I
NEVER REALIZED JUST HOW GOOD I AM ! ! ! !
Charles Hanes March 1, 2009
 As
many of you are aware, I set out last fall looking for a seasonal residence for myself and
investment opportunities for many of my clients in Florida. In September I travel down to
beautiful Fort Lauderdale and visited new condo sales sites from Palm Beach to Miami
seeking out bargains amidst the plethora of already started developments in what I saw as
a spiraling condo market.
After 10 days of doing nothing but running from site to site, logging their strengths and
weaknesses and not even taking time to enjoy the beach, I returned home convinced that the
time to buy was not yet upon us.
Unfortunately, back then, the Canadian dollar was on par with the Greenback and, as you
undoubtedly are aware the spread has dropped back to almost 25% requiring us “Snow
Birds” to pay $1.25 on the dollar which basically seemed to negate the alleged drop
in prices.
From then to now I’ve invested an unbelievable amount of my time, energy and
resources researching the resale market and searching for Realtors with whom to develop an
“Affiliate” relationship with. Let’s face it, even though I’ve spent a
great deal of time in Florida over the past 25 years, no-one can ever claim to have a true
pulse on a market without full time, every day, hands on exposure to it.
Unfortunately, there simply is no reliable resource to work with or draw from. I’ve
wasted more time than I care to admit to, working Craig's List and turning to Realtor.com
has proven even more frustrating and disappointing.
Craig's List is a minefield fraught with risk. In Florida Realtors dominate the ad pool
and seem to avoid the alleged conventional protections of the multiple listing service
(“mls”). There is no consistency of content, for example only about half include
a map locator in their ads which means you have no idea of where that exceptional property
sits (all the properties appear to be exceptional) so you waste a lot of time inquiring
about properties that have absolutely no merit and which don’t fall into your
location criteria. Boy, could they use a simplycondos.com!
Realtor.com proved even more meaningless with a tremendous percentage of Listings proving
to be outdated and/or stale and out of date. There really isn’t enough meaningful
information to enable you to get a handle on anything. It is obvious that Realtors use it
simply to fish for clients. Few have map locators and none include HOA fees (in Canada we
call them monthly maintenance fees) or annual taxes.
 If you have pets, you got it, the ads don’t say if pets are allowed or
not. The closer you are to the ocean the fewer buildings allow pets. It’s all a game
to get you to contact the Realtor. Here’s a better one! Many of the Realtors
don’t even include email contacts for you to request the information that you are
looking for and which isn’t in their ad! Man, if I was listing my condo for sale with
a Realtor who didn’t include an email address I’d be upset as very, very few
prospective buyers are going to pay long distance phone rates to get a voice mail to leave
common sense questions like pet policy, HOA, taxes etc.
When you do get a Realtor who has included email contact in their ad, you usually wait
days for an answer and they seldom include a reference to the property you asked about and
having had days pass, you have no idea of what property they are referring to. Worse yet,
they seldom answer the questions that you asked!
I’ve started including my phone number and, guess what. They prefer to call you (talk
about cost ineffective marketing) and consistently haven’t even read your email thus
don’t have the answers that you’ve requested.
As I said above, I’m quite familiar with a number of markets in Florida and I
haven’t been able to gather meaningful information in over 6 months of daily wasting
a minimum of 4 hours trying to find a place for myself and my clients. |
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I’ve talked
with dozens of Realtors there and haven’t been able to find one yet that I can count
on. I recently narrowed in on a cool looking loft in Delray Florida but only through doing
my own due diligence did I discover why it was so competitively priced. A railroad track
ran just a few yards away!
I had a Realtor working with me and he had assured me that this was “an excellent
investment opportunity” but when I called his bluff and told him that I had
discovered the railway tracks and wanted to submit an Offer conditional on renting the
unit for 3 days (the ad said it was vacant and being sold furnished) only then did he come
clean and tell me that it was excessively noisy because of the trains.
So why the title of this article? Well, I have dozens of international buyers/investors
who have purchased condos in Toronto through me as their Buyer’s Agent, who have
never even come to Toronto, confident that the disclosures found on my web site and in my
articles sufficient to make their own informed decisions.
I never realized I was doing anything exceptional. I’m a working guy that has built
my business and reputation and going the extra mile to make sure my clients (and readers
as I don’t restrict my knowledge to only those who commit to working with me) have
sufficient information to be able to make their own informed decisions.
I never realized how few other Realtors do this. My experiences with searching out Florida
condos and Realtors have literally shocked me! It seems that my comprehension of
“Buyer Agency” and “Agency” in general are catastrophically different!
To me, your “agent” is obligated to protect and hold sacred “the best
interests of ONLY the best interest of you, the Buyer”.
I built my business and reputation putting myself into my client’s shoes. If I
don’t have the information that they need, I simply go get it. If my client asks for
specifics I simply go get them. I photograph sites where new condo buildings are to be
built giving my clients a comprehensive understanding of the surrounding buildings and the
feel of the local community. In essence, I earn my living, not as a taxi driver running
people around but sharing my first hand knowledge. I haven’t been able to find a
Realtor yet in Florida that even takes initiatives to inform buyers. It’s a
disappointment as I haven’t been able to find anyone that I would be comfortable with
having work with one of my clients.
Not to stress as the time to buy in Florida is NOT here yet. A simple study of the mess in
which America finds itself today and the pronounced uncertainty of the American economy in
general tells us that this is simply not the time to invest.
I have found some good potentials and would recommend that if you are looking to invest, I
will be postured and ready when the time comes and with people signing up now to have me
represent them in Florida, when the time is right we’ll be able to walk in with
multiple purchases and thereby be able to negotiate volume pricing discounts on top of the
already heavily discounted real estate.
So I’m not bragging with the title of this article. I really didn’t think I have
been doing anything out of the ordinary by supplying the service that I bring to my
clients. I have simply been doing my job in the only way I know how. I put myself in your
shoes and handle every negotiation like the money being transacted is mine.
The Toronto market has slowed (69% drop in sales volume in the month of February 09) but
there are still some quality investment opportunities and I’m receiving a lot of
inquiries from American investors who are losing confidence in the American market
(Florida or otherwise). With the exchange rates ranging around 25% Toronto has become much
more attractive to them. The money hasn’t gone away in America and with
Toronto’s inherent upside growth forecasts, Toronto represents a true bargain for
American investors. Stocks offer absolutely no stability so if you have money to invest,
it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out Toronto condos offer solid investment
principals if you know where to turn. That’s what I’m here for so if you are
looking, Register with me today!
That’s it for now. Be sure to tune in regularly and please don’t hesitate to
send me your comments and thoughts as your input challenges me to answer and those answers
are what equips you to further enhance your investment portfolio.
I’m Charles Hanes |
