take possession.  It's quite comical really; our living room looked like a mansion.  It was glass enclosed with 3 walk-outs, one to a balcony and two to a huge terrace (the reason we bought it in the first place!)When we got the keys to the place, the most we could put in that living room was a love seat and two chairs.  The dining area would have to be a 40" table, at best.  You would be most likely to eat at the breakfast bar. 

3.  Do not buy the most expensive condo in the complex.  Because we were thinking to live there forever and travel and not have a mortgage, we got the biggest and best upgrades.  Little did we know that the building would take 4 years to complete and as a consequence, our personal circumstances would change; that this 'huge' unit was not so huge afterall and Rob and I would have killed each other in it and finally, if we had to sell, which we did, we would barely break even financially.  The good news is my mom loved hers and I help her with that unit.  Her criteria was one level and needed to be close to one of us.  At the time, she would have been real close to me (upstairs) and walking distance to my youngest sister, Michele.

Finally, the first year of a condo is a tough one to be a member of the Board of Directors.  There is a lot of hard work involved, lots of meetings and because the builder(s) tend to artifically lower the maintenance fees to attract buyers, the second year can be devasting to some people if the maintenance fees go up.  By law in Ontario, 10% of the maintenance fee has to go into "reserve".  This amount is set aside for big-ticket items that may need to be replaced.  If the maintenace is low, and if the builder has only allowed 10% of the budget in the first year to go into reserve, then the second year can be financially devasting if there are increases.  Some new buildings in Toronto have seen 30-55% increases in their maintenance fees in their second year.  There is legislation in the works demanding that builders set aside 25% of the budget into reserve so this does not happen.  I hope it passes for the sake of new homeowners.

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Service=Everything!

What is the biggest complaint at The Toronto Real Estate Board?

The number one call to the Toronto Real Estate Board is "How do I get out of my contract with my existing agent?"  That is a sad commentary on our profession, don't you think?  It may be like that in other businesses with poor service, but nowhere is it as blatant as ours.  Let me explain.

As realtors, we are hired for a service for a comission; this comission is payable only upon the "delivery of the service".  In other words, when we complete the job we were hired to do, we get paid. If we spend money on marketing or packaging the property and the property does not sell, we don't get paid. Consequently  a number of factors contribute to our receiving a paycheque.

1.  Doing the research necessary to ascertain the price of a seller's home.  This means an analysis of comparable homes and descriptions.  It means determining fair market value for that home and doing the necessary due dillegence in determining that. Overpriced homes often languish on the market; it is not a service to our clients nor is it a way to get paid. 

2.  We prepare a contract with all the necessary details about the home; lot size, room sizes, lot and plan number, disclosures, mortgages, physical descriptions, extras.....etc. etc.

3.  We market the home: in my estimation next to pricing, this is the most important thing we do.  We owe it to our clients to offer suggestions on how to present their home,(clean, smelling fresh and if possible, staged), have professional photographs taken, prepare 'take-away' feature sheets highlighting their home and making sure there is lots of internet presence.

I often wonder what the counsel is of the Toronto Real Estate Board when these calls come in.  I believe a solution could be something I've offered for years; a cancellation contract.  This contract states that in the event the seller was unhappy in any way, that I would cancel the listing. The "catch" of this is I always want to know what the issue is so I can better my service next time.  Clients have asked me before why I offer this and I state simply that I stand behind every promise I make when taking a listing, I believe customer service to be of paramount importance and I am proud of the marketing I do.  As a result, I take pride in my service. To date, I have never had anyone cancel a listing.  

Maybe that is the key; do what we say we are going to do.  Deliver exceptional service.  Wouldn't it be great if the calls coming to TREB were:  "that agent was terrific, we'd like you all to know about her!"

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

The number one call to the Toronto Real Estate Board is "How do I get out of my contract with my existing agent?"  That is a sad commentary on our profession, don't you think?  It may be like that in other businesses with poor service, but nowhere is it as blatant as ours.  Let me explain.

