I encourage every client to hire a professional home inspector. However, helping to identify any issues with a home helps to narrow our search and helps the buyer to look beyond a home’s cosmetics. It will also allow us to learn how the home was priced or adjust our offer accordingly rather than trying to negotiate later in the transaction after a home inspection.

1. Grading and Driveway
One of the first things I point out as we walk up the driveway is the grading around the front step and up against the home. I always point this out when a concrete driveway runs along the side of the house. These are notorius for slanting toward the home, allowing water to run up against the foundation causing foundation problems and moisture in the basement. Similar problems can occur in flower beds and around the front step when the ground slants towards the house. We also take a quick look at the downspouts to make sure they are running far away from the house. If we notice any issues outside, we will take not to check out the affected basement walls when we make it into the house.

2. Windows
As we make our way throughout the home, I draw attention to windows in each room making note of which are newer or need replacing. Paint and flooring are cheap. Replacing those leaky metal sliding windows (which I call Glencairn Sliders) throughout your home can cost up to $20,000.

3. Bathrooms
In each bathroom, we try to identify any noticiable leaking issues or items that need repair. If the bathroom needs updating, we make a note and try to estimate the approximate investment that will be needed. Using the following numbers will give you a good ballpark. $2000 for bathtubs and surrounds. $200 for toilets. $500 for sinks and vanities, $1000 for single showers and that’s when you do most of the labour yourself.

4. Kitchen
Just like the bathroom, here we try and figure out any required repairs or future investments. A dated or renovated kitchen can swing a home’s value by up to $20-30k. Has the owner’s asking price reflected the state of their kitchen? Are the buyer’s willing to take on the task of updating it with non-mortgage dollars after they move in? This is also where we tend to look back at the listing and note whether or not the appliances are included in the sale. This can also swing the value by at least $2-5k.

5. Furnace
A lot of new home buyers don’t know the difference between a high efficient furnace or a mid efficient furnace. The easiest way to tell the difference is that high efficient furnaces has two plastic tubes coming out to top or side of the unit (typically exiting out to an exterior wall of the home) in lieu of a metal chimney that vents straight up through the ceiling of the home. A high efficient furnace is cheaper to run, but it also means the new home owners won’t need to invest another $5k into their home anytime soon.

6. Water Heaters
In Regina, many homes have rented water heaters. With the rust in our city water, water heaters sometimes have a shorter shelf life. By renting your heater, it becomes the rental company’s responsibility to maintain it and repair it when something goes wrong. The cost is usually around $100-200 per year. Rental units almost always have a big sticker on the heater identifying the rental company.

7. Elecrical Panel
Electrical panels can be scary, but we always check three things. First, does the panel appear to be newer or consist of several smaller panels and some fishy looking wiring. This could be the difference between an older home having updated electricial or old knob and tube wiring. Next we look at the main breaker. Stamped on the end of it will be the amperage of the breaker box. Usually 100amps or higher is what your looking for, depending on the home. Otherwise, you may eventually have to upgrade the service to the home, costing $2-4k. You’ll also want to make sure there are some extra empty slots in the box in case you want to install air conditioning, a new garage or a hot tub down the road.

8. Outside Walls
This is where it gets tricky. Many homes in Regina have foundation damage including cracking and shifting. You’ll need a home inspector or structural engineer to properly indentify the state of a foundation, but there are some signs you can watch out for. If you can find some exposed concrete (usually in the storage or furnace rooms), you can look for any cracking or bowing walls. Horizontal cracks are big signs of a basement requiring repair. If you can’t see the walls, check out the windows to look out for any slanting inward. If a wall has been repaired and braced, they can often be identified by looking at the floor truces up against a wall. If you can see any metal bolted to the floor trusts, the wall has likely been braced. A properly repaired basement (with an engineer’s report) eases the mind of the buyer and the lender. Throughtout the basement, look for any water damage on the bottom of the drywall or any white powder on concrete, both signs of seapage.

