Legs on Stairs..........It's been a while!

I looked at the date on my last Blog post and thought Holy Crap! Has it been that long since I wrote a Blog post?!
Real Estate takes the human mind and body to another dimension, not kidding. I used to work 10-6 pm mostly Monday to Friday and some weekends etc but for the most part I put in a 40 hour work week.... done.
Now, my day starts around 9:00 am and goes to usually 11:00 pm. Yup, 14 hour days and weekends and putting in time in my home office preparing for appointments, filing deal paperwork, catching up my database entries, marketing my listings, searching for homes for my Buyers, researching properties for my Investors and keeping up on my social media posts. The day is endless, I don't know where the day goes really.
The difference is, I love my job because it's my Business!

I've been very fortunate and grateful for the amazing clients who I've had the utmost pleasure to work with and are stilling working with to this day! One Investor client brought another Investor client who brought another Investor client ... This is how my business goes, by word of mouth, I like that! Do good things be honest and trustworthy and good people will come your way. Whether you are my Seller, Buyer or Investor client I like to think of you as a partner in the business. Partners look out for one another. Partners share ideas. Partners have a huge level of trust and commitment to each other. Doesn't it feel better knowing you've partnered with someone who speaks the same language as you do? Who understands that this is a huge amount of money with a slice of risk on the side! I know this, I've always know this and I do not and will not take it for granted, doing my homework and watching the market like a hawk is MY priority for my people!

I think Real Estate fits my wheelhouse. I'm a blue sky thinker and a realist. A bit of a dreamer. I like to negotiate and win! I fight for what's right, just and fair. Real Estate moves fast, this is for sure in my marketplace anyway, sleep in late and you miss golden opportunities everyday of the week. I have a search set up for myself that comes to my inbox and it's called "All of the City" which simply means whenever a new listing hits the market in this City I know about it. I don't necessarily have a client in mind or a certain project I'm working on with someone I just like to see every new Listing day in and day out. Sometimes "All of the City" has sent me a gem, a property that is just right for someone and I've forwarded it onto that person and they've bought it bing bang boom just like that! 

What's next you ask? Well, a lot of cool things are going to happen this coming Spring. The Spring market promises to be outrageously busy. Probably crazy in pricing. Most certainly an adventure in the making. Am I excited? You betcha! See you soon, I'll be the one pounding a 'For Sale' sign into a front lawn near you!!!

Legs on Stairs, ok so this IS Real Estate!

"You pays your money and you rolls the dice and you takes your chances". That pretty much sums up what it's like in Real Estate. Hurry up and wait. I might just get a tattoo that says this, hmm maybe not.
Every level and facet of Real Estate has an element of wait. Wait to hear if you are confirmed for that showing. Wait to go to the showing. Wait outside for your clients. Wait while they tour the house. Wait to hear if they liked it or not. Wait to write up an Offer. Wait to get their signatures. Wait to present the Offer. Wait to hear if your Offer has been accepted or is being signed back. Wait to present the sign back. Wait Wait Wait. It's all worth it, believe me, my favourite part of my job has become that phone call to my Buyers telling them their Offer has been accepted or to my Sellers that their house is conditionally SOLD. It's the pure joy you hear on the other end that makes it all  worth while.

The Home Inspection.... dun dun dunnnn....
On the Buyer side this is a great opportunity to tour the home with your clients and the Home Inspector to see if there is anything significantly wrong with the property that we can negotiate a better price for the Buyers. It's always worth a try to ask for a reduction on the purchase price based on the findings of the Home Inspection. Lets just say we try and limit any nonsense in this area, it's not cool to ask for a reduction because the Home Inspector pointed out that the basement door doesn't close just right or that there is a crack in a tile in the bathroom tub. However, if there is something worth fighting for like the furnace doesn't work or the dishwasher is leaking water on the last cycle, these are worthy of an amendment.
On the Seller side I try and calm my Sellers down through the process. This is a re-sale home, there will be things that the Home Inspector finds. We can deal with anything that may crop up. Not to worry, not to worry. But every homeowner who is waiting for the answers to that burning question; "What did the Home Inspector find wrong with my house and are the Buyers going to walk away from this deal" is unnerving.

This is a FIRM DEAL. The words a Realtor LOVES and LIVES to hear! No kidding, I have only been in Real Estate a short time and I can tell you this is it! The perfect storm, all your hard work and efforts have paid off in spades! Hippeee! Do your paperwork, keep your Sellers and Buyers in the loop until the home stretch "Closing Day"....

