There’s no doubt about it – real estate is stressful.  Whether it’s buying or selling, the process of moving is often ranked as one of the most stressful life events a person can experience.

It’s a fact that we’re well aware of on our team.  There is a famous poster from 1939 that the British government produced in preparation for the Second World War.  Here it is.

The purpose of the poster was to strengthen morale amongst the British populace in the event of a wartime disaster such as mass bombings.

In the last number of years, it’s been turned into a meme where people take the poster or the saying and adjust it a bit.  Here is our new favourite version!

While difficulties in finding a new home is naturally stressful, the feeling of having your home for sale and not getting offers is incredibly stressful.  After all, so many things that come next depend on the result of the sale, and your life is literally put on hold during the listing process.

We’ve helped many seller clients steer their way through a sale process that doesn’t move as quickly as hoped – and we’ve also seen lots of listing agents fumble the ball and inadvertently cause things to be even worse for their seller clients.

Here’s the three things that can totally derail a listing and how we help make sure our seller clients are able to recover and get the property sold!

Disaster #1 – A good comparable sells for less than expected.

There is nothing as frustrating as having a property that is a good comparable (in terms of location and attributes) sell for less than expected.

This happens more often than we would like, as inexperienced agents or anxious sellers accept an offer that is far less than what they could have received with proper negotiations.

When this happens, every agent that has an interested client brings up that property in the negotiations, attempting to sway our client into accepting a lower price.

We cannot change the fact that another seller took a price that reflects poorly on our listing, but we can control our response.

First and foremost, we refuse to be anchored by the sale price of this comparable.  In negotiating, the term anchoring refers to when a number acts as anchor, influencing subsequent judgments and decisions throughout the negotiation, even if it’s arbitrary.  The buyer and their agent have been anchored by this price and are attempting to convince our seller that their value needs to be reevaluated based on the other sale.

In a situation like this, we believe that as your listing agent we need to be specific and aggressive in our response.  By using specific details about that listing (square footage, lot size, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, layout, finishes, parking and so on), we counter the assumption that the property sold at a reasonable price and can be used as a comparable to our property.

We are aggressive in making it clear to potential purchasers of our property that either the seller of that comparable was desperate or their listing agent did a poor job for their client.  Regardless of the reason, we aren’t going to make the same mistake.  While that can be challenging, remember that a major part of negotiating is holding your stance and being willing to walk away from a deal that is unfavourable.

Disaster #2 – The market doesn’t agree with our price.

There are a large number of factors that go into deciding upon a listing price for a property.

The detailed work up we do when helping a client decide on their listing price looks at a number of different factors, including market changes, comparable properties (for sale and recently sold), MPAC property assessments and more.

This analysis allows our client and us to decide on our listing strategy.  We develop a story and rationale that supports the sale price we hope to achieve and then we communicate effectively to prospective buyers and their agents.  While this can be very useful during negotiations, in some cases, the market doesn’t agree with our price and we receive fewer showings than expected or no offers.

In a situation like this, some sellers panic and lower the price too much, or accept a low ball offer that is below the actual value of the home.  We would say that when a listing isn’t selling, the way your agent reacts is critical to the eventual result.

First and foremost, it is important to present a calm façade to buyers and their agents.  It is naturally the job of a buyer’s agent to push for the best possible price for their client and when a listing isn’t selling, it is not uncommon for agents to try to get a tremendous deal for their clients.  We regularly encounter situations where a low-ball offer is made that should not be accepted by our seller clients.  While the final decision is always that of our client, we believe it is our job to say when we can do better than an offer that is just too low.  It seems like more and more listing agents tell their client it is up to them to accept or reject an offer, and completely skip the stage of negotiating for a better deal or offering additional information for the seller to consider.

Regardless of the urgency of the situation for our seller client, our job is to strike a balance between willingness to be reasonable and comfort with waiting until the right buyer comes along.  A big part of that conversation is helping our seller understand the financial implications of selling now versus later.  In some cases, accepting a lower price makes sense due to additional costs related to financing or carrying costs.  In other situations, a seller could hold on for a number of months before they would come close to incurring costs equal to the “loss” from taking a low-ball offer.

Make no mistake, it is a challenging situation when the market doesn’t agree with the price and value we’ve determined for a client’s home.  When it happens, you need agents who know how to adapt to the circumstances without giving up on still getting you the best possible sale price.

Disaster # 3 – Something unexpected happens externally, that changes the market.

The third situation that can take place is an unexpected external change that impacts the real estate market.  Some examples can be:

• Extreme weather events, such as an ice storm, tornado or even extreme heat warnings.
• Regulatory changes, such as the changes to mortgage rules, capital gains structure and so forth.
• Economic crisis, whether local or broader, that impacts buyer confidence, such as the closing of a major company in a smaller market, international tariffs, interest rate movement, etc.

