RE/MAX Hallmark Blog

Life Lessons Everyday

Can't quite remember where or when I picked up this way of thinking, but it has stayed with me for many years. I suppose I started thinking this way in earnest when my first child arrived in this world 26 years ago. The thought process goes like this. What would you expect your child to do in a situation when no one was watching or could find out? When the consequences of his actions would be known to no one but himself. Armed with that way of thinking, I have always tried to do my best when faced with a situation or situations when no one in the world would know of my actions.

Let me give an example. Today I was at Wallmart (another story) and while pushing my cart between the rows and rows of cars in the parking lot, I clipped a side view mirror of an auto. I definitely damaged the mirror, pushed it out of it's holder. It wasn't the kind of side view mirror that popped out when pushed and could easily be popped back in. No - my cart decided to attack an older model car and alter the mirror. I looked around to see if the owner was in the vicinity (nope) and immediately made the decision to put my contact information folded onto his or her windshield and then I went along my way. 

After damaging the car, my very first thought was "what would I want my boys to do in the same situation?" The answer was obvious to me and the only right thing to do was done. Sometime later I received a call from a gentleman who thanked me for leaving my info, and we agreed he would get back to me when he had a chance to get a report on the damaged inflicted by me. 

It's not a big deal as a stand alone event. The damage is probably minimal, but the damage to my way of thinking in the matter of what is right or wrong would be immense. I know my boys would of done the same thing.

RE/MAX Hallmark Now in Muskoka

 

 RE/MAX Hallmark Realty

  establishes foothold in Ontario’s cottage market 
 

Toronto, ON (February 1, 2010) – RE/MAX Hallmark has opened its doors in Port Carling to cross-service recreational and residential real estate clientele in both Greater Toronto and the Muskoka region. 

“Whether upsizing, downsizing, purchasing a family retreat or fulfilling retirement dreams, RE/MAX Hallmark now offers its clientele the best of both worlds,” says Debra Bain, Broker-Owner, RE/MAX Hallmark.  “The new office will allow us to build on current client relationships, establish a stake in a high-demand marketplace, and increase our marketshare in both areas.  Moreover, it will give our customers the flexibility to remain with a franchise they know and trust—and that’s quite a significant advantage.” 

RE/MAX Hallmark will operate out of the former location of RE/MAX Muskoka Realty at 113 Medora St., Unit 1 in Port Carling.  The 14 veteran RE/MAX Muskoka agents—consummate professionals with strong ties to the community—will remain with the Hallmark team.   

“Our focus going forward will be to expand our sales force at the Port Carling office, and thereby expand our reach throughout Muskoka,” says Bain.  “We’re making an investment where our clients want to be.  We’re essentially moving with them.  Now that’s a committed realty firm!”   

The new facility brings the number of RE/MAX Hallmark offices to eight and the total number of sales associates to more than 500, making the company the largest in the RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada franchise network.

 Celebrating their 29^th year with RE/MAX, the RE/MAX Hallmark team specializes in residential, recreational and commercial real estate.  RE/MAX Hallmark helps thousands of individuals, families and businesses each year with their real estate needs.   RE/MAX Hallmark is firmly entrenched in the communities it serves.  It is a leading contributor to Children’s Miracle Network in Canada through the RE/MAX Miracle Home Program and grassroots fundraising initiatives.  RE/MAX Hallmark is also a leader in in-house training and is a member of RE/MAX International’s Chairman’s Leadership Advisory Board—an association of 75 of the leading RE/MAX broker-owners worldwide.  Visit the RE/MAX Hallmark website at: www.torontohomesandcondos.com 

Social Media can waste a realtors time

"If you are a realtor, you better be involved in social media." 

That statement alone can put a lot of pressure on some of the old time realtors out there. The realtors who began their careers and built up a solid business by developing contacts the old fashion way. Great personal client service and face to face meetings. The statement can also cause a lot of grief for rookies. 

Social media can waste a realtors time.

