David Michael Macdonald

BLOG AND SOCIAL

Explaining to prospective Clients the ins-and-outs of the Real Estate industry, while promoting professionalism. These briefs are intended to be short and to the point.

• Sold Over List!
• FREE Home Evaluations!
• We are Number 1!*
• Buy this house, and I'll buy yours!
• Real Estate Newsletter Sample

SOLD OVER LIST

Don't be dazzled by the math! Does "Sold over List" mean that your Agent helped you to receive more for your home than you would have been happy with? Or maybe does it mean that you priced your home too low and under what the market was prepared to pay?

What if you initially listed your home at the "Sold over List" price? Would Buyers still be prepared to pay your "Sold over List" asking price or would they still go over the List? Did you price the property intentionally too low to generate multiple offers? Would the transaction still be called "Sold Over List" if the initial List price was artificially too low?

What if initially, you listed the property high only to watch it attract zero interest then you lowered the price …then it sold over the new lowered List price?

Would that still be “Sold Over List”? The message here is to be careful what you read and believe!

Semantics can be confusing.

FREE HOME EVALUATIONS

Free Home Evaluation or “you can have the sleeves from my vest”!

Never in the history of local Real Estate, as far as I know, has anyone ever paid for an evaluation of their home by a Real Estate agent.

The Agent will make a commission if they list and or sell your home. Why would anyone entertain paying the agent for a home evaluation service?

Don't confuse this “Free Evaluation” offer with an Appraisal that a financial institution might request to provide financing for the property. Financial institution appraisers are licensed skilled professionals who do, in fact, charge for this service.

Many times we have been asked to provide a price evaluation perhaps for Estate Planning purposes or perhaps as a guide for someone who is planning a move.

We provide an "Opinion of Value" service which compares your property to similar properties that have sold in today's market but the document is not an Appraisal that would be used by a financial institution.

Remember the adage "You get what you pay for".

Don't be fooled by Free Home Evaluations.

WE ARE NUMBER ONE!

There are over 165,000 agents registered with CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) and with OREA (Ontario Real Estate Association).

As Kermit the Frog said, " it's not easy being green". And as CREA and OREA know it's not easy promoting honesty concerning claims of success amongst agents.

Have you noticed agents who advertise that they are "number one"? Some even claim that they are number one for 9 consecutive years. The small print at the bottom of the page states that the 9 years started in 1984.

Some even claim number one for all of Markham and Unionville.

Here is a summary of the rules of engagement:

Like Kermit the Frog it isn’t easy being number one. You can't just be " number one". You must indicate what category it is that you are number one in and when it happened. For instance you could be number one in volume sold for a particular period for a particular location. Or you could be number one in units sold for a particular period for a particular location.

You have to visibly indicate what the criteria of the award is, usually with an asterisk.

We have shown our criteria for our "The XYZ Team is number one!*" below.

Trouble reading it? That's because contrary to the rules we made the font so small that you can't read it. What it says is "

*For units sold in 1986 on Main Street Thornhill between # 289 and #293".

BUY THIS HOUSE AND I’LL BUY YOURS!

So you see a great house that you fall in love with and that you really want to and need to purchase. The only problem is that not only have you not sold your current home, actually, you have not even listed it yet.

No problem because the For Sale sign also says, " Move up to this home and I'll buy yours for cash".

Wow! How great can life get?

Here's how the math might work:

1. First the agent who promises to buy your house will produce a Competitive Market Analysis Report indicating what your house is worth compared to other similar properties either currently For Sale or recently sold.

2. Since only one agent is producing this report, it might be suspected of being a little biased or slanted.

3. Of course, you must do a home inspection and arrange to remedy any shortcomings so that any impediment to a sale is removed.

4. Typically the agent/buyer would have a 90-to-120-day window in order to sell your house before they are committed to purchasing it.

5. The home should be listed below the market price to make sure that a sale occurs.

6. Commissions would also be deducted from your proceeds. Probably calculated at 5% to 6% - 1/2 to the Buyers agent and 1/2 to the Seller’s agent.

Probably a good idea to have a Lawyer look at the fine print connected to such a great offer!

Real Estate Marketing Content

Writing sample from the 2023 Spring Real Estate Newsletter (subscriber email list)

Hi David,

The Canadian real estate market is going through an adjustment period right now and conditions seem to be settling with the frenzy coming to an end. The Canadian housing markets from coast to coast are returning to equilibrium.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association February’s residential property sales rose 2.3 per cent month-over-month, but were down 40 per cent year-over-year. The benchmark MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) edged down 1.1 per cent month-over-month in February and fell 15.8 per cent year-over-year, putting the national average home price at $662,437 in February 2023. This is down 18.9 per cent from the all-time high reached in February 2022. When the priciest markets of Greater Vancouver Area and the Greater Toronto Area are removed from the equation, the typical home sells for about $527,000. This is a complete retreat from the peak of above $800,000 in early 2022.

