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What not to do when selling an investment or tenanted property

September 29, 2016

You’ve decided to sell your investment property and you’re unsure of whether you should tell the tenants as you are afraid that they might not want to stay, causing you to lose your rent.

Most real estate agents will let you as the owner decide whether to tell your tenant regarding the sale of the property and often, people will choose to not tell their tenants.

At Residencity we suggest:

  1. Have open communication with your current tenant(s)
    • Let them know that the property is for sale. Let them know that there will be people coming in to look at the property and that you will be tidying up your area and putting things away and that it would be great if they could do the same.
    • Provide 24 hour written notice if someone is coming. Open houses are a rite of passage and this goes hand in hand with letting them know that people will be coming.
  2. Let them know their rights. Perhaps the new owner may want to use the property, or do a major renovation meaning that the current tenant has to move out.
    • 1+2 factor. 1 month rent + 2 months notice. In BC, the landlord is required to give you 2 months written notice and compensate you with 1 month rent. Tenants can leave sooner within that 2 month time frame by giving the landlord 10 days notice in writing and compensation will be a prorated amount calculated on a daily basis.
  3. If they want to leave, let them. If anything, this might even be better. You get to clean the place and stage it to your liking. This also eliminates the possibility of having to deal with uncooperative tenants.
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Uncategorized

Common problems with brand new homes: should you worry?

September 22, 2016

You just finished moving and decorating your new home. It is everything you have ever wanted and the location is perfect. 8 months later you discover hairline cracks in the corners of the drywall, minor cracks in the tiles in the basement, small protrusions in your walls due to nails rising and your own anxiety level rising as well.

This is a brand new house so why is this happening? New homes are subject to settling due to the forces of nature which makes these problems inevitable and not because your home inspector did not do a good job. These are not structural problems but minor cosmetic damages that can be easily fixed.

Below are some examples of the most common problems with new homes.

  1. Hairline cracks in the drywall. Moisture content in the air varies as the seasons change, which causes materials to expand and contract. The expansion and compaction of materials are constantly happening, but the effects are most prominent in the 1st year.
  2. Nail pops. Similar to hairline cracks in the drywall, nails popping out are also the result of changes in moisture content in wood causing the wood to push out the nail when expanding and compressing.
  3. Minor cracks in basement tiles and foundation of basement walls. These problems are usually due to soil compaction. Soil compaction is taken into consideration before construction workers start building the house, but slight settling still occurs after the finished product.

If you see any of these problems happening in your new home, we advise you to wait a year, see what else needs to be fixed, then contact the builder. Your new home is insured by a 2-5-10 warranty and offers complete coverage on labor and materials for the first 2 years.

What is a 2-5-10 Warranty? Here’s a quick explanation: 

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Uncategorized

Decoding days on the market: does it matter?

September 15, 2016

You come across a property that has been on the market for many months and still hasn’t been sold. You go inside and the place looks fine, it’s in a good neighbourhood and you’re wondering why an offer hasn’t been made yet. The natural assumption here is that there is something majorly wrong with the property.

Read on for reasons why properties stay on the market for a while:

  1. Property is overpriced in the first place. Properties receive an initial rush of buyers when they’re listed and if the property is over listed, buyers will pass.
  2. There was an existing contract that fell through after many months.
  3. Sellers decided to renovate their home for improvements. The sellers held open houses and discovered that there are a few changes they can make to improve the home.
  4. Poor Marketing.  The seller’s agent is not pulling their weight, there’s poor photography and the seller doesn’t want to have a ‘for sale’ sign.
  5. Seller is not being accommodating. Seller may be hesitant on holding open houses and viewings. They claim that photos are online already and that they don’t want nosey neighbours coming into their home.
  6. Seller being unreasonable. The seller believes that their house is worth every dollar it is listed for and is unwilling to negotiate and sell the property for anything but the list price.  

If you come across a home that has been on the market for quite a while, do not exclude it simply due to how long it has been on the market. It’s also important to also check out the average amount of days that a house is on the market for that neighbourhood, maybe it is typical of them to be on the market for this long. Go see the home, ask the agent questions and call for an inspection to see for yourself if you’re ready to make an offer.

Residencity believes that the number of days a property has been on the market is not a good indicator as to whether there’s something wrong with the home. Call 604.288.9166 or email us if you are interested in selling your home and to see what we’re all about. If you list with Residencity, we can guarantee that your home will never be on the market for that long.