9. Shingles
Usually one of the last things we look at is the shingles, usually because we forget to look as we walk up the house. If the shingles are laying flat without the corners curling, they likely don’t need replacing for several years. If possible, try to view the south side of the roof as it gets the most sun.

10. Knowing It’s Your Home
Since I’ve been a REALTOR®, 80% of our clients have known they just found their new home within the first 5 minutes of walking into the home. There’s something about the right home that just hits you in the right spot. Of course, there’s some due diligence needed in order to make sure you haven’t fallen in love with a lemon. However, it just always seems to work that way. We tell our clients that if you go home and you are already starting to plan the layout of your furniture and when you’re going to be hosting your first bbq, you’ve likely found the right home. Call us in the morning.

Justin Bieber’s success has been remarkable, reaching stardom in a short period of time. Blame it on the power of a million screaming girls if you like, but there were some smart business decisions made along the way.

Here’s 5 business lessons I learned from Justin Bieber.

1. “One Less Lonely Girl” – Know Where to Find Your Fans

Justin Bieber’s career began with a video camera and a proud mama. She would record him singing in their Ontario living room and broadcast it to youtube. He quickly became an internet sensation, grabbing the attention of a few record executives along the way.

Once he was signed to a label, they decided to market him like they’ve promoted new artists for the last several decades, by visiting radio stations throughout the country. It came with limited success. While it was slowly building a fan base and momentum, it wasn’t until Justin started using twitter that things really took off. By simply announcing his appearances online, the number of fans in attendance jumped from less than 40 to thousands. Justin Bieber is now one of the most popular twitter users with over 17 million followers.

This doesn’t come as a surprise. His fan base spends their time on cellphones and ipods, not newspapers and radios. Where are your fans?

2. “Can’t Live Without You” – Use Your Buddies

When it comes to building a fan base, more is better. It’s simple. By aligning yourself with other strong brands, you are extending your reach to a whole other fan base. Instead of hosting a client appreciation night on your own, co-host one with a non-competing colleague (ex. mortgage broker). You would then have the opportunity to meet a whole new set of clients who now have a tie to you.

In our property videos, we spotlight a local artist and a local business whenever we can. It serves two purposes. Not only are we providing support and exposure for them, we are reaching a new fan base when they share our videos with their followers as well.

Justin Bieber did this well when he invited Jaden Smith to sing as his concerts and star in his films.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3. “Never Say Never” – Don’t Give Up

It was bound to happen. Some random girl launched a lawsuit against Justin, claiming he was the father of her baby. In the past, celebrities would settle out of court and try and hide it all from the press, whether true or false. Not the Biebs. He addressed the media quickly, making his statement and standing his ground. He used the media to turn the attention onto the plaintiff and falsify the claim, avoiding any damage to his brand. If your business hits the headlines, address it quickly and stand your ground. Take ownership of mistakes and rectify the problem. You’ve got an image to protect.

4. “First Dance” – Find a Mentor

One of the record executives that recruited Justin Bieber happened to be Usher. With his own successful career, he’s acted as a great mentor to Justin. Despite his success, Usher has stayed out of the tabloids and continues to build successful businesses. He’s even taught the Biebs some of those sweet dance moves.

Having a mentor is one of the key factors in having success in any career. Sure you can do it on your own, but it’s a lot easier when you can skip over a lot of those rookie mistakes and steepen your learning curve. It’s your first dance. Find someone who knows the steps.

5. “Never Let Your Go” – Know Who Feeds You

Justin is famous for giving special attention to his fans. Whenever possible, his team organizes Meet and Greets before  shows and tries to surprise fans with free tickets as much as possible. When he came to Regina, we held a contest called “Does your kid rock?”, giving away some VIP passes to kids who stood out in the community. Justin was nice enough to take the time to meet those in attendance and even take a picture. Our contest winners, Alexis and Kassidy, sent me the picture below. Something they’ll remember forever.

