The Real Estate Sales Professionals Credit Report

Mortgage agents and brokers in Ontario heavily rely on the Equifax Credit Report to assess the credit worthiness and serviceability of an applicant. Really, if you think about this, a real estate sales professional could put together, based on the tools that they have in front of them, a veritable credit report that considers the client and the property being purchased and sold.

Let’s look at your average real estate transaction and its components – this is after the client has been landed - you are going to want to know the same things across the board about your client and property – negative attributes may prevent you from working with the client, positive ones let you know that you have a good, clean deal.

The property:

• What is the sales history on the property – both transfer amounts but also transferees?
• What is the legal description of the property?
• What are the comparable sales in the area?
• What things in the area are potential benefits or concerns?
• If it is a condo – is the financial standing of the condo corporation good?

The customer:

• Is your client currently the legal owner of a property?
•  Does your client have enough equity in a property being sold to finance the closing costs?
• Does your client have enough equity in a property to finance the down payment of a subsequent purchase
• Does your client have multiple mortgages or liens against the property – this could be a sign that your client has financial problems?

These questions and more can be answered by performing a property search in a tool like GeoWarehouse which will enable you to validate who owns a property, its history, value, financial standing and more.

Creating your own form of credit check for your clients helps you identify potential challenges early on in the process of engaging a new client. You are the first in a series of professionals who will be called upon to work on the transaction you have originated – mortgage agents and brokers, lenders, appraisers, property inspectors, stagers, real estate lawyers, title insurance companies, property insurance companies – even the municipality.

Doing your part to vet the client not only saves you time and expense but also saves all the other professionals that will become a part of the transaction time too! This is not to mention that the due diligence measures outlined above also go a long way to cut down fraud in the mortgage industry.

GeoWarehouse can help you conduct this credit check - visit www.geowarehouse.ca today.

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.

Due Diligence in Real Estate – Is There Such Thing as Too Much?

This question is fair enough and asked often enough for us to blog about it. There are many different skilled professionals involved in a real estate transaction: you, the real estate sales professional, a lender and/or mortgage broker, a real estate lawyer and many more. You, however, are the first line of defense when it comes to the long list of due diligence measures that have to be taken to prevent mortgage fraud and ensure that good quality deals are taking place.

OREA defines due diligence as “the reasonable analysis or research that is done to check or verify material information about a property.”https://www.oreablog.com/2013/02/what-is-due-diligence/

Real estate sales professionals can and do choose how far they can go with due diligence, making it a time consuming and costly task on some deals. With all the tools and capabilities available, one could spend countless time and a significant amount of money performing due diligence – so is there in fact such a thing as too much due diligence?

One way to mitigate the time spent on due diligence is to evaluate what due diligence to perform and when you do it.

For example, common types of due diligence performed by real estate sales professionals include:

·         Verifying who the legal homeowners are

·         Obtaining a survey

·         Validating the legal description of the property

·         Reviewing the sales history on a particular property

·         Checking for encumbrances like mortgages and liens and more…

Once you know what needs to be verified on every deal, your next step is to look at how you can get it verified. This is going to come down to the tools and technology you use to perform due diligence. Place a monetary value on your time and pursue tools that do as many of the due diligence items you need to perform, in one place – even in a single report. This will reduce the need to do 5-6 things separately, instead doing them all together.

Finally, when should you do it? We firmly believe at the application stage. Once a client has made the decision to engage you, due diligence should begin. Again, getting back to placing monetary value on your time – wasting time on deals that have issues is not good for you or any of your colleagues along the supplier chain. Not only do you stand to save time and expense, but you also stand to save credibility by performing due diligence at the point where a customer signs on.

There can never be too much due diligence when it comes to preventing real estate fraud. Generally speaking, if you establish a standard framework to perform due diligence within a set time and expense parameter, you should never find performing due diligence too time consuming and should be able to get through it with ease.

For more information about GeoWarehouse, a revolutionary tool that helps real estate sales professionals perform due diligence, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca

New Real Estate Sales Efficiency: How to Do More Electronically

Coming into the real estate industry as a new real estate sales professional you would be remiss not to realize how competitive an industry you are entering and that efficiency is king. The beauty of being new to the industry is that you can bring fresh ideas to the table about how you go about your daily activities. When we talk efficiency, we mean efficiency in a specific context: the ratio of the useful work performed by a machine or in a process to the total energy expended or heat taken in.

