In fact, there isn’t much time before the goons from organized real estate break down our door, shut down the computers and take us to real estate jail.  It’s a normal jail cell, but what makes it real estate jail, is that it’s described as being located in an in-demand area, with 24 hour security, an on-site exercise area and low, low maintenance fees.

The reason we’re going to be in trouble is because we’re sharing a secret that the public isn’t supposed to know about.  If you’ve ever felt like you’re missing out on something, that there must be some secret way in which some buyers and sellers transact, you’re right.

Here’s the secret – not all properties sell through the MLS system.

Sure, the multiple listing service (MLS) is where the majority of real estate transactions take place, but there’s other ways in which buyers and sellers get deals done.  Without further ado, here’s three other sources for real estate listings.

No Realtors Allowed

The first alternative source for real estate deals is any approach that, by design or by accident, eliminates Realtors from the mix.

While the vast majority of real estate deals are negotiated and written up by Realtors, we don’t have to be involved in a real estate transaction.  Lawyers as well as auctioneers can legally facilitate the purchase and sale of real estate.

Whether it is between family, long-time friends or neighbours, you can be on the look for real life opportunities to find a home that suits your needs and try to negotiate for its purchase.  Such deals do take place but they are relatively rare, as it is often hard to find a motivated seller and buyer who are comfortable with such a large financial transaction without expert advice.

The more common version of an opportunity to buy a place with no Realtor involved is when the property goes up on a network designed to avoid Realtors.

There are lots of private sale listing sites within Ontario that are designed to share information, promote real estate for sale and allow buyers and sellers to meet without using a Realtor and, more importantly, pay Realtor commissions.

Whether these are designed specifically for real estate (fsbo.ca, prelist.org) or are more general sites that also include real estate sales (craigslist, kijiji), there are options that charge a nominal fee to list properties for sale.

The nominal fee is reflective of the fact that such sites are not commonly searched by prospective buyers.  They may be difficult to navigate, have out of date listings, or most critically, just don’t have anything that fits the needs of a given buyer.

There is a subset of this type of option that also includes exposure on MLS.  There isn’t an agent representing the seller in many cases, but they are actually on MLS and will show up when a buyer is looking on Realtor.ca.  Examples of these types of “mere listings” or a-la-carte servicing would include purplebricks.ca, forsalebyowner.ca and countless others.

If you’re willing to put in the time and energy to search a number of different sites, you can find properties that aren’t on MLS.  The caveat with such properties is that when they won’t pay a Realtor, you don’t get the services of your own Realtor as a buyer agent.  This means you better be very certain that the price you’re paying is worth it, that you understand all relevant aspects of the deal and the property and that you know how to avoid problems in a transaction.

Only One Realtor Allowed

The second secret way in which some buyers find properties that aren’t on MLS is through the old-fashioned, hard work of their agent.

Whether it is door knocking neighbourhoods, calling particular buildings or advertising in focused communities, a pro-active approach can result in a buyer finding a property before the seller took it to market.

Such an approach can involve more costs for the buyer as the most common structure involves the seller paying no commission and the buyer instead taking on that cost.  The clear benefit to the buyer is that the price, even including the commission the buyer agent’s brokerage, is one they are willing to pay to get the home in question.

In other cases, your agent can have listings of properties where the seller doesn’t want to go on the public MLS market and is open to their agent bringing a buyer without another agent.  In such cases, the seller could potentially save on commissions and as such is willing to take a lower price on the sale of the property.

Only Good Realtors Allowed

The final secret source for real estate listings involves multiple Realtors, but not all of them.  We’re talking about exclusive networks of busy, active real estate agents from reputable real estate brokerages.

With approximately 56,000 licensed real estate agents in the Toronto region, it’s hard to throw a rock without hitting a Realtor.  On a positive note, if you hit a Realtor with a rock, they will calm down pretty quickly if you mention you might want to buy or sell a property.

While there may be lots of licensed real estate agents, there is a tremendous difference between an established, experienced agent who works at a full-service brokerage and the one who got licensed two months ago, joined the cheapest discount brokerage they could find, and have helped one person lease a condo.

