Posts by Sheldon:
- What if any cancellation fees apply if we cancel, terminate our listing or our property does not sell with you?
- Structuring the deal – How are you buying it? Personally? Are your children going to be on title as first time buyers? Are you placing it in a corporation? These important considerations will have massive implications from an ongoing tax perspective and some estate planning issues as well (talk to your accountant).
- Estate planning – What would you want to happen to the property if something happened to you? Do you want it to be passed to your children? If you have one of your children on title that will complicate that somewhat. What if something happens to you and your estate has to sell the property you were planning to have your child live in for the next four or more years (talk to your lawyer)?
- Renting – You are going to be a landlord now and you should have all your agreements in writing especially if your children are going to have room mates and if they are going be on title it's essential.
- Women are more likely to make up their mind quickly
- Women would rather live closer to family than work
- Men would rather live closer to KFC then work. OK just kidding this wasn't a result.
- Home security is a deal breaker for both men and women
- 70% of couples responded that no one person wears the proverbial pants in the family
- Talk things through - Buying a home can be stressful. Often a little communication can go a long way. This may help prevent rash, heat of the moment decisions that pave the way to divorce court.
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Remove yourself – Sometimes when you see something you really like one of the best things you can do is take yourself out of the pressure cooker. Go for dinner, have a hot tub, go for a walk and try to talk about something else. Let your subconscious mind absorb the meat and potatoes of the problem. (This is very difficult to do in a hot market but it's worth it.
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Think a little beyond today - As a young couple who is newly married buying a 1 bedroom condo may not the best move unless you've thought it through. Real estate is a long term investment so plan on buying a home you can live with for at least 5 years.
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Work with anybody – I mean, seriously why put some thought and effort into who is going to work with you, just go with the first person you meet at an open house. What could possibly go wrong? (OK what I actually mean is research who you are going to work with, interview REALTORS® and decide who will best meet your needs and who you will actually get along with.)
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There will always be another one – I don't mean you should go out and replace your spouse. When I was buying a home years ago, I brought my parents through the home and was very excited about it. In the meantime another offer came in that the sellers accepted. Although it was somewhat disheartening, in time another came along and it actually ended up being a better home for me. Of course the exception is if you have very specific requirements and the right one comes along it's probably best you act quickly.
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Keep an open mind, be flexible - Keep your options open to area, style, size and so on.
- You should always be the last review of anything that you are putting your name to.
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There are alot of very responsible agents who would never have you sign something like a blank fom. Use one of them.
- Have kids
- Have pets
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Become a landlord
Edmonton Photo of the Week – Lawn Art or Trash?
September 21st, 2009
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?
From time to time as I drive through the communities of Edmonton that I do business in, I see that special yard… The one where they've made an artistic addition, a real statement. Lawn orbs and gnomes don't count.
Art is highly subjective. For example, one of the exhibits at the New York Muesum of Modern right now is crap on a piece of paper. No really it's some form of perserved do-do on a blank piece of paper.
So do you love modern art or are you a little more like me? To me art – like the statue in the front yard of a home in West Edmonton -should make you think, and should have required some skill to create. If not then its just lawn trash. This statue may not quench everyone's thirsts or tastes, and it may be distracting if you were trying to sell the property. But it if beauty really is in the eye of the beholder I wonder what the neighbours that drive by this art everyday think?
I for one applaud their art. If you've seen some Edmonton lawn art or trash send it in for the photo of the week.
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Top 5 in Edmonton
September 15th, 2009
Anyone who thinks being in this industry is easy is just plain crazy. Even the best of us can disappoint someone who will then proceed to rip your name apart all over the place. Fact is no one's perfect.
There's an old marketing adage that if you do something well your customer might tell a few people. Disappoint them and they'll tell 50 of their friends how horrible you are. If you ask me that adage was created before the internet and certainly before Facebook (by the way The Edmonton Real Estate Blog has a fan page on facebook… omg, like really), Yelp and so on. So when you do something so well that your customer wants to tell the world that's something to be proud of. More so than the fact that you're the top dweeb in your office. OK, I'm the top dweeb in my office so I'm making fun, but people really do put too much emphasis on the stats of an agent.