Generally speaking, we can’t predict these events and they can certainly impact the number of showings or offers.  In situations like this, we need to assess the length of the impact.

• If it is short-term like a weather event, we can stay the course and understand it will take a bit longer to sell. The market returns to normal after thing stabilize, and people have the ability and time to look for homes again.
• If it is more than short-term, such as regulatory changes, it might be worth terminating the listing and waiting a few weeks or month to relist. Typically, such changes impact the market for a 4 to 6 week period before things settle down and continue in a more typical fashion.
• For longer term impacts, such an economic crisis, the decision needs to be made if our client can hold on for a longer time period, or if we are willing to adjust the price quickly to get out before more sellers decide to do so and the market drops.

When there are sudden, unexpected events that impact a sizeable number of people who may have been considering buying or selling properties, the assumptions and normal activity within the market get upended.  While we can’t predict when these take place, it is important to assess them quickly and decide on the approach that works for our seller clients.

Regardless of which of the above situations take place, it is important for you to keep calm and carry on with a reasonable strategy.  If you’re thinking about selling and you want to minimize stress while getting the best result, then get in touch with us to discuss next steps!

When it comes to standards, it might be fair to say that there as no such thing as universal standards. Pick a topic, any topic, and you’ll probably be able to find people with significant disagreements on what is the standard for it.

Are you on time if you’re there two minutes late? Is arriving five minutes early not on time, but in fact early? Do you need to stand poised outside their door looking at your watch or phone and when the seconds go from 59 to 0, immediately knock?

In real estate, standards – or a lack of agreed upon standards – can cause real problems. You may have seen articles about a recent court case where some homebuyers in Oakville were nine minutes late with a payment, and it cost them $113,000.

The contracts for real estate deals specify in considerable detail what both sides are agreeing to do and when they have to do it. Whether it is the time and date at which a conditional purchase expires, or how long a buyer has to provide the deposit, these contracts have been revised over time to make sure it is clear about the obligations of the parties signing it.

Despite these very detailed contracts, there are some parts of real estate transactions where a different set of standards can still cause tremendous problems. This is because, despite the best efforts of agents, lawyers and courts, not all terms are consistently understood or applied.

Let’s go through some of the most common issues that arise when standards aren’t universally agreed upon. Some cause little problems, but some can mean the transaction doesn’t happen at all.

What do you mean, we did clean it!

By far the most common issue we see with a different set of standards has to do with the state of a home when the new owners take possession. The vast majority of Agreements of Purchase and Sale include wording in the Schedule A that says the Seller agrees to provide the property in “clean and broom swept” condition.

If you think that sounds pretty clear, we’d urge you to think about whether you’ve ever had a friend, family member or roommate who’s definition of “clean” was considerably different than yours. We would say that in about half our closings, the seller and the buyer have a different standard when it comes to what clean means. If we had a quarter for every time a seller told us that the property was immaculate and the buyer said it was filthy, we could spend the day at an arcade. Wait, are arcades still a thing? The point is, we’d have a lot of quarters, as one person’s “clean” is another person’s “dirty”.

As this issue occurs after the property has closed, it typically only causes irritation and a poor first impression of the buyer’s new home. Unless it is egregious, both sides shake their head in disagreement and move on. We’ve paid for a few cleanings on behalf of our seller clients over the years, as sometimes in the stress and time crunch of a move, a property is left in less than pristine state. Regardless, there’s no question that what constitutes “clean” is not the same for all people.

Everyone knows you leave those.

Apart from the state of the property (and its relative cleanliness), there are often disagreements about what is typically left in a home versus what doesn’t remain. While an Agreement of Purchase and Sale does spell out lots of specific items to remain or to be removed, it is not uncommon for certain things to be not specially spelled out in the contract.

We often see mirrors, shelves and window coverings become points of contention after closing. While there are clear definitions of what is a chattel versus what is a fixture, sellers who aren’t clean on the distinction and who haven’t been clearly instructed by their agent often take things they have in fact included in the sale price. In most cases, it is because the Seller wants the items and can use them in their next home and didn’t realize they should have been excluded from the list of inclusions in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

Regardless of whether it comes from, when a Seller takes something they included in the sale price (or conversely leaves something they should have removed), it can cause issues. Different people have different standards when it comes to what is “normal” to leave or take with you when you sell a home – and that includes the agents involved. We’ve had conversations with agents on the other side who is adamant that something should have been left by the seller as “everyone knows you leave those”, despite it not being spelled out in the sale agreement. Window coverings are typically included in a sale and if we have a client who is selling their home who wants to take some drapes with them, we exclude them from the sale, as otherwise, they should remain. In more recent years, TV mounts have become points of contention, with a Buyer either upset they were removed and holes left in the wall, or in some cases, upset that they were left and they need to remove the bracket themselves.

