"Trust" The Experts

He is looking out for your best interests, right?

I have always had issues with people that use high pressure sales tactics. Just doesn't seem right to me. Everyone has to eat and sales is an art, but it does not take much to go from sales person to con artist.

I am not saying real estate agents are con artists. I am saying that their "system" is set up to encourage people to question their morals. More now than ever.

Let's go through some role playing. Humour me.

You are a real estate agent. Times are tough. The market has shown SOLDS down over 30% over the previous year for the last 3 months. You know it because you have not had a deal go through in 4. An "opportunity" arises. Would you question your morals? Most wouldn't.....MOST.

The problem here is agents only get paid when the deal goes through. What is stopping an agent from taking the low road? What is stopping the sales person from doing what they do best, sell you on the property. It may not be the best for you, it may even be a bad deal.

If you are an agent you are screaming at your computer right now saying "I build my client base through a network of referrals. I can't treat a client like that." I hear you. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. What if you have no food and haven't for months. Now you have a buffet staring at you, tempting you, calling you. Temptation can reach us all. It goes back to the "start" of humanity with Adam and Eve.

People's nature is to paint the world in a way that makes sense to them.


Did she really believe what she was saying? Absolutely. Why would she knowingly lie and tell millions of people to loose everything they have. Why would she send them away from their Garden of Eden?

M

Well That's Just Rubbish

You think you have it tough....imagine you had to clean up the entire world??

One of the toughest things we have to do when preparing to sell our house is "purging" or "decluttering". Whatever you call it you are simply getting rid of stuff you have accumulated over the years. You sure as heck don't want to move it to your new place and it would be beneficial to get it out before buyers start walker through and judging your stacks of 1980's era Sports Illustrated magazines.

For some of us, this is a task that could take 20 minutes, others, a whole week with the aid of a garbage bin or mulitple trips to the dump. I want to give you a few alternative thoughts to assist you through this process.

1. Goodwill and Value Village take many items if in good shape as opposed to taking up space in various landfill sites.
   
2. Cambridge, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo food banks take clothing donations, specifically warm clothes and winter jackets in the winter months.
3. University students are always looking for cheap furniture, specially in the late summer early fall. Try places like Kijiji, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace as free classified sites to sell your unwanted items and help pay for the pizza on move day.
4. My wife and I did the old fashioned garage sale and put the money towards our kids education RESP. Amazing what people will buy for a quarter.
   
5. Habitat for Humanity in Waterloo Region and Wellington County are good spots to donate building materials that didn't get used or old cabinets after the kitchen or bathroom were redone.

There are also services out there to assist you in these aspects. Whether you are too busy or just unable to do this process yourself you could use a service like Moving Forward. Deb Fox, owner and operator, got started in the business after going through the ordeal of dealing with her parents downsize. This is a great service for anyone but is aimed specifically towards the senior market. Those that are going from a house they have lived in for 30 or 40 years to a small retirement condo. Where would you begin? Try calling Deb.

All this talk of accumulation and purging I can't ignore the link. Here he is, the late George Carlin, "Stuff".


M

Culling The Herd Part II

Which cow will survive the cull?

Sometimes I find really interesting things on Youtube.

When I was searching for a video for my "Culling The Herd" post I came across this.




I could not pass up the chance to showcase the way traditional real estate works. There is no doubt that the high cost of using an agent has, in part, to do with the many people taking their piece of your house equity.


Using the example in the video the traditional agent would take $6,000 out of a $10,000 commission with $4,000 going to the broker. Funny how $4,000 of your homes value goes to someone you have never met just because the person that sold your house decided to work in their office.

Back to my point. If less and less deals are happening then more and more agents are going to be forced to have to pay their monthly fees out of their pocket. People that are doing things "part time" will find that it actually costs them money to be an agent. The ones with bad reputations will find the deals are harder to come by. The ones that have not spent the last year working their butts off to grow their business will wonder why no one is calling them.

The market will cull the herd and the agents that provide good service will find that good service is no longer what sets them apart. It will be interesting to see who raises above. I suspect it is someone that offers their clients what they want and need at a reasonable cost.

We'll see.

M