Richard Silver, Toronto Real Estate Board President

Like most Realtors who have worked in the profession for a number of years, from time to time I have been asked to explain the value of a Realtor’s services, and what we do throughout the course of a transaction.

Here is my take on what’s involved in our work and the most important contribution a Realtor can make to what is likely a consumer’s largest financial decision.

Most of a Toronto Realtor’s day involves following the market, not just specific houses and neighborhoods, but the ups and downs of the marketplace in general. We also deal with the ups and downs of our clients, their successes and failures, as well as changes to their family structures.

Comment: Seriously – I read at least 10 real estate articles a day, or more, from a variety of sources. The good, the bad, the completely wrong and insane. I write about real estate every day, be it on one of my 3 real estate blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or for a printed or online publication. This is what I do for a living. I talk about it all the time, with clients or friends or family. I know a lot about the market, from prices to interest rates, demographics and immigration patterns, buyer profiles and neighbourhood trends. Because it is my job. Because I need to know all of this to do my job as best I can. That is what I offer you, a wealth of knowledge about the subject. And there is nothing that jerks my chain more than people who tell me I don’t know what I am talking about. Or that I am biased, or lying or worse. People who’s job is not real estate who claim to know better than me. Not that I claim to be perfect or know everything, but I truly study my industry day in and day out – much more than almost everyone else in my industry and certainly more than people who work in accounting or graphic design. So please, listen to what I have to say, it comes from a wealth of background, knowledge and thought.

Eventually we start to develop a way of seeing so much product that we become adept at sifting out the good from the bad.  We recognize that buzzwords like “knob and tube wiring” or “old furnace” are fixable if the house is right.

As my first Realtor advised me, “You can fix anything in the house with money but you cannot move the house.” His words guided me to a less expensive house on a great street at a time when I was caught up dreaming of the renovation that I had seen on a less desirable street. I have never regretted that decision, and I know that I would have made a mistake had I not listened to his guidance.

Toronto Realtors know that buying and selling a home is a very emotional experience. One of the best services that a Realtor provides is their third party unemotional observation, which can help Buyers and Sellers realize what is important, what is worth fighting for, and what that extra bit of mortgage will really mean in the long term.

On occasion, media reports infer that Realtors somehow create the marketplace. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. It is, in fact, the Buyer and the Seller who do so. It is natural for the Seller to want the highest price possible for their property and also for the Buyer to want to purchase for the least amount. How far each is willing to go is entirely up to them.

Comment: Like I said above, people who do not work in the industry saying things like always upset me. The market is created by 400,000 different people every year. There are 100,000 som-odd sales in the GTA each year. So there are 100,000 buyers (never mind the friends & family who advise them) and their 100,000 buyer’s agents, plus 100,000 sellers (and their friends and family) and 100,000 listing agents. Thus, 400,000 people – 200,000 of which are not real estate agents – determine the market every year. Add to that the mortgage agents, home inspectors and others who are involved in each transaction and it is easy to see that Realtors are not the ones “creating” the market. It is a free market, with prices and sales volumes dictacted by the choices of buyers and sellers, each one acting of their own volition and with their own motives. We only exist to help facilitate each transaction, to advise and help.

When six Realtors and the Buyers they represent attempt to purchase one house, the math will tell you that there are going to be five unhappy Buyers and Realtors who do not achieve their goals. Does that sound like fun? Is that really what Realtors want? Where is the benefit for the Realtor?

Comment: No, that sucks. We hate it. We hate losing more than you do! And unhappy clients make us unhappy. If they lose enough bidding wars, they will go elsewhere. Through no fault of our own, we have no done all of this work only to have the client leave – and we don’t get paid. Truly, 90% of my life is working for nothing. But, just like the buyers, we have to get back on the bike and keep going.

These days, Realtors try to keep their clients realistic, set goals and help them remember that getting excited about a kitchen design to the exclusion of having a main floor family room is steering them off of their must have list, which was responsible for initiating their search in the first place.

Providing that kind of guidance is the most important thing that a Toronto Realtor can do, notwithstanding making sure that the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed. It is what keeps us busy, no matter what market we are in. This most important face-to-face contact is one that a computer program will never be able to replace.

Comment: Bidding wars suck, but if you want that perfect house… you may not have a choice. Work with me, listen to me, we will do our best to get that house for you. But without that trust, there is little we can achieve together.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto Realtor with Century 21 Regal Realty. He did not
write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who are
interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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