So, what is happening exactly? First, the Bank of Canada (BoC) has been raising interest rates, a tightening cycle that has lifted mortgage rates. Second, there has been a great deal of uncertainty in the housing market and the broader economy. Third, many households have exhausted their pandemic-era savings, and inflation has diminished their purchasing power.

Ultimately, the Canadian real estate market is slipping into balanced territory because of the latest developments nationwide. A new REMAX Canadian Housing Market Outlook for 2023 suggests that more than half (55 per cent) of housing markets in Canada will return to balance or even shift into a buyer’s market this year. As a result, the national average price is forecast to slide 3.3 per cent in the upcoming year.

Key trends to watch:

• Location is likely to remain a key driver of demand in the GTA. Prime locations such as the core and vicinity of Yonge and Bloor are unlikely to experience significant price and demand decreases.

• Areas/cities that do not offer diversity in liveability (access to transportation, green space, walkability, access to restaurants/shopping etc.) are more likely to see a decrease in demand.

• Interest rates rising have provided a much-needed price adjustment in the GTA that has allowed many move-up and investment buyers to benefit – particularly those that are making moves from city cores to surrounding areas like Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering and Ajax.

Have questions about how these trends may be impacting your homes value, or simply have a real estate related question?
Contact us!

Email Marketing Campaign Content

Sample content from marketing drip-email campaign

Ever tried a job herding cats or gathering smoke in a jar? They’re both analogies used when trying to describe a task or an objective that is logically almost impossible for one person to do. Too many moving parts and too many dots to connect to be able to accomplish anything in a controlled manner.

There are over 165,000 real estate agents licensed in Canada working through over 75 Real Estate Boards across the country.  Perhaps a surprising number until we realize there are also around 43,000  physicians registered with the OMA (Ontario Medical Association).
I’ve never seen an advertisement soliciting business for a doctor.… I’m sure you haven’t either. Never have I seen a doctor to claim to be “number one in Hernia operations”!  Or “number one in Organ Transplants since 2015!”

I know it brings a smile to your face and it makes you giggle because you know doctors' advertising is just not feasible and we never think of it, because along with being passionately committed to their calling, Doctors are also governed by a code of rules and ethics by the OMA and other governing bodies. Doctors adhere to these rules and ethics and guidelines religiously. The public at large generally takes the medical community very seriously, as they should, and faithfully believes in their adherence to the OMA regulations.

Real estate agents, all 165,000+ of them, are also governed by a strict code of ethics by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and by various provincial government regulations and legislation.

The objective of all of these various levels of rules and regulations and legislation is to create a level of trust between Realtors and other clients.  A noble objective, but almost impossible to police and control. Which is whyto controlling 165,000 Realtors is analogous to trying to gather smoke in a jar or to try herding cats.

CREA, OREA and the Province attempt to limit the amount of confusion, deception and exaggeration and plain all-out fudging that we see in many real estate advertisements today.  Most violations of the codes of ethics are not seriously criminal, but they are intentionally deceptive, especially to homeowners who are not used to buying/selling real estate very often.

Some of the most common real estate industry deceptions are…

“Free home evaluation”
“Number One Agent” in the  area you live in
"Number one team in Canada”!
“I will sell your home in 30 days or I will buy myself”

There are over 165,000 Agents registered in Canada then how can any one of them purport and advertise as being "Number One"?  They can't and they aren't!  I’m just smiling as I am reading a double page real estate brochure that I found in my mailbox.  It was from a local agent, and the caption on page one says “# one listing agent in this community”

There is no "*" at the end of this quote, which would normally refer you to the bottom of the page… As required by the real estate code of ethics.  The bottom of the page typically in type font marginally large enough for you to be able to read would explain what the number one listing agent means.

The code of ethics for real estate agents indicates that you must show for what time you were the number one listing agent. It also indicates that you must provide proof or information about how you became the number one agent.

And you have to show detail about what exactly you are, the number one listing agent for. Is it for single-family, residential, townhouses, condominiums, commercial property, cottage property, or maybe residential land,???

But if you are a commercial agent and you’re only listing all year was the TD centre in downtown Toronto… And you listed it for sale at $2.3 billion. That would represent only one listing all year but it was over $2 billion so would that make you the number one agent?