When you are developing your web site in order to sell your services and listings, it's really important to always keep at the front of your mind that this marketing resource of yours isn't "local". By it's very nature, a web site is selling to the entire planet. Even if the vast majority of your visitors are local, even if that's who your key target audience is, your site is still going to be seen by people from all over everywhere.

Okay, great, so we know this - so what? Well, lets think about what they might mean for those visitors arriving who are from out of area. What might THEY want to find that's different from a local visitor? After all, you are selling yourself as an expert in real estate and that can mean a lot of things to people, not the least of which is being expert in your local community. And not just in the price of homes for sale, but where the good shopping is, transit, what parts of your area are popular local destinations for residents, etc.

So, how might this impact what you do on your web site? For starters, why not put up a page giving some background on the area you work in - a little bit of the history, some notable residents perhaps? And create links to other resources that could be useful like city hall, local tourism sites, newspapers, etc. But don't go overboard either. Too many links out and not enough in will hurt your ranking in search engines, so find a balance between being found and being worth finding!

And Internet clients are a paranoid bunch as well - so create a friendly environment for visitors. This can be through language, photographs and how you present yourself in your bios and on advice pages. Letting visitors know right upfront there will be no unrequested spamming or sharing of personal information they enter in you site's information request forms is also helpful.

Mostly what you want your web site to do on your behalf though is to be active, not passive. It's easy to imagine a site as a worm hanging in the water waiting for the next fish to bite, but any fishing aficionado will tell you that active bait is much more effective. And your fish are a lot smarter and discerning as well. If you site isn't representing you as a proactive and busy Realtor... then it's saying you are simply sitting there waiting for the next sale. Just like your clients. Some may call this old school, many will call it dead in the water.

And finally there are some old school elements that stay true even in today's wired world - and a classic tenant to stay with is the KISS Principle. Keep It Simple (Stupid... if you feel inclined to use the second "S"!) An easy to read, well laid out, not overly complex web site that isn't full of moving bits and is full of well thought out tips will trump busy sites every time. Design is even more critical under these circumstances. A simple site doesn't and shouldn't look simple - it should look sleek, sophisticated and striking. What that translates into for you will vary greatly from person to person - but if it looks cheap, it will look cheap to everyone!

And one final note - please, please, please don't put anything that makes noise on your site! Not on your tours, not some recorded introduction... not anything! Think about who your users are - often they are people taking a few minutes at work to browse around for new houses for sale. If all of a sudden their computer starts squawking about Realtor services or a houses features, then your visitor is going to be less than happy. Along with simple, keep it quiet and discreet as well - you won't get anyone in trouble unnecessarily that way!

Representing best interests does not entail catering to a client's every whim, want and desire. And sometimes the conflict between those two competing interests means refusing to work with someone. It's curious that a system like that of Real Estate, where the service provider (Realtor) and the person serviced (buyer or seller - aka "client") both want the same thing, should run into so many conflicts over how to assess value. But it happens, in some places in particular, quite often.

When I show up to a listing appointment, I assume at least 50% of the time, even when the market has been tough, the home's owner will have an overinflated sense of value for the property they want to sell. The reality is probably more like 80 to 90%, and it's easy to understand why. After all, there are many talking heads and neighbours who advocate real estate as the be-all and end-all to growing wealthy. But despite expectations, I still go into that meeting, armed with real numbers, comparable sales, and recent economic history and activity in order to demonstrate why a house should list for a certain price.

As a Real Estate Professional, monitoring what goes on in the market everyday, I find significantly overpriced homes remarkably rediculous. Any Realtor who is familiar with their local market will almost always recognize an overpriced house right away. Sometimes the description of the house will provide clues as to why a house may appear overpriced while actually being competitive. But most times it just appears to be a home destined to sit, priced out of the market and getting no showings.