So I'm extremely friggen proud of Nathan Mol who was ranked as one of Edmonton's top 5 REALTOR's by Metro Edmonton. And to think the Pastor at his orphanage said he'd never amount to a hill o'beans. Seriously though to do something that has your customer talking positively about you is every boss's dream. I'm just going to stop here before Nathan thinks I dream of him.
Truly we are proud to have Nathan as a partner and have now officially nicknamed him "top 5" since he's kind of a big deal. Truly you couldn't meet or work with someone nicer.
You can read a very creative story our Client Service Manager Sarah made up about Nathan, or you can read the true story about Nathan on Nathan Mol's bio page on our web site or drop him a line at nathan@teamjohnston.com.
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Cha-Ching – Cancellation Fees?
September 10th, 2009"Money, it's a gas" as Pink Floyd is famous for belting out. If you haven't guessed by now from reading our blog over the years, my life is one big sound track. While sitting with some first time sellers the other day I was asked a simple but poignant question. "How much will it cost us if we don't sell?" The simple answer is nothing at all. However with over 3000 REALTORS in the Edmonton area – the answer may not be the same for every one.
With that in mind, the question to get answered up front, and in writing is:
Some will answer nothing, but there is a diversity of marketing plans, fee structures and business models that apply. You should not assume that everyone does as we do. Just like not everybody does what we do to market our properties and just like not everybody has someone spefically to handle the marketing of our properties the same can be said when it comes to cancellation/termination fees as well.
The Real Estate Association of Edmonton charges me $150.00 termination fee to terminate a listing off of MLS and some pass that on to their clients, many REALTORS absorb that cost and many charge additional fees above that for cancelling a listing. A large number of factors can come into play with this. However its always good to know what the whole story is when you're listing your home.
(Note:This article does not cover any rights an agent may have for compensation should the property be cancelled and sold).
If you see this article posted anywhere other than www.edmontonrealestateblog.com please let us know.
Tour de UofA – A must read for parents buying real estate for their children
August 27th, 2009On a recent post I brought up that condos close to the University of Alberta were hot right now. In reality properties close to Nait and Grant Macewan also doing very well. However with the UofA at around 26,000 students its definitely the grand daddy of the post secondary schools in our market place. Homes in these areas are doing well at this time as well. Just recently I met with a Century 21 agent who lives in another market and wants to sell the property that she's owned for the past 7 years that all of her children have lived in while they attended the UofA.
For something a little different we arranged for our team to take a tour of the UofA so that when we are helping families who are buying in Edmonton for their kids we are more familiar with the campus and facilities.
Highlites included the new multi million dollar inter disciplanary science building with an 800 seat lecture theatre (currently the largest lecture theatre at the UofA has 456 seats), the oldest building on campus, Athabasca hall (built in 1911), 2 of the 11 liabraries, and much more.
The top 3 things anyone buying an investment property in Edmonton for their children should consider:
Last thing you want is a good investment that has served its purpose for years become a problem because of poor planning at the beginning or due to something unforseen.
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Battle of the Sexes- Top 6 Tips for Couples Buying a Home in Edmonton
August 26th, 2009Who wears the pants in your family? In my 20 years of helping buyers and sellers of real estate in the Edmonton area I have had some pretty unique opportunities to observe people in some fairly high stress situations. Recently Coldwell Banker did a survey to find out once and for all who wears the pants in the family when it comes to real estate. The results pretty much just reaffirmed my observations but some of the findings were a little interesting.
Men it seems highly overvalue their opinions and women underestimate theirs. Oops that's my observations, not what the report said.
The actual key survey findings are:
As a REALTOR® and part time marriage counselor here's my Top 6 things that can help make the buying process a little easier for couples:
In the end my honest opinion its more about personality type then sex that determines how people negotiate.
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Blank forms – Just say NO! Never! Absolutely not!
August 18th, 2009From time to time I hear of things that just make me cringe. This is one of them – signing a blank contract or form for the agent to complete later. I don't know why anyone would ever consent to this, and I can't thing of any reason for it to happen at all, other then the agent is too lazy to do things correctly.