As realtors, we are hired for a service for a comission; this comission is payable only upon the "delivery of the service".  In other words, when we complete the job we were hired to do, we get paid. If we spend money on marketing or packaging the property and the property does not sell, we don't get paid. Consequently  a number of factors contribute to our receiving a paycheque.

1.  Doing the research necessary to ascertain the price of a seller's home.  This means an analysis of comparable homes and descriptions.  It means determining fair market value for that home and doing the necessary due dillegence in determining that. Overpriced homes often languish on the market; it is not a service to our clients nor is it a way to get paid. 

2.  We prepare a contract with all the necessary details about the home; lot size, room sizes, lot and plan number, disclosures, mortgages, physical descriptions, extras.....etc. etc.

3.  We market the home: in my estimation next to pricing, this is the most important thing we do.  We owe it to our clients to offer suggestions on how to present their home,(clean, smelling fresh and if possible, staged), have professional photographs taken, prepare 'take-away' feature sheets highlighting their home and making sure there is lots of internet presence.

I often wonder what the counsel is of the Toronto Real Estate Board when these calls come in.  I believe a solution could be something I've offered for years; a cancellation contract.  This contract states that in the event the seller was unhappy in any way, that I would cancel the listing. The "catch" of this is I always want to know what the issue is so I can better my service next time.  Clients have asked me before why I offer this and I state simply that I stand behind every promise I make when taking a listing, I believe customer service to be of paramount importance and I am proud of the marketing I do.  As a result, I take pride in my service. To date, I have never had anyone cancel a listing.  

Maybe that is the key; do what we say we are going to do.  Deliver exceptional service.  Wouldn't it be great if the calls coming to TREB were:  "that agent was terrific, we'd like you all to know about her!"

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Busy, Busy in the City!

Well, it almost rhymes!  Our Real Estate Market continues to kick butt here in Toronto.  Lots of sales, lots of multiple bids and happiness for sellers and buyers.  The sellers are benefiting because, despite the downturn in the U.S. we are still brisk in sales here; so much so, there is a shortage (again) of great homes on the market.  Case in point:  looking for 3 bedroom bungalow in the west end for 4 different people, between 350-550K.  By the time you have booked your appointment, the offers are already being registered on the property.  And the condo resale market?  Exploding (between 240-340K)

The buyers I have, although sometimes paying over the asking price are in a key position because of the attractive interest rates, still below 4% for 3 year mortgages.  The variables' last post, 2.65%.  Love it.  Low rates create affordability for our key investors, first time buyers. 

Now that the kids are out of school, we should start to see a bit of a slow down, simply because agents as well as sellers/buyers go on holidays and put their plans on hold.  However, it has been a really, really late spring market and I suspect we'll see brisk sales well into July, slowing down a bit in August.  The key is to find the product and pounce on it once it appears.  That's why we're hired, to be on top of the game for our people. 

On another entirely different note, I heard some great things today.  The fundraiser we had on May 7 for the Children's Breakfast Program as well as the Teresa Group, exceeded $18,000.00.  WOW, thank you Toronto, for feeding our kids and taking care of our AIDS babies.

Finally, a guy in my office did a great thing today.  He rented a bin, called his cause the "2 BUCK CHUCK" and encouraged neighbours to bring over their (ever growing and stinky) garbage, chuck it in and donate $2.00 to the Children's Miracle Network, supporting the Hospital for Sick Children.  What a stand up guy; what a great idea...I'm jealous I didn't think of it.  Out of the box thinking...way to go, Dana!

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty ltd.