The most effective way to do this is by doing more electronically. From marketing to administering your deals.

On the marketing side, the playing field has been leveled. In the past those with smaller marketing budgets had difficulty competing with the seasoned professionals with big budgets for bench ads, calendars and sign advertising. These conventional marketing mediums have just about been eclipsed by the emergence of social media. Through social media you can market yourself and listings, establishing a vast network of connections – all electronically. Digital marketing through social media or even through real estate specific platforms - both available online and through mobile apps – increase your exposure and a client’s accessibility to you.

In deal administration, the real estate industry has been inherently burdensome on the paper side. Between contracts and agreements, listings, sales comps and the myriad other collateral a real estate sales professional may bring to a meeting, more can now be done electronically.

Meeting a client at your office

• When a client comes to your office to meet have 2 things ready:
• GeoWarehouse loaded on the computer – to quickly view property information with the client (either their property, or properties they would like to see)
• ViMO loaded on your tablet – if the client wants to engage you, you can electronically prepare the listing or representation agreement and sign it electronically
• Rather than copying identification and other material the client provides – scan it!

Meeting your client on the go 

The old way - purchase:

• Pre-prepare representation agreement
• Meet the client
• Have the client sign initial agreements re: representation
• View properties of interest – take photos if necessary
• Go back to the office, research the property, if there is an offer to be made, prepare the offer
• Meet the client again to sign the offer
• Email or fax the offer to the other side

The electronic way – purchase

• Ask the client for properties they may be interested in seeing and research some of your own
• Attend the appointment armed with sales comps for the properties you will be seeing in the event your client is interested
• Meet the client – ensure you have your tablet
• Prepare the representation agreement on your tablet and have your client sign it electronically
• On the road the client spots a property for sale that wasn’t yet appearing online
• Using your ViMO app on your tablet, stand in front of the property and using augmented reality, snap a photo that reveals all property related information
• You check ViMO app to see if the other real estate sales professional is online, and they are – you send them a message and they send you the lockbox key
• You show your client the property and they love it – you message the other side to expect an offer shortly
• You prepare the offer electronically and transmit it to the other side using ViMO

…. And the rest is history….

So as a new real estate sales professional you can see that investing in technology and investigating online tools for real estate sales professionals both online and through mobile apps will make you more efficient and prepared to compete the seasoned pros.

GeoWarehouse and ViMO let you do far more, on the go, in real time. Efficiency is easy with these two. Find out more at www.geowarehouse.ca and www.myvimo.ca. 

The Real Estate Sales Professional Brand – Does What You Know Really Matter?

From time to time we hear about real estate sales professionals who feel that technology is impacting personal relationships in real estate and that personal relationships are what makes real estate sales professionals thrive. While online technology, social media and mobile apps have changed the way that we market, communicate and work, these things are also changing the landscape in terms of a real estate sales professional’s ability to expand their business, targeting more areas.

In the past, and even now, some real estate sales professionals would focus on a small specific area and become an expert in that area. That is because, before, to become an expert in an area, you would need to know the community to be able to knowledgeably discuss its demographics and also the types of properties in the neighbourhood.

The question is, does a real estate sales professional still need to have boots on the ground to know enough about a particular area to discuss it with a client? We would like to challenge this thinking.

What does a client want to know about a neighbourhood? Who lives there, age of families, religions, ethnicity, types of homeowners (renters vs owners), where schools are, transportation, churches, community centres, etc…  They will also want to see things like locations of rail roads, factories, golf courses, ravines and other things that could improve or reduce the value of the property.

What does the client want to know about the property? What is the sales history, is it worth the list value, what chances does it have to increase in value?

All of this information can be discovered through the use of different applications that can, at the click of a mouse, answer all of the above questions and more. So how does this change the real estate landscape? While you may want to be integrated into a particular neighbourhood because of the value in establishing recognition and marketing yourself – you don’t necessarily have to be to be an expert in that particular community.

Well now you can cast a wider net (how wide is up to you) and deal with larger regions, which in the end will mean more business!!! This is a big world and if you want to be more competitive being able to offer more matters.

It seems as though, with the numerous changes on the real estate landscape, it isn’t so much about what you know anymore as much as it is about what you CAN know, and how quickly.

For more about the tools that can make obtaining this information easy, quickly, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca today. 

