This week has been a bit of a blur. A fun blur at least. REBarCamp Toronto ( http://www.rebarcampto.com/ ) , 2 days of RealtorQuest ( http://www.realtorquest.ca/)  and then Bosley U. Where did the week go? Well, with all that behind me, at least now I have some time to talk about our Monday morning meeting.  I thought this week  it might be fun to outline some of the things we as Realtors know. There is an old expression that says Jack of all trades and master of none. In real estate I’m not so sure that is the case. So, I asked the simple question. “What are the topics you get asked on a daily basis”? You may be surprised at the answers. As it turns out we actually know a lot. I had so many responses that I ran out of paper…twice. Have a look. Did we miss anything?

Through our discussion, we covered nearly 70 things that we know something about. How? Either through our training, CEU credit courses, Mastermind and Monday meetings and talks around the water cooler. Naturally we don’t specialize in every one of these items but we certainly have a good understanding of them or can direct a buyer or seller to the right person to talk to. One thing is certain, when a skilled agent walks into a home, he is probably going through this list wondering if there is anything applicable to his buyer or seller. I wonder if a mere posting company has this knowledge?

Have a great weekend!

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

It was once believed that open houses were just another way to meet potential clients. On the contrary, I believe  they are “Ground Zero” for showing off your professionalism. While agents spend time on-line looking to expand their network, they may just be neglecting the one sure way to make an instant connection with a captive audience. Don’t be fooled though. Today’s buyers are a savvy bunch and if you don’t know your stuff, you are dead in the water. Like a flyer through the mail slot, you only have a few seconds to make a connection with the person who just walked in the front door.  More and more people are heading to open houses unrepresented. Perhaps it is their belief that dealing directly with the listing agent gives them the advantage. With the spring market firmly upon us, I thought it was time to offer up some tips for nailing that open house.

1. Tell 40. Have a feature sheet printed out with some information on the house and deliver it to the immediate neighbors. 10 on each side of the house and 20 across the street. Let them know yo are doing an open house and invite them over for a sneak peek 1/2 hour before the open house starts. Okay, the neighbors aren’t likely to buy BUT they might know people or, at the very least, they might remember you when they need to sell.

2. Promote your open house on-line. It’s one thing to Tweet out a message that you are holding an open house on the weekend, but to really capture some interest, make the tweet interesting and provide a link to your website so people can get more info on the house before hand. Tweeting it out once isn’t enough. Aim to send a messages out before, during and after. Don’t forget your other social media assets like Facebook and linkedIn.

3. Make sure you have done your research. The last thing you want is to draw a blank when a potential client to ask you about a sale down the street. Have a handle on active listings, recent solds, new restaurants, schools, parks, grocery stores and transit. It’s important to share any “scoop” you might have on the neighbourhood. Doing so builds instant trust.

4. Have some snacks. Source out a local delicacy. Custard tarts in Little Italy or walnut cakes in Korea-town are great things to chat about and keep the visitor engaged in conversation and lets face it, the more time you have to make a connection the better off you are.

5. Get signs out early. If you feel like you are encroaching on someone’s property, knock on the door and ask permission, and invite them to swing by the open house while you are at it. Great manners go a long way to building relationships. It might not be for every situation, but make directions to your house easy to follow by tying balloons to your signs. Also consider an open house rider on your lawn sign.

6. Be at the open house at least 20 minutes early. Get the lights on, close the toilet seat covers and make sure the house is looking its best.  Have ample brochures available. Have a sign in sheet. People hate signing in so let them know that the seller has requested it for security reasons and   let them know they can opt out of future contact. Of course you really want to stay in touch so ask them if they want to be notified when it sells or if they want to book a time to revisit the house.

7. Consider having a slide show on your iPad running with an electronic brochure that can be sent directly to the visitor. It saves on paper and people are more likely to share it with their friends.

8. Don’t lose control. On a hot new listing, things can get out of hand very quickly. If you suspect it might get nuts, consider having another agent working with you. We have had situations where there have been 80-90 people through in one afternoon. It’s stressful. I would also consider having another agent working with you.  If you are doing an open house in a condo they can give visitors a feature sheet and send them up in the elevator.

9. Treat agents as you would clients. If an agent is bringing clients to the open house you know that they are serious. Offer feature sheets to them, not their clients. If a visitor comes in and tells you they are working with an agent, get that agent’s name and phone them to let them know their clients went through your open house.