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Uncategorized

3 major flaws of the real estate industry

September 13, 2016

If you carefully analyze the workings of the real estate industries, you will notice that there are 3 major flaws. We believe if these were to be fixed, this would highly revolutionize how the industry currently works.

  1. The procedure of receiving offers. Let’s say an agent receives 6 offers for a property they’re selling and at this point, each offer is confidential between the selling agent and the buyer’s agent. Although it is not legal to do so, the seller’s agent has the ability to hide offers from the owner of the property who is selling- they have no idea what each and all of the offers are until their agent shares it with them.Agents have been fined by the Real Estate Council of British Columbia in the past for mishandling offers. The council is only aware of an issue if it has been reported and most of time, things go by unnoticed.
  2. Lack of knowledge on how to market a property. Nowhere in the real estate agent’s education or training whether it be the books or the office they work with, equips them with skills on real estate marketing. They are only exposed to skills on legalities, lead generations and how to grow their business. Not having the skill on how to properly market a home directly impacts the selling price of your home.
  3. Industry driven on transactions than service. If you carefully analyze the steps in the real estate industry, you will notice that they are designed to speed up transactions and not really service.  Have a look at public listing websites and you will notice that over 90% of properties have poor photos usually taken by the real estate agent on their phone.  Professional photography would be a minimum requirement for even selling a lip balm, but not in real estate.  Their priority goes to is getting it listed over photographing a property.

Residencity has solutions for all of these problems. All offers are sent through the office before being dispatched to the agent responsible for your listing, so you will see all of the offers that are being made on your property. We are a team of marketing professionals where the transaction comes secondary to promotion. Our team ensures your listing gets professional photography, video tours, feature sheets, floor plans- all the tools that get a property sold. If you’re interested in listing with Residencity, call 604.288.9166 or email us to see what we’re all about.

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Uncategorized

The 3 Types of Real Estate Agents (Which One Are You Using?)

September 08, 2016

If you go on public sites to search for properties you will notice listings with poor property descriptions, a lack of photos as well as poor presentation of the property.

How do these properties get sold? Regardless of poor presentation, these properties get sold for one reason – by riding the wave of a hot market.

We broke down agents of these listings down into 3 categories:

New or Emerging Agents

 Most new agents may not have money to market a house. They pass their licence and a significant amount of their savings goes towards their education, branding, website, business cards and perhaps leasing a BMW.

An agent gets paid on closing, which is the date the keys transfer and this can take months. They are bogged down with expenses while waiting to receive their pay cheque and it will take a few deals to get out of this cycle to have capital on hand to market a property.

Experienced Agents

Experienced agents evaluate the market conditions and spend accordingly – for the most part.  If the market is hot, they will do a minimal amount of marketing as the property is most likely going to sell anyway.  

If the market is slow, they will cut back on spending as there is a risk that the property may not sell and they would have to take money out from their own pocket.

Professional Agents

These agents have a structure for marketing that they follow each time they acquire a new listing. These are the agents you want to list your property with as consistency is key.

These people have systems in place for every step of the process, from the consultation to marketing to signing the deal.

Where do you find professional agents?

Through your own research, what you want to look for in an agent is consistency.

One way is to go on the agent’s website and look for consistency in the description, lighting, and style of images on the active properties.

Or the easy way is to hire Residency.

At Residency we are all about consistency and having systems in place for the entire sales process. This way we do not have keep making things up as we go along.

This ensures your experience with us is that much more enjoyable.

Call 604.288.9166 or email us to see what we can do for you.

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Uncategorized

3 reasons that ‘for sale’ signs are here to stay

September 01, 2016

“I don’t want my neighbours or tenants to know that I am moving, it’s none of their business.”

“The for sale sign is not aesthetically pleasing.”

These are excuses sellers have given us when we talk about putting a “for sale” sign up on their lawn. We’re here to tell you that lawn signs are a great marketing tool and there are no disadvantages to having a for sale sign up in your front lawn, only benefits.