Condo Status Certificate and Why You Should Get One on Any Condo Deal

Depending on whether or not you deal in condos – if you plan to, it is important to understand what a Condo Certificate is and why it makes sense as a real estate sales professional to obtain one directly when working on a condo deal.

 

The condo status certificate is a mammoth-sized legal document. Real estate lawyers will always request one on closing but it pays for the real estate sales professional to request one ahead of time to identify any problematic information and to provide the client with even more information about the condo they are purchasing. The condo certificate provides important information about:

·        The financial status of the condo corporation that is administering and maintaining the code – if the condo corporation is in financial trouble you may want to consider what this means for your client moving forward.

·        The financial status as it relates to the particular unit. This should include the amount of condo fee payments, the status of payments, indicate any arrears – your client will have to clear up any arrears in condo payments or liens that have arisen as a result of unpaid condo payments.

·        Monthly fees

·        Any large increases in fees that are planned to come into effect or are even being considered for that matter.

·        Arrears on any particular units. 

It also includes the condo declaration, by-laws, budget, reserve fund, insurance, management contract, rules, minutes of last general meeting, disclosure of law suits, disclose rules such as what pets/animals you can have, rules about use and declaration of external parts of your property like balcony or patio, etc…

There are two ways to obtain a condo status certificate:

Mail - It may be requested in writing to the management company. They may take up to 10 days to produce the condo certificate. You will likely have to pay the standard fee of $100.00 plus HST plus postage for the condo certificate. Generally speaking the fee is paid up-front when the written request is made. Many management companies are not equipped to take electronic payment so you will have to ship over a cheque.

Online - If you are a GeoWarehouse customer and a condo status certificate is available on a property that you search, it can be purchased through the GeoWarehouse Store. You will then receive the condo status certificate electronically which is faster and more efficient than mailing the request and payment – oh yes, and with the online option you can pay for the certificate in the GeoWarehouse Store by credit card.

Either way – once the offer has been made and accepted, you may want to consider getting a condo certificate right away. Also, some real estate sales professionals have reported requiring a review of a clean condo certificate as a condition in the offer. In this case timing is even more important. Once you have had a chance to review the condo certificate you can give your clients the thumbs up that there are no issues with their deal. Alternately, if representing a condo seller, having the condo certificate is a value add because you can show that the condo has a good corporation, a solid management company, and that the unit being sold is in good financial standing.

Don’t get stuck with a bad deal because a condo status certificate, ordered later rather than sooner, showed some questionable findings. Check out GeoWarehouse today to order yours online: www.geowarehouse.ca.

What’s on Title? What You MUST Know as a Real Estate Sales Professional

What does “what’s on title” mean to you? It could mean who is on title, it could mean what is owed against the title, or it could mean many other things. As a real estate sales professional it is important to perform due diligence to ensure that you have the complete and accurate picture as it relates to your client and the property being purchased or sold.

When representing a buyer or seller there are a couple of fundamental things that you will want to know and verify. 

Commission is almost always paid by the seller. The seller may or may not be your client. Whether you represent the seller or a buyer looking to purchase a property, where the seller is represented by a different agent you will want to validate some details: 

Who owns the home? You will want to double check that all homeowners are listed on the deal and none have been omitted. If the seller is your client you will want to verify that all people who are listed on title have signed on as your clients. 

Is there enough equity in the home to pay all encumbrances and real estate commissions? This is important because you will want to ensure that the client doesn’t have mortgages or liens that consume all of the equity in the home – or there won’t be anything to pay you. Accessing a tool that will show you mortgages registered on the property can be very helpful at identifying these types of potential issues. 

With the above 2 examples, you can access home ownership information and information about registered mortgages 1 of 2 ways:

1.      By generating a Property Details Report in GeoWarehouse which will show home ownership information as well as registered mortgages.

2.      By purchasing a Parcel Register* in the GeoWarehouse store which will show home ownership information as well as all mortgages registered, liens or other encumbrances, as of the date of the search.

In the case of only representing a buyer who is not selling a home – it may be a good idea to ask your client if they have been pre-approved for a mortgage. Before looking for a home the client should have already looked at mortgage options and should know how they qualify for to borrow. If they have not already looked at their mortgage options they may waste your time and theirs looking at properties that they may not be able to pay for in terms of mortgage payments or may not even qualify to finance. If they have not been pre-approved for a mortgage you may want to consider referring them to a mortgage broker who you know and trust to determine their eligibility for mortgage financing before you start house shopping.