10. Finally, the work doesn’t stop when the open house is over. Touch base with your top prospects as soon as possible. Send out thank you notes to via email or snail mail. To be truly successful at an open house you must spend as much time, or more, following up after your day.

One final note. Last year I had a gentlemen come in to my office to talk about joining our firm. One of the questions I asked him was “why us”? His response was simple. When he went into our company’s open houses he knew what to expect. There was an extra level of comfort and support  that put him at ease right away. There is an important lesson here. At the end of the day, real estate is about building relationships and while we strive to find more ways to connect with people on-line, we shouldn’t forget the importance of the open house.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

When you spend as much time in the office as I do, you get to hear some pretty interesting things. Last week was no different. I got to sit in on a great story; One agent was telling another agent that she was  in her third sign back on a house. She was handling it well. The house had been on the market for several weeks and hadn’t sold. Both the sellers and the buyers were digging in their heels on price, and the agent was explaining that they were going back for the third try, in ten days, this time without the patio set and the built-in BBQ.

It had me thinking. Is this multiple offer market making us forget about the fine art of real estate negotiating? Buyers are coming to the table with condition free offers. They are giving sellers everything they want in an effort to secure the house. The only thing separating the winner from the loser is the size of the bag of money but when the house doesn’t sell in multiple offers some agents are left thinking…..ok, now what? The answer is simple. It is time to negotiate.

Wikipedia defines negotiation as a dialogue between two parties intended to reach an understanding, resolve a point of difference, or gain an advantage to produce an agreement. Negotiation is a process where each party tries to gain an advantage for themselves by the end of the process. Negotiation is intended to aim at compromise.

I am reminded of a story of a new real estate agent who was an amazingly skilled negotiator. Back in the eighties, this agent, a recent immigrant to Canada, with limited English, carved a very successful career within his community. At the time (25 years ago) the real estate market was a completely different creature, yet this agent would constantly amaze his fellow agents. While most would be tempted to give up after five or six sign backs, this agent would often negotiate 30 sign backs. When questioned about his tactics his response was simple. He knew that if he could get one person to sign an agreement he would have a deal……it just took a bit of time.

A successful negotiation doesn’t always end when the two parties meet in the middle. The reality is that there is far too much emotion in the process for that to happen. Successful negotiation begins with listening to both parties and evolves into a little give and take. “I will give you this if you will give me that”.  While money is an important motivator, it can often be the simpler things that get a deal done, like a closing date or an inclusion. Recently the Brel Team, who works out of my office, wrote this great post on negotiating. Check it out here. http://www.getwhatyouwant.ca/2012/04/09/the-blog-i-swore-id-never-write/

There is no question that we are going to run into a completely different set of challenges when the market balances or moves into a buyer’s market. Successful agents will need to transition from skilled persuaders to trusted negotiators.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

Happy Monday. The great weather has put a spring in everyone’s step so I thought I would take advantage of overall positive mood in the office to get some audience participation going during our morning meeting. So, after getting all the house keeping out-of-the-way, I asked each agent to come up with a word or phrase that completed this sentence; “I’m successful because……” When you get right down to it, success cannot be attributed to just one thing, so it was interesting to get the agents to evaluate their attributes and pick one single answer. I wrote down all the answers and stuck them to our front desk. Check out the responses below.

The next thing I did was to rearrange the answers into two categories. The first, or “soft qualities” on the right are those intrinsic qualities that we hopefully all have. They are qualities  like “I’m honest” or “I work hard” or “I’m likeable” . The second category deals with learned behaviour like ” my message is consistent” or ”I work in a niche market” or ” I spend a lot of money on branding” These  ”hard qualities” take a lot more time to develop . It was clear that everyone gauges their successes differently. Check out the rearranged list below.

While there are no right or wrong answers the takeaway from this exercise is pretty straightforward. When asked, the agents, experienced or new to the game, could specifically pinpoint the single biggest factor in their success, however they were quick to point out that it wasn’t the only thing. Success comes from doing a bunch of things really well.  Naturally I would love to hear from other agents on what they would add to my list.

Have a great week.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

“Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital” American Professor Aaron Levenstien.

