The Diligent Open House

An open house is an invaluable opportunity to let your client’s home shine! There are things that you can do to ensure that your open house goes off without a hitch - on your side that is. In most cases though, prospective buyers will have their own real estate sales professional and the more equipped you are to close a deal at the open house, the better off you’ll be.

Let’s start off with some open house basics:

Staging - Your client doesn’t have to go crazy with renovations – just some simple changes can make the open house go off with a bang. This blog on Frontdoor.com http://www.frontdoor.com/real-estate/4-steps-to-staging-for-an-open-house provides 4 simple staging ideas to prep for an open house.

Promoting – You can promote the open house online on real estate specific sites like Trulia.com and Zillow.com, on apps like ViMO by sending out invites to connect and newsletters once they’ve consented to receive communications from you, announcing the open house, and on social media sites. On Facebook consider announcing your open house in real estate specific groups. Make sure that the open house is promoted through signage on the property itself and distribute marketing materials in the community to make neighbours aware of the event.

Keep your client out of the house. Most open houses are more effective when the homeowner is not there because potential buyers are free to express themselves and their opinions about the home.

The day of… final preparation:

• Arrive at the home early
• Ensure that the home is secure and that the client has stowed away all valuables
• Do a final walk through to make sure that there are no personal effects in the home that could cause a prospective buyer to form an opinion based on the current homeowner and not the home
• Smell – open windows to air out the home and distribute fresh, neutral air fresheners throughout the house
• Have a promo area – set up a table but the door with not just business cards and feature sheets but also more details about the property
• Tech it up! Have a tablet available with information that can be sent electronically, to capture attendance and to have attendees sign up for your newsletter

Be diligent – supporting the other side makes for a diligent open house

Finally, just because you are prepared for your open house, doesn’t mean the real estate sales professional on the other side is! You don’t want anything to delay an offer so if you have a hot prospect on the line – you want to close that deal!

You don’t want to get caught up in the other real estate sales professional on the other side leaving with their client, preparing paper offers and then starting up with the flurry of faxes and emails back and forth.

•  Have a room set-up in the house where the real estate sales professional can speak privately with their client. If the client has a room with a computer in it, that is ideal.

• Speak to the other real estate sales professional quietly and let them know that you have all the resources needed to answer any questions that they may have and an area for them to do any research they need to or to simply speak with their client privately – this includes them performing their own research on your property.

• If the client does have a room with a computer in it, have GeoWarehouse loaded up so that the other real estate sales professional can simply log in and perform whatever research they need to.

• In some instances there may not be a computer to use, but remember we mentioned tech-ing it out by having a tablet.

•  Ensure you have an app like ViMO loaded up so that if the real estate sales professional on the other side has a client who wants to make an offer you can help the other real estate sales professional through creating the offer electronically on your tablet, after which it can be signed electronically. In the absence of a computer this app can also be used to perform property related research including sales comps.

The diligent open house is the best open house, and GeoWarehouse can help. Contact us today by calling 1-866-237-5937. 

How to Avoid Working with Clients Who Can’t Pay You

You get paid when the deal closes. In almost all cases your fee is paid from equity in the seller’s home. A seller who has no home equity certainly complicates things and can leave you wondering how you will get paid.

The only way to avoid working with a client who can’t pay you is to validate their home equity. This validation will occur at different points in time depending on whether you are representing a buyer or a seller.

Seller scenario

When representing the seller, you hope that this information will be uncovered at the interview stage – however in some cases it is not. This is why you can run a search on any new property you list to validate both the list value that the seller has in mind and also view registered mortgages. This can give you an idea as to whether or not there is sufficient equity to pay you.

If it turns out that there is a question as to whether there is sufficient equity to cover fees, you are in a position before you accept the listing and begin incurring expense to market it, to speak to your client about the outcome of the search. They may then acknowledge that there is an issue or prove that there is some new information that you are unaware of that overcomes the challenge.

Buyer scenario

When representing a buyer who is interested in a property, at the offer stage or even before the offer, you should run the same search mentioned in the seller scenario to validate value and registered mortgages.

If it turns out that there is a question as to whether there is sufficient equity to cover fees, you can contact the real estate sales professional on the other side to make financial arrangements for your fee to be paid on closing.

In either scenario – if it turns out that there is no equity to cover fees, the buyer or seller is going to have to come up with the money to pay you. Because you don’t get paid until the deal closes, this leaves you very vulnerable because each deal represents time and expense. Taking the steps to do some of your own due diligence will greatly mitigate instances of identifying clients who can’t pay you before it is too late.