At the end of the day you and your client are best served when you have the information necessary for the closing to go smoothly, as well as to ensure that you get paid and avoid potential fraud.

Save time and resources by doing your due diligence. Visit GeoWarehouse today to find out how you can verify information quickly and up-to-date, or call us at 1-866-237-5937.

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

How Your Listing Shows From the Street Matters!!

Wouldn’t you agree that social media and this new digital era have completely changed the way that people share, engage and communicate? Search engines like Google and social sites like Facebook and Pinterest have given people the ability to investigate and research things that they are interested in far quicker and easier than ever before.

It used to be that a real estate sales professional would meet a client and review properties of interest with the client in the office and then go out to see them.  Now however, individuals can access the MLS right from their home computers. People driving by one of your listings can snap a photo of your listing and share it instantly with their networks on social media or even by email. Furthermore, other real estate sales professionals, when researching your property using tools like GeoWarehouse, can access aerial and street view imagery of the property without even going there with their client.

How your listing shows from the street matters! 

1.      Make sure the house number is easily visible.

2.      Clean the area at the front of the house entirely, removing anything unsightly.

3.      Landscape, landscape, landscape. Ensure the grass is cut at all times and that there is no garbage or junk on the front lawn.

4.      Make sure your client’s trees are pruned.

5.      Suggest that your client may want to consider:

a.      Giving the front door a fresh coat of paint.

b.      Giving the driveway a fresh coat of paint.

c.      If they have a wood patio, giving it a fresh coat of paint.

d.      Changing lighting and door fixtures.

6.      If the steps leading up to the house are in rough shape, your client can consider precast cement steps as an affordable, good looking viable option.

7.      If there is a patio your client can consider staging a couple of new chairs out front.

Implementing some or all of the above can make a major difference. However, Google, for example, trolls the streets and can sometimes take up to a year to update imagery so you can’t wave a magic wand if there are already bad photos of your listing online. What you can do is ensure that the most current images of your property are promoted online so that if someone is researching your property they are likely to come upon them. 

Not only can you post these updated photos on your website, you can also promote them on social media sites and real estate sites. Ensuring that you include the address in the listing title will ensure that when your address is searched there will be a higher likelihood that your listing will appear not only on Google but on other websites as well. 

For more information about this blog or about GeoWarehouse please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.

Representing Clients in Neighbourhoods That You Are Not Familiar With

No one ever wants to pass on a deal, and whether it be the result of online marketing or a referral from a friend or family member, sometimes you are approached by clients who have a home to list or are interested in a particular neighbourhood that you are not familiar with.  

 

Many real estate sales professionals have differing positions on this. Some real estate sales professional stick exclusively to defined areas and will not take on business outside of those areas. These real estate sales professionals may tell you that this is because they are acting in the best interest of their client and that no real estate sales professional should veer outside of territory that they know well. However, other real estate sales professionals may argue that this is not a luxury that one can afford – and so will offer representation outside of their usual area.

Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, it is not so risky these days to represent a client in an area you are not familiar with. There are things you can do to find out everything that will enable you to work with a client in an area that you don’t usually work in. 

·        Take advantage of aerial imagery – using different online tools you can view aerial imagery of a particular neighbourhood to identify both positive attributes such as parks, schools and transit, as well as negative attributes like train tracks, factories, highways and other issues that could be a concern for your client.

·        Test comparables – pull comparable sales of properties in the area in question to get a sense of what things are selling for.

·        Demographics – like aerial imagery, there are tools available that enable you, at the click of a mouse, to learn demographics information about a particular neighbourhood such as family make-up (couples, families, seniors), schools, income ranges, types of residents: owners vs renters, and more…

It all comes down to research, and fortunately the internet has placed the tools we need at our fingertips. This is coupled with the fact that the emergence of real estate apps for real estate sales professionals takes you from only being able to perform research in your office to being able to perform research on the go on your iPad. 

It seems that by embracing technology and both online tools and apps for real estate sales professionals, one can take on a client in a neighbourhood they are not familiar with and do a fine job representing them through performing the research required to do so.

 

For more information about how to access important demographics information, sales history information, aerial imagery on a property or area, visit www.geowarehouse.ca 

Real Estate Sales Professional Says GeoWarehouse and ViMO Best Toolset!