Months ago, at one of my Monday morning meetings, I wanted to drive home a point about the top 1% of agents (by ends) currently in The Toronto Real Estate Board. I took out my trusty tape measure that used to accompany me on every appointment and told everyone to imagine that each centimetre represented 10 agents in TREB. I fixed one end to the edge of our front desk and asked the agents to shout stop when they figured I had reached the number of centimetres that represented the top 1%. Off I walked. I got about 3 metres before I heard the first ‘stop’. Guess what? That 3 metre distance, representing over 3000 agents, was ten times higher than the actual number. Strange but true. The top 1% of TREB, in terms of number of ends, is represented by fewer than 360 agents. Wow! This was fascinating to me so I worked with our General Manager, Ann Bosley, to break down the numbers even further. What came to light was a very interesting story. Check out this first graph;

This first graph is very interesting. In a very unscientific manner, I determined that agents become full-time when they sell over 6 properties in a year. It is fascinating to see that this graph represents a full 71.2% of the nearly 34,000 agents who fit into the category of “Part-timers”. Even more amazing was that a whopping 6136 agents, a full 18.6% of  the Toronto Real Estate Board did not sell a property last year. Note how the percentage of agents in each category diminishes as the number of deals an agent does increases.  TREB membership has grown by over 1/3 in the last ten years and it seems clear to me that this segment of the membership will be particularly vulnerable to a downturn in our economy and if we were faced with as deep a recession as we saw in 1989, we could lose a significant number of agents.

This next graph deals with full-time agents. What’s particularly interesting about this graph is the number of deals the top 1%  do per year. At the very top of TREB are the group I have categorized as the “Super Ultra Agents”. This elite group consisting of only 7 agents represent a mere .02% of TREB. They almost exclusively work as team leaders and they sell over 200 units per year. The next group, the “Ultra Agents”, consists of just 39 agents or .12% of the total TREB membership. They also work as team leaders and sell between 100 and 200 properties a year. The next category is reserved for the “Super Agents” who sell between 50 and 100 properties per year. While there are nearly 150 agents in this category they represent only .45% of the membership. Finally, rounding up the top 1% are the 164 agents that are selling between 40 and 50 deals a year.

The middle group, particularly the agents that are selling 7 to 12 units per year represent the most significant category. They are the biggest group of full-time agents, nearly 5300 agents or 16% of TREB membership. They are working hard enough to get nearly a sale a month, but with an average sale of $500k, this group is making a yearly income of between $87,000 and $150,000 before office split and expenses.

Several months ago I produced an interesting Infographic on the Canadian Realtor, check it out here;http://bit.ly/w9UfpV . The research clearly illustrated that not only is the Toronto Real Estate Board the biggest board in Canada,  it is over three times the size of the next biggest board, Vancouver. So why did we spend so much time doing the math? Simple, having an insight into the demographics of our board helps us to be better managers. These graphs are an amazing visual explanation on agent performance. I can see what the agents in our company are doing compared to the industry as a whole and I can work with agents to help them jump to the next category.  What is clear is that at the very least, agents should be striving to hit the 7-12 transaction target as quickly as possible and as a dedicated manager it is my job to get them there.

A few notes on the information gathered here. The statistics on agent performance are collected by a third-party, independently audited company called IMS Incorporated. When you see an agent claiming to be in the top 1%, it is almost always supported by IMS numbers. For the purposes of this post, the numbers provided only deal with units sold, not dollar volume, over the last calendar year. There is a small margin of error in some of my math. Don’t forget that there are a number of new agents that are working full-time but have yet to record a transaction. Also, the numbers do not report new construction sales.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

This one is a classic that never fails to surprise me. An agent in my office, lets call him Robert, calls me over the weekend to vent his frustration over the actions of an agent at another firm. Here is the story; After several weeks of looking at houses, Robert’s client decides to offer on a house that has been on the market for several weeks. It is listed at $499k. The client has financing in place so Robert draws up an offer, conditional on a home inspection, for $475k. After presenting at the seller’s home, Robert waits in his car while the agent discusses the offer with her sellers. About 10 minutes later, the  listing agent calls Robert to tell him that the sellers have signed back at $510k.

Wait a second. You can’t do that! We all know that you can’t list a house for one price and sign it back for a higher price, right? That’s like advertising a sofa for sale at $499 and when you check out the cashier tells you it’s actually $799. It’s a little thing we in the trade like to call “false advertising”.

