Innovative Ways that a Property Ownership Search Can Help You be More Efficient!

When representing a client, whether it is a buyer or a seller, the more information you have about a property and its owners, the better. Most real estate sales professionals will turn to a search in GeoWarehouse to get the information they need quickly. A property ownership search can be performed in GeoWarehouse by leveraging different reports and searches to obtain the information that you need.

When requesting a Property Details Report in GeoWarehouse, you will get access to not only the sales on the subject property, but also the property’s PIN (Property Identification Number). Say you want to know how much the subject property is encumbered for, what current owners paid for the home, when they purchased it, etc.  Armed with the property address and PIN, you can request a Parcel Register in the GeoWarehouse Store and instantly identify who is on title to the property, the type of ownership, when they purchased the property, what they paid for it and any mortgages or liens registered.

This can make you more efficient in so many ways:

·        You can validate that the client engaging you actually is the homeowner. What does this mean to you? It means that, if there are other people on title, they are consenting to the sale of the property and that you in fact contract all of the relevant parties.

·        You can learn of encumbrances and liens on the subject property and protect your interests and other closing costs. What does this mean to you? Incredible time savings. You can quickly identify if your deal is in fact a practical deal and address financial shortfalls before investing your valuable time and energy into representing a client.

·        You can identify any prevalent issues that could impact the deal from closing. What does this mean to you? There is nothing worse than being at the 11^th hour on a closing and getting a call from the real estate lawyer advising you that there are issues on title that will prevent your deal from closing. Seeing what is on the Parcel Register will greatly mitigate this and enable you to assist your client to resolve any issues well before your closing date.

Validating property ownership can play a key role in any real estate transaction, and having this information will lead to increased efficiency and a smoother closing.

We want to hear from you. Have you ever had a deal go south on closing because of title related issues?

If you would like more information about GeoWarehouse, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.

CMHC Announces Restrictions to Guarantees in an Effort to Cool a Booming Housing Market

As Canada’s housing market continues to thrive, it appears that CMHC has taken yet another step to cool things down. This week, the Financial Post reported on the changes that CMHC announced which will restrict the amount of new guarantees it offers to banks and other lenders on mortgage backed securities.

CMHC advised the financial community of the restrictions this month. In the Financial Post article, Doug Porter, chief economist with the Bank of Montreal, surmised that perhaps the sales prices in the past month led CMHC to take an additional step to further cool the housing market.

According to National Bank financial analyst Peter Routledge, this change may lead to mortgage rates charged by the major banks increasing from between .15% to .45%.

Our question to you is: if the major banks raise their rates, what impact do you think this will have on the real estate market in Canada?

You can read the full article here at http://business.financialpost.com/2013/08/06/cmhc-restricts-levels-of-new-guarantees-for-banks-and-mortgage-lenders/.

If you would like more information about GeoWarehouse please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.

TREB Market Watch June 2013 Analysis Has Been Released and the Numbers Are Looking Good

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REB has released their analysis of June 2013’s housing numbers through their monthly TREB Market Watch video and the numbers are looking good despite last year’s changes to CMHC lending guidelines.

Jason Mercer, Manager of Market Analysis at TREB, stated that more than 9,000 sales were reported on the MLS system in June - which was a decrease of about 1% in comparison to June of 2012. This rate of decline was substantially less than what was reported in the first quarter. Mr. Mercer surmised that this was due, in part, to households adjusting to the tightened CMHC lending guidelines that were announced last year.

He also indicated that, inside Toronto, the land transfer tax continues to weigh heavily on the minds of folks looking to buy, and this could be the single consideration that pushes a homebuyer to look at buying in the 905 area.

With sales slightly down, the average sale price of a home rose 5% year over year, to an average sale price of over $530k, due to continued demand.

You can view the full TREB Watch video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUK015OspnE

Looking for sales history information on a particular property or neighbourhood? Login to GeoWarehouse to find all of the information you need to investigate a particular property or community. Visit www.geowarehouse.ca.

The Importance of Knowing Demographic Information About a Particular Neighbourhood

One thing that Canada is known for around the world is its multiculturalism and diverse demographics. It is what attracts people to this country, and it is also what makes this country unique. The things that someone new to Canada may look for, in terms of choosing a country to live in, are similar to the ones that a homebuyer may look for, when choosing a community to lay down roots.

As a real estate sales professional, you know that where your client chooses to live is based on a number of different factors. Features such as location, proximity to parks, schools, public transit, etc. may influence the decision to settle in a given area, but what about elements that, perhaps, cannot be determined with a drive through the neighbourhood? Do you want to have to drive through a neighbourhood to be able to learn demographic information? Is what the eye can see even accurate? Demographic information, especially when it relates to your client’s neighbourhood of interest, is very important, and your ability to provide it improves your customer’s experience when working with you.