Most of the time the price is just a little on the high side, requiring a small adjustment to bring it into "play". But on some occasions it just appears to be pure hubris. And when those extremely overpriced houses do come up for sale, Realtors and buyers just tune them out - and even price adjustments may do nothing to regain their attention. There are laws in my area forbidding the practice of overpricing for the purpose of getting a listing but, sadly, it rarely appears to be enforced. And when a really overpriced house does turn up - there's a short list of whose listing it probably is.

The question that should shoot to the tip of many consumers tongues is "why?" Why would a Realtor accept/suggest listing a property so grossly overpriced it will be almost impossible to get the house sold? (While many Realtors similarly wonder why some sellers insist their house must be worth more than very comparable others recently sold...) Well, there is more to a listing for a Realtor than a "Sold" sign... though sold signs are still the best signifier of success. But having many signs dotting a neighbourhood can bring more people to that Realtor or brokerage - buyers as well as sellers - even if those listings aren't actually selling. Most people aren't paying attention enough to the local real estate market to recognize that one, or several, Realtors don't seem to get their listings sold. 

So profile becomes part of the equation, and it's precisely this reason there are laws about taking obviously overpriced listings. In short, the Realtor is merely using their client as bait for new clients, not exactly a model for long-term success, but it can and does work to a degree. It certainly doesn't fit the concept of representing a contracted client's best interests though - even if the price is what the client wanted. Once again, best interests are not the same as wants and desires.

So how can you (as a home seller) be sure you aren't being used as bait for a Realtor to grow their other business? Well, for starters, ask questions like how many houses have you sold and how many have you listed this year? A good Realtor doesn't have to have sold dozens of properties - it's more critical to get an idea of what percentage of their listings they sell. Some high volume Realtors may sell many dozens of homes... having listed three or four times that many.

If they are only moving 20 to 30% of the houses they list, then they aren't working for the client, they are working for profile. I looked up one who has more than three times the number of properties listed now in August than they have successfully sold all year! And they have more expired properties on the year than sales as well. All in all, they have managed to sell 19% of the properties they have listed year to date. I can't say for certain, but I suspect any client faced with the stark reality of an 80% chance their house won't sell, would think twice about listing!

Sellers can also get multiple opinions. Some Realtors don't like going to a listing appointment knowing they are in competition - but tough. That's the world we all live in. If you get three different people in to look at your house and provide a suggested listing price, that should give you a good idea of the value you should be seeking. Afterall, Realtors want to sell your house for as much as possible, and they want to get your business - so most of the time even conservative Realtors are relatively optimistic. But if one of the three comes in much higher than the others... that should be a warning sign there's something not be quite right! Be prepared as well for the price you imagine to be too high... nobody decides on a price, the market does that, and buyers quickly get an idea as they view homes just what is good and what is bad value for their dollar.  So don't shop for the highest list price, shop for the most professional and proactive service... that's where you will get value for your money, and sold for that matter.

Something else to keep top-of-mind when it comes time to sell is that typically an overpriced house will, ultimately, end up selling for less than it would have had it been competitive from day one. So by trying to win the lottery, you end up losing more in the end... and have had to continue paying for the upkeep, insurance, taxes and more as the house sits on the market for longer than average! It's a lose-lose situation for you, but the Realtor may meet several new clients because of the exposure and make out like a bandit elsewhere. 

For the most part, these tactics don't really work for anyone, but they do still exist. We warn all buyers that it's buyer beware when purchasing a house. Do your due diligence, have a home inspection, consider the re-saleability, understand the carrying costs, etc. The same goes for purchasing the services of a Realtor. A good Realtor will help you find other good help as well, so a little effort in the initial hire can also help find top-notch mortgage, legal, home inspection and other required services along the way - so choose carefully and save yourself all sorts of grief in the days to come!

There's a lot of things in business, including real estate, people feel they have to take on faith. But time and again we're told to measure, measure, measure when choosing what, where and how to spend our marketing and capital investment money. Which is a truth not to be trifled with. But if you can't get a good measure on the value of something, does that necessarily mean you don't do it?

