MY
LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH TECHNOLOGY Charles Hanes - July 17, 2009
I’ve got to confess something. As the operator of one of the Internet’s number
one web sites for residential condos, I should be highly “tech-savvy”. Well,
truthfully, I’m not. I’m actually borderline deficient when it comes technology.
I’m more of a visionary as I see the end game first and then usually adhere to the
philosophy set out in the Kevin Costner moving “Field of Dreams” . . .
“Build it and they will come”!
I simply am not wired to intellectually tap into the logic of technology. I understand the
theory and if you know this web site you will know that we are known for delivery
important insider perspectives on topics important to people interested in investing in
real estate. Whether it’s your personal home or a rental investment, you are making
what probably is the largest investment in your life.
Our job is to give you the physical resource of “Insider Knowledge” that you add
to your buying team. You should NEVER give over your final decision power to another
person and quite honestly, I tell my clients to not make their buying decision on what I
tell them. You have got to make your own informed decision. Your “Buyer’s
Agent” (a legal representative “agent” with a “fiduciary” or
legal obligation to protect ONLY your best interests in the transaction should have
“Knowledge of the market” (knowledge on who built what and how good is it to
what’s happening today) or he/she can at best be labeled a taxi driver. But your
Buyer Agent’s must also be able to negotiate as the true science of this business is
in negotiating the deal. When it comes to this area of the game I can assure you in all
modesty that I am uniquely qualified. My clients attest to this. (letter from Jennifer)
I love technology because I literally saw it coming. I was the first person (other than on
tv) to have a cell phone. It was a huge clunky thing that was installed in my car and took
about the size of a football or basketball. It couldn’t leave the car and today would
be considered a joke but back then, it was “state of the art”.
What I hate about technology is that it has fallen so short on delivering meaningful
material, well. It’s done great on bringing smut into our homes and has unleashed yet
another frontier for all of the old world media types to butcher and basterdize but to me
it is a real disappointment.
I remember the days when the “Information Superhighway” was introduced. My
life/business partner and I had already produced and distributed in Hong Kong a custom
interactive multimedia CD-ROMs (in DOS no less) selling Toronto condos and mansions and I
was skeptical when I heard the propaganda about how this great new phenomena was going to
revolutionize the world like the printing press.
Today I’ve got to admit that I’m disappointed with where technology has taken
us. It has come a long way but then, not really long enough to show material change or
growth.
Condos, for example are sold today in the exact same way that I helped introduce back in
1982. I had been a sales trainer and consultant and was called in to help restart a failed
sales campaign for the Reichmann Family on Toronto’s harbour. Condo were brand new at
the time with me at the Queen’s Quay Residences (still one of Toronto’s better
addresses) and Charles Milborne selling 33 Harbour Square. In those days the harbourfront
was desolate! There was virtually no buildings around whereas today this area of the city
is bustling with new development (some good much not so good). If you are buying in the
$500/ sq.ft. range or less you may be getting good value if buying today, just to give you
a feel of the area.
It absolutely amazes me today to see that the real estate industry (let’s focus on
the mini-cosm of the industry “residential condos” alone) that absolutely every
sales requires by law that the buyer be given a “Status Certificate” (we used to
call it an Estoppel) and the condo board photo copies hundreds of pages of static printed
pages, charges the seller or buyer whoever has elected to pay for it the $100 fee and then
has a director of the board complete a 4 page questionnaire and sign it in their official
capacity as a board member and send those documents to the buyer’s lawyer who reads
them (or is supposed to read them – actually they really many times just read the 4
page questionnaire signed by the board member) and the lawyer then files the documents
away for years!
How do we intellectually cost justify this type of stupidity when all that is needed is
what the “Information Superhighway” was supposed to deliver which was a digital
vault with all necessary publications (and not necessary apparently) available on line to
everyone when ever they wanted it (“on demand”). Speaking as someone that was at
this before the introduction of the World Wide Web, the integration of this technology has
been extremely slow and erratic since it’s conception. |
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We’ve been lied to about simple things like “instant on computers” for
example and we’ve all seen what the majority content on the internet brings into our
homes. My point is that as a medium, the Internet is still a disappointment. I understand
that everything must be monetized or companies can’t survive but what we need is a
whole new paradigm of thought!