When you work with an experienced agent from a reputable brokerage, you gain exposure to the network of your agent as well as the resources available to their brokerage.

Here’s an example of a CRM program we use on our team (Contactually) and what shows up when we look for contacts tagged as Realtors.

With over 1,200 Realtors that we’ve met, dealt and interacted with over the years, we have tons of people who contact us daily with new, exclusive listings.  We do the same for our listings, because we want to make sure that the active, working agents out there are aware of what we’ve got available.

At the brokerage level, your Realtor also can benefit from their peers within their brokerage as well as the resources that the brokerage has available.  Within Keller Williams Advantage, we have 130 licensed agents and at any given time, about two-thirds of those agents are regularly active and busy working with sellers and buyers.  We share information about what our clients are looking for or what we have coming on private Facebook groups and internal meetings.

In the past couple of years, we have also seen the rise of extended, multi-brokerage exclusive networks through private companies like BrokerBay.  BrokerBay is a brokerage software company that streamlines appointment bookings, showing feedback, offer registration and also offers a platform to share exclusive listings.  We use it at Keller Williams Advantage and it ain’t cheap – and that’s a good thing.  It’s used by about 40% of brokerages in Toronto and they are the full-service, quality focused brokerages that are doing enough business to make it worth their while.

Here’s a screenshot of their Exclusive Network platform where we can look for properties that aren’t on MLS but are currently available to peers within the BrokerBay network.

While not all exclusive listings are on this network (and if they were..it wouldn’t be exclusive would it?) we’ve reached a tipping point of sorts, where there are enough properties being shared that deals are getting done through this method.

There you have it – three ways that deals get done before they hit the MLS system and the general public.  If you enjoyed learning about these alternative approaches to finding properties for sale and like the idea of working with an agent who can make the second two ways happen, get in touch with us.  In the meantime, we’ll finagle a way to get ourselves out of real estate jail so we’re ready to help you move forward.

Timing the market is incredibly difficult, often doesn’t work and is also largely unnecessary.  Instead of caring about the market as a whole, seize a specific opportunity to get the best possible result for you for your sale or your purchase. Here’s how you prepare on both the buying and selling sides to take advantage of opportunity.

Taking advantage of buying opportunities

With what is happening right now with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no question it’s a difficult time to get out and see places.  We’ve been seeing lots of listings cancelled as sellers decide that the risk of exposing their home and family to health hazards is too much at this time.

There still are properties being listed and selling and as we see plans for re-opening the economy implemented, we think it’s likely that sellers who have been waiting will feel comfortable putting their homes on the market.

Whether it is this week, this month or this year, there will be buying opportunities that come up that are suitable for your needs.

The trick is to be ready to move quickly and to leverage your strengths as a buyer to get a great deal.  Let’s unpack what that means.

Know what you want

It seems obvious, but one of the most useful things that can be done in times of uncertainty is gathering the necessary information to have an understanding of options and decide what it is exactly that you want.

Work with a Realtor who will actively provide you with whatever limited options are currently available and help you understand what the “normal” market looks like and how deals are taking place these days.

Consider specific properties and discuss with your loved ones what appeals, what doesn’t, what is crucial to your happiness in a new home and what is a nice to have but doesn’t absolutely need to be there.

When non-essential travel is more viable, take drives to neigbourhoods and areas you’re considering.  Look at the streets, transit options, nearby retail strips and proximity to the people and activities you want to focus on in your life.

By having a very good understanding of what you want, as the market evolves you can seize opportunities that fit your needs!

Have everything ready

Opportunities don’t last and nowhere is that more obvious than in real estate.  Time is of the essence and there are a number of aspects to a purchase that can and should be done beforehand.

Go through the full mortgage pre-approval process with a mortgage broker or a bank and make sure you’ve provided everything they need to give you a specific approval.  Don’t rely on simple tools online to give you an estimated budget.  Speak with professionals and provide them with income verification, tax documents, credit reports and job letters.

Similarly, make arrangements with a lawyer so that you can ask any questions now about the purchase process.  They can help you understand costs and steps in the process so you aren’t caught by surprise by anything or slowed down during the offer phase.

