Friday, December 2, 2011 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Cancel Your Listing Over the Holidaysby Rachel LaMar on Fri, Dec, 2, 2011 02:57 PM
Heading into the holidays can be a stressful time for most people, especially when you have a home to sell in the midst of all the celebrations. Many sellers take their homes off the market before the holidays to avoid the added stress, but this time of year can actually be a blessing for the home seller. There are some good reasons to keep marketing your home over the holidays.
- Less competition. Since so many sellers take their homes off the market you will have less competition. If your home shows well (holiday decor is ok and is expected at this time of year) and is priced well this could be a big benefit to you. There are buyers out there who need to find places to live over the holidays. If you are worried about showings when you are celebrating or have guests, simply have your agent ask for more notice in the MLS for showing times.
 Serious buyers. Buyers who are looking for homes over the holidays tend to be serious buyers, given the fact that they are looking for homes during the... Thursday, December 1, 2011 "Upgrades" to REALTOR.ca enhance, improve and simplify the user experienceby Tom Bushey on Thu, Dec, 1, 2011 01:21 PM It's so great when the national aggregator of the home listing data from the various MLS® Systems gets updated to include a few of the advanced features that we've had on our website since as far back as I can remember! When I reviewed the changes yesterday, I honestly didn't see these changes because they are expected on every agent's home listing website. Aren't they?
Too bad that REALTOR.ca directs you to call the Listing Agent, and their office, for viewings and more information. Shame on them - what bad advise for the vast majority of buyers! But then again, REALTOR.ca has always been nothing more than an advertising vehicle for the Listing Agents and not the properties they have listed for sale. It's not about selling homes, it's about selling agents!
Ottawa, ON – December 1, 2011 – Earlier this week, a new version of REALTOR.ca was released. This version introduces exciting new features and tools that allow users to customize REALTOR.ca... Saturday, June 25, 2011 Top Reasons Why Homes Don't Sellby Tom Bushey on Sat, Jun, 25, 2011 10:21 PM If you have had your home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame:
Your Price is Too High
No doubt about it, the most common reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents, to unrealistic seller expectations, to a falling market. Regardless of the reason though, if your home is priced too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to actually selling your home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have problems getting financing at too high a price. Look at other homes for sale, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible in location, style, features and even lot size and site influences. If they're going for less than you are asking,... Monday, May 9, 2011 REALTORS® Don't Buy An iPad Without Doing Your Homework!by Tom Bushey on Mon, May, 9, 2011 07:53 PM iPads are Perfect for Real Estate! - it depends...
I've seen an awful lot of real estate agents and REALTORS® buying iPads without knowing what they can do - or more importantly - what they can't do!
This video outlines the pros and cons of the iPad and covers the basics that all real estate practitioners should consider before they make their purchase.
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MLXchange doesn't work on an iPad - so you can't prepare Market Analyses on it or get an idea on competing homes or local area house values. You can't search for properties on our MAIN application.
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FUSION MLS doesn't work on an iPad - so the new interface for MLXchange won't work.
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Alberta Land Titles (SPIN2) - does not work - so you can't get an owner's name or a check of encumbrances that could have a significant impact on a properties value. So you shouldn't list a home for sale or write an offer to purchase without going back to a desktop PC with Microsoft Windows.
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WEBforms doesn't work on an iPad - so you can't... Monday, March 14, 2011 PRESS RELEASE: Local Real Estate Professional earns prestigious ACRE® Designation.by Tom Bushey on Mon, Mar, 14, 2011 10:50 PM Local Real Estate Professional Tom Bushey earns prestigious
ACRE® (Accredited Consultant in Real Estate) Designation.
Calgary, Alberta (March 14, 2011) - Local real estate professional Tom Bushey has completed the coursework to earn the prestigious ACRE® Designation displaying both a commitment to professional development and to offering real estate options to consumers who prefer to be “consulted with” instead of “sold to.”
The Accredited Consultant in Real Estate (ACRE®) Designation Course & Coaching Program gives real estate professionals the tools to offer today’s internet-savvy consumer what they have been wanting for years: quality, transparent choices in the services that they can receive and how those services can be paid for.