I’ve always considered myself a new media artist that supports himself through income
from the condo industry. Years back I was known in the commercial music world through a
relationship with a very gifted musician and producer where we both grew into rock video
productions and corporate videos. I produced 2 nationally syndicated television series and
over a dozen interactive multimedia CD-ROMs commemorating 300’th birthday of Acadians
in Louisiana through designing and producing the City of New Orleans’ own Official
promotional CD-ROM. All this time I’ve been able to maintain my artistic endeavors
while keeping loyal to my true focus on Toronto (and Florida) condos. All of the
photographs appearing on simplycondos.com including all of the condo buildings are in the
decided majority mine (I can say all of them for sure as we use renderings until the
building is completed). I’ve done this to insure to everyone that I’ve literally
been to the building, gone through it and made my own fully informed conclusion about
whether I would recommend having any of my buyers invest their money (and emotions if
it’s to also be their home).
Today, as I sit out on the deck high over the park in downtown Toronto with my trusty
MacBook Air and my Samsung Jack beside me, I am where I envisioned myself some 30+ years
back when I told al my friends and associates (back before the personal computer) that one
day “I will be sitting on a large terrace of a beautiful home with my computer and
phone fully operational beside me”. It’s refreshing and somewhat a landmark to
know that that day has arrived!
Then why all to paper! Isn’t there someone around out there in cyberland intelligent
enough to realize that we are eating up more of our planet that we can sustain?!
Didn’t we develop the Information Superhighway to save trees?! So now we use it to
eat up and destroy many times more trees. How intellectually offensive to our
civilization!
Simplycondos.com is inviting all residential condominium buildings (condos, lofts,
townhouses) to have their Disclosure Documents stored on our web servers and available on
their custom home page (referred to internally as “Billboard Page”) on our site.
I said earlier that the Seller requests a “Status Certificate” under the Condo
Act and that 2 part document (one the Disclosure Documents and 2 a 4 page affidavit from a
board member). I am suggesting that all future sales of Toronto condos simply have the
Status Certificate remaining as the four page (very timely) disclosure on the health of
the condominium corporation and allow the lawyers to refer to the digital archive for
Disclosure Statements available FREE at simplycondos.com.
My creative spark seems to have been re-ignited and I’m glad for that. Honestly I get
bored easily and having done only condos for the past 8 years since launching
simplycondos.com I have to confess that I’ve grown bored. I’ve managed to
surround myself with 2 very dedicated and loyal professionals both of whom offer
tremendous inside knowledge and experience in the condo world. Know that I would not refer
any of my valued and loyal clients to just anyone. These two (“Linda Wheeler”
and “Romey Halabi”) are both season professionals that I’ve personally
selected and coached to get their licenses and get active in this profession.
Romey has a solid financial background that will pay huge dividends to many of you as well
as has been a good client of mine for years. The man lives and breaths condos, has bought
sold dozens of condos with me and has proven to me to be “a fish to water” for
this challenging business. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what I
know. Lord knows I’m no rocket scientist! But you know what? You have to know at
least what I know to know that you are making a solid investment of those minimum six
figures!
Romey and Linda are both qualified to answer your questions and meet your needs. They are
both in daily contact with me and we discuss every file so when you come to
simplycondos.com you have every confidence of having my three decades at this working
directly for you.
Simplycondos.com is looking at some very exciting frontiers right now where we can once
again set the Standard for the industry. We did back in 1992 when we produced our first
DOS based Interactive Multimedia CD-ROM profiling Toronto condos and mansions and shipped
it to Hong Kong where people were looking to get their assets shifted out of the Colony
prior to the 1997 reversion of Hong Kong to the Communist Chinese. We did in again 8 years
ago when we launch simplycondos.com and enjoyed up to 40,000 “Hits Per Day” as a
one person Buyer Agency only, brokerage specializing only in residential condos, in a very
narrow geographic area in downtown Toronto. It’s time to set the Standard again so
plan on turning in as we roll out this new era in residential condos.
That’s it for now, gotta go to work. Know I’ll be talking soon,
Charles Hanes, Broker |
