Whatever it takes

July 2007

Whatever it takes

Five years later
Having now done nothing since July 2002 except work solely for buyers (i.e. neither looking for nor accepting listings), I've become very comfortable about what I do, how I do it, and, by implication, why I enjoy every minute of doing so.
But although my website provides a list of the other newsletters I've sent out. If you choose to go to it, my website explains the Exclusive Buyer Broker approach in general terms (unduly so, perhaps!), I'm starting to think that it will do no harm to outline some of the specifics.
So then ...

What exactly do I do?
The fast answer is, as the headline of this newsletter puts it: Whatever it takes.
But more precisely, the following points are relevant.

1. What I don't do is rush people into a quick, easy sale (which, with all due respect, is the temptation that most/many listing agents have scant interest in resisting). This applies even if someone has identified a listing they want to see and ends up being entirely enthused about it.
Instead, I suggest we ought to first make sure of the history and condition. For example, how right is the price compared with similar properties currently on the market and/or recently sold? What is (or could be) wrong with the place -- how well will it pass a Home Inspection? How good (or not) is the neighbourhood? What gain in value (if at all) is likely in the coming years? And whatever other scepticism seems called for.
2. What I also don't do is necessarily stay within the parameters my clients give me -- the house style, the location, the budget, etc.
As only two examples, I can mention the sale of a townhouse in St. Catharines that began as an interest in acquiring a Victorian home in Dunnville. Or there was the case of looking for a building lot in Niagara-on-the-Lake that ended up with the purchase of a house that was put out for rent.
In other words, I'm guided by the possibility that when someone wants a house, they may -- as I'm given to saying -- be looking for a house or a house instead.
Or, if you wish, my essential focus is on helping people determine the best way to get value for their money -- and, in the process, changing direction whenever it appears advisable.
3. Flowing out of these two underlying ideas is what I can perhaps call an empathetic approach to the market -- and I mean the entire market at that.
This includes looking at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- to use another favourite phrase of mine, albeit I've borrowed it from one of my clients who made so pertinent an observation while we considered this, that, and the other.
It also involves a flexible time frame. In effect, should a purchase be made today or does it make more sense to hold off until tomrorow? After all, the Niagara market isn't expected to suddenly change upwards by leaps and bounds, even though next year's prices are probably going to edge up a tad or two. Thus, making haste slowly -- yet another phrase I'm wont to utter -- can, in my view, have a place in the finding-the-one-right-house equation.

Making a commitment
Though one of my webpages explains that that there's a recommendation/requirement to have people sign a Buyer Agency Agreement, it's something I've done only once so far. In fact, as one of my newsletters argues, the idea doesn't sit well with me at all.
The one occasion when I had a client sign an agreement was when they'd done so previously with another agent. My action then was simply a reflection of my making sure that they couldn't be the hapless victim of a holdover clause if/when they made a purchase -- as they were probably going to do -- after the agent's agreement had expired, as it indeed it had done.
Admittedly, the commercial real estate sector is a different matter, but the practice then is the raising of a Non Disclosure, Non Circumvention form. This implies an agreement not to "go around me" (and/or the related listing/selling associates), but its primary purpose is to ensure the confidential treatment of the business details that are revealed to the potential purchaser.
In the residential field, however, I'm quite content to depend on whatever ability I have to earn a client's trust in my knowledge and advice. If this exists -- and I like to think that it invariably does -- why, say I, do I need a signature to prove it?

Do I get paid for all this?
You betcha!
Embracing the Exclusive Buyer Broker idea was the best decision I ever took since I was first licensed in November 1988. In fact, the business has been decidedly kinder to me after I gave up chasing listings -- which is what the industry advises every agent to concentrate upon, as in the saying You Have To List To Last.
But no matter how well proven that adage is, I've found that Selling To Survive is an extremely viable alternative.
The focus is to take sufficient care, to take enough time, to ensure that a client takes a decision that's in their best interests -- and certainly not mine.
As more than one business guru has pointed out: the key isn't to worry about the money but to do your best to provide Service Beyond All Expectations. Do this and, as I've found, the money will, without doubt, follow.
I couldn't ask for anything more, could I?

With my very best wishes for these summer months.