We recently interviewed Paul Mangion, real estate sales professional from Axxess Realty, about what tools he uses most often when signing up a new client. While he mentioned using GeoWarehouse, MLS and even MPAC to perform various tasks relating to due diligence, one major thing was clear – the only  tool that enabled him to validate sales history information on a property and other properties, research property ownership information, search comparables, validate assessment values, generate reports and more, all in one place, was GeoWarehouse.

 

GeoWarehouse is a web-based, centralized property information source that provides state of the art mapping and research tools, as well as professional reports. GeoWarehouse services real estate sales professionals and other land professionals across Ontario. Using GeoWarehouse you can learn about a particular property, properties in a particular neighbourhood, property information such as ownership and sales history information, neighbourhood demographics information and more. You can also use the GeoWarehouse Store to dig deeper, accessing Parcel Registers, instrument images, Condo Status Certificates, surveys and more.

We also shared information with Paul about Teranet’s new mobile app for real estate sales professionals, ViMO is an amazing sales and marketing support tool that helps you close more business, enhancing your personal brand and enriching the face-to-face client experience.

“Things are changing faster than ever before. Real estate sales professionals have to adapt. The idea that Teranet has introduced an app that compliments GeoWarehouse so nicely is exciting. Knowing how I rely on GeoWarehouse, adding the app capability, it seems that GeoWarehouse and ViMO will be the best toolset out there for real estate sales professionals in Ontario.” This was Paul’s opinion after looking at what he currently has with GeoWarehouse and what he stands to gain by also having the ViMO app.

Paul closed our interview by sharing with us how excited he is about changes in technology and how they will positively impact his ability to offer a better service and ultimately do more business. For more information about GeoWarehouse or ViMO visit www.geowarehouse.ca or www.myvimo.ca.

Is The Ability to Validate Homeownership Information Critical for Real Estate Sales Professionals?

When representing a buyer or seller in a real estate sales transaction, there are many things that should be considered. One of the most important is who the owner(s) of the property is. The question is, is the ability for a real estate sales professional to validate homeownership critical? We think so! 

 

Why? Independently verifying the homeownership information enables you to ensure that you are dealing with the homeowner at the time the identification is reviewed because you can match the identification to your own information.  

It is very common for a client to omit information knowingly or unknowingly under a range of common circumstances:

 

·        Marital separation

·        The property being in a parent’s name

·        Other people being on title

If the client’s identification doesn’t match the homeownership information or there are other people on title you cannot sell the property. If other people are on title, they will also have to agree to list and sell the property.  

FINTRAC forms are required on any real estate transaction. At the time that FINTRAC forms are generated, the real estate sales professional has to verify the client’s identity. Accessing real estate technology that enables you to match your client’s identification against homeownership information enables you to thoroughly validate your client’s identity. 

Verifying homeownership information allows for:

·        Smoother closings - Once the lawyer has been instructed, issues with the name of the homeowner shouldn’t come up because you will have verified the homeowner’s identification against the homeownership information.

·        More closed deals because you will be able to focus on deals that don’t have issues.

·        Significant time savings - because you will identify problem deals early on.

When representing a client who is looking to buy a property, it is also very helpful be able to validate the homeownership information of the home they are interested in purchasing.   

Doing your due diligence offers so many benefits to both you and your clients.  

So, how can you validate homeownership information? Real estate technology such as GeoWarehouse offers the ability to validate homeownership information. If you want to go a step further you can even request a Parcel Register in the GeoWarehouse Store that will tell you the most up-to-date information: the homeowner’s names, type of ownership, percentage of ownership, any mortgages registered against the home, registration dates and amounts, liens on the property and more… 

For more information about verifying homeownership information please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.

Real Estate Sales Professionals – Industry Brand vs. Individual Brand

There are thousands of real estate sales professionals in Ontario and it is no secret that the real estate industry is very competitive. Standing out and differentiating oneself is really important to compete. 

Although there are standards and practices that must be adhered to, and these do lend credibility to your name, are they enough to enhance your brand image? To ensure success, one of the most effective things that you can do is to develop and establish a brand that is you. 

Many organizations who serve the real estate community have projected the image that they believe the consumers should expect when conversing with real estate sales professionals.  

Many organizations are affected by stereotyping based on an individual’s misuse of the system or negative experience - the real estate sector is not exempt. Stereotyping can have a positive impact, but in most circumstances will have a negative impact on the organization. This is where differentiation becomes crucial, especially in respect to developing your own brand. While your procedure and objective is similar to the majority of other real estate sales professionals, it does not mean you are alike. 