Yup like the sign above says "Keep Calm". It's in the hands of the Lawyers God bless them. They tie it all up into a neat little thing called the balance sheet. Who owes what and how much do the Sellers get. I don't understand this process and maybe I should take a Reader's Digest course on what it all en-tales but for right now I'm just going to let the experts handle it!

Real Estate is a non-offensive organic drug that once you take to it you can't stop, won't stop, thinking about it day and night, night and day or every minute your awake. It's true what they say: "If you love what you do you won't work another day in your life"... that's me, a Realtor.

Madam E

Legs on Stairs, climbing the Real Estate Ladder

Up I go one rung at a time. In the beginning when I first got my real estate license I felt like a mouse in a maze, so many walls and turns, the ability to go forward and backward at the same time. Not being able to see whats coming around the corner but needing to go and look anyway. Now after time has passed and a routine is in place I know what to do and how to do it and when to do it and why I'm doing it, if that makes any sense... It's all about systems.

Systems are everything from data entry to calendar entry. My one little brain simply cannot remember everything. I know in the moment "I got this" but ..... a few minutes from now, I don't got this. I have developed several systems to make sure "I got this" is how my business runs. One system is lead tracking. If you don't do this you're in trouble. Trying to remember who I have spoken to, what property they own or are interested in and how soon they'd like to act is just not something I'm capably of doing without a system. The other important system I use is a virtual calendar on my Iphone. This calendar has an alarm set to remind me of every task on the calendar exactly one hour before I have to be or do something. It has saved me several times from losing track of time and missing an important something.

A very smart person running a real estate workshop once said "Don't be a secret Agent". This is so true, telling everyone from the lady cashing me out at the grocery store to making sure my Doctor knows I'm a Realtor is vitally important to growing my business. Nobody has a sign on the lawn of their home that says "I'm an auto mechanic" I work at Wendy's" or "I'm a Realtor". Can you imagine the networking that could go on if everyone DID have said sign on their front lawn? I might just try it and find out. Honesty, how much would it cost for my favourite graphic designer lady to make me up a 3'x4' sign that says "I'm a Realtor" and stick out there and see what happens. I like to advertise my business on Facebook, Twitter and other forms of passive social media. I have had some moderate success with this type of outreach, and I believe there's more out there for me I just want to make sure dollars are making sense. 

Keller Williams Complete Realty, Brokerage here in Hamilton is where I call home. What a fantastic group of people! Common goals and culture are what rise up from these folks. From our amazing Leadership Team to our top notch support staff, we've got it all and then some. I can't imagine working anywhere else! Shout outs to this Team and thank you for your never ending support, encouragement and your loyalty to our Brand. 

I can honestly say I am not looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I'm not even sure I want one. Life for me is about the day to day, moment to moment amazing things that seem to happen to me! Pots of gold won't make me happy. Work and family make me happy. I'm going to keep working and learning and trying to do my very best for the people who grant me access into their worlds. For that I am truly blessed. 

Madam E

Legs on Stairs; two at a time!

Things have taken off, jumped into high gear, the plane is off the ground, the bullet is out of the gun, the gate is open for the horse and it's a fast track....

It's ok, I had time to plan, time to think. Time to understand this thing called Real Estate. If you have a fear of the unknown don't become a Realtor. Everyday there are an abundance of unknowns. Will I make any money this month, will anyone want to work with me, Where's my next listing going to come from, are there too many Realtors in my City? The list of uncertainties goes on and on. 

Don't let that voice inside your head ruin a good thing. Try to remember you chose this profession.You're your own boss. You call the shots. There is only Do or Do Not, there is no TRY, very true. 

Meeting new people in their home is very interesting and rewarding. I tour their home while they give me the ins and outs, ups and downs of living there. The stories are amazing! No two are EVER the same both the humans and the structures. To be on the inside is without a doubt an honour to be invited across the threshold. 

The paperwork has become a snap! Do it often enough and it's like riding a bike, week to week, you just know what you need to do. Take care and go slow, read everything and use a highlighter or little sticky notes that say sign here/initial here. Make is easy for your Sellers, heck people don't sell a property everyday therefore they're not abreast to all the documents required to complete the process. Coupled with age in some cases, this is a long process and one needs to have patience. 