Are you investing enough time with your fan base? Don’t spam ‘em. Spoil and surprise ‘em.

If you’re familiar with Jay Leno’s show, you’ll know about one of his most popular skits called Jaywalking. This is where Jay walks the streets of Los Angeles and finds everyday people to ask them some trivia. The whole point of the skit is to poke fun at people who don’t know the answer to simple questions like “What is the capital of Arizona?”.

Well, in the mid 90′s, Jay came across an unusual long-haired kid who claimed he was going to be a rockstar. His style and love of rock and roll seemed to have come a decade too late. At the time, the Billboard Charts were populated with TLC, Seal and Hootie and the Blowfish…a far cry from what we knew as rock and roll.

When asked what he did for a living, his response was simple, “drink a lot and make records”. The answer drew a quick smirk from Leno and a good laugh from the crowd. You could tell in Leno’s tone that he would never believe that the quirky kid who thought the Captain from Moby Dick was “Captain Dick” would be the musical guest on his show just a few years later. (sorry for the bad quality video, only one I could find)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Millions of record sold and 5 grammy nominations later, Kid Rock still has that swagger of confidence. He’s always known that he was going to be a rockstar, no matter how many people questioned him.

While I’m not of fan of over inflating the truth and making false claims, I do admire those who speak with bravado and walk like elephants.

It was a few years ago on St Patrick’s Day. The local evening news was on location at one of Regina’s best Irish pubs, O’Hanlans, to interview patrons about the special occassion. The place was packed, Guiness was on tap and the music was loud. Having to yell her questions to be heard amongst the crowd, the reporter leaned over to the pub’s owner, Niall O’Hanlon, and asked, “Pretty busy in here tonight, isn’t it?”. Niall simply took a sip from his pint and said, “Not really. Pretty typical Wednesday night”.

I’ve been a fan ever since.

Let’s say you have a brain injury. It’s so severe that the doctors say any hit to the head could cause some serious damage. So what do you do? You buy a bicycle helmet and wear it everywhere you go? I think you’re an idiot.

When’s the last time someone just walked up to you and whacked you on top of the head. Rarely, if at all. Ever try wearing a helmet? I guarantee you that if you wear one, somebody will bang you on the head today. Guar…an…teed.

So what does this have to do with real estate or marketing or whatever else I usually blog about?

Not much. It’s just a theory.

But, for entertainment’s sake, let’s try it as a metaphor.

When I started in real estate, I followed the typical path. Ugly headshots, typical business cards and boring website. I was doing what everyone else was doing. Why? Because it obviously works. Hundreds of REALTORS® have had very successful careers playing that role. I was trying to protect myself from failure by just following the plan. Being unremarkably normal was my bike helmet and I was sure it would just be a matter of time before I went brain dead.

So this is me, sans helmente. Leading my own little “Real Estate Revolution”, one late night blog and weird idea at a time.

Where would we be if we weren’t all a little different?

We wouldn’t have lawyers who tweet about ninjas and symphony marketing dudes that love punk and polka. We wouldn’t have the pleasure of reading about extra-marital affairs at Earls and sleeping pill induced Barbie shopping sprees.  Mortgage brokers wouldn’t wear kilts and very, very most of all, baby photographers wouldn’t grow long curly locks of hair and chase tornados. The world needs more weird.

See all you dorks, including @themarcdonald, @taroncochrane, @lisemerle, @kiltedbroker and @canadogreg at the Tweet-Up. Tuesday February 7 at Crave.

Please don’t touch my head.

When a new listing hit the market, the attention it would receive was something we had never seen before. It became so intense, that rather than considering offers as they were received, sellers were choosing to delay all offers until a set date. On that date, they would review all the offers for their home and accept the most attractive one. Some homes would receive over 10 sealed-bid offers, often selling for  20-50% over the asking price.