Well, Robert calls me to share the story and we both shake our heads in astonishment. There are just so many things wrong with this story. First of all, the house has been on the market for several weeks at $499k, hasn’t anyone come to the conclusion that if it hasn’t sold by now, it is probably overpriced? Well the story gets even stranger. Robert tells the agent that he has a mind to report her to RECO and tells her that she should change the price on MLS to a higher price. The listing agent promises to make the changes if we don’t report her. You see, she tells Robert that she is new and needs to sell this house. (this is me, scratching my head in disbelief again).

A few days goes by and the house is re-listed for $509k. The listing agent calls Robert and suggests to him that if he can get his client to improve his offer, she is certain she can convince her buyers to accept an offer well under $500k. With really nothing to lose, Robert gets his client to improve to $490k. he faxes the offer over to the agent and gets a sign back for $507k. Understandably the buyer has decided to move on and the listing agent is now back at square one; marketing a  more expensive home that she couldn’t sell at a lower price over the last few weeks. Genius!

I’m pretty sure this stuff is taught at real estate college yet I hear similar stories over and over again so what’s the problem?  It’s either because agents are not being trained or mentored properly, OR, they are not explaining the rules of engagement to their clients. Either way, it is not looking good on the agents that pride themselves on professionalism. One good thing comes out of it though, I get great material to blog about.

Oh, and the picture, well, I googled “stupid” and this was one of the images that came up. Classic.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

If someone gave you $100k tax-free, what would you do? Go on a trip around the world? Buy a new car? Maybe quit your job and go back to school? Now let me ask you; what would you do if you lost $100k because your agent screwed up? If you are like most people you would probably start by screaming and pulling out your hair. Of course, I am talking about bully offers. This is the second time I have written about it. You can check out another article hear, http://bit.ly/yadRHu but this post talks about what happens when bully offers go bad.

Here is the story. The names have been changed to protect the guilty and I modified the price. Agent Liz lists a stunning home in downtown Toronto for  $1.2m and decides, with the seller, to hold back offers. On the first day of the listing Agent Bob shows the house to his client who is absolutely in love with the home. Bob’s client lost out the night before on a $1.3m house that needed several hundred thousand dollars in renovation so when he saw Agent Liz’s house he figured he could go as high as 1.6m. He tells  Agent Bob that he wants to bid high on the house and that he has been approved by his bank. Agent Bob calls Agent Liz and tells her that he will be coming to the table on offer night and asks that he be kept in the loop should anything develop before offer night. Agent Liz agrees. The next day, the house is reported sold by Agent Jay in a bully offer for $1.5m. Agent Bob is furious. He calls Agent Liz who tells him that there were too many people to call and the bully offer had a very tight irrevocable time.

Okay, now the house is sold firm, but sadly the damage is done. If she is smart, Agent Liz will do anything in her power to keep the news of the other offer quiet, but,  if it got out what recourse would the seller have? Naturally he might launch a lawsuit against the agent and complain to The Real Estate Council of Ontario and in a worst case scenario, Agent Liz might be responsible  for the difference between Agent Bob’s offer and the accepted price.  Most likely however,  she would be fined for not contacting any of the agents that had shown the property.  In this case, there are two things to consider; first, the seller accepted the bully offer of his own free will. Second, it would be very difficult to prove that Agent Bob’s client would have actually bought Agent Liz’s listing for what he said he would pay. Remember, there is nothing as constant as change, and who is to say that on offer night, Agent Bob’s client simply changed his mind.

So, how do agents, on both sides, protect themselves? First of all, any listing agent should recognize that if you are going to be entertaining a bully offer you are under a greater responsibility to ensure you give everyone an opportunity to play the game. Missing one or two phone calls can cost you your commission. In a discussion about this event, one of the agents in my office said that she keeps an email log of every agent who has shown her listing so that if a bully offer appears she can send out a quick group email. In response to Agent Liz’s comment about the tight irrevocable time, she should have told Agent Jay that she needed more time to reach the seller and discuss their options. While Agent Jay might be a little irked at the delay it is important to recognize that he isn’t going away. His clients want the house.  Agent Liz lost control of the situation.  How could Agent Bob better protected himself? One simple move, have his client sign an offer right away and get it registered with the Agent Liz’s office. I have always been a proponent of registering quickly. Not only does it guarantee a seat at the negotiation table, it can scare away those buyers who don’t want to be in a bidding war.

