Stats!!

Hey everyone,
So I was in the office yesterday and the stats sheet came around. Stats used to bore me and I'd just file it under "g" but lately I've learned that they're a very useful tool. We have stats that say how many units sold compared to last year, in specific areas, and average sale prices, average days on market, and it breaks it down into the various neighbourhoods.

For May 2008 compared to May 2007, Single Detached Units Sold is down 19.9%. All others, including Semis, Towns etc. is down 19.8%. This could be construed as bad news for the market, and certainly it makes finding buyers harder, based on the principle of supply and demand. Interestingly enough though, sales of homes $250K to $275K is up 4%, homes in the range of $350K to 399K are up 69.2%! and $400K to $499K are up 27.6%. Sales took a large hit in the lower ranges, where people are living more on a subsistance basis and have less disposable income. One could speculate this is due to the price of fuel and that these buyers are more wary of losing jobs in the manufacturing sectors due to US economic woes.

If we look at these numbers as to how they pertain to trends in the market, it can be safely said that homes within standard price ranges ($250-$300K) have been safe and sales have been brisk. Sales in lower ranges are slower, and sales in the higher ranges are very brisk.
Interestingly enough though, although unit sales are down in the lower ranges, the average price increase in this sector versus last year is up 10.2%.

Email me for more stats info.... I stay educated on this stuff to keep my clients in the best possible position.

Real Estate is a Full Time Job!

To all those who think they can work in real estate, and hold down a full time job at the same time, I ask; "are you nuts?"

We come across them from time to time, people who won't commit enough to their business that they hold down a full-time job somewhere, and dabble in real estate. Theres one person in town who works full-time at RIM and works in real estate, I mean seriously! How can anyone seriously expect their Realtor to give them the proper level of attention and support when they aren't interested enough in real estate to make it their career.

I get my clients calling me at all hours. Calls at 10 pm or later aren't unusual, and neither are early morning calls. My average cell phone bill is $250 per month... thats a lot of minutes folks. That boils down to a lot of time devoted to answering questions, and being there for people. Did you know that a few years ago it was required that all Realtors work full-time?

I'm just saying, my advice is to make sure your Realtor does it full time. I wouldn't want knee surgery from a guy that works at the 7-11!

My First Post - Real Estate

Hi Everyone,

Well its my first post here on this blog, which will hopefully be an interesting read. My name is Jonathan Knight and I work as a Sales Representative at Re/max Twin City in Kitchener. Its a huge office with something like 132 people. I work with Al and Arlene Shousterman, and we have a great assistant, Sherry Fusari. I work in residential resale, and new homes. Al has worked with a really great builder, Premium Homes, for about 15 years now, and I work on the projects doing sales, open houses, etc.

We're very fortunate in working with Premium Homes, because to be honest with you a lot of the other builders in this area can be a major source of headaches! Everything looks good on paper, and the models are great, but there are a lot of misleading tactics used during the sales and upgrades process, and things aren't often as they appear. Some builders build their models up with 20k in upgrades, and lure first timers in with low prices... then scaring them off with the notion that "what you see is not what you get".
When you get a couple in to buy their first place, they come in off an ad for $229900 and thats all the money they have managed to scrounge together, they get pretty pissed when builders start telling them that poured concrete front porches and first floor brick isn't standard. We're lucky that in our subdivisions that the builder we work with builds the models wysiwyg. (what you see is what you get)

I've made a lot of good friends in my career in real estate. I don't play any dirty tricks, and as a result I get to deal with some great clients. The ones that are rude or otherwise unpleasant usually end up dealing with someone else, I'm fortunate in that I get to choose who I work with. Sometimes its sad when I sell someone a house, because I know I'm not going to be seeing them as often as I did... but we usually end up hanging out after and they can show off their decorating skills with their new place.

Al and I work together pretty much everyday. He's been a tremendous mentor to me and I really feel fortunate to be able to learn from him. We throw ideas off each other throughout the day about how to manage and increase our business, and he always keeps me grounded. We also have a philosophy that even if we can make a quick buck on something its better to take the high ground and be honest and forthcoming about everything... so we can build long-term relationships with clients rather than just one time deals.

When it comes to technology, I'm a firm believer in using it to our advantage. That being said, theres no substitute for good old fashioned hospitality! Selling houses is an emotional thing, so while we always use the latest technology to get people to see our product, it really is necessary to meet people face to face and get to really know them if you want to build an honest business relationship. In my former life I was in technology, so deep down I love it, but the reason I switched to real estate was because its a people business.

Anyway, I'll start posting here as frequently as I can... useful tidbits, my experiences in real estate, hopefully some interesting stuff.