As a buyer, the market forced you to be strategic with your offer to purchase. Not only did you have to bid above asking price, but you also had to pay close attention to your requested possession date and the conditions of your purchase. A quick possession would mean a quicker payday for the seller, but an offer with fewer conditions meant it was more of a sure thing. An offer with no conditions was as good as cash. Often buyers would forfeit their right to conduct a home inspection on the property in order to make their offer more attractive.

Fast forward five years and we find ourselves once again in a market with a very low inventory of homes. We also have a steady flow of buyers and a rental vacancy rate of approximately 0.5% (only one unit out of every 200 rental units is vacant). In an office sales meeting this morning, more than 75% of my fellow agents said they have been in a multiple offer situation at least once so far in 2012.

So what does this mean for buyers in 2012? Work with your agent to view new listings as they hit the market and be prepared to make quick decisions. You may find also yourself in a multiple offer situation as they will likely happen on the better, well-priced properties on the market.  However, don’t make the same mistake some folks made back in 2007.

In the years since 2007, I have come across several similar situations, but this was the worst. In 2010, my clients, a young couple relocating to Regina for work, were in the market for a small family home on the west side of town. We finally found one and reached an agreement to purchase the home with an offer conditional to a home inspection. The owner had purchased the home in the craziness of 2007, having forfeited her right to a home inspection. We were shocked to hear that our inspector had determined the foundation walls required repair. Also, he discovered a grow-op in the attic of the home. Yes, a grow-op.

It appeared to be a small operation used simply for personal use, but it was still a concern. The current owner had lived in the home for three years and had never been up in the attic. Nor has she identified the issue during her purchase. However, this now became her burden. My clients walked away from the home and the seller was forced to rectify the situation before she could proceed to sell her home, costings her thousands.

—

May 21, 2009

I find the music industry to be very interesting and often I find stories that inspire the way I want to work with my clients and run my real estate business. While the two industries differ greatly, I see a lot of similarities in the two fields. I want to share with you a rock and roll story that has significantly influenced our approach at Rockstar Homes.

Forming in the early 1990′s, the Dave Matthews Band was a little different than other acts that populated the main stream of rock and roll. They were a band assembled not by their looks or stage presence, but simply for their talent and shared love of music. While other acts used mass marketing to promote their albums and t-shirts, the Dave Matthews Band believed there was a better way. They would create a fan base, one fan at a time, by creating relationships that were based firstly on the music and the interaction between the band and its fans. It wasn’t about selling records, but establishing a growing fan base that would follow them for life. The sale of tickets, albums and merchandise would eventually follow.

In fact, while bands like Metallica fought Napster and their fans for lost sales of online downloads, the Dave Matthews Band was giving away their music for free. Since the beginning, audience members were allowed to record live shows and encouraged to share the music with friends across the country. The result was a fan base that grew by referral, by fans suggesting to their friends to simply take a listen. Each time their music was passed along, a new life-long fan was created.

While you may never heard of them, the Dave Matthews Band has quietly sold over 31 million albums and sells out stadiums across the country, putting them in the Top 100 highest selling music acts of all time. I saw my first Dave Matthews Band concert in 2002 after a friend introduced me to their music and I’ve been a fan ever since.

At Rockstar Homes, we don’t use mass marketing, bus stop ads or telemarketing. We believe our time is better spent with our “fans”, establishing relationships through special events and by simply keeping in touch. We aim to surprise you, not spam you and to do business in a way that business comes last. While others boast the number of homes they’ve sold to strangers (“#1 in Regina Sales!”), we’re more proud of the good people we’ve met and the relationships we continue to build. I hope you see the same value in this approach as we do.

So while our business is growing fast, please know we will never be too busy for you or your friends. This is our “music”, feel free to pass it along!

Thanks for being a fan.

Something we never consider is the point of view of a buyer towards a  For Sale by Owner (FSBO) home.

Here’s some interesting points to ponder.

1. Buyers Start with a REALTOR®

Most buyers, especially first time buyers, begin their search on MLS® System. To view these homes, they must contact a real estate agent. This usually results in the buyer developing a relationship with an agent to help with their search. It’s free for a buyer to work with a REALTOR®, so it’s a no brainer for buyers to start here.