One of the things Christine and I have enjoyed doing tremendously, since starting in the real estate, are public seminars for buyers and sellers. They don't always attract big crowds, they don't always lead directly to business - though on occasion we have in time done very well by the people we have had at our seminars. Often in fact, virtually every attendee has met us previously and would have likely worked with us already. So, did we make any more money or improve our business as a result. Not that the numbers would tell us - but I firmly believe we have, yes.

When we hold these seminars we advertise them heavily throughout the region. We are about the only people doing them at this time. We have door prizes and good food available, we bring in experts to speak about a variety of real estate related topics - we aren't just two talking heads with some chairs in a room we rented at the mall. It's a special event to us so we treat it as such and put forward a face of professionalism we want to be recognized for. But sometimes it feels as though it's a waste of time... but we keep doing them anyhow.

Why? Because we hear about them later from other people who didn't go but who heard how good it was from someone who did attend. Or we hear people talking about how they saw the ad in the paper and had clearly noted it in their memory. Holding these seminars separates us from the pack, we are seen as slightly more expert, slightly more professional, just slightly more altogether. Not necessarily true, but that's the perception, and perception is reality in many cases.

So these aren't events designed to get clients signed up at the time, and we even get other Realtor's clients showing up, (which we respect and accommodate as well as plan for to ensure we aren't going to be offering advice that may conflict with their advice - we keep things fact based). But they are very valuable nonetheless, building public profile beyond those who are actively looking at buying or selling right now. They help put us top-of-mind with people when it comes time to become active in the market for them.

Consequently, along with attending local home shows, being highly visible on-line and maintaining less but higher profile advertising than many others, we almost never have to explain to anybody who is looking at buying or selling real estate locally who we are. They've seen our web site, met us at a home show, heard about us through a friend, or attended a seminar. So three years into the business we now get phone calls that, instead of asking for a home evaluation, simply state they'd like us to come and list their house.

That change in initial contact, where we are no longer having to sell ourselves at the front door, is a different kind of measure, anecdotal though it may be, and it's one that makes the growth and success of our business much more likely, smoother and longer term. So we're going to keep up with the seminars even if they do occasionally get poor attendance, or are populated exclusively by people we've already met. Because without knowing the precise mechanics of how they benefit our business and reputation, I do know that they do.

Cobourg ON - former short-list candidate for national capital of Canada. Neighbour to Port Hope, original trading post in early settler days. Respectively called Hamilton and Toronto prior to the larger and more well know modern cities were named as such. Home to a great many well preserved and restored century homes - from starter to magnificent mansion.

The enduring appeal of of historic homes is unquestionable. There are legions of fans out there who troop through house tours and a few who will drop seemingly endless quantities of money into them in restoration efforts. And they do so for the love of something that today's newer built homes lack in many ways - character. These are houses built at a time when you finished the building you were working on before moving on to the next project, unlike today where houses are built in stages, row on row. Even modern custom homes are usually one of several projects any self respecting contractor or designer is working on. And the character that is added to these homes can easily be bought by the linear foot at your local hardware store or lumber yard.

But love can sometimes hurt you, and when entering into a relationship with a Century Home caution is always the wise approach. There may have been gold in the hills when the house was built - but in the walls of that house today can be heaps and heaps of trouble! More the caution if the house has been completely fixed up... surface work can seemingly increase the value of an old house tremendously, but what's behind all that new plaster and hardwood? Knob and tube? Dry rot? Vermiculite? Asbestos? Lead Paint? Sub-par construction by today's standards?

That last point could raise the ire of some Century Home fans I'm certain - but it's true, many of the oldest homes were built with what is known as "balloon construction." Balloon construction built outside walls of the house first then suspended the flooring in between... you know, with nails-n-stuff. Now, a floor that has been secured to a wall for over a hundred years with fasteners (rather than sitting on top of each level's wall) is going to be reaching its useful age sometime much sooner than when it was originally built. And the "stuff" of a typical modern family dwarfs that of a century plus ago. So the additional weight of more books, computers, clothes, bathroom fixtures and so forth will only add to that eventual failure if not addressed in the meantime. But can you find out if this is the case for your century home before you buy it?