Don’t get stuck without a paycheque come closing day. GeoWarehouse has the tools to help you validate homeowner information before a deal even gets off the ground. Visit us online today at www.geowarehouse.ca. 

How to Validate Information Your Clients Provide

The word “lie” is a noun that is defined as “an intentionally false statement”. Has a client lied when they provided inaccurate information to you? Some industry professionals think so – we are not so sure.

When a client provides you with their information or information about their property, and then that information turns out being incorrect, more often than not it’s because your client was:

·         Confused

·         Forgot

·         Didn’t know

You can have a whopper of a lie, when someone knows they are concealing from you, right down to little white lies (as perceived by the client) where a problem or two in the home is not disclosed to you and the client hoping it will slip by. While little white lies are far more common than whoppers, both can cause big problems.

This is why, as a real estate sales professional, you have to:

·         Ensure that you are clearly asking your client the right questions.

·         Ensure that you are equipped to validate information your clients provide to you.

In real estate, it seems that there are key areas/circumstances where omissions and non-disclosures often come into play:

·         Issues with the property that a homeowner may be aware of.

·         The client thinks that the property is worth far more than it is.

·         Someone else on title to a property.

·         Financial challenges with the borrower or the property – perhaps there is no equity, the mortgage is in default or there is a lien.

Here are some tips for you to validate clients’ provided information:

1.       Try to have as complete information as possible. Ask lots of questions and be calculated about the questions that you ask. Doing so may uncover an issue before you spend time and expense and enable you to guide your client as to how they can navigate their issue.

2.       Perform some basic due diligence. You can run a search on GeoWarehouse to validate homeowner and mortgage information, as well as check the sales history on the property and sales comps. If you suspect that there is a lien, you can use the GeoWarehouse store to obtain a Parcel Register* to validate same.

3.       Financial challenges – this can be 2 prong. Financial challenges with the client could mean that they may have difficulty getting a mortgage, and financial challenges with the property could mean that there is not enough equity to pay your fees. You can learn of financial challenges with the property using step 2. You can learn of financial challenges with the client by asking them (if they require a mortgage) for a pre-approval or to speak with their broker to confirm that there won’t be any surprises on that side.

4.       Undisclosed problems with the property itself – in these instances the homeowner may not even be aware of a problem with a property. You may not be a home inspector but there are some noticeable things that may tip you off. It’s better that your client know and address it than to have potential buyers come through who notice and then decide not to make an offer. Here are some things inside your client’s home that you can take a look at – or take a look at when showing other homes to your clients:

·         Plumbing – in the kitchen and all bathrooms:

o   Open cupboards and check if you see visible leaks or signs of water damage

o   Run water to check water pressure

·         Water heater – check the age

·         If appliances will be included – ensure that the fridge, stove, oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer all work by turning them on.

5.       Finally – Google is also an excellent source for information. Through a Google search you can learn if there was a disaster in the area where the home was, a flood, fires – all sorts of things.

Anytime you take on a new client, the more information you have about the client and the more you work to validate your client’s information, the better equipped you will be, thus leading to a more effective use of your time, and therefore more profitability!

GeoWarehouse has the tools to make this easy - visit us online today at www.geowarehouse.ca.

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

Building Your Paperless Real Estate Plan

The benefits of going paperless are vast, so why do so many struggle with implementing a plan to take the paperless journey? Taking the journey will not be possible without a roadmap or plan to get you from your starting point to your destination point.

A large part of this plan is going to be the technology you will deploy to take your brokerage paperless. Now, within a brokerage you have many different people who perform different tasks and are at different skill levels where using technology is concerned – all of which will have to be considered in your planning. All team members - administrators, real estate sales professionals and any other stake holders - should have input.

Before going paperless it is prudent to look at your brokerage departmentally. Have stakeholders meet to discuss different aspects of their department and where paper plays a role.

•  Administration may benefit from apps that assist with document organization, transmission, storage, payroll, creation of marketing materials, etc…
•  A real estate sales professional may benefit from all of the above as well as apps that assist with marketing, researching properties and clients as well as performing due diligence.
•  A marketing person within a brokerage may benefit from apps that enable them to market the brokerage and listings digitally.