What does this mean for those home owners trying to sell their home privately? As these buyers search for a home with their REALTOR®, they begin by viewing homes listed on MLS® System. If the buyer is unable to find a home they like, they widen their search to other markets including For Sale by Owner homes. As a FSBO seller, your home becomes an after thought. It’s viewed last, if at all. Not only are you competing will all the homes currently listed on MLS, but also all the new listings that come out before the buyer makes it down the list to your home.

2. They Want Your Money

A buyer knows that you aren’t paying a sales commission when your home is listed privately. They are also trying to save every penny they can during this process. If you have priced your home to match the MLS® listed property down the street, the buyer believes you are overpriced.  They know that the amount that the MLS® seller will pocket will be sales price minus commissions. With your home, it will be the sales price. As you sell privately, expect lower offers from buyers. They want your money.

3. This Isn’t Serious

Often, buyers that shop For Sale by Owner believe this transaction is a little more casual with less rules than an MLS® listed home. Some buyers will hamper the process by ignoring deadlines and tying up your home with conditions they don’t take seriously. Some will even continue shopping up until they firm up the purchase of your home. Over the years, I’ve seen private sale buyers make offers before they’ve been pre-approved, make offers conditional on the sale of homes that aren’t ready to sell and even bounce deposit cheques. Having a REALTOR® on both sides helps you keep the transaction on track, educates the buyer and allows you to trust that everything is being done properly.

4. They Don’t Trust You (and neither does their bank)

Sometimes, private sellers are selling privately for a reason. They don’t want a professional helping the buyer as they view and purchase their home. Sometimes, these sellers are hiding defects with poor renovations or inflating facts of the home such as square footage and more. When viewing an MLS® listing property, a buyer knows that a REALTOR® has been through the home taking proper measurements, properly identifying the owners and disclosing known defects of the home. By the way, the majority of mortgage fraud and money laundering occurs during a private sale. It’s why many lenders are now refusing to lend on homes purchased privately. Even if you find a buyer, you may have difficulty firming up the deal. Given the difficulties with private sale transactions, most lawyers will also tell you they charge both the buyer and seller more to handle these transactions.

So after considering these points of view. Is selling privately the best way to reach a buyer for your home? Are you really saving as much as you thought you were?

This explains why it’s believed that at least 80% of FSBO homes are sold with the involvement of a REALTOR®. Many of these homes are eventually listed on the MLS® System or an agent represents the buyer in the transaction. If with a REALTOR® is likely where you’ll end up, maybe consider starting there. Buyers do.

While it took a lot of planning and cash, the result was fantastic. Our story received some media attention and I still get harassed by men who claim I set the bar too high.

I won’t bore you with the details, but it was a “7 day surprise” trip that took us to Toronto, Niagara Falls and New York City. We were lucky enough to attend Game 2 of the World Series, the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert and see all the sights along the way. We even had the opportunity to visit spots like Carlo’s Bakery, famous from televisions Cake Boss on TLC.

It would be 8pm sharp on October 31 that I would get down on one knee. I knew I would be nervous, so I’m glad I leaned on a traditional form of media to make it happen. I had been working with a local Regina media company to develop a cartoon video and had purchase some advertising space to display it. So as we walked through Time Square in New York City, I simply asked Rachel to look up where she saw this on the Jumbotron:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video spread like wild fire on facebook and we even received some media attention. We were also featured in Regina’s Fine Weddings Magazine.

So why is this worthy of a blog post and the time you took to read it? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just a reminder that no matter what question we are asking or who we are asking it to, whether it be an engagement proposal or a sales pitch, there’s always room for a little extra effort and creativity. They deserve it.

By the way, she said yes.

As we build our own brands, those that find the easiest path, piggy back on positive experiences we have had in the past. If you can have your brand ride the coat tails of a consumer’s positive experience, your product will share the same emotions. One of the best ways to do this is with music.