Well, anything not visible becomes difficult to verify - so one must rely primarily on two elements of research before buying. First, seller disclosure - particularly if there have been renovations, repairs or upgrades to the house. Find out from the seller what they know, in writing, so you can be more assured you aren't buying a liability instead of a home. And this is a good point for Century home owners to pay attention to as well. If you are sinking that endless pot of money into upgrading and restoring your house, keep meticulous records of everything. There'll be gold in them there files! Future buyers who can see invoices, written proposals of work done and photographs as restoration is done will have a very good idea of what they are buying and likely value this knowledge in the homes final sale price.

Secondly, look into the house's provenance. Most towns and cities have historic archives available that may hold some useful information about when the house was built and by who, which can also lead to a better understanding of how the house was built and perhaps by reputation how well it was built. You may also find alterations to the house that should have had permits... which if not on record could indicate more recent concerns to the homes integrity. This isn't always easy work, and doesn't always bear fruit, but it's a good way to find out if concern is at all warranted about the overall soundness of an old building.

If neither of these approaches get you all the answers you need, then there is of course the option of doing a more thorough inspection - but these are expensive, often difficult to negotiate with the seller (who may have to lower the price of a house if a significant problem they previously knew nothing about is discovered) and can become messy if repairs are required and the present owner refuses to be satisfied. So really, if the seller isn't prepared to find out what's needed to make the buyers comfortable in purchasing the house... it may be best to just walk away.

This post just scratches the surface of Century home ownership, purchasing and selling as the issues are as wide and varied as the number of century homes available. Making certain you choose to work with a Realtor who is knowledgeable about the specific issues old buildings present is critical for all those who aren't themselves expert. But the character these historic houses - Jacksonian, Victorian, Edwardian (in our region at least) and others - are well worth investing in if you know what you're getting yourself into. Just don't let your love blind you to what lies in store because love lost can quickly turn into a nightmare, expensive and drawn out - just like any divorce.

Interest rates centrally have been set to stay where they are for about another year... but that's not the rate we consumers pay. And the banks aren't beholden to the central rate either, which is why this week we see rates creeping back up again for mortgages. Anyone wh is thinking about buying and requires a mortgage to do so would be well advised not to drag their feet too much because the rates for us normal folk can start going up as market activity increases, or just becaues the banks decide for business reasons they want to.

If you are looking to get pre-approved then contact a Realtor you are interested in working with first - they will have Mortgage Representatives they work with (usually a few so you still have choice) which will help if there are any complications during waivers (waiving conditions on a purchase). A Mortgage Broker who has a relationship with the Realtor involved will inherently be more inclinded to make certain everything is done correctly and quickly so that the relationship remains intact.

Prices are low, choices high, money cheap - it has never been this good a time to buy and won't be again for a long, long time - if ever!

The Victoria Park Garden Clock:

Cobourg was founded in 1798 and known as Hamilton, after the township. The town was renamed in 1819 in honour of the marriage of the Princess of Wales to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafieldonce. Cobourg has played an important role in the history of confederation, including being on the short-list of cities vying to become the nation's capitol, along with Ottawa and Kingston. In the April 2006 edition of MoneySense Magazine, Cobourg was named the sixth best place to live in Canada - when considering economy, home prices and leisure as measures.