The current market in Toronto is hyper competitive these days. With anywhere from 5 to 15 buyers for every listing, it is understandable that bully offers have found their way onto the real estate landscape. Knowing your role, on both sides, will minimize your risk to you and your client. As usual, I look forward to your views, comments and concerns.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

Last week I wrote a post about an agent who intentionally listed a home nearly $200K under asking in order to generate offers. That in itself was pretty irresponsible, but what made the story become ground zero for the greater symptom was his bragging about his office betting on how many offers he was going to receive. I think we would all agree that his comments, forever available on-line, will go down as the most obnoxious in the history of Real Estate. It occurred to me that this type of sheer insanity would be the perfect time to drag that agent in front of a professional standards committee. Perhaps boards, Like TREB, need to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen again. Just a thought.

Then again, there are situations when agents get it wrong…..way wrong. Despite all logic a house sells for what best can be described as “crazy money”. Accountants will tell you that numbers don’t lie….except in Toronto real estate where a competitive market analysis seems to have little or no meaning . It is important to distinguish between the two scenarios of our white-hot market. It is happening with more frequency and homes that defy pricing logic are leaving some of the best agents in the city scratching their heads. So it begs the question; if experienced agents are having a hard time negotiating these turbulent waters, how the heck are new agents coping? 20+ years ago an agent proved his or her worth by surviving in a recessionary environment. Today, an agent has to survive in a market that could best be described as a feeding frenzy. strangely, while equally challenging, their survival will be based on a different skill set.

As any coach will tell you, real estate is a numbers game. If you want to achieve income X you simply work backwards to determine how many deals you need to make based on statistical averages. For example; if you want to sell 10 properties you will probably need to have 400 meaningful real estate conversations. In a more or less balanced market that seems like a fair assessment. But today, having 400 hundred meaningful conversations may only mean that you get to the negotiation table 10 times. At that table there may be as many as 15 other realtors.  Your odds of success have just dropped dramatically.  So what are the keys to improving your chances;

• Knowledge of the market is critical. With so much going on in the world today, our market can be affected by the mood of the financial markets in Europe.
• Develop relationships with the agents who work in your neighbourhood. Visit their listings, follow-up after each sale and get an understanding of the back story.
• Ask the listing agent lots of questions like how they arrived at the price. If they aren’t from the area, they may not know what you know and that could play to your advantage.
• Talk to the agents in your office who work the area. They may have extra insight into the situation.
• Sharpen your skills by practicing and fine tuning your delivery. Sometimes a minor change in how you say something will make all the difference.
• Arrive at the presentation on time and with a pristine offer. You would be surprised how many agents show up with offers that look like chicken scratch.
• Keep your offer as clean as possible. Conditional offers have no place in a multiple offer situation, so make sure your buyer’s financing is in place and you have done a home inspection.
• Have a certified check with you. No excuses.
• Look successful. Address the sellers in a professional matter and leave your ego in the car. Being courteous, and connected to the seller will go a long way.

While there is no guarantee that these few suggestions will help you succeed at the negotiation table, I do believe they will increase your odds and in today’s market every little bit helps.

Have a great week and, as always, I welcome your contributions. If you have other ideas please let me know.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

Ok so I’m a little late with my Mastermind post this week. Somehow, work just gets in the way and it seems that the unseasonably mild winter has kick started the spring market straight into high gear. Are you feeling it too? Well, if you didn’t make to Mastermind, you missed a great discussion on how to ask past clients to refer you to their friends and associates.

So, here is a scenario; you have just sold a house to a new client. You did a great job negotiating on their behalf and they thanked you for working so hard. When the client moves into his new home you’ll hopefully deliver a nice housewarming present and keep in touch over the next few years. For a lot of agents, the relationship ends there. But what if your client is a well-connected businessman and you know that you could make a pretty good living representing just a fraction of the people in his social and business circles? Would you be motivated to ask him to refer you to some of his friends? We recognized that sometimes we feel uncomfortable asking, so our discussion in Mastermind revolved around just how you would ask for that business. Here are some of the suggestions ;

1. After the sale, send a little note of thanks and politely ask to recommend you to anyone who might be moving.
2. Get a meeting and ask for them to give you the names of 3 people they think might be considering a move.
3. Ask them to write a referral letter and then post it on LinkedIn, your website or blog.