Our paperwork evolves with each deal we do for our clients to make sure that we cover off – in no uncertain terms – what is staying and what is going. It avoids these problems that occur when either side relies on something being “typically” included in the sale.

I’ll get right back to you.

Another very common issue we encounter in real estate negotiations is a difference in what people mean when they say, “I’ll get right back to you”. I bet if we took a poll of the people reading this article, we’d have answers that range from two minutes to end-of-day.

As part of negotiating a sale or purchase, we often have a series of phone calls, texts and emails with the agents on the other side of the deal. When an agent says “Let me talk to my client and I’ll get right back to you”, we know that could mean a call back in five minutes or three hours. If you are considering a career in real estate and you’re not a particularly patient person, be prepared to have some frustrating times. As there is a deal on the line, both sides need to be patient with delays from the other side and boy, oh boy, there are sometimes significant delays.

On many occasions, we’ve been in the position of reassuring our anxious clients that we’re doing our best but we’re still waiting on a response. In a few incredibly perplexing deals, we’ve had agents say “Give me two minutes” and then ignore all communication for the next six hours. While it can be understandable to assume an unexpected delay means the deal isn’t happening, the reality is that there are significant differences in people and cultures as to what constitutes a quick reply. We’ve had a number of deals where we started to assume it wasn’t going to happen to be surprised by an email with an accepted offer from the other side, despite hours of silence and no further negotiation on a contested point. The moral of the story is that there is not really a standard when it comes to “right away” and that can cause stress if one side’s definition is quite different than the other!

We’ll be a little bit late, but it’ll be fine.

Speaking of time, deadlines can also be problematic if one of the parties views them as a target rather than an absolute requirement. In a typical Agreement of Purchase and Sale, there are a number of crucial and absolute deadlines that dictate whether a contract remains valid.

For example, unless otherwise specified, the standard wording in an offer about the deposit is that “the Buyer is required to deliver the deposit to the Deposit Holder within 24 hours of the acceptance of this Agreement”. That means if a deal is accepted at 2:42 PM on Tuesday, the deposit has to be provided by 2:42 PM on Wednesday. Technically, it also means that if the deal is accepted at 11:24 PM Saturday night, the deposit is due no later than that time Sunday night. On many, many, many occasions, we’ve had buyer’s agents who either ignore or fail to realize the existence of this clearly written term in the contract. As a result, as part of our process when representing a seller, we reach out to the other side with specific instructions and to get an acknowledgement of the timeline for the deposit. We regularly have agents on the other side of the deal who mistakenly think it is 24 business hours, or end of next business day or some other “typical” timeframe they have in their mind.

Another key date and time in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale is the completion date, which is the day on which the new owner receives the keys and ownership is transferred to them. The standard wording (there is that term again) is “This Agreement shall be completed no later than 6:00 PM on the <CLOSING DAY>. Upon completion, vacant possession of the property shall be given to the Buyer unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement.” Many sellers and agents interpret this to mean they have until 6:00 PM on closing day to move out of the home they have sold, but the above includes the words “no later than” and the vast majority of deals close in the early to mid afternoon of the closing day. A few times a year we receive a call from the other side of a deal where the deal has completed, ownership has been transferred and the former owner is still packing and moving out. If both parties are willing to allow what is technically trespassing, it works out fine, but sometimes it can cause real problems. If a Buyer shows up at 11 AM with their moving truck full of furniture and the deal doesn’t close until 4 PM, they have to be ready to pay their movers for five hours of waiting. Similarly, if the deal closes at 12:15 PM and the Buyer shows up with their movers at 1:00 PM to find the Sellers are halfway through their move out, expect to see flared tempers!

In these and other cases, misreading, misunderstanding, or ignoring specific deadlines in the accepted Agreement of Purchase and Sale can cause tremendous issues. In such cases, one side often claims the “standard” is X or Y, ignoring the specifics as spelled out in the contract.

We could go on and on about how people often have different interpretations of the standard or typical way to handle something, but we think you get the point!

If you are looking to buy or sell and you want it to go smoothly, you need agents who understand where problems arise and how to prevent them from happening. If that sounds appealing, then get in touch with us to talk about the next steps!

There’s a lot of stress and anxiety involved in selling a home.  It’s honestly one of the hardest things to do and it’s because of the combination of factors involved.

• Huge financial consequences?  Check.
• Tremendously time consuming?  Check.
• Terribly invasive of your privacy?  Check.