Busy Making Busy

This is a busy time for us as realtors.  On Friday, before the long weekend, our office phones were ringing off the hook.  So much so that I was disconnected twice by our own staff in the frantic-ness of it all.  I forgive them because I am happy for this busy-ness.  I had done a few deals this week and needed to send a cheque out to Mississauga in the dead of rush hour-courier would have to do; I was not about to brave long weekend traffice at 4 in the afternoon.  So, what happened in all this busy-ness?  The cheque went missing, I had to track the courier company down (they were closed) and see what happened.  The dispatch courier received the call, called his fellow at home (THANK YOU WAYNE, THAT IS GREAT SERVICE) and we ascertained it had arrived in Mississauga however in my insanity on Friday, I had failed to say what the cheque was for, or who it was meant for.  It is likely sitting in a cash box as we speak. 

Mistakes can happen in our business. We are human beings and can mess up sometime.  It is our job to own responsibility for this.  I can tell you that everyone I know in my industry has at one point bought a furnace.  Let me explain.  We are responsible for verifying all the information on a listing.  My very first listing in 1984 stated a gas furnace.  When the deal closed, the lawyers came back to me and said..."Uh, Cheryl.  The furnace was forced air oil."  Guess what?  I paid $1,500. for the conversion.  I think the comission was around that amount too, if I'm not mistaken.  Lesson learned. Be responsible, be deligent and dot your i's, cross your t's.

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

I'm pooped but enjoying my career!

I just passed a milestone-25 years selling real estate.  I was reminiscing about this the other day; how my first deal was a gay couple I had received as clients through a Toronto Star Ad.  My ads in those days read:  10% down, carries for $450.00/month.  The average home price that I was selling was around 50-70K.  At that time, I had two homes to show these boys; they picked one.  I remember doing the deal (my then partner, Dan helped me through it) and when I called them with the good news, they were screaming and joyous and I felt great.  I was a part-time agent at that time my son was just a pup.  When I went to open houses, I would take him with me in a little pouch attached to my front, like a kangaroo.  To this day I think he is as social as he is because of all the attention and interaction he had.

So, why am I enjoying myself now?  The deals often take anywhere from 3-7 days to pull together; people walking away from transactions, only to return a few days later and hard, hard, core negotiations.  Some may think this to be a grind, but I pull out my bag of experience and use it to help both the buyers and sellers maneuver their way through the wonderful world of real estate.  It's like being a teacher in a way; requires a tremendous amount of patience, perseverance and listening skills.  I'm also having a good time because I actually think this will be a good year; certainly there are agents out there who are hurting; maybe they give up too easily.  Water finds its own level and I think the agents who aren't succeeding will find alternative ways to make a living.  I feel sorry for some; they've hung their hats on making a go of it, however it's not necessarily the career for everyone.  The unfortunate part of the real estate courses is they do not teach you diplomacy or selling skills.  They teach you basic knowledge on how to prepare an offer, what clauses you need, etc.  Important stuff for sure, but you're either born a salesperson or you work damn hard to hone that skill.  Not for the faint of heart.

Why Realtors are Valuable

I have had a relatively good start to the year in sales; when the global uncertainty hit back in October, there was a lot of fear with both buyers, seller and us realtors.  Uncertainty breeds that; not knowing if you will have job security, wondering if the sky is going to fall and real estate goes to hell in a handbasket, etc.  As a result of this, most of us were quite slow in our sales in November and December.  Coincidently, this is when we are usually slow-people wind down and start to think about Christmas, Hanakah and the holidays. 

So when January came around and despite negative media attention to the economy, the sales slowly started to trickle in again.  By March, I have been run off my feet.  What happened?  Why the turnaround?  You can even see it when you are driving around; instead of sad flapping FOR SALE signs, we see, SOLD, SOLD, SOLD.  I think what happened are a number of things:

1. we have record low interest rates; my friend, Dianne Chafe of Oriana Financial (www.OrianaFinancial.com ) sent an interesting little ditty to our emails last week.  If you have a mortgage of $500,000.00 on last year's rates: (about 5.99% at one point), the monthly is:  $3,200.00.

If you buy a new home and your mortgage is $600,000.00, your monthly is (currently 3.99% for 5 years): $3,156.00 (less than a year ago!!)

Great news for trade-up buyers!