The reality is that a positive client experience provides you with a captive and appreciative audience so don’t be afraid to capitalize on those good feelings. If you ask for referral business early enough, chances are you will get it. It is part of the human condition to want to repay someone for good service. Remember one of the golden rules; If you don’t ask…you don’t get. Recognize too that the longer you wait, the less likely the referral will be meaningful. Good relationships with your past clients will allow you to reap rewards for years after that initial sale and a good client management software will make your job much easier. Of course, repeat business and referrals don’t happen overnight but it is important to develop habits that will make staying in touch part of your daily routine.

Here is an interesting fact; Did you know that the majority of sellers don’t use the same agent they bought with? Do the math. How much time and money do you spend developing one client? Now think about what it costs to stay in touch with past clients for the next 5 years.

Naturally I welcome your thoughts. Have a great week.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.

Ask any real estate agent out in the field today and they will say that their number one problem is there is nothing for their clients to buy. A good house comes on the market and there are anywhere from 5 qualified buyers to a frenzy of 30 all looking for a place to live. Given all the turmoil around the Globe it seems that, logically, people should be retreating from the house hunt but that just isn’t the case in many of the large urban centres in Canada. What gives? I believe one of the biggest culprits is the lack of rental housing stock.

In an article in last weeks Toronto Star, business reporter Susan Pigg  wrote about a recent report from the country’s mayors warning of a drastic shortage of affordable housing across Canada. Check out the article here http://bit.ly/wL7Zid . It is a classic case of big cities being behind the eight ball once again. Of course if you asked some of the big builders, they would say constructing apartment buildings is just too tough. Raw land is too expensive, the permit process is too long, financing is near impossible, and rent control issues change at the whim of each new government. Thankfully, much of the slack in the rental market is being picked up by the private sector. You only have to see how quickly new condominium projects are selling out. People are scrambling to buy investment units, but there in lies part of the problem. Builders are having a hard time keeping up with the insatiable appetites of condo buyers which in turn is driving up land values and condo prices while decreasing apartment sizes. Seven or eight years ago you could buy a new condo and rent it out and after maintenance fees, taxes and mortgage, the rent would give you a few hundred bucks a month. Two years ago it was acceptable to lose $100 to $200 a month because you expected that the condo would appreciate by more than the small loss. But what happens when you are down $700 to $800 a month? Is the investment worth it?

CMHC estimates that Canada will need to add 50,000 rental units across the country, PER YEAR, over the next ten years and despite the private sector’s help in buying condos to rent out, the actual available rental stock has decreased. We simply cannot keep up. Of course if you saw the documentary Urbanize, you would have a grasp of what percentage of that huge growth is going to land in the big urban centres. The documentary suggests that in as little as 50 years 75% of the globe will live in big cities. Just think about what our leaders need to do NOW to prepare for that eventuality.

So how does the lack of rental housing affect Joe Public’s frustration with trying to buy a home in Toronto? Simple. If I have a few widgets and everyone wants one, I have two choices; build more widgets or charge more for the ones I have. It’s the simple economics that is driving the condo market and since that market is inextricably linked to residential houses, the demand is exceeding the supply.  Being on the ground and in the trenches as I am I can tell you that income properties are a hot commodity as well.

What’s the solution? We need to ask our governments to step in and be more innovative. As much as I hate the term, it is time to think outside the box. That may be a long shot given our mayor’s current purge and cut initiatives designed to reduce our spending. What is needed is a speedier building approval process and fast tracked lending policies mixed that with some well thought out and creative urban planning and some killer tax credits for energy conservation and green building solutions. Just take a look at the City of Brampton. They have streamlined building approvals, offered tax exemptions to private and non-profit builders and prevented reductions in existing housing stock. The result has been the creation of several hundred rental units and a potential bump up in the local economy.

The Bosley Team,

Mark McLean

Manager/Broker
Bosley Real Estate Ltd, Brokerage
1108 Queen St W. Toronto, Ontario
O 416 530 1100 C 416 569 4285

My Blog: http://realtylab.wordpress.com

Disclaimer: The preceding commentary is the opinion of Mark McLean and does not represent the interests or opinions of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage or the Toronto Real Estate Board. Therefore, Bosley Real Estate will not be held responsible and/or liable for any of the opinions herein.