If we were to fit it into a process, the process may look something like this:

Make the decision to go paperless ® Gather stakeholder input ® Research technology  ® Evaluate vendors of technology ® Prepare plan to integrate into workflow ® Put the plan into place

By involving real estate sales professionals in your brokerage as well as other professionals who work in the brokerage you achieve their buy-in as they are a part of the plan. You will also be positioned to identify real estate sales professionals who have limitations as far as technology hardware – this enables you to make recommendations to get them up-to-date.

Your plan may want to include:

• Technology - Departmental apps to support going paperless.
• Integration - Getting the apps installed an integrated.
• Training - A plan for training to get all team members up to speed on the apps being used and how they will use them.
• Communication - Communication, communication, communication. While you will have gone a long way by engaging your team as far as their awareness of the plan to go paperless, some team members may not be as engaged as others so routine communication about your plan is recommended.
• Support – Once going paperless you must continue to support your team by staying on top of the latest apps to ensure that you are using the most current technology, and as apps evolve, offer ongoing training and support to teach your team how to maximize their app use.

Going paperless can be tough, be stand up to the challenge with a plan. GeoWarehouse can help. Visit us online today at www.geowarehouse.ca. 

GeoWarehouse + ViMO = Marketing and Due Diligence on Steroids

GeoWarehouse + ViMO, ViMO + GeoWarehouse, truly a match made in heaven and the best current toolset for Ontario real estate professionals.

GeoWarehouse – The premier, online due diligence tool for viewing property ownership history, comparable sales, value, home ownership, and registered mortgages, as well as obtaining condo certificates, surveys, Parcel Registers*, MPAC assessment reports and more… If there is a question on a deal, GeoWarehouse is likely able to answer it.

ViMO – The premier mobile app used to market listings, connect and collaborate with clients, colleagues and suppliers, view listings, comparable sales and other information about a property or neighbourhood, sign electronic documents, market to clients and more.

So, ViMO and GeoWarehouse together are a powerful combination and in fact you cannot have ViMO without GeoWarehouse.

In either scenario….

An offer is made

·         Now you can visit the client to review an offer. All documents can now be prepared/adjusted and signed electronically using ViMO. Any back and forth on counteroffers can occur electronically using ViMO.

The offer is finally accepted – now you have to move the deal through to closing.

·         The property is a condo so now you can go back into GeoWarehouse to obtain a condo status certificate and survey electronically to provide to the lawyer and to ensure that there will be no surprises related to the property on closing.

The deal continues to proceed to close.

·         Once with the lawyer, the lawyer advises you that there is a fresh lien filed against the property.

·         You contact the homeowner and they had no idea there was a lien and want more information. Now you go back into GeoWarehouse and using the registration number provided by the lawyer, you request an instrument image to learn all the lien registrant information. Phew – it turns out that the lien was from a debt that had been paid off so it can be discharged - crisis averted.

Your deal closes!

As you can see, ViMO and GeoWarehouse play an integral role in each step of the process of buying and selling a home and accessing both makes you agile, able to offer better, faster service and in the end makes you more competitive.

For more information about the benefits of both GeoWarehouse and ViMO please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or www.myvimo.ca.

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

Everything You Need to Know About Ontario Closing Costs and First Time

You have probably represented many first time homebuyers. First time homebuyers are in a unique position because, depending on where they buy, they could have the opportunity to benefit from significant tax breaks. 

Closing costs can be challenging because there are so many of them - but fortunately for you, if you are representing a first time homebuyer, their closing costs won’t reach the level of someone who has already owned a home in Ontario.

Here is a little summary of closing costs in Ontario and first time homebuyer tax credits and rebates.

1. Legal fees and disbursements: if there is a mortgage to be registered the legal fee and disbursements will be greater.
2. Insurance: your client will need fire insurance, and if there is a mortgage, they should look at mortgage insurance and possibly life insurance too.
3. Property tax: if there is an overpayment on the tax bill at the time you buy, you will have to repay the amount on closing. Also, if your client is getting a mortgage and the mortgage will be collecting their tax payment monthly, there may be a property tax holdback of 3-6 months that will also have to be paid on closing.
4. Appraisal: if the lender has requested an appraisal, your client can expect to pay $300-$400 if the lender has not agreed to pay for it.
5. Home inspection: this could range anywhere from $400 and upward depending on the company.
6. Interest adjustment: there will be an interest adjustment applied from the date of closing to the date of first payment date, this will have to be paid on closing.
7. Land transfer taxes: these can get complicated with all the rebates and exemptions available.

