When you go about researching and selecting the Realtors you want to interview when selling what is likely your most valuable asset, how do you decide who will be best for you? There are many aspects to consider - level of service, marketing, profile, and probably most important, past success. But what exactly qualifies as success from your perspective?

Real Estate sales are much more difficult to successfully conclude than many realise - and while one might anticipate a Realtor to make this claim, the numbers speak for themselves. In a good market, Realtors across the board, typically successfully sell only 45 - 55% of their listings. (If a house is relisted for a second term, then this counts as a second listing, so the actual percentage of houses sold is higher, but on a per-listing basis this is about right.) Some factors, like the desire to keep listing contracts to short periods, can make this number appear lower than the reality, but even still, about half is not a number that inspires a terrific amount of confidence!

But 50% is only an average, across the board, on a case-by-case basis the numbers can vary wildly. Some Realtors may only sell 20-30% of their listings while continuing to claim success because they list so many houses they are in fact selling more houses then most others. They just aren't selling most of their own listings. Others may sell 70 or 80% of their listings, but list relatively few and work hard for each client rather than relying on volume to make their living. And there are other variables to consider too - in 2009 we listed a great number of POS properties (Power of Sale) which are priced by the banks that are selling them. With little control or discussion about what price these homes were listed at we sold relatively few of them. Our regular listings were much more successful, but when all was considered together we only sold about 50% of our listings. This year (2010) we've avoided most of these listings and have sold 100% of our listings under $400,000 (from Jan 1 to July 31, 2010).

At HodgesLodges.ca we believe strongly in working hard for and being focussed on the clients we are contracted to work for. Living off sheer numbers may be good for a Realtors bottom line, but it's a crummy way to work for a client. Being a client where you have a 20 or 30% chance of being sold isn't what you likely signed up for when you chose the Realtor who sells the most houses... because they didn't happen to mention they also have many, many more expired listings than anyone else as well!

So when you are considering who to hire, consider how you measure success in the marketplace - is selling the most success? Yes, for the Realtor, but for your purposes you want to know what the odds are your house will be sold - so look for the Realtor who sells most of what they list, even if they aren't listing that many. Odds are, you'll be better served and sold with a measure of success that suits you and not one benefiting your Realtor only.

Good luck and remember - Be Seen... Be SOLD!

Your success is our success -

that's why we don't make you choose by giving you the best of everything!

In Northumberland County there are several areas of choice for the consumer looking to list their house. Some that are obvious, and some the consumer isn't even aware of. But, everytime a choice is made - this over that - there is also a sacrafice being made. And in the context of selling real estate, particularly real estate that's off the beaten path, you want to be compromising as little as possible.

The most obvious choice home owners consider is whether to list locally or with a Toronto or GTA based Realtor. And it's obvious why. Certainly the local Realtors are experts on the region and neighbourhoods, but the GTA is where the buyers are coming from. Fully 80% of new residents in Northumberland moved here from the GTA. And there's more, the Toronto Real Estate Board has over 28,000 Realtors as members, whereas Northumberland Hills Association of Realtors has approximately 140. Which is why 25% of all real estate sales in Northumberland involve and "out of area" agent - either representing the local seller or the buyer of a local home. Those are daunting numbers to look away from when choosing a local Realtor!

But the locals have some pretty impressive numbers as well. Such as Realtor.ca postings, where local Realtors can place up to 30 photographs of a house on Realtor.ca, TREB Realtors by comparison post only nine. And the largest real estate website in Canada is not Realtor.ca, but Google where searches for "Cobourg homes for sale" and "Port Hope House Listings" get punched in far more often than Realtor.ca is visited. And Google searches are dominated by local Realtors when people are looking for local real estate. And of course, real estate is a human business, requiring showings and meetings along with a deep understanding of local issues, neighbourhoods and market activity.

Tough choice, but one ultimately you don't have to make. At Team HodgesLodges.ca we moved to join Chestnut Park in order to remove the necessity of this kind of choice, where one always sacrafices on benefit to get another. We belong to both the local and TREB boards, allowing us full access to Realtors and all the benefits that both systems have to offer while ignoring the limitations. Meaning our listings get seen by more Realtors, and are more likely to be noticed by the 25% of out-of-area agents who bring their clients here to buy a house.