Finally, formalize your relationship with a Realtor.  There are documents that are only signed for a specific property as you make the offer, but there are other documents that authorize the agent to work on your behalf and they can and should be reviewed and signed beforehand.  At the same time you can also take advantage of a far less pressure-filled situation to review a sample offer.  When you are in a live offer situation, you will have to make decisions about conditions and price in a quick fashion.  It is great if you can remove some of the uncertainty and confusion about other aspects of the purchase by taking your time now to understand the documents and the process.

In the event that your purchase requires you to sell a home, make sure you understand timing and all the steps in the sale process during this time.  You should also get advice from an experienced listing Realtor as to whether it makes sense to sell first or buy first and how the seller’s market looks at this time.

Stay focused

The last component in getting ready to take advantage of buying opportunities is staying focused on the search.  Knowing what you want and having everything ready for an offer is only helpful if you keep monitoring the market and looking for opportunities that fit your requirements.

This means allocating a set amount of time on a regular basis for reviewing opportunities.  It doesn’t have to be daily but it should be as often as you can manage.  Reviewing new listings and responding to your agent needs to be a priority.  We’ve seen clients miss opportunities because they stop looking for them.  Remember that a good opportunity likely won’t last long and we need to make sure we see it quickly so we can act.  There are great tools available now that provide buyers with real time updates on new listings that fit their criteria and those that jump on the right property get it before competition shows up!

Using market changes as an opportunity to sell for a great price

Let’s look at how changes in the market can also be an opportunity to sell for a higher price than you could otherwise get for the property.  While the overall tone for real estate stories related to COVID-19 are negative for sellers, in any market there is a right way and a wrong way to position your listing.

Understand who will buy your property and why

There is a saying at Keller Williams – “Logic makes you think, emotion makes you act”.

In a changing market such as we’re seeing right now, with lots of uncertainty about the future, properties that tug at the heart strings are still selling quickly for very good money.

Buyers who are looking for their next family home, who see a property that fits all their requirements, that sit on a good lot or are in a good building, in a great neighbourhood, are jumping on the opportunity and are willing to pay very good money to get the home.

Sellers who have properties that are less desirable in some ways, where they are good opportunities for a possible bump in value if the neighbourhood improves or if the property is renovated – properties where the purchase decision is a logical decision rather than an emotion decision – are selling at a slower rate and for lower prices.

If you are looking to sell a property, think long and hard right now about who is likely to be the buyer.  If it is likely to be someone who has an emotional connection and rationale for buying it, then get it on the market.  If it’s more of a logic-based decision that doesn’t have the buyers hugging and crying when they get it, consider waiting until the market is less uncertain.

Fix problems

We often see properties go on the market that have fixable problems that make it less appealing to the majority of buyers.  When you have a negative in a home, turning it into a neutral is often a very effective use of time and money.

Potential buyers can overlook neutral aspects of a home, such as a dated bathroom or a basic, aged deck in the backyard.  When the bathroom has broken tiles on the floor or the deck is sagging in heavy use areas, it becomes a negative that the buyer has to fix.  The cost of such fixes is often significantly less than the cost that a buyer assigns in their mind to it – as the buyer factors in the annoyance of having to do work on their “new” home.

While fixing negatives before listing a property is always a smart move, in a market where fewer buyers are willing to actively look for a home, it becomes crucial.

Track your competition

If you work with a good Realtor, they will keep a keen eye on the level of competition for the type of property you have and advise you when the right time to list arrives.

While understanding buyer motivation in general is helpful, it needs to be balanced against the current levels of supply in your specific market.  An active agent can tell you what is happening with listings like yours right now and give you advice as to whether now is an excellent opportunity to sell to an eager pool of buyers with very few options.

You can get real-time updates on new listings through your agent and in the meantime, prepare everything so that when the timing is right, the For Sale goes up that day.  It can make the difference between sitting on the market for weeks or months as buyers visit all their options, or selling within days to buyers who don’t have many choices and want to get a deal done.

The overall lesson from the points above is hopefully quite clear.  Get all of your ducks in order so that you can take advantage of opportunities to buy or sell at a better price!  If you need a Realtor to work with to get ready for that happy day, get in touch with us.  We love helping our clients do better than the market!