In Ontario your client will have to pay land transfer tax equal to:

• 0.5% of the value of consideration for the transfer up to and including $55,000.
• 1% of the value of the consideration which exceeds $55,000 up to and including $250,000.
• 1.5% of the value of the consideration which exceeds $250,000.
• 2% of the amount by which the value of the consideration exceeds $400,000 for land that contains at least one and not more than two single family residences.
• Check here for more details: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/ltt/rates.html.
• If the buyer lives in Toronto:

 o 0.5% of the value of consideration for the transfer up to and including $55,000.

 o 1% of the value of consideration from $55,000.01 to $400,000.00.

 o 2% of the value of consideration over $400,000.00.

Now here is where first time homebuyers get a break:

• In Ontario, first time homebuyers are entitled to a rebate on their land transfer tax up to a maximum of $2,000.00:

 o http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/refund/newhome/ 

 o http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/bulletins/ltt/1_2008.html 

• In Toronto, first time homebuyers, in addition to the Ontario tax rebate are entitled to a rebate on their Toronto land transfer tax of up to $3,725.00:

     o http://www.landtransfertax.com/first-time-homebuyers-rebates. 

     o The above 2 tax rebates total big bucks for your client!

In addition to these rebates, and aside from first time homebuyers, you have some other clients who stand to benefit from land transfer exemptions as well. According to this publication by Schwartz Law, these exemptions include:

• Transfers between spouses
• Transfers where there is no consideration (this has many conditions) 
• Transfers of land between affiliated corporations
• Transfers of land to a family business corporation

• Of course, all of the above have some conditions so you are best to speak with a real estate          lawyer to find out if your client qualifies

Ok, so back to first time homebuyers - in addition to all the first time homebuyer rebates that exist, there are also first time homebuyer tax credits. There is a tax credit for certain first time homebuyers that acquired a qualifying home after Jan 2009. You can find complete details here to see if your client qualifies: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2009/fqhbtc-eng.html. 

We have to remember that clients, especially first time homebuyers do not know as much as you about real estate. Many times people simply miscalculate their closing costs, and when this happens the result in closing could surprise - but this is usually not the best scenario. The best way to avoid any kind of a surprise on your closings is to make the effort to know more, learn more about LTT rebates and credits. Also investing in tools that you can use to investigate applicants and properties like GeoWarehouse can be very useful.

For more about how to help your clients save big bucks on closing, or to get the most information available, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca. 

Making Predictions for the 2015 Spring Housing Market in Canada

It’s interesting that we are in March of 2015 and while some Canadian economists have predicted an upcoming slowdown in the 2015 Canadian housing market, as of right now there haven’t been any predictions released about how spring 2015 is going to look – at least not from real estate industry professionals.    

By this time last year, Royal Lepage had released a prediction that the Canadian housing market was headed for a spring boom. The Globe and Mail reported on a press release by Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage where he was quoted: “We predict continued upward pressure on home prices as we move towards the all-important spring market…This is the most optimistic view of the housing market since the recession, that’s in half a decade.”

The proof was in the pudding because, in April of 2014, Royal Lepage went on to release the company’s latest House Price Survey which found that most regions showed healthy year-over-year price growth, with the average price of a home in Canada rising between 2.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent: http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2602082.

The average price of:

·         A two-story home increased 5.4% to $428,943.

·         Detached bungalows rose to 4.4% year-over-year to $380,765.

·         Standard condominiums increased by 2.5% to $252,174.

This year over last, Canadians enjoyed an interest rate drop in the first quarter. This means that many will head into spring with mortgage pre-approvals committed through to summer – this could signify a boom despite economists’ predictions.

You can pay attention to trends and predictions to try to gauge where the housing market will go, but working on the frontlines you also have to be in-touch with the real estate market at the micro level - after all, you are charged with the task of working with clients to understand the value of their homes in a listing scenario where you are representing sellers and reasonable offers in purchases in the case of buyers.

Supply and demand shifts seasonally and accordingly the market value of real estate does too. This can make helping your client price their listing more challenging.

Some clients may have a list price in mind, while others will have no idea. The easiest way to help your client figure out what they want to list their house for is through sales comparables in the area. Reviewing these sales comparables with your client will help them see what other houses close at in the area - ones that are similar to their own.

When representing buyers, when you have showings scheduled with a potential buyer, you will have addresses you want to show in mind. Before your appointment you can generate a property details report on each property that includes the sales history information on each property and some sales comps. This way, if your client wants to make an offer you are positioned to review sales comps with the client against the asking price to come up with a fair offer.

For more information about how you can value a property or values in an entire area – visit www.geowarehouse.ca.