How Real Estate Really Works

Real Estate is the primary investment resource for retirement and quality of life.

DID YOU KNOW ? When buying or selling, most consumers choose their Realtor simply

by chance, because they think ANYBODY would do.

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ANYBODY WOULD DO?

In their last real estate transaction consumers have...

54.0% - Randomly called the name brand real estate office because ANYBODY would do.

19.5% - Interviewed only one Realtor because ANYBODY would do.

11.5% - Used the same Realtor as last time because ANYBODY would do.

08.5% - Called the most advertised local Realtor and got ANYBODY

02.5% - Used a Realtor referred by friends because ANYBODY would do.

02.0% - Used a friend or family member who is a Realtor because ANYBODY would do.

01.5% - Sold their property using themselves as an Agent because ANYBODY would do.

00.5% - Used a Realtor through an anonymous prepaid Internet Referral Site because ANYBODY would do.

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Realtor: def. - is a trademark which identifies a real estate professional, who is a member of a the National Association of Realtors (NAR)(US), and/or

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and, as

such, subscribe to a high standard of professional service and to a strict

Code of Ethics.

When Do Consumers Care?

Unless you are buying or selling soon, most people are not interested in the day to day statistics that seem to be taken out of context by the media.

As you know, the Media only report on the real

estate market when it is hot and usually 6 months after the fact. It is usually a filler piece to use up some air time between the end of the real news and the weather.

History tells us that only when a person is very seriously interested in buying or selling a property do they take notice of what is happening

in their own neighbourhood market. Suddenly the interest becomes almost an obsession to know all there is to know. It is at this point, most people

make a crucial decision that could effect not only their financial future but where they will be living for the next few years.

WHO DO I CALL?

These days you can count on one hand the major real estate players in any local neighbourhood in Canada and the USA pretty much these days. The major real

estate corporations are now all household names with symbolic trademarked images each professing to be the #1 in the community or country.

It is bad enough when the individual salesperson claim to be NUMBER 1 in certain areas of the myriad of statistics and then the various offices make inflating statements which makes it even more confusing to most consumers.

The independent local Realtor is almost a relic of the past because it is hard to compete with the pizzazz and glitter of a BRAND NAME franchise.

BRANDING

Name recognition is what the brainwashed consumer has come to wrongly recognize as the way to do their business when it comes to buying anything these days. Look at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Future Shop, Costco, Staples and ask yourself what did these corporations replace?

In real estate in Canada it is the same: Century 21, Re/max, Prudential, Coldwell Banker, Sutton Group, Homelife and now Royal Lepage has joined the ranks of franchising out their once corporate offices.

Some of these have parent companies who (while being american owned, just wanted to diversify and capitalize on the growing real estate business. It wasn't the actual real estate business as a commodity they saw as lucrative but the people who sell the real estate in the industry.

For the individual Realtor, the reality of the real estate business today is that the name branding is the way to go and if one wants to work in the business it would be better to have a recognized name that the public sees as having credibility.

As we have seen in the past, large corporate entities can bow out and close their doors the moment the potential is gone and be history in a matter of days. What remains are of course he front line Realtors who just want to make a living in their chosen profession.

While these corporate giants seem to control the destiny of an industry, but at least with real estate, the public still have to deal with the individual makes house calls.

PUBLIC PERCEPTION

The public of course believe that dealing with a larger corporation means they can chase the deeper pockets of that entity when in reality all Realtors are under contract with these corporations and the buck stops there.

SUPPORT GROUP.

Today, it is not only chic to have a support group of professionals with proven track records of handling your personal welfare, it is also smart and saves you money big time. This support

group is simply a few of the people that you have given your confidence to over the years and

you tend to look to them for advise in their respective fields such as your family doctor, dentist, financial advisor, lawyer or even the auto mechanic. You may want to do yourself a favour and

consider adding to that list your professional Realtor?

Usually the Realtor is the last person to be thought of as being part of any support group for the average consumer but in reality (no pun intended), the Realtor is the only one who can properly advise you on the current market and what is really going on.

The experience with