The other thing that has happened is a transition from a seller's market to a balanced or leaning toward a buyer market.  Make no mistake, there are still multiple bids in key areas of the city.  I have been on 4 offer presentations lately and all had more than one offer. We are not seeing the crazy escalations above the list price (in my case, some were only $3,000 to $5,000 over the asking price). 

The combination of above is a wonderful opportunity for our key people, our first time buyers to enter the marketplace.  When the first-timers come in, it allows this movement, trade up, trade down, go to an assisted living facility.  It's a wonderful circle.

Why are we valuable?  We can advise people of the wonderful opportunities out there; but most importantly, for me, we are in this intense contractual relationship with our buyers and sellers for a few weeks or months.  Shouldn't we as agents, all feel a sense of responsibility in counselling these important people?  Our job is not over after the sale; we owe it to these folks to help up to and including the day of closing....and beyond.

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

Glass Half Full

I'm a glass half full kinda gal; always have been and I guess since I'm now in my 50's, probably always will be.  I believe that when dealt a lemon, make lemonade. 

It interests me that as of late, the press is looking for those big stories that sell newspapers and blanket us with negative thoughts.  Take for example The Toronto Star.  Recently Tony Wong posted an article from a broker in my industry saying that he was downsizing his company because of the recession and a lot of his sales representatives had left for bigger companies.  In my estimation, the best thing someone can do is to solicit more agents to join you not less; don't downsize, expand, for heavens sake. 

Smaller brokerages do not have a better chance of surviving in this new market unless they're selling   a lot of houses.The posted statistics of his brokerage showed his agents are "not" selling a lot of houses.  Given the small profit margin that is typical in real estate brokerages and given the generous packages they have to offer the agents to retain them, this formula is not designed to make money.

I am not a fan of the how big my company has become; it's lost the family-ness I experienced in 1990 when I joined RE/MAX from another company; however, I feel very secure in my organization because we have attracted the cream of the crop. Educational opportunities, coupled with a great group of people make a great company, a sustainable company, plus I know my Brokers will always keep our company monetarily safe. The more signs my company has, the easier my presentations to buyers and sellers are.  Reason?  Market Share.  At some point, I believe we will have 50%-55% of the market in Central East Toronto.  That's a lot of business.  We already exceed 40%.

I guess the good thing about negative thinkers are they eventually burn themselves out, leave the business and the strong survive.  In 1991-1994, the realtor "population went from around 30,000 to 17,000.  That's good; it shows the strongest surviving and the part-time agents or people not cutting the mustard, getting out.

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

 

Contrary to Media Reports...we are just ticking along!

Posted by my illustrious leader this morning:

Wednesday morning is office meeting day for our Riverdale office. Realtors from the Riverdale office and from our many other offices gather to discuss the current market, promote new listings and review current listings. It's a weekly tradition in our offices throughout our company which helps us keep up to date. At the close of the meeting, we gather in a caravan of sorts to view our listings throughout the neighbourhood.

At today's meeting we discussed the current market. What's really happening out there? Is the real estate market active, what's selling? None of the stuff which is written in the newspapers, but current, up to date real information shared by professionals.

The Realtors at this meeting overwhelming talked about the multiple offer situations they have been on lately, mostly with houses priced from $400,000. - $600,000.00. Well priced homes in this price category, in great locations were getting plenty of interest from buyers. The Realtors commented that more and more people were out looking at open houses with each passing weekend. These weren't just tire kickers, but genuine buyers prepared to make decisions about homes. Our mortgage rep commented his clients were telling him that the combination of low low mortgage interest rates, combined with well priced homes were strong motivating factors for buyers.

It was agreed that higher priced homes were taking longer to sell, but with strong activity in lower priced properties, it was just a matter of time before the trade up market would be more active. On a side note, this month company unit sales are up strongly when compared to last year at this time, and the average sale price of homes sold in our company has increased as well. Not quite what the press is reporting but a market fact.