The real estate sales professional brand – what does it need to look like? Again, this is a hard concept to grasp – but a few common things come to mind: professionalism, competency, level of knowledge, and sincerity.  

Your brand, needs to be developed according to your own standards, standards that you set for yourself and adhere to on a consistent basis. It should encompass all of your goals and markers for success, and needs to branch out from the typical way of doing things.  

Things to consider:

-        Where you sell and what you sell. This is an obvious one, but it is synonymous with brand image.  You can’t expect to reel in the major clients with a reputation that will not entice or attract.

-        Technology plays a major role in most industries nowadays, and real estate is no exception. Being behind the tech times can be extremely detrimental, especially since the younger generations are becoming the clients of today and will be the clients of tomorrow.

-        Another strong point of differential is ongoing and consistent training to maintain a solid grasp on emerging trends and popular advances in the real estate world. Perhaps more than just the annual conference or networking is required here.

-        Accessibility also plays a key factor. This goes hand-in-hand with embracing tech advances. Your clients need to be able to get in touch with you, and this doesn’t just mean over the phone.

What about an industry standard? Is it possible to set one? Is it feasible to create a set list of expectations and raise the bar in a way that is acceptable to all members? While it is simple to project that real estate sale professionals should be expected to perform at a certain level, everyone has a different perception of this level – and with very few measures in place to monitor this behaviour it is almost impossible to ensure that everyone is holding to those expectations. So does that mean it is a useless endeavour? We will put that to you. 

In the end, just remember: as a real estate sales professional, your success depends upon your ability to present your brand. Everything that you do, every action, and every communication, needs to be consistent and reflect well upon your brand. In an industry with standards and an almost innate general perception, the best thing that you can do for yourself is enhance your own reputation and image.  

For more about brand image and to find out about the tools to enhance it, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca.  

The Importance of Parcel Registers – A $7,000.00 Learning Experience

The Parcel Register search is relied upon for real estate transactions to learn important information about a property, such as ownership and encumbrances. The real estate lawyer will request a parcel register prior to closing because it currently validates:

• Who owns the property
• The type of ownership
• When the property was purchased
• Value of the transfer
• Registered amount of the mortgage
• Any undischarged mortgages registered against the property
• Any liens against the property - property tax, condo liens, income tax, etc.  

The Parcel Register is one of the first property related searches that real estate sales professionals utilise when conversing with their clients.  This will reduce your expenditure in both time and money, and allow for these resources to be allocated elsewhere. For instance, the profit of the sale may be hindered when the necessary information is not disclosed by the client. With the Parcel Register search you will be able to obtain the important information. This will also allow you to avoid the potential risks, which can be detrimental to your profit when a deal has closed.   

A lien or undisclosed mortgage can result in a deal not closing, or the deal will close but there may not be enough equity to cover commission. All things considered, it is a nominal expense to use a Parcel Register to ensure that your deal closes safely.

In a LinkedIn Group that we sponsor, a participant highlighted a very common occurrence that we can learn from: 

A real estate sales professional had a client who had to perform renovations on a property before they could list it - the cost of the renovations was about $7,000. The real estate sales professional extended a loan to the client to pay for the renovations. When the property was sold, it came to light that there were 3 mortgages registered against the property. Once the final balances were sent to the lawyer, there was no equity left to pay back the loan to the real estate sales professional. Fortunately, there was enough equity to pay the commission, which was just slightly less than $7,000.  

This clearly illustrates the importance of obtaining a Parcel Register because if the information was available, the loss could have been avoided.  

Among several other tools provided by GeoWarehouse, we encourage you to utilise the Parcel Register search for your benefit.  

For more information about GeoWarehouse or a Parcel Register please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or feel free to watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCnO80_bRvM about how to request a Parcel Register. 

Mobile Apps for Real Estate - How Are You Leveraging Mobile Technology?

In today’s technological world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to walk down the street without noticing someone on a smartphone. It seems as though everyone has some form of mobile technology, and most do not hesitate to pull out that device to accomplish a variety of tasks – most of which have nothing to do with making a phone call. Some real estate sales professionals have a negative perception of the impact of mobile technology, arguing that things such as instant messaging and social media take away from face-to-face interaction and engagement. However, we think it is the opposite. One thing is certain, communication is critical – so can you just ignore tech advances? We argue no – with the majority of the population embracing mobile technology, ignoring its importance is out of the question.  

