It’s been 14 years since I became a licensed REALTOR®.   Being a new REALTOR® is scary.  You don’t realize how little you know until you get out in the real world. You’ve got the best of intentions, but also zero experience and very little knowledge.  As soon as reality sets in, it becomes apparent that…

Most skilled, experienced REALTORS® have at least some reasonable level of competence in analyzing the market conditions over the previous few months.  It’s important to have a clear understanding of what has occurred most recently in order to make informed decisions around your Real Estate goals. However… Just as in any type of open market…

Some statistics can be very misleading.  This from a stats guy. Take for example, the “Average Days on Market” (ADOM) stat.  Every time someone asks me, “What are the average days on market?”, I find myself staring blankly at them, wondering what difference it makes. Honestly, I just don’t get the question.  Picture me cocking…

Last month, I talked about the importance of understanding the overall market conditions.  This month, I’ll continue with that theme, but focussing in on a very specific market segment: Inner-City Infill I chose this segment because most Calgarians are familiar with it.  Generally speaking, these are the “skinny” side-by-side inner-city attached houses, built on a…

Most professional REALTORS® have a polished listing presentation, in which they describe exactly what they are going to do to market your property, etc.  I’ve actually just recently updated my presentation, utilizing an iPad; as well I leave a detailed information book with potential clients. I always start my listing presentation with what I consider…

In the old days (5-10 years ago), some REALTORS® would advertise their listings in a plethora of glossy Real Estate magazines.  You can still find some of these magazines around if you look hard enough, but it’s sort of like watching Blockbuster dying a slow death. Even when they were relatively popular, I always thought…

I’ve never been a fan of the traditional Real Estate team concept, which I described in detail in Last Month’s Rant.  To summarize briefly: The “figurehead” REALTOR® is the face you see on the advertisements, and the one who will meet with you at the listing presentation.  Their primary role is to bring in as…

Timmy-REALTOR® advertises on multiple radio stations, television, flyers, magazines, etc.  Does this make Timmy a great REALTOR®? Maybe.  Maybe not.  It’s impossible to say based on the advertising itself.  Consider the true purpose of all this advertising.  Is it to sell your house?  No… The purpose of this type of advertising is for personal promotion,…

Happy New Year! It’s the time of year to reflect on the past, and plan for the future.  I’ve been thinking about the lessons I’ve learned during the course of my life as an entrepreneur and how I’ve applied those lessons to my Real Estate career. Some of you might be surprised to find out…

Let’s look at how you might “win the lottery” by selling your property for significantly higher than it is actually worth.  As rare as it is, this can and does happen.  I call this “winning the lottery” because the odds are similar. The first step, naturally, is to substantially over-price your listing.  (You can’t win…