We also discussed the hot topic of the day, the energy plan put forward by the government to certify each home as energy efficient. Basically, it has been proposed by the government that each homeowner would have to have their home energy assessed prior to selling. This proposal would cost each homeowner $300.00. It isn't cast in stone yet but it might as well be. Although most of the Realtors are "green" when it comes to their lives, the proposal wasn't popular. Anytime our government gets involved in adding costs to a home purchase, it is met with skepticism. Many suggested the idea was a good one, but the process was up to debate. Time will tell, but in my view it will come to pass and we will get on with our lives.

Green is the new black. 

Ken McLachlan

Broker/Owner RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

 

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

  

 

Wednesday morning is office meeting day for our Riverdale office. Realtors from the Riverdale office and from our many other offices gather to discuss the current market, promote new listings and review current listings. It's a weekly tradition in our offices throughout our company which helps us keep up to date. At the close of the meeting, we gather in a caravan of sorts to view our listings throughout the neighbourhood.

At today's meeting we discussed the current market. What's really happening out there? Is the real estate market active, what's selling? None of the stuff which is written in the newspapers, but current, up to date real information shared by professionals.

The Realtors at this meeting overwhelming talked about the multiple offer situations they have been on lately, mostly with houses priced from $400,000. - $600,000.00. Well priced homes in this price category, in great locations were getting plenty of interest from buyers. The Realtors commented that more and more people were out looking at open houses with each passing weekend. These weren't just tire kickers, but genuine buyers prepared to make decisions about homes. Our mortgage rep commented his clients were telling him that the combination of low low mortgage interest rates, combined with well priced homes were strong motivating factors for buyers.

It was agreed that higher priced homes were taking longer to sell, but with strong activity in lower priced properties, it was just a matter of time before the trade up market would be more active. On a side note, this month company unit sales are up strongly when compared to last year at this time, and the average sale price of homes sold in our company has increased as well. Not quite what the press is reporting but a market fact.

We also discussed the hot topic of the day, the energy plan put forward by the government to certify each home as energy efficient. Basically, it has been proposed by the government that each homeowner would have to have their home energy assessed prior to selling. This proposal would cost each homeowner $300.00. It isn't cast in stone yet but it might as well be. Although most of the Realtors are "green" when it comes to their lives, the proposal wasn't popular. Anytime our government gets involved in adding costs to a home purchase, it is met with skepticism. Many suggested the idea was a good one, but the process was up to debate. Time will tell, but in my view it will come to pass and we will get on with our lives.

Green is the new black. 

Ken McLachlan

Broker/Owner RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

 

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

  

Spring into Spring: The Art of Decluttering

Recently I went to appraise a home; essentially the folks thought they were ready for market however there was much clutter, so much so in fact, they had to hire one of the PODS from Home Depot.  It was filled to capacity.  It has taken months to go through 30 years of living in one place and the task is monumental.

My esteemed colleague Duncan recently put together a concise, recycling list.  When in doubt, any of these fine organizations can use your used items.  I intend to take this list, add my own favourites and ship it out to my client base.  It is very helpful when the decluttering task is before you!

Arts and Crafts - www.sketch.ca

Automobiles (and who hasn't got an old junker in the back yard) - www.carheaven.ca

Clothing - www.goodwill.on.ca or www.salvationarmy.ca     

Cell phones - www.think-food.com

Computers - www.rebootcanada.ca (you may get a nice sizeable tax receipt also)

Eyeglasses - www.givethegiftofsight.com

Furniture and Small Appliances - www.furniturebank.org (tax receipts available on some items)

Infant and Toddler Supplies - www.jessiescentre.org

Ink Cartridges - www.diabetes.ca  (click on "support us")

Paint and Hazardous Waste - www.toronto.ca (click on "garbage and recycling")

Renovation Supplies - www.torontohabitat.on.ca

Sporting Equipment - www.kidsport.on.ca

HAPPY SPRING!

Cheryl Bower

www.CherylBower.com

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.