Social Media is important, but I think it can be another veil for realtors to hide behind. Let me try to explain. When I started out in this business, the biggest time wasting activity I had was to file listings. Without internet or even computers, realtors were able to access daily listings. 5 days a week, listings would appear at our office doorsteps, showing the latest listing. I would spend hours and hours organizing my dailies - I had the best library of current and past listings in the office. 

Didn't sell much real estate because I was too busy cataloging my listings - proudly. Finally I figured out the key to any success - I had to get off my fat butt and start meeting people - forget about spending all the time I was on filing pretty photos of homes. 

And that is the problem with social media realtors. Social media types spend too much time working around the business of real estate, rather than in or on the business. Social media is just another element of our business. 

I'm not recommending doing away with blogging, facebooking or even tweeting. What I am saying is  don't hide behind these elements of our business. Get out more and talk with people. Use social media as it should be used - a connector, not as the foundation for any business.

More Listings Please

The Greater Toronto residential real estate market is in dire need of more listings.

Generally at this time of year, home owners begin placing their homes on the market for late spring closings or in some cases - early summer closings. From mid January on, the "spring" real estate market is usually flush with new listings. Not this year. Where are all the listings and why aren't they showing up? 

Listings are the core of our business, without a good supply our market is a mess. Right now we have a scarce supply and what is listed is generally getting a great deal of attention, as in multiple offers. Last week, a realtor listed a small condo in the downtown core of Toronto. He did the usual stuff, a complete market analysis for the owner and a price was settled on which was in the range of current prices. Within a few short days, over 30 offers were registered on the property and it sold for several thousand more than expected. A windfall for sellers, but terribly unhealthy for our market.

This is how crazy it can be. Late yesterday I received a call from a disgruntled seller. Apparently one of our realtors agreed to list her "home" and then had second thoughts. The home owner was upset that my realtor changed his mind. I asked the home owner where her property was and for a basic description of it. Bottom line, the seller wanted about $250,000 more than the property was worth - even in this market. I asked the seller if she would pay the outrageous price she wanted for her house - there was no answer. We respectfully agreed to part company and she was on her way to waste another realtors time.

Low interest rates, a good supply of mortgage financing and consumer confidence with our real estate market has created more buyers than sellers. Which in turn has led to a strong sellers market, which will not last. Eventually more and more sellers need to  enter the market, If this does keep up, something has to snap - history tells us so. 

Realtor's need to connect with as many sellers as possible, encouraging them to list their homes now instead of a future planned date. Buyer's need to connect to a realtor who can help them through this strong sellers market, and be patient. 

Soon enough, this market will swing around to a more balanced situation, but not soon enough for many.

$50,000 for Haiti

I have some friends and other people I know who totally avoid reading, or watching any news reports. They go to the extent when driving in their cars and the news comes on, they either switch it off or turn to another station. They rationalize their actions by saying they don't want to be negatively influenced. While I can buy into this philosophy to some extent, I have lately found myself compelled to become engaged and informed about the terrible tragedy which has been visited upon the Island of Haiti.

 When we first heard about the earthquake and the results of the quake, I, like others was stunned by the enormous impact felt on the hard pressed people of Haiti. People in Haiti didn't have a strong foundation in their country before the quake, and now chaos has descended. 

In our company, we knew that our realtors and staff would want to make a difference, would want to do something to help. Everywhere I listened and watched we were told that money was needed NOW. Money was necessary for the relief organization to get in there and deliver, food, water, medical help and shelter. 

Within two or three days of asking, our realtors and staff pledged over $15,000 to be delivered through our company to the Canadian Red Cross. We as a company matched the pledges up to $10,000. The $25,000 collected as of today magically becomes doubled to $50,000 by our Federal Government. So cheque's totally $50,000 will be in the hands of the Canadian Red Cross to help those in need in Haiti. 

We can't drift away from the problems Haiti will be facing. We all have an obligation to help out our fellow man when in need. In the case of news from Haiti, don't switch off the program - stay engaged, make a difference and help. We, as a company intend to help out as needed moving forward.

To donate to our RE/MAX Hallmark Haiti Fund, connect by email to Tania, tania@remaxhallmark.com