Wednesday 23 September 2015

Did You Know Only GeoWarehouse Customers Can Use ViMO?

One of the major benefits of being a GeoWarehouse customer is that you have exclusive access to register for ViMO, Teranet’s mobile app for real estate.

While you can perform some of the same research on ViMO as you can on GeoWarehouse, such as looking at a property’s sales history, a neighbourhood’s demographics, generate sales comparables, or view who the legal owner is, there are some differences - here are some of the things that make each tool unique

GeoWarehouse – more of a research and due diligence tool

ü  Only GeoWarehouse has the GeoWarehouse Store which is where you can purchase Parcel Registers*, Instrument Images, surveys, condo status certificates, MPAC assessment reports and more…
ü  GeoWarehouse allows you to review a property’s financial standing

ViMO – more of a marketing tool

ViMO allows you to:

ü  Post and market your listings
ü  Remarket to customers using CRM light functions like the Market Insights Report
ü  Create and sign documents electronically
ü  Collaborate on a deal with clients and colleagues and more

GeoWarehouse and ViMO together are hands down the best real estate tool set available today. Most members of real estate boards are GeoWarehouse members. 

Contact the GeoWarehouse team at Teranet today to see if you qualify to register for ViMO by calling 1-866-237-5937. 

* An official product of the Ontario government pursuant to provincial land registration statutes.


Wednesday 16 September 2015

Canadian Interest Rates - Seize the Day, Maximize Your Efficiency While Rates are at All-Time Lows

The Bank of Canada has done it again and for the second time this year, cut the nation’s interest rate. Widely publicized, you likely know that Canada’s lending rate is now 0.5%!

This has been in reaction to an underperforming Canadian economy – but interestingly, not so much in the Canadian housing market. In August of 2015, the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index http://www.housepriceindex.ca/default.aspx reported an increase of 1.2% from the previous month, a 7 consecutive monthly increase.

So, the housing market appears to be bustling and interest rates are at all-time lows – is it time to seize the day? 2 ways to maximize your profitability is strong marketing and maximum efficiency in your internal workflow.

Here are our tips for how to see a strong finish to 2015:

Marketing your listings

Be everywhere! Posting your listings on the MLS isn’t enough anymore. Ensure that you register with mobile apps for real estate that are marketing tools, like ViMO, Zoocasa, etc. Make sure that your listings are showing there. The more exposure you get to your listing, the better.

Marketing the brand that is you – what makes you different?

Leverage social media and mobile apps for real estate to market yourself. Outside of being able to share helpful information with prospects nurturing leads that may not be ready to buy or sell, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and a go-to source for real estate information and questions. You also increase your accessibility and connectivity to clients, prospects, partners and colleagues. Talk about what makes you different. What tools you use, what you do that makes you different from other real estate sales professionals and the best choice! You can demonstrate this by what you share.

Use the best tools to get the fastest most accurate results

The best way to maximize results in a hot market is to maximize efficiency. The more you can do in less time, the more profitable you will be. Let’s talk technology again. When taking on a new client there is immediate research that needs to be performed both related to the client and the property. Tools like GeoWarehouse provide a central place to research a property or borrower and obtain a host of other searches and documents. This platform enables you to go to single place to validate all the information you need to determine if you can move forward with your client.

Get rid of the paper – embrace electronic document signing

Remember we talked efficiency? Thanks to recent changes to the Electronic Commerce Act this past summer, you can now sign real estate documents with your clients electronically. A minor investment in a tablet and a mobile app for real estate like ViMO sets the stage for you to make your transactions paperless – whether in a face to face meeting with a client or if you are transmitting documents back and forth.

We hope that these tips help you to seize the day while interest rates are at all-time lows. For more information about the tools mentioned in this blog please visit:

Teranet-National Bank House Price Index http://www.housepriceindex.ca/default.aspx
ViMO (mobile app for real estate) http://myvimo.ca/
GeoWarehouse (web based tool) http://www.geowarehouse.ca/


Wednesday 9 September 2015

Real Estate Sales Professional or Mortgage Agent?

Some think that the role of a real estate sales professional is merely to represent buyers and sellers buying homes. However, one very important aspect of this role is the financial aspect which is one that extends beyond helping a buyer find a home and negotiating the process or listing a client’s home.

