There are a gazillion reasons and articles written on this topic of which I am sure you have read a few…

HOWEVER – this article is written from a REALTOR® perspective.  After ten years of real estate buying and selling here are a few things I appreciate about having a REALTOR® involved in the process:

1. Market and Demographic Knowledge: “is this a good deal?” or “what’s the demographic like in this neighborhood/condo complex?” If you are new to either the market or the city having a REALTOR® at your disposal to navigate the unknown waters of value and demographics is a HUGE benefit and saves time to – as they are able to direct you in the right direction. Demographic knowledge plays a big role when advising on an area/community/condo for downsizers – or for those looking to buy their first condo/home and want to make sure they are buying into the ‘right’ neighborhood/complex.

2. Representation: when the deal is signed that’s when a REALTOR®’s work begins. If they want to get paid, they better make sure that they not only get any conditions/subject to’s satisfied, but  also ensure that the buyer closes on possession day. When you sell on your own – who ‘takes care’ of your buyer to ensure that they close and on time or at all?? I would gladly pay a REALTOR® to ensure my investment gets sold and closes on possession day.

3. Qualifying Buyers: if I were selling my house – I would only want qualified buyers to walk through the door – otherwise it’s a waste of my time and prep time for the showing. REALTOR®s qualify their buyers ahead of time. SO the folks coming through your door are the ones that can actually AFFORD your property. REALTOR®s also have access to awesome Mortgage Brokers that aid in the process of qualifying clients. When you sell on your own – how do you know if your buyer can qualify or afford your home when signing up the papers…oooh this is a recipe for despair…see the tidbit below 🙁

4. As a BUYER’S agent they are free to use! So why wouldn’t you use a REALTOR® when buying a home – in addition to the above – its FREE…and I’ll take anything that’s FREE 🙂

5. Assurance that the deal will get done. REALTOR®s have the knowledge and tools to get the job done. They are also only paid for results. So I know they are motivated to get the job done. They are the ones getting their clients into the homes/condos and making that happen. When you sell on your own – who is working on your behalf to get the buyers in the door? We have 3000 REALTOR®s in town that are all hungry for a pay cheque. They all have access to sell your property. Wow – do I need to go on? That one is a biggie – for sellers anyway. When you FISBO it (for sale by owner) you loose the ability to access a 3000 REALTOR network. Now why would you want to do that?

One other tidbit …

Did you know that if your buyer removes conditions and gives you an additional deposit cheque that does not clear (NSF) – and subsequently leaves for Timbuktu – YOU are hooped! You will be unable to sell it until after said possession day. Yeesh…another GOOD reason to have a REALTOR® on your side AND the buyers side too!

Did you learn something new in this post? Insightful from a REALTOR®  perspective? I hope so 🙂

Find out more about our  fanTABulous bunch of REALTOR®’s

Learn more about how the KENNEDY ADVANTAGE can get the job done for you!

Additional “AGENT 101” Articles…

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles…

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

Jumping into the Market?

I was asked this question the other day via Twitter = thanks to Mike!

“what’s some good advice for a 25 yr old looking for his starter home!”

Here we go…

What to Buy: Duplex with rentable basement suite

Cost: $200,000 – $300,000

Plan to stay: 5yrs

Why: no condo fees, tenant pays your mortgage. It’s a flexible investment – because they are easy to buy and easy to sell. Tenants of duplexes tend to rent for longer periods – hence less turnover – less headache – or landlord ache 🙂

Build up enough capital in your home and when you are ready to buy your next place- simply rent out the top floor – use the income from the rental towards qualifying for your next place. This way you are building your investment portfolio along the way!

*Any investment is most beneficial if kept  for the long term. By starting off with an easy rentable, affordable property you stand the best chance of hanging on to it for the long haul.

Here’s the numbers for financing:

Purchase price: $250,000

5% down – mtg at 237,500

25 yr term, 3% rate = monthly mtg pmt = $889.15/month*

taxes = $150/month

Heat/Power = $150/month

Total = $1199.15

Rent: $1200**

* this does not take into account the CMHC fees – which could up your monthly payments by $50-$60

** this is the average rent for a decent condition and location 2bdrm unit. You may want to consider furnishing your unit – it will always garner a better rent.

Examples of such properties:

Duplexes in Edmonton

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles… 

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

Utilizing the Clients’ Furnishings 

Type of Home: townhome

Owner Occupied

Staging: in house client furnishings, decluttering

What we accomplished: this was for all intense purposes a standard stock townhome. Our client used to work in the furniture business – hence all the nice items we had to work with. We had GREAT natural light to work with – which is always a bonus 🙂

We wanted to feature the items in a way that brought out the character of the home: warm and very very charming. Arrangements in three’s and taking simple shots of the accessories – enabled us to showcase this homes DESIGNER potential.

Sometimes its the simplest of pictures that says so much about charm and elegance…

And yet others can just put a smile on your face….

all the while making THIS property that much more memorable in the mind and eyes of the buyer…this one is now SOLD.

At Kennedy Real Estate we spend more time producing your home for sale. Staging with  props and accessories combined with professional stylized photos creates a winning SOLD combination. Helping YOUR home to stay ahead of the pack and on track to a SOLD success.

Give Us a call today and get your home into production for a SOLD!

Additional “Edmonton Home Stager” Articles…

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles…

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

I just couldn’t resist posting…one for your smile file

Lights, Camera, Action: Our new Office Space and Sign! The Apple will be lighting up the intersection of 149st and 87ave avenue with its lime green hues and bright cheery disposition. Surely THE shiniest APPLE on the block 🙂

We are busy renovating the inside…it will be a killer design – complete with all LED pot lighting, windows in and out of every office, barn style rolling glass doors for the board room, fab conference/networking stations: including our funky coffee bar and ‘bunker’ ….all wrapped in a shagoliscious “Austin Powers” inspired decor (k – minus the shag carpet though 🙂 ) Here is a sneak peek:

Additional “AGENT 101” Articles…

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles…

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

Additional “AGENT 101” Articles…

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles…

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

I have told this story a number of times but I think it bares repeating because it encompasses the essence of any successful business relationship.

My Father has over the years given me some pretty useful advice. He ran a successful Law practice in his day, that thrived on repeat business: referrals. However, alot of these referrals he had never met before. As you can imagine a Lawyer – not unlike a Realtor – client relationship involves a two way trust understanding.

My Father would always start off the conversation with something like this:
“You don’t know me from Adam, and I don’t know you from Adam. You have to trust me because you have no other choice and I have to trust you because I have no other choice. As long as we understand that – we can move mountains together. If we don’t , we can’t put one foot in front of another.”

Trust is  fundamental in any relationship. Once you can establish that with your clients – and for your clients to understand that you require that of them too- there begins a successful journey.

I have often shared this story with my clients – yup – and they were referrals I had not met before…thanks Dad.

Additional “AGENT 101” Articles…

Additional “Edmonton Realtor: KENNEDY Real Estate” Articles…

Jennifer Kennedy
Broker | Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate
Your Edmonton REALTOR® | Edmonton Home Stager

Call us today…780-485-3010 and GET SOLD!
Area Specialists | Lifestyle Marketing

REALTORS® : Looking for a great Team environment to grow your business…see our Brokerage Model for info on how to make that happen!

You may be faced with a number of challenges when selling a home on your own. Granted some homes actually do sell on their own (for sale by owner). The problem is – the stats are against you…
1. When you are selling on your own – you are basically waiting for a buyer to call you directly. This would be the same chances that a Realtor has of ‘double ending’ a sale – which amounts to the