Be happy for your Sellers! Ask questions about where their going to go next. Are they going to take a trip if there's any surplus funds from the sale of their home. Get them thinking about next steps and bring real joy into someone's life. Always come from contribution. Give and you shall receive no truer words have ever been spoken. Take a load to charity for them, have something fixed on their property for them, bring coffees when you install the lockbox, send a pizza on the day they move into their new place. Do and do and do it's the only way to lighten their load and really what does a pizza cost compared to how much it gives?

Follow up and follow through on what you say you're going to do. If you're going to call on Tuesdays to talk about the listing, call. You've been entrusted with their biggest investment asset don't let them down, nothing is more important to them and it should be the same for YOU. Fast forward to a year after the sale has been completed and you turn a corner in the grocery store and right in front of you are your sellers, don't you want them to be glad to see you? I do. 

Till next time, keep it real babe. 

Madam E.

Legs on stairs get tired...

Real Estate can be nerve wracking if you let it. I see why some Agents have chosen to be Buyer's Agent or a Listing Agent with a Team, it's a way of streamlining your workday.

However, I feel I can be more effective to my clients because of my personality to do both.
Listings are a game of numbers, what sold in the area plus the currently active listings play a role in determining the subject properties value, but it's not the only factor. Clients are craving education in this area, I like taking the time to really understand their viewpoint with their home and meshing the two together.

Buyers need a Buyer's Agent. Period. It's a dangerous game to simply not have an Agent working with you on a deal. Would you go to court and stand before a Judge and Jury without a Lawyer? Would you purchase a brand new car without speaking to the Sales staff even once? Yet I see it over and over where a Buyer works without representation. The key factor here for Buyers is that the Seller pays the Buyer Agent's commission from the sale of the house, so why wouldn't you have an Agent on your side of the table?

For Sale by Owner. Another baffling process to me. I don't fix my own teeth. I don't take my own car apart and repair it and I DON'T cut my own hair. And yet, folks will attempt to sell their own home, their biggest asset without a professional watching out for the pitfalls. 80% of 'For Sale by Owner' homes are under-priced. Where's the value in selling your home that you worked so hard to pay-down and letting it go for far less than it's worth simply because you didn't invest in a Listing Agent to pull relevant statistics together and analyze the market for you?

"Bidding wars"; "Hold all offers until this certain date and time". These are selling tactics, used to create a buzz around the home knowing full well that it's been priced below the current market's expectations for a property in that area, that standard type of home and it's features. Caution is advised regarding overpaying for a house because of a bidding war you chose to get involved in. You may get a nasty shock if you require the Bank to mortgage the property and it falls short on the appraisal value. The Bank under no uncertain terms will inform the Buyer that they have to come up with the shortfall and remember you're in a legally binding contract and probably as part of the 'war' ended up removing such clauses as Conditional upon Finance from your Offer. Oops. You're stuck my friend.

Home Staging prior to Listing the home for sale. This is HUGE!! Ask your listing Agent if they will assist you in staging the home or at the very least offer up some tips and tricks. Be prepared to part with a lot of your favourite knickknacks. I liken it to when you're walking around a furniture store looking at the furniture vignettes. The visual merchandisers have made it easy for you to envision this arrangement of a sofa, love seat, chair, end tables, coffee table and maybe lamps and a centerpiece on the coffee table fitting into your home or for that matter any home as you're not their only customer today, tomorrow, this week maybe even this year!! Staging works to sell furniture in groups and it works to sell the home. Your moving, get some boxes and decide what is going with you, what is going into a Garage Sale and what is going to Charity.

To renovate or not to renovate this is the question. Price everything out right down to the knobs for the kitchen cabinets or the grout for the tile in the bathroom to make sure you're not going overboard. If you do end up renovating go neutral in the choice of decor. This is not the time for loud busy patterns, red hot paint on the walls in the kitchen or leopard wallpaper in the bathroom. Clean and bright, even choose white you can never go wrong with a white kitchen or bathroom and a nice accent colour of a vase on the table or flowers in the bathroom on the vanity.

If you need assistance call someone and call them early in the planning stages. Don't close the barn doors after the horse is GONE......

Madam E

(all opinions are my own)

Legs on Stairs...

And so it begins..... Last exam is over... aaaaaahh. But wait --!! So begins the task of building a clientele. I like to think hmm; I know people, lots of people, so I started with them. Easing my way into their lives with a nice warm tastefully written 'welcome to my new world friends' letter, at least they're aware of my new endeavour.