  1. Identification Point. Real estate agents are bringing their buyers to countless of properties throughout the week. Having a “for sale” sign on your property makes their job a lot easier and your home more inviting. Same goes for people who are from out of town/not from the neighbourhood.
  2. Attract attention. If your property is located on a main road, having a for sale sign markets you to all the individuals that pass by on this road. Perhaps they are interested in purchasing a property in your neighbourhood and haven’t had the time to start looking yet- your house could be their start and potentially end point.
  3. Neighbours. Although your neighbour won’t be buying your house, they are great for referrals. If your neighbour has friends or relatives looking to move into their area, your property is automatically on their radar, even if they are not looking for listings.

In the end, you never know who will see the sign and having one is better than not. If you list with Residencity, we will strongly suggest that you should have a sign on your property. Call us at 604.288.9166 or email us to see what else we can do for you.

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Realtor, Uncategorized

Why you should pick a realtor who will give you an unconditional release?

August 30, 2016

It’s been two months with your real estate agent and you’re not happy with their work. You still have one more month to go as the you have signed a three month listing contract. You would like to leave this agent but how do you go about terminating the contract? Cancelling your contract can only be done with the consent of both the seller and the real estate agent and there are two types of cancellations: conditional release and unconditional release.

If you were to sign a conditional release, you would have to wait until the end of the existing contract (so another month), before listing it again with another broker unless you want to run the risk having to pay two commissions. Why is this? The conditional release is structured so that the broker retains the right to be paid a commission up until the existing contract’s expiry date. This is why there’s a possibility of paying two commissions if you relist within this time after signing a conditional release.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have an unconditional release. This is considered the ‘no strings attached’ option which gives the property owner the ability to sell, relist, do anything they want free of the former agent and without a penalty. More often than not, agents will just let you go, but some will charge you a cancellation fee. We believe that any real estate agent who is confident in themselves and their work will always give you and unconditional release if it comes down to parting ways.

At Residencity, you will always get an unconditional release if you decide not to sell your home or are unhappy with our services. We are confident in our team and do not believe in the system of conditional release. Interested in more of what we do at Residencity? Give us a call at 604.288.9166 or email us to see what we’re all about.

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Uncategorized

Don’t Be Fooled – Agent recommendations by family and friends may not be the best for you

August 23, 2016

A large part of business in real estate is driven by referrals so don’t get yourself caught in one just because it is your relative or a friend. Your friend from Coquitlam may be an excellent agent when buying properties in Coquitlam but he may not be the best agent to buy with in Vancouver as he will not have the area expertise that a local agent would have.

You will not know if you had a bad referral until it’s too late which is usually after the sale.  Here’s what to do if you are recommended a real estate agent

  1. Make sure to compare at least two other local real estate agents to the one recommended to you before you hire them as your agent.
    Your friends and family might have had a positive experience working with that realtor but you want to make sure that they have your best interest at heart rather than someone who just wants to close a deal. You want to pick a realtor agent who can create the most opportunities for you in the market.
  2. What kind of marketing skills do they have and what are they going to do for you?
    Another thing to consider is how will they present and advertise your property? Are they going to be present at open houses answering questions? Will they present themselves or your property? How the agent presents and markets your property impacts how others view your house and the potential of the amount of offers you receive in return.
  3. What is their level of knowledge of the area you are planning to buy in?
    Hiring an agent based in Richmond that your friends recommended when you are looking to buy in Kitsilano may not be the best idea. Unless the agent has had at least 10 transactions in that area in last 2 years, it would be wiser to seek out an agent who primarily deals with properties in that area.

Hiring a friend or a family member might save you on commission, but there is a high chance that you will miss out on maximizing the value of your house due to inexperience.

Looking to sell your property? Call Residencity at 604.288.9166 or email to set up a consultation and we’ll start with a free pre-inspection of your home.

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Uncategorized

11 mistakes sellers make when choosing a real estate agent

August 18, 2016

Selecting a real estate agent is a task that should be performed with the utmost care. Many sellers are persuaded by factors that aren’t essential to getting their house sold and are not evaluating agents on essential skills such as marketing and knowledge of the area. Here are some things to look out for when selecting an agent:

1.Choosing an agent based on the number of lawn signs they have in the area – “This person has 5 listings in the area, we should list with him.” Listing with an agent due to the number of lawn signs they have is not a good verification of whether the agent has the skills to market, present and negotiate your home.