Home to some of Ontario's most prominent citizens, Cobourg continues to attract many of the province's elite. Egerton Ryerson founded Victoria College here (later Victoria University - now part of the University of Toronto's downtown campus) before moving on to establish the groundwork for the education system we know in Ontario today. The former Victoria College building, was designed by Kivas Tully (who also designed Queen's Park) and was officially opened in 1860 by the Prince of Wales who would later become King Edward VII. Now it is known as Victoria Hall and, with it's prominent location in the middle of King Street, Cobourg's main centre of business , the building today houses Cobourg's municipal offices, a museum and a concert hall. Other notable Cobourg residents are: the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto John Strachan; Marie Dressler of silent film fame; frontier artist Paul Kane; and one of the fathers of Canadian confederation James Cockburn.

Along with Cobourg's rich history of famous residents, it is today home to 2006 Stanley Cup winning-goal scorer Justin Williams of the Carolina Hurricans, and librarian and author Ed Greenwood, who co-wrote the original stories the Dungeons and Dragons role playing games are based upon.

With over 250 different stores and businesses, Cobourg's downtown hub is considered the economic centre of Northumberland County. For a list of businesses and their contact information you can go to HodgesLodges.ca and look under "Local Resources" on the left menu bar.

By: Christine & Stephen Hodge

While the market has warmed somewhat in recent months, let's face it, it's still a tough slog out there. But just because it's tough, doesn't mean one should give up - Realtor or Seller. Simply put, those who put forth the effort will be justly rewarded - and that's a sentiment all Realtors and Sellers should heed!

What helps sell in a tough market? Here's a list of what we find works to sell a house while the market is in the buyer’s favour:

1.) CLEAN: Do not underestimate the power of a hair, or a stain in just the wrong place (think bathroom here in particular) to cause a potential buyer to go scurrying from your home. It shouldn't matter that much, but to some it really, really does! Pay close attention to bathrooms, kitchen and windows.

2.) CLUTTER: Or, more to the point, a lack thereof. A homey, but relatively uncluttered living space is more appealing, feels larger, and allows buyers to better perceive their personal objects in the space they’re thinking of buying. Pay particular attention to counter tops, storage areas, kid’s rooms, family areas - everywhere junk tends to collect! Insert “more” or “less” in front of each word in this equation:

Space = Property = Value.

3.) LIGHT: A bright house is a welcoming one. If you’re living to save energy and have reduced the wattage in all your bulbs - good for you! But while you house is up for sale, boost that wattage back up so the house lights up for showings. And don't let burnt out bulbs hang around - especially in entrance ways, dark corners of basements or in walk-in closets. Buyers want to see everything – so make it easy for them!

4.) ODOUR: Have pets? Smoke? Forgot to take out the garbage or diaper pail? Every house has a smell and bad smells can kill a deal faster than anything! Conversely, a nice, clean, mild smell (baking bread, fresh cut flowers and such) can really help people feel at home. However, avoid strong smells of any kind, good or bad. Pet odour, cleaners, masking agents (like plug-in air fresheners), smoking and other strong scents tend to have a negative impact either by actually smelling bad or, and perhaps even worse, suggesting a bad smell is being hidden (even if it’s not).

5.) COLOUR: The right colours really help set a mood in a house. Too bright and garish will give some people a headache. Too muted and dark will make the home feel cavernous or too small. Too many and you create a chopped up feeling. There's no one rule here, but go for what appeals to a broad base, and lose the personal preferences - especially if they tend to one extreme or another. And never, ever, underestimate the value of a fresh coat of paint where it’s needed!

6.) CURB APPEAL: First impressions count. If you have an untended garden, a broken railing on the front porch, or paint that's peeling, then you’ve already set a tone for the buyer - even if inside the house is gorgeous. A little elbow grease out front is always well worth the effort. Weed, edge, paint, and repair to help create a positive start to your showings.

7.) INFORMATION: Make sure information on the house is readily available to people during showings. If they like the house, a nice feature sheet will give them something tangible to discuss later and keeps them closer to the good feeling they had for the home. Also make sure Realtors have all the background info they can use - carrying costs, taxes, maintenance records, etc. A speedy answer can prevent a tough question from lingering in a buyer's mind. Information pamphlets on the outside for passersby and neighbours can also help bring people in to see what's on offer.