 

Next came in-house designed by me business cards. (viewed top is front; bottom is back). Brokerage logo a must and various other details which are necessary on your standard business card. This is version one, I'm having a professional photographer do a photo shoot so the next cards will have my mug on them. I might take everything downtown to a company I like to deal with and have them lay it out, decisions decisions.

My golden house logo. Purchased on line to be used on EVERYTHING I put out to the masses. I strongly recommend to everyone reading this to go out and hunt down something you like, something that makes you smile and buy and use it. Think of the golden arches; McDonalds. The black check mark; Nike. Etc. I want to be known as the golden house, it will take a while but hey Rome wasn't built in a day and the last time I checked I have nothing but time.

Above is a Feature Sheet, I'm lucky enough to have been asked to do a few Open Houses for my fellow Agents who have listings. This is a great way to get your feet wet, to meet people, talk real estate and show off a house for sale. I design my own using the Microsoft Office Publisher program. These are handed out at the Open House as a take-away and a way to get a hold of me if there are any questions from the Open House and it would be nice to have someone who took a Feature Sheet put in an offer to buy said house, that's the goal of these sheets.

Cold calling. Choose an area of the City, map it out street by street use an auto dialer and start TALK'N. This is an art-form and it's not easy but it gets easier. I call it: 'area surveying'. Last week I surveyed an area of the City and picked up a listing client and a buying client so I can tell you it's worth the two hours that day that I cold called. Always come sincerely from contribution. Give information only and see what happens. Be extremely courteous and respectful. I never had anyone yell at me or hang up on me, if you do the above mentioned things and do it with care and persistence you will see results over time.

One cool thing that many Brokerages have is a private and closed Facebook Group. What a wealth of information these are! If you're going through to become a Realtor and thinking 'how will I find out this or that' not to worry, the Facebook group will support you and freely give you a ton of information; at least my Brokerage does, I can't speak for any others. If you're one of the few people I know who isn't on Facebook you'll need to get an account or resurrect a dead one for sure even if you tell yourself it will only be used and viewed for business purposes.

The world of Social Media. Again, not everyone embraces all that is to this world. Do you want people to find you and know your business? Do you want to use the internet avenues that are free for you to travel down? Can you afford to forgo Social Media and use old out of date advertising methods? I jumped on this bandwagon early on with my own Social Media circles. To-date I use Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogger and my free wix.com website. Some of my Social Media is a bit messed up in my own personal likes that are completely unrelated to Real Estate which I tell myself it's ok as it keeps me human and not a machine of information relating only to Real Estate and boring a portion of people who view me on Social Media. Next I'm going to tackle my own YouTube channel so stay tuned for that!

Well folks, that's where I'm at to date. I'll leave you with a line from a course I took;
"Do you know anyone who wants to BUY a home, SELL a home, or INVEST in Real Estate?", give me a call!!

Madam E

Legs on the Stairs!

Moving at the speed of light that's what never happens.

Waiting for something to happen is like the worst thing on earth. You go and check, then you go back and check what you just checked because possibly you have checked so many times you may have made a mistake while checking. Am I right?

It's like waiting and watching a speck of dust in the sunlight to land on a surface nearby. It floats down, then moves left, then right then goes back up a bit then down. You try and grab it but it moves out of your reach somehow. You look away and think to yourself; 'I have better things to do with my time', but really you don't because your waiting for that THING to happen that's not happening, ever.

Time seems to move slower, the day drags on and you go to bed early that night to get the day over with so the next day will start and maybe this is the day for that THING to happen. And oh, by the way that thing is being controlled by someone somewhere in an unknown location; if they would just hurry up and do the thing that will move your thing along.
Do they know or care that you're suffering in your bed at night, trying to fall asleep but it's way to earlier and your body is not tired but you want this day to be over.

There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in the month, 12 months in a year and the average woman lives to be 73. All of this means nothing. Nothing at all if you don't do the things that make you the most happy, not the most money or the most famous, or the most popular, but the most happy. If buying things makes you happy then you need a lot of space and a fairly decent income to support your spending habits. If fishing makes you happy then you probably need a little less than the shopper, do you get where I'm going with this? Live you own life, make your own dreams come true, do the things that make you the most happy. Time waits for no one even when we're waiting for something to happen. Every person will always be "as old as their tongue and a little bit older than their teeth" (another mother quote for you),

Today I want to thank TIME for finally making something wonderful happen.

("your welcome")

Madam E