Using an Agent is FREE for Buyers....

Not a chance!

I hear this regularly. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest fallacies in real estate today!

Just because you don't stroke a cheque to your realtor doesn't mean you are not paying for it. Think about it. If you are selling your house and using a real estate agent your first thought is generally "I need to get $X for my house". Then you figure what the agent is going to cost and tack it on top. Looking at it from that point of view....the buyer ends up paying the ENTIRE realtor commission as the seller has passed it on to you.

I prefer to look at it this way. The cost of selling the home is on the seller and the cost of buying is on the buyer (what can I say...I am a no nonsense kinda guy). In a standard 5% realtor assisted transaction the 5% is split 50/50 between the buyers agent and the sellers agent, 2.5% each.

In a Private Sale transaction the seller pays to market the home with services like PropertyGuys.com and the buyer is responsible to pay for any representation he chooses to use (buyer's agent). Now this can be negotiated into the purchase price, meaning the buyer pays more for the house than without the agent, or the buyer can pay for the agent themselves. We have seen this happen but it is for sure the minority. Our experiences tell us that less than 15% of private sale transactions have a buyer's agent involved and that the BUYER is the one paying for them, even if they are paid through the transaction!

Now what exactly is a "Buyer's Service Agreement"? Below an agent describes what "Buyer's Representation" is. Pay attention to the comment about paying the agent whether they are the ones who find you the house or not. This would mean once you sign the agreement you are on the hook even if they do NO WORK!


M

Golf For Men's Health

OK so we are going to do something a little different....I mean it's my blog right? I can do that if I want!

You may have seen a few men in your community with a lip sweater housed just below their nose. The "mo" (Australian slang for mustache) is a sign of a gentleman. It is also how many men are raising funds in Movember for Men's health, specifically prostate cancer. Both Dave and I (PGWW Partners) are supporting this worthy cause with our lip caterpillars. To date as part of Team Waterloo we have raised over $7,000 locally and over $12,000,000. Now we have pledged that for each listing in Movember we are going to donate $5 to our fundraising campaign, but I think we can do more. This is where the golf comes in.

I am auctioning off a foursome of golf, including carts at Savannah Golf Links in Cambridge AND limo service to and from the course from Brentwood Livery. To bid on this AMAZING item you can comment on the blog, send me a note on twitter or Facebook (where you can also see the progression of my Mo). The final draw will be held at the Waterloo Region Movember wrap up held at Chicopee on Movember 28th.

If you don't get the golf package, or you just don't golf, you can always donate directly to my Mo here.

M :{

It's All In The Details

Can you see it?

People are becoming more specific when searching on the internet. Search engine text strings are getting longer. People have a better understanding of what they want.

When people are searching for a house they generally want to weed out the houses that won't fit their requirements. The internet always listens. One of the complaints I often hear about searching for a home with an agent is even after telling them your needs or specifically your dislikes you end up in homes that are not what you are looking for.

As a seller you need to be sure that you put all the info available into your listing. I suggest this not only on your PropertyGuys.com listing but also on your MLS listing form available through our Ontario Flat Fee partner Harvey Real Estate. This way if people are searching on PropertyGuys.com or Realtor.ca they will get what they are looking for.

Handling things on your own makes sure you can do this without having to rely on someone else to check the box. Just like Ian points out!!


M