And the client benefits don't stop at simply being able to get it all. Wait there is indeed more! Chestnut Park, as one of the largest brokerages in the country at $1.2 Billion in annual real estate sales, is able to offer higher-end services most brokerages could only dream of - like a full time in-house graphics design department. Regular advertising in the Globe & Mail and National Post reducing the cost to market properties there and in house legal expertise.

By choosing not to choose, by choosing not accept sacraficing one thing for another, you end up also getting even more than you bargained for! So call us today, Christine & Stephen Hodge, your local Chestnut Park Realtors who offer you more than platitudes, but actual, significant improvements to the service you should expect!

Real Estate Commissions and the Easy Money Myth

Written by: Stephen Hodge

There has been a lot of talk over the past year regarding Real Estate - the market has been up and down, there are several new taxes (HST, Toronto's Land Transfer Tax) affecting the cost of selling real estate, and commissions have been under attack by the Federal Competition Bureau. Which draws the ironic connection of the various levels of Government reaching into the home owners pocket with numerous tax grabs, then blaming Realtors for how expensive it is to sell a home. And it is expensive, let's not pretend otherwise, but it's also not easy even though a slew of well organized professionals can often make it appear that way. Another irony, those that do their jobs well contribute to the misunderstanding of just what goes into a successful property sale.

But first, let's clear up what a "successful" sale is. It isn't getting more than market value for your house, or avoiding having to deal with a liability that recently cropped up (like a leaky basement or faulty wiring for example). No, a successful sale is a clean deal, with everyone having done the necessary due diligence which is then properly documented in the contract, and a good market related price, acceptable closing date, and other details around the dispensation of the property have been negotiated. Doesn't always mean everyone is over the moon with the results - but it does mean there should be no room for lawsuits, ugly surprises (to the degree that's possible) or misunderstandings over what is being bought and sold.

Sometimes house sales can go quite quickly, come to a fairly fast and agreeable resolution and, other than getting a cramp in your wrist from having to sign so many documents, it all appears to be a straight forward and simple transaction. But appearances can often be deceiving. In order for a sale to occur so quickly and easily, a lot of training, thought, research and preparation almost inevitably took place prior to even getting the property listed, perhaps even before you called the Realtor(s) you had come to give you a Comparative Market Evaluation of the price your home should sell for.

A professional Realtor who is familiar with the local area where you live (or own property as it may be) will be aware of many things not always obvious about the neighbourhood. From the obvious average price and market conditions, to special tax levies planned or in place, or pending construction projects, or even local issues which may, rightly or wrongly, stigmatize the neighbourhood. Just knowing the difference between Real Estate values on one side of a major road vs. the other can be valuable local knowledge to have, ensuring comparable sales aren't sourced from a nearby, but less valuable street.

And once the house is listed, organizing showings, answering questions in ways to ensure no misinterpretations or unnecessarily negative impressions are communicated, and providing materials to potential buyer's and their representatives to help fill out all the advantages of a house and its location are all time consuming and practiced skills. And only then do the publicly recognized skills come into play - once an offer is on the table. Skills that include understanding enough about a wide variety of legal implications to ensure necessary clauses are all included, shepherding the process through the tense and occasionally rough water's of price negotiations - along with chattels, closings, inspections, and a host of other due diligence requirements that can present as a result of included conditions.

And only once all conditions have been waived, final signatures on the paperwork reported and filed, and lawyers informed can the Realtor even consider relaxing. So, any impression of an easy, smooth, and even simple process is entirely the result of a professional doing their job well. And if you want to see what that professional actually ends up taking home at the end of the day - read this article: Are Commissions Competitve - there's a lot of work and the rewards, end of day, are what someone can make a living on, not get rich by. Like the clients they work for, being a Realtor is a job, a job like any that can pay well for a few, but for most will provide a reasonable income and not much more. Which is why commissions are what they are - not out of greed, but necessity. And they are worked for and earned if you hire the right professional - and well worth it in the end.