The last one is not often acknowledged and in our opinion, it’s actually the factor that causes the most amount of stress.  Your home is where you can be yourself, have privacy, shut the door and not let anyone in unless you want them in your home.  Except, when you’re selling your home, none of those things are true,

• You can’t be yourself.  You’re sitting on rented furniture because your furniture didn’t send the right message.  Your photos of your family make it too hard for potential buyers to picture themselves there, so instead you’ve got some bland piece of art that has the right colours.
• You can’t have privacy.  Keep those blinds open, those lights on and splash pictures and 3D tours of your home all over the internet where anyone can see exactly what updates you’ve done, what work you’ve put off, what lifestyle choices you’ve made.
• You can’t shut the door and tell people to go away.  Well, in theory you can, but you’re not going to sell your house if you do it often.  You’ve got to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, it doesn’t matter if you’re sick or have had a bad day or the kids are going slowly feral.  A potential buyer wants to see the home?  Off you go.

While we do work with our seller clients to try to make the above a little bit less difficult, there are some inherent challenges with the act of showing your home to buyers that make living in the home difficult.  It’s somewhat ironic that the time when you least like living in your home is the time you’re most trying to convince people they want to live in it themselves.

In the lead up to putting the home on the market there are tons of questions that need to be answered about how to best present your home.  The fact that we actively work with both buyers as well as sellers gives us tremendous insight into how to position your property to sell.

When we are working for clients on the sell side, we take that knowledge of how buyers approach the purchase decision and flip it around to make our listing as attractive as possible to buyers.  The better we are at that task, the more showings we have, the more offers we receive and the higher the pricewe negotiate for our seller.

Here are the three key things we keep in mind when working with our seller clients to make sure we achieve our goals while maintaining our sanity.

First off, it’s just a little problem.

Within our team, we’ve been to thousands of homes for sale.  Not a single one has been perfect.

Not a single one.

Every home has its imperfections.  When we sell a client’s home, they are often quite stressed about the imperfections in their home.  They know that underneath that area rug is a scratch from when they moved a table 6 years ago.  They know that the cabinet in the bathroom isn’t perfectly straight and you need to lift the door a bit to close it.  They know all about their home, because it’s their home.

When selling a home, we always remind our sellers that no home is perfect.  We fix what we can, when we can, but it isn’t always feasible.  Sellers run out of time, money and patience.  The list price should be reflective of the imperfections of the house and if we fixed everything that was wrong, we’d charge an extra $40K.  For buyers it is a chance to get the home at a better price and a chance to earn some appreciation by fixing some of the little problems themselves.

Unless there are an awful lot of those little problems.

Think of each problem or imperfection in a home as a dot on a blank piece of paper.  One problem is just one dot.  Two problems are just two dots.  Three, four, five, 10, 20 problems…well those dots start looking an awful lot like a line pointing the buyer away from the home.

One very interesting aspect to working with buyers is that you can actually see when they decide against a property.  As we show properties, we’re watching our clients to see what they think, gauging if we made a good call in showing them this property.  When we see enough problems or imperfections in a home, you can actually see the change in the body language and facial expressions as potential purchasers, become people who are ready to leave.

When we work with our sellers to get ready for a listing, we go through the property to identify how many problems we see.  If we are running into lots of these little problems throughout a home, then we tell our clients, we need to fix a number of these.  Too many imperfections give the impression that the home is fundamentally not a good property.  We are all pattern recognition machines and if every room we go into has some issue, we pretty quickly decide it’s a rotten apple.  We’ve seen many buyer clients have what we call the ”Pack your bags Martha, we’re leaving” moment, where they stop considering the property as a potential purchase and they just want to go.  At that point, the seller has lost them as potential buyers.

Wait a minute, what’s the story here?

The final thing we keep in mind when preparing our clients to sell their home is the story that is being told.  Charles Dickens’ had it right when he said that we are all the main character in a story of our lives.  Think back to the last home you bought and how you described it to family or friends.  We construct a narrative around the purchase that supports what we want to believe.  That house with the shag carpet and peel and stick tile everywhere wasn’t a disaster, it was an incredible bargain where we didn’t have to pay for someone else’s renovations that were done to their taste, not yours.  The tiny condo with a balcony you couldn’t fit a chair on, let alone a table?  It could not be more centrally located and it’s amazing how you live in the heart of a vibrant area that is effectively an extension of your home.  Tiny?  You’ve got a huge space all around you to live your life!

With every listing, we need to find the story and share it.  We need to cast the buyer as the hero in the story so that when they look at making that purchase, they can place it in context.  If the listing agent can’t develop that story, then buyers don’t know how they feel about the home.  They either make up another story, such as how they avoided overpaying for that one property, or they fail to make a decision because they don’t know how it fits into their narrative.

There’s always going to be some stress in real estate transactions, but if you work with the right agents, the stress is lower and the results are better.  If that sounds appealing, don’t hesitate to get in touch.