Would you select a real estate brokerage you way many folks select a coffee shop?

Let’s pretend you were driving into a new town. You have been driving since early morning and you are ready for a good strong coffee. You glance to your right and notice Joe’s Organic Roastery. Sounds nice doesn’t it? Then you glance over to your left and see a Starbucks.

You don’t have much time and so you go with the familiar choice. You drive over to Starbucks and buy a coffee.

Now let’s pretend you decide to stay in town for another day and a local sees you holding a Starbucks cup. She asks why you went to Starbucks. She also tells you that you should really check out Joe’s Organic Roastery. She tells you that the team at Joes hand picks their coffee, they…

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From time to time, I see or hear about a REALTOR® that is claiming that her or his services are free.

What do you think? If you asked most consumers, they would say that the seller pays the commissions or fees.

If you think about it, that’s not true.

What is true is that in many cases the seller has agreed to allow a ‘charge’ on the sale of their home that in turn is used to pay a buyer’s agent. But what about a For Sale by Owner? They have not necessarily agreed to anything. What about your buyer brokerage agreement? If its written correctly, it should state that you will earn a minimum or certain amount of money as compensation for your contribution to supporting a buyer through the purchase process. That is unless you do actually work for…

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Highlands & Bellevue are perhaps two of the most classy sought after Edmonton communities in which to live for those in the know. You will enjoy ready access to the river valley trails, Highlands golf course & you have a several very nice restaurants i.e., Junes Delicatessen, Fox Burger & Bodega just a 2-minute walk from home. There’s also a liquor store, Mandolin bookstore & several lovely indie gift shops to enjoy. 

To see the details about this wonderful home for sale please click here: Exclusive Ambergate Listing. 

To see ALL homes in the Highlands Bellevue area click here: ALL homes for sale

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Unlike the home listing side of our industry, getting hired to work with buyers can be incredibly straightforward, if you understand the process.

A home seller will likely interview 3 to 5 different agents and really grill them in terms of what value they bring to the table.

How many REALTORS® does the average home buyer interview (based on studies)? Just 2!

That means you have a 50% chance of getting hired every time you meet a potential home buyer.

What are the 3 things most home buyers will judge you on?

  1. Did you show up? (online, over the phone and in person)
  2. Do they like you?
  3. Can they trust you?

We also know that most people choose a service provider based on 3 underlying values and sometimes they combine.

For…

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Your first 2 years could be tough.

I am in the process of building a rolling study to follow the careers of many new REALTORS® here in the Edmonton and area marketplace. My early observations would be:

  1. Most new REALTORS® have no plan
  2. Most new REALTORS® have no budget
  3. Most new REALTORS® do NOT have enough contacts in their database

Let us deal with the third observation. Just how many contacts do you need?

Let’s assume your goal was to create 15 transactions per year.

Let’s apply the 80/20 rule, (also called the Pareto Principle). This rule suggests that you will get your clients from 20% of your database. The other 80% goes to waste. This means that you will need 75 good quality contacts in your database.

Question. If you…

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Calder is emerging as one of Edmonton’s best kept secrets. Leafy streets and its proximity to downtown Edmonton make this area especially attractive for professionals who work downtown and the lower prices appeal to families. When the LRT system eventually makes its way through the community this area will really hit its stride. 

To see the details for this our exclusive listing please click here: Ambergate Exclusive Listing. 

To see ALL Calder homes for sale please click here: ALL Calder Homes for Sale


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In December, sales volume stayed strong and for the most part sales values held well too. With strong buyer demand and lower inventory, we anticipate brisk activity during the first quarter of 2021.

Sales Values

In December 2020, average sales prices were $359,000 compared to $368,000 last year (when values spiked) and around $358,000 in 2018. Prices have strengthened since March and we anticipate that they will remain higher, heading into 2021. Despite the effects of Covid 19, sales prices beat the previous year’s values in August, October and November. However, the drop in values in March had an impact on the year. Average prices across 2020 were $365,000 compared to $378,000 in 2019, a price adjustment of about 2% down.

Days on Market

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Myth 1 – All You Need is the MLS System

Do you know what the MLS System is?

Back in the day, it started out as simply a cooperative arrangement between local real estate agents to share listings and buyers with each other. Over time, it morphed into a database that all local real estate agents could use to access listing details and match them to buyers. What a perfect system you might be thinking. Surly all I need to do is to find a way to access this system and my house will sell.

Not so fast. Let’s look at conversion rate of listings to sales here in Edmonton

In 2020, 23,551 Edmonton listings were placed on the MLS® System. In 2020 11,714 sold. That’s a conversion rate of only 49.7 %. More than HALF of the listings did NOT SELL!

In…

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