 

2.An agent that says “Yes” to everything – Agents don’t want to lose your property as a listing as their pay cheque depends on the sale of your property. To get and keep your listing, everything will be a “yes”.  You need an agent that will be honest enough and tell you if the price you want is unrealistic, or if your house smells of pet odour, or if your peach coloured wall need to be neutralized.  You do not want a push-over agent representing your house.

 

3.Choosing an agent who will list your house tomorrow – It may sound like the agent is ultra-organized if they are able to list it so quickly, but that might not be the case. An agent who is able to list your house tomorrow may skip on essential marketing steps required to get the maximum value for your home.

 

4.Skip on the Marketing – The primary skill an agent needs to benefit you is marketing but interestingly enough, it is not part of their real estate education.  The most common excuse that agents use for not marketing a property is “the market is super hot and your house will sell with multiple offers.”  You can never have enough offers. If you are going to get 10 offers without marketing, you should get 15 offers with proper marketing.

 

5.Choosing a Realtor based on Language or Ethnicity – It is very common in Vancouver for people to go for ethnic real estate agents because the buyers are likely to offshore ethnicity. The buyer has their own agent so you do not need to worry about the buyer; he is covered. What you need is an agent who you can communicate with. As real estate is one of your life’s most important decisions, and you want someone that understands you when negotiating.

 

6.Choosing a Buyer’s Agent – Selling your house requires top-notch presentation.  From the outside, it may look like selling and buying are the same thing, but they are not. The primary skill set for a seller’s agent is presentation and marketing; on the other hand, a buyer’s agent needs intimate knowledge of their specific area.

 

7.Choosing a New Agent – The real estate licensing course teaches an agent about the legal side of real estate and how to do the paperwork. Unless the agent has experience in marketing or presentation, you might as well fill out your own paperwork. Marketing is the number one skill that you need your agent to have because that is what will bring you potential offers.

 

8.Choosing a part-time agent – If the agent has another job, they will have other priorities. Their top priority may not be selling your home and won’t be able to answer phone calls or messages as they come. You need an agent that works for you.

 

9.Choosing an agent based on highest listing price – Your real estate agent does not determine the value of your house. The value of your house is determined by factors such as the location, year, land, quality of build, economy, etc. You need to find an agent who is honest with you and comfortable with discussing the real value of your property.

 

10.House knowledge – We have been to countless of open houses and when we ask a question about the condition of the boiler or furnace, the agent often goes “I don’t know.”  If your agent is selling your home, he or she should know everything about the house from windows, doors, appliances, mechanical to foundation and everything in between.

 

11.Listing with Discount Brokerages – Buyers come through other agents. Agents will take prospective buyers where they get the most money. Most, if not all, homes get sold by buyers’ agents, and if you chop their paycheque in half, they often won’t want to show your house. More often than not, whatever “discount” you’re getting will end up being more of a headache than it’s worth.

Selling your home with Residencity means that you will be working with a team who will provide you with a free pre-inspection of your home, enhanced MLS listings, professional grade photography, videography, 3D tours and more. Call us at 604.288.9166 or email us to set up a consultation to see what we’re all about

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Uncategorized

Low commissions & discount brokerages: you get what you pay for

August 16, 2016

In BC, the most commonly used commission rate is 7% of the first $100,000, then 3-3.5% on the rest of the amount. Real estate agents have full control over their commission rate, regardless of who they are working for and some brokerages will go even as low as 1%.

  1. Lets talk about how commission works
    Real Estate Agents get paid to work and having a standard commission always helps. To agents, a 3% commission is a lot more attractive than 1% and if anything, is more of an incentive to show your property to their buyer. Although the Real Estate Council prohibits real estate agents to from doing this, some agents would rather show properties with standard commissions as this directly affects their paycheque.
  2. The resources available & marketing power of these agents are usually a lot less smaller. Less commission typically results in less resources for marketing and sometimes you as a seller may be asked to pay for marketing when is the real estate agent’s responsibility.

At Residencity, we offer a full commission to the selling agent ensuring that we do not deter other Real Estate Agents as they are the ones with majority of the buyers

We differ by utilizing a standardized 6 step process that we follow for every listing we receive regardless of marketing conditions, property size or location. 

With service from all of our agents, top of the line marketing from professional staging to enhanced MLS listings to professional photography and videography, all of this should automatically lead selling your home for a higher price. Give us a call at 604.288.9166 or email us to set up a consultation and see what we can do for you.

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