8.) APPLIANCES: Particularly if you have a house appealing to first time buyers – leave them in! Appliances being purchased on top of the home buyer’s financing for the house will most often come right off the deposit. A lower deposit can, in turn, increase CMHC costs, possibly mortgage rates and just add to what’s already an expensive process. Suddenly an extra $5,000 is playing as though it’s an extra $20,000. With few exceptions, you will lose more on the value of your house than the appliances are worth.

9.) LOCAL REALTOR: If a real estate sales professional isn’t good enough to compete in their own local market… why would you think they’d do a better job for you in a market they know much less about? Local Realtors will be up-to-date on issues affecting local market conditions for better and worse. They will also have established local marketing and attract buyers to their web site looking in your local area. Local is always the way to go.

10.) PRICE COMPETITIVELY: A buyer in a buyer’s market is well aware of what your house is worth – even if your home is priceless to you. And, even in a buyer’s market, a correctly priced home will sell quickly and for close to asking. Just because you ask more doesn’t mean a buyer will go higher. Buyers perceive value based on comparably sold properties – not what you’re asking. If you’re way overpriced, more than likely an interested buyer won’t even attempt an offer, opting instead for the easier negotiations of a house priced closer to what it’s worth.

When listing a property, Realtors generally try to ring a representative sample of comparable homes to the table that have recently sold in order to accurately determine what an appropriate asking price is. And, for homes in areas of similar neighbouring homes, this is fairly easy to calculate... but what about unique properties? Worse yet, what about unique premium properties - or carriage trade as they are often referred to? A sub-division home that should sell for a predictable amount should sell fairly quickly in a good market when priced properly - but for carriage trade this isn't always so. Some of these homes SHOULD be hard to sell in order to ensure the seller receive the maximum value available at that time in the market.

But having said that - what does "hard to sell" really mean? If you are getting plenty of interest from qualified buyers, second showings, requests for information, but no offers - then is that being hard to sell, or just not selling at all? How long qualifies as hard to sell? Or are you just waiting for that "right buyer" to come along? And is that buyer a lottery win or a legitimate possibility? With unique properties the questions can get pretty difficult and knowing what to advise your clients on, or when to get hard nosed about price and negotiations can be a difficult and touchy task.

Many owners of unique signature style homes, or those in prestigious and hard to recreate locations, can have an over-inflated sense of value for their "one of a kind" property. One of a kind it may be - but it isn't the only one of a kind home on the market, of that you can be sure. And it doesn't matter if it's a country shack in the woods beside an ideal pond that many could afford - or a million plus dollar mansion overlooking everything around it, overpriced will kill the interest.

And once the initial peak of interest has passed, finding the one buyer who will love that property for what your owner's feel it's worth will become more and more difficult. Interested buyers who moved through in the early days may come to accept that they won't be buying that property even though it has now come down to a more reasonable price. People tend to move forwards, not back. So, while a seller may be patient and in no rush, keep in mind and make certain they understand that their patience may - in the end - result in a lower price than they would have received if they had just lowered their price earlier when it was obvious that people just weren't buying their home at their price.

So, what's the answer - who knows, every situation is different with unique properties. But certainly, if you are getting lots of nibbles but no bites after a reasonable period, it's often better to change the bait than to stick with the same lure that hasn't caught anything yet.

I am routinely surprised, when going on listing presentations just how few questions are asked beyond, what should I do to my house, how much do you think it should sell for and when do you think I should list it. It's an reminder for me that many of our clients aren't all that aware of the many different aspects of selling their houses that an agent has to be involved in for it to be a smooth and successful result. And why would they after all? A typical home owner might sell a home once every five years at most - quite often a lot longer. So not only is the process of buying and selling a house not second nature to people, but think about how much has changed in selling real estate over the last five to ten years. Fundamentally nothing has changed in principle, but in practice... vitually nothing has been untouched by either regulation, technology or simple demographic shifts.