Just so you don't think I'm a heartless here's how it might go down… You trust the agent you are working with and while you're negotiating things are changing rapidly, so they suggest you sign a blank amendment/addendum and once the details are agreed to they will complete the pre-signed form. You trust them so it must be okay. Sounds easy enough, except anything could go on that form including mistakes and you'd be responsible for them. Since you signed it, you are on the hook for whatever is on it. So if someone ever puts a blank form in front of you all I can say is your smartest move would be to kick them to the curb and get someone else to represent you:
Attention landlords and wannabe landlords…
August 13th, 2009Have you ever wondered how you could own something that somebody else can wreck? There's 3 really good ways to do this:
If you or anyone you know wants more information about being a landlord in Edmonton there's only one place to go. No not here. The landlord and tenant advisory board has put together a course for people who are interested in or already own property for the purposes of renting in Edmonton.
It's called the "How to own something and have no rights" course. I'm kidding. It's the "2009 Landlord course" and apparently there is information on identifying problem situations, like the old "the cheque is in the mail" which really means "I've got a get out of rent free card," or finding options to solving difficult situations, like when your lease says no pets and you show up for your first inspection and they have a lion in the living room. It will also help you prevent or reduce disputes.
The available dates are September 10,17, and 24th or November 12, 19 or the 26. You can contact them (The Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board at 780 496 5959) to register or go to their website.
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Stats delayed…still
August 3rd, 2009In order to create a conspiracy we are with holding the stats until we have the numbers looking like we want them or the REA (REALTOR's Association of Edmonton) has not yet published them. Our guess is that they haven't been published them due to the long weekend and a glitch but who really knows why.
My daughter asked me yesterday if the illumanati was responsible for 9/11. I asked who told her this and she told me the priory of scion did. I'm kidding of course. As soon as they are available Sara will chart them and put them up.
We hope you continue to have a safe long weekend.
Sheldon
Real Estate Jargon 101 – Who’s buying your listing?
July 20th, 2009In our industry you sometimes hear agents refer "buying a listing." That does not mean what it sounds like… that they made the seller an offer in writing that was unconditional and the seller accepted it so the property is now sold. Oh no my friends that is not what it means. What it means is that contrary to other evidence and information, the seller was given an exaggerated value by the agent. This was either done knowingly to make sure they secured (bought) the listing and they'll begin work on getting it "reduced" right away, or they were inexperienced and unable to give an accurate value for the property, or it was outside their area of expertise.
Now I know what you're thinking: "So what, the agent won't get paid on it anyways if it doesn't sell." Of course you'd be wrong by thinking that. They may not get paid on that specific listing, but they will use that listing to prospect for buyers, and to generate confidence with other sellers to obtain other listings.
So the next time you hear someone say they"bought that listing" you'll know what's really happened.
Gazumped
May 20th, 2009I was out with a young couple from the U.K. this weekend who are relocating to Edmonton and it reminded me of a recent dinner I had with a former Calgary city planner, who relocated from the U.K. well over 3 decades ago. We talked about the major and minor differences in buying a property in Alberta versus the U.K.
For example, in Alberta we use the Torrens system of land registry. To many of you this will mean nothing but it means a world of difference in how we deal with titles and title insurance.
Another difference we discussed was the length of time it takes for the whole process to take place. Although both systems are based on English common law, transfers can occur much quicker here then there.
The discussion went on as usual until he laid “gazumped” on me. It makes me laugh now every time I’m gazumped.
Because of the time it takes to get things finalized in Geat Britain, another buyer can come along and gazump the first offer. We might refer to this as “sandbagging” the other offer.
Since that dinner earlier this month, I too have been gazumped. However, I have a slightly different application of the term. There have been a number of occassions when we have looked at a property with a buyer, we have taken our time to research, prepare our offer and review their options, and by the time we submitted the offers on properties we were gazumped by another offer.
So no matter where you are, no matter how things work, no matter the language it looks like there are the gazumpers and the gazumped.