In Canada, professionals, no matter the industry, are relying more and more on the advances made (and thus the opportunities created) by mobile technology. According to a recent news report from CBC News, smartphone usage has soared over the past year. The report stated that 56% of Canadian adults use a smartphone – this is up from 33% at the beginning of 2012, and this is estimated to continue to rise over the new few months. This 56% represents over 13 million people. And according to digital marketing company Mediative, 73% of these individuals access the mobile web on a daily basis.  

How are professionals using mobile technology to do things more quickly? A number of different applications, not to mention email or text messaging, have made our professional lives a great deal easier.  Smartphone applications that make doing business more efficient are becoming progressively more popular. According to CTV News, the average smartphone user has 30 different apps installed on their phone.  And many of these are business related, everything from apps to digitally sign documents (DocuSign), to apps that help you track expenses (Expensify), to networking apps (LinkedIn). 

What about real estate sales professionals specifically? Many of the apps popular for business are great in the world of mobile real estate; and many can be used to make your work faster – giving you access to everything you need, on the go. We are now starting to see companies that serve the real estate industry developing real estate specific mobile apps. 

Mobile apps are remodeling the future. Doing business in this tech age essentially means being tapped into the world of mobile web, so those of you attempting to hold out may need to rethink that strategy. Embracing mobile technology for use in your everyday life will actually work to make things far easier in the long-run.  

For more about mobile web and how you can leverage mobile technology to close more deals, faster, please contact GeoWarehouse by calling 1-866-237-5937 or visit www.geowarehouse.ca.

How Are You Giving Back?

We came across this great video produced by OREA that we thought was definitely worth a share. It highlights how different real estate sales professionals are giving their time volunteering to support their colleagues and improve the industry.  

We would like to hear how you are giving back. Post a 20 second video about what you are doing to give back and contribute to the industry for a chance to win a Kobo E-Reader. You can submit your entry one of 3 ways:

1.      Posting your entry on the GeoWarehouse Facebook page.

2.      Posting your entry in the discussion thread “How Are You Giving Back” in the Ontario Real Estate Sales Professionals Group (sponsored by GeoWarehouse) on LinkedIn

3.      By tweeting your entry, adding @GeoWarehouse and #HowImGivingBack

You must be a licensed real estate sales professional in Ontario to participate.

Condo Status Certificate Online – Say It Ain’t So?

We are happy to report that yes, it is so! We all know that requesting a Condo Status Certificate is probably one of your least favourite aspects of closing a deal. However, now it doesn’t have to be!

Traditionally, the process of requesting a Condo Status Certificate required tracking down the appropriate person at the condo corporation, making your request in writing (usually by fax) and then having to mail payment by certified means before they will even get started on the request. Next you can wait up to 10 days before the Condo Status Certificate is ready and arrange a courier to pick up the massive document.

Seems like a complicated, time consuming way to go about getting something, especially given the fact that it is 2013 and technology makes virtually every other aspect of our life effortless.

GeoWarehouse has made the process of requesting Condo Status Certificates a little bit easier. While many are not fully available for online viewing, they can be requested online through the GeoWarehouse Store.

What does this mean to you? It means that you can simply access the GeoWarehouse Store, request a Condo Status Certificate online, pay by credit card and then either receive it electronically or, if it is not available electronically, arrange to have it picked up.

Yes, it’s that easy!

If you are listing a condo or representing a buyer then you know that you will need a Condo Status Certificate as it provides complete disclosure with respect to the financial standing of the condo corporation. It can also reveal if the condo owner is in arrears on their condo fees. It pays to get it before your deal is finalized as it will make for a smoother closing and help you to identify issues that could come up upon closing once the real estate lawyer gets their hands on it.

If you are a real estate sales professional who does not specialize in condos but it is an area you want to get into, Miller Thompson released a really good whitepaper titled “Condominium Ownership – What You Need to Know”(http://www.millerthomson.com/assets/files/article_attachments3/MT_A-Residents-Guide-Living-and-Buying-a-Condominium_A-Loeb.pdf ). This whitepaper highlights a lot of useful information as perceived through the eyes of a lawyer as it relates to condo purchases. It also highlights the purpose and necessity of a Condo Status Certificate. 

Get ahead of issues before they become issues and save yourself time in the process with an online Condo Status Certificate request through the GeoWarehouse store. Visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.