The financial aspect of real estate transactions can actually be sorted into 3 baskets:

1.       Your client’s ability to pay you
2.       Your client’s ability to obtain mortgage financing
3.       Your client’s ability to afford to carry the property that they          want to buy

Aside from a client’s ability to pay you, the other 2 buckets sound somewhat like the activities of a mortgage agent or broker. Some real estate sales professionals will simply recommend that a client go to their bank or make a referral to a mortgage broker to secure mortgage financing. Doing so leaves you dependent on a third party to make your deals happen!

Over time and using technology, you likely have become more empowered as far as validating your clients’ financial ability to purchase a home and pay you – this is especially important when clients are not as honest as they could be - or when they forget information which is important.

Having provisions in your workflow that address the customer financial profile makes you more competitive because you will close more deals and not waste time on deals where clients can’t pay you or qualify for mortgage financing.

How review your client’s financial profile in 1-2-3

1.    Your client’s ability to pay you. This boils down to the equity in your client’s home if they are selling or the equity in the seller’s home if you are representing the buyer. In this regard you will need to review any financial encumbrances against the property that the commission will stem from. Using a tool like GeoWarehouse, you can run a property search and reveal registered mortgages and determine if in fact the equity is there. If you are concerned that there could be a lien you can go a step further and request a Parcel Register* which will give you even more information.
2.    Your client’s ability to secure mortgage financing. The same search of the registered mortgages on the property should give you some insight into whether or not the client will be able to get a mortgage – now this is at a very high level because most mortgages will also depend on the client’s credit and income – but – 1) If the client has 2 or 3 mortgages, that is a sign that the client could have financial problems, 2) If the client’s first or second mortgage is with a private individual it is a sign that the client couldn’t obtain institutional financing at some point which means there could be credit issues, 3) Equity – if the client has substantial equity it will not be difficult for the client to find financing regardless of poor credit.
3.    Your client’s ability to afford to carry to house they want to buy. For this we recommend that you have a mortgage calculator on your smartphone so that you can swiftly calculate mortgage payments for the client and then add them to estimates of utility costs and other expenses to give them an idea of a property’s carrying cost. Consider an app that offers a mortgage calculator that also tells you the bank’s daily mortgage rates – RateHub is a good example of a website that has lots of tools for calculating mortgage payments.

Real estate sales professional or mortgage broker – while some of you are both, at least having a basic process for assessing the financial aspects of the real estate transaction will make you more competitive and close more deals.

GeoWarehouse gives you the ability to do more - making your job that much easier and stopping questionable deals before they become issues. For more information, please visit http://www.geowarehouse.ca/marketing/index.php.

* An official product of the Ontario government pursuant to provincial land registration statutes.




Tuesday 1 September 2015

Instrument Images and You

When you hear the words Instrument Images – do they mean anything to you? Why would Instrument Images be important if you don’t know what they are or how you could be using them? That is the very purpose of the blog you are about to dive into.

As a real estate sales professional you likely use one tool or another to run searches to verify legal home ownership information all the time. The place to get the most current, up-to-date home ownership information is through the Parcel Register*. While some think a Parcel Register* is a title search, it is actually just one part of a title search.

The Parcel Register* not only provides the home ownership information as it relates to the property but also a history of transfers, discharges and registered encumbrances. Each item will have a registration number which can then be used to pull an Instrument Image - an image of the actual document registered and associated to the transfer, registration or discharge.

To use an analogy, the Parcel Register is like popping the hood of a car but the instrument image is like putting the car up on the hoist!

The Parcel Register will show you the date, registration number, registrant (just name) and amount.
The Instrument Image will show you the registrant’s complete information as well as the lawyer who registered the registrant’s complete information and other details that would appear on the relevant document, whether it is a mortgage charge, mortgage discharge or mortgage transfer.

Not every situation will call for such in-depth research as requesting an Instrument Image – but some will, and having it will give you that much more knowledge and, after all, knowledge is power, right?

If you don’t know how to get Instrument Images already, here is a quick video: 


Not a GeoWarehouse customer? Find out why you should be by visiting www.geowarehouse.ca.

*An official product of the Ontario government pursuant to provincial land registration statutes.