We’ve all seen the movie “Rocky”. The song “Eye of the Tiger” reminds us all of the training Rocky was going through to prepare for his big fight. Below is another one of my favourite ads. See how Starbucks has used this to their advantage, hoping you will think of them with you prepare to take on the day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With our company, Rockstar Homes, we try to find many ways to relate our company to the laid back, edgy emotion we believe most people have with the term “rockstar”. But even more, we try to tie our brand to personal experiences of our clients. Each member of our team has specific business cards that look like concert tickets, including a section, row and seat number. These numbers reflect a date in our lives that we rocked. Mine (Section 10, Row 31, Seat 9) is the day (Oct 31, 2009) that I proposed to my wife in on the JumboTron in Time Square, NYC. We ask all our clients to think of their “seat number”. If we can link our business to the best day of their life, how can that go wrong? Some even say it’s the day we helped them buy their home.

What can you tie your brand to?

—

Kelley Skar, REALTOR® with Sutton Realty Group out of Calgary shared a link via #eprosask to one of the best video tours I’ve ever seen during an e-PRO certification course.  This video was produced by an attendee who was sitting in class named Brin Werrett,  a young REALTOR® and team leader of Rockstar Homes with Royal LePage in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Here is the Video produced for his listing…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Brin recently took an expired listing with a client who had it listed with another agent for three months.  He had gathered some friends and contracted with a local company to produce a professional video tour of the property which cleverly showed the lifestyle of the homeowners.  What made this video different is that it showed how the owners lived in the house, entertained guests with cocktails, and served fresh sushi rather than talking explicitly about the features and amenities of the property.

The concept was brilliant.  In fact, the video posted to YouTube had 625 views in 2 weeks and still raking in the views as we speak.  Also, the property and Brins’ team Rock Star Homes received more exposure because the video was featured in the local Regina newspaper and news feature on the local television station as an out of the box marketing idea for selling homes.

Here is a video of the feature from TV

Click here to view the embedded video.

Think of how much was spent on the video and how much exposure Brin and his brand are getting now that media is promoting his idea through newspaper, TV, magazines and other media that traditional agents are paying for.  When others promote your ideas the cost is zero.

When we got to the video creation section of the e-PRO course and I played the video for the entire class so I could show the video to the rest of the class, Brin left because he was negotiating a contract on the house and returned later to find out we discussed his listing.

I talked to Brin about his brand Rockstar Homes and first thought he specializes in working with rock stars however that isn’t the case at all.

Brinn says, I treat my clients like rockstars by giving them the best service possible.  After closing they sign the wall in my office in the shape of a record.

On the way home I began to think about how I treat my clients.

Do I treat them like rock stars or is the focus more on me?

Does my message focus more on what my clients want and are asking for or is my message more about what I want them to do?

On the way to the next city I listened to the Audible book download, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, a classic and all time favorite written by Dale Carnegie.

The recurring theme of the book is making others more important than yourself and inspired me to rethink how I’ve communicated with clients online in the past.  It’s not that I don’t care about my clients’ success because I wholeheartedly do.  The questions I began to ask myself were more about how I demonstrate my sincere thoughts online and how they might interpret them on my website, Facebook profile, Tweets, and other social media tools.

1. I changed the “About Me” section on my blog to “About You”.
2. I reposted the about you content to Facebook profile, YouTube, SlideShare, and Linkedin
3. My speaker introduction was changed to focus more on the audience rather than brag about past accomplishments.
4. When I now make comments on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook it will be more about other people than talking about myself.

It isn’t so much what you think you post is right.  What matters most is how others feel when you share your thoughts online.  The reality is many will never say how they feel about your online behavior and it may then be too late to correct a bad first impression.

Things to think about…

How will you change the way you communicate your business profile online to make it more about others?

In what ways will you post comments in a way that talk more about others than about yourself?