So if you are thinking of selling a home what are some of the questions you might want to ask before signing a contract with them? Well, here are a few to start with:

1. How will you market my property?  There are two things that typically help a house to sell outside of the house itself - price and marketing. A professional agent should have a marketing plan, in writing, they can show you. They should also be able to outline the value of the various avenues they are choosing when marketing your house or property.
2. What has the market been doing lately?  And when you ask, llok for teh answer to contain specifics - not generalities like (It's ben kinda slow) - a professional should be on top of what is going on with statistics and examples to back them up. Generalities might be more suggestive of what their business has been like rather than the market as a whole.
3. What are my rights as a client?  In real estate there are many contracts to sign, including those binding you as a seller and/or buyer together with the agent you choose. But having signed that piece of paper, what are your rights if you aren't happy with the service you get. Make sure you get the agent you are thinking of hiring to outline exactly what signing a contract with them means, and what recourse you have if yo udon't feel things are going well. You should find out that the contractc you sign has as much and probably more protections for you as a consumer as it does for the agent.
4. What experience do you have other than real estate?  Many real estate agents, most I'm sure, have previously worked in another industry or career. It's not a bad thing to find out if that previous experience could be beneficial to their ability to market and sell your house. And if it isn't, just finding out how they answer the question can provide useful insight into how they will handel awkward questions about your home when they come up.
5. What would you do if you bought my house?  Buyers don't often see the potential in a house in the first ten minutes of beig there. A good agent will be able to help provide ideas and creativity in their marketing and showings of your home in order to overcome some of the hurdles people may artificially place on a property.
6. Do you hold OPEN HOUSES?  Surprisingly, not all agents do. That's because only about 1% of houses are sold at open houses... which seems like a good reason not to put too much weight on them. But, while your house may not sell at an open house, your agent may have met your buyer at an open house they've done previously. They are excellent networking and new business opportunities for good agents and those agents will likely have more buyers interested in your property than agents who don't hold open houses.
7. What do you know about house construction?  Real estate agents are not general contractors, but houses are their business and they should have more than a passing knowledge of how they are put together and function.

There are many other questions yo ucan ask of course, and you should, because when you go to sell or buy a home, you are trusting an agent withyour most significant investment and valuable asset - so make sure they are taking the sale of your house as seriously as it should be!

If you are looking at moving to a new community fairly far from your present home, even if it's in the same large city, don't be afraid to ask your trusted real estate agent for a referral rather than working with them directly. If the area you are moving to is not one that your existing agent is familiar with, then the responsible thing for them to do is to offer you two or three options of agents they trust for you to check out, and hopefully hire one, who are local to the neighbourhood or town. This way you will know you are being represented by a fully knowledgeable professional... and your existing agent will get a percentage for making the referral in the first place. So, in reality, everybody wins.

But times are tough out there for many real estate experts, and many will look to go further a field than perhaps they really should - after all a commission is a commission, and everyone has bills to pay, families to house, clothe and feed, and other everyday life pressures. And this isn't to say they won't do a perfectly good job for you. But, as a consumer, you need to make sure your loyalty isn't simultaneously hurting your own best interests. And getting the referral for an agent who is more knowledgeable about local issues and concerns is definitely your better bet. When your present agent goes to make a referral to other agents, they will do a little research and make sure they are sending you to a good and reputable agent - after all, that agent's success is what they will get paid their percentage of the commission on.

My wife and I offer to help people who are looking to buy out of area by finding them an agent through our website Hodgeslodges.ca. Again, the work we do to ensure the agents we refer to are meeting some strong criteria for being considered as a worthwhile recommendation helps the customer know they are getting excellent local representation. This way, once again, everybody wins - in particular the consumer, because that's who has the most at stake!

So don't be afraid to ask for a referral, and do look to hire a local representative, because a house is usually the most important investment you will make in your life, both financially and as a person or family. It isn't worth leaving anything to chance on something that significant.