The ACRE® philosophy is not about discounting commissions but rather about offering real estate consumer choices in the services that they want and/or need their real estate professional to perform.... Saturday, February 26, 2011 How to Sell Your Home In A Slow Marketby Tom Bushey on Sat, Feb, 26, 2011 04:23 PM Current market conditions might not always be ideal for you to sell your home. However, just because there aren't hoards of buyers lined up doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to sell your home at all. What it does mean is patience and flexibility will be required,. Also, you'll need extra preparation to make your home outshine the competition and get sold!
Before you put your home up for sale and on the market, make sure that all basic repairs are completed. If you want to be especially competitive, don’t allow something like a dripping faucet or missing window screens to knock you off your game. If a homebuyer thinks these little things aren’t being attended to, they might fell that you haven't been diligent in attending to structural issues over the years, and fear that they’ll have to spend even more money for repairs or renovations in the coming months or years.
In a slow real estate market, it’s important to always keep your house clean... Tuesday, February 22, 2011 How Much is Your Home Really Worth?by Tom Bushey on Tue, Feb, 22, 2011 10:38 PM Location can play a significant part in determining whether a house sells quickly or remains on the market for months. In economic times such as these, your home's location is no longer quite as important as price. Quite simply, consumers are much more concerned with their ability to afford a home.
Unfortunately, the houses that tend to get noticed are the ones that have only just been placed on the market. It's not unusual for agents to "pull out all the stops" when it comes to marketing these homes, including the use of email advertising, short-term print advertising, additional signage and repeated open houses. Many MLS® System boards reserve the special status of "Newly Listed" for new listings of under 14 days so they have even more significance. Sooner or later, howevery, the freshness of the new listings wear off along with all the attention. As these homes spend more time on the market potential Buyers may feel justified in making what could be considered "low-ball" offers.... Monday, January 31, 2011 Beware the "Statistics"by Tom Bushey on Mon, Jan, 31, 2011 05:28 PM I just received our community newsletter this week - in the mail. As always, there's a full-page advertisement from one of the real estate Associates that occasionally has listings in the neighbourhood. I was embarassed for this agent.
I always wonder why someone spends about a thousand dollars advertising 8 homes that are probably no longer even on the market since the print deadline was 7 weeks ago. But, I digress.
He's my point: The statistics themselves need interpretation and should not be taken as gospel. It's said in the advertisement that the average days on the market for a home in this community for all of 2010 was 39. And the average selling price of a bungalows was $529,257. Okay that's pretty cool. Homes are selling fast and they're being sold at more money than even at the peak of real estate market in Calgary (2007). Right? Not so fast!
Let's look at those numbers.
Firstly, average "days on the market." When the typical buyer, seller (or consumer)... Monday, January 24, 2011 An On-Line Floor Plan is Worth A 1000 Wordsby Tom Bushey on Mon, Jan, 24, 2011 05:17 PM When I first bought my first home in Calgary some 15 years ago, real estate Agents relied on printed MLS® System catalogues which were printed every week and were the size of telephone books.
At that time, most Agents caravanned new listings each week and called potential Buyers when a property came on the market which could possibly fit their needs. Otherwise, consumers would have to wait for a newspaper advertisement or a for sale sign to go up in the neighbourhood. Then they would have to call the Seller’s Agent to see the home. The gatekeeper of the information was the real estate Agent. And every Agent worked for the Seller!
Today, things are different. Very different!
Firstly, Buyers are best served by contracting with their own Agent that works exclusively for them - the Buyer - prior to viewing homes.
Secondly, a real estate Agent's value is no longer in being the gatekeeper of information - it's in the interpretation of the information and raw... Friday, January 21, 2011 Do You Approve Your Agent's MLS® System Input?by Tom Bushey on Fri, Jan, 21, 2011 05:22 PM One of the standards of care for my Seller Clients has been to get them to approve my data entry of their home's listing onto Calgary Real Estate Board MLS® System.
At the end of the day, you the Seller, are responsible for the content of the information your Agent places on the MLS® System and it's ongoing accuracy. It therefore makes perfect sense to see the completed product (including the private Agent-to-Agent comments) to make sure it is accurate and presents your property in its best possible light.
Here are a few tips:
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