Is a subdivision the right fit for your client? Is the area abundant with young children or a mature community with less young families? Are a vast majority of properties in the area rentals? What is the average income in a community? Many people want to live in a community with others who are like them, and these are things that you, as their real estate sales professional, should be taking into consideration when researching potential properties.

The Neighbourhood Demographics Report, available on GeoWarehouse, can help you to determine neighbourhood demographics, and is the best way to collect this information. The information included in a Neighbourhood Demographics Report can help you answer your clients’ questions regarding age distribution, marital status of residents in a given community, and average household income. The structural types of housing, as well as the percentage of rented homes versus owned, are also key elements of this report.

Demographic information is not always evident when driving through an area; being able to provide this information will make your client more informed and lead to more referral business as more and more clients are wowed by their experience working with you! 

For more about the Neighbourhood Demographics Report please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call us today at 1-866-237-5937.

EMERGE - Moving you forward with the tools for tomorrow

OREA hosting a series of events for REALTORS throughout Ontario in the coming months. Check out this link for more details www.orea.com/emerge.

Announcement - Facebook Kobo Contest Winner Manuel Bustamante

We are very excited to announce the winner of our Facebook contest. Manuel Bustamante, sales representative from CENTURY 21 Miller Real Estate Limited in Oakville, Ontario, was the proud recipient of a Kobo E-Reader. We thank all of the real estate sales professionals who participated in the contest. 

Stay tuned for our next contest and an opportunity to win something great!

How to Skyrocket Your Real Estate Lead Generation Using Technology

What makes the difference between a somewhat successful real estate sales career in Ontario and one that is very successful?  The answer is a rock solid plan for real estate lead generation. In this blog, we will cover some proven techniques that successful real estate professionals have adopted, and that can accelerate your real estate lead generation.

Social Influence

We all know that the arrival of social media has changed the way that we communicate, network and generate new business. In this regard, social influence is the key.

Put yourself in the shoes of your prospect.  Imagine you were having coffee with a colleague, and shared that you were thinking about purchasing a property. If your friend offered a recommendation, how likely would you be to take that recommendation? This is the whole premise of social influence, the only difference is that now recommendations occur online.

Let’s take Facebook as an example of social influence: if you were to ask a happy client to visit your Facebook page and post about their experience, the result would be that their connections would see the post in their feed. Someone else, who may be in the market to buy or sell a home, may be influenced by their connection’s positive experience with you.

In fact, statistics show that 1 in 3 people make a buying decision based on recommendations from those in their social networks. We know that finding time to manage social presences can be daunting, but starting with a single presence, that you check regularly, is a start. Here are techniques that you can employ to improve social influence within your networks:

1.       Create a Facebook presence that caters to your real estate endeavours (not your personal Facebook page).

2.       Anytime you meet someone invite them to join your network on Facebook.

3.       Anytime you close a deal, ask your client to post on your Facebook page with respect to their dealings with you.

In no time at all you will begin to see the fruits of your labour.

Thought Leadership and Recognition

Consumers want to deal with a professional who is a thought-leader in their field. You have access to many tools and resources that help you discover an abundance of information, so why not blog about them? Showing your prospects that you are knowledgeable and able to address all their questions is key.

Here is a great example: in Ontario, thousands of real estate sales professionals use GeoWarehouse to learn about sales histories, neighbourhood demographics and more. Why not share this knowledge with your online networks.

Here is how to do it: If there is a particular demographic that you want to speak to, write a quick blog about neighbourhoods that cater to that demographic. This will speak directly to those you want to market to and establish you as a thought-leader in an area that is important to them.

Being in the Right Communities to Expand Your Referral Networks

Referral relationships are an awesome way to generate ongoing volume business with little ongoing marketing investment. Sites like LinkedIn are amazing for this purpose. On LinkedIn you can join groups that are frequented by target referral sources; CAAMP is a great example. If you want to establish new referral relationships with mortgage brokers, the CAAMP group on LinkedIn is the perfect place to find them. Get connected to new referral opportunities on LinkedIn and then leverage the “Projects” module inside your LinkedIn profile to post listings and keep your connections in the loop with respect to your current listings. More exposure of your listings equals more sales.

Some other ideas could include posting to free classified sites like Kijiji, Craigslist and, where possible, paying to be a top sponsored listing. Sponsored listings on Kijiji are a very affordable way to gain a lot of exposure. Kijiji also gives you the ability to access a list of people who are posting looking for your services.

These are just a few examples of ways that you can leverage technology for the purpose of real estate lead generation. Join the conversation - what best techniques are you using to generate more business?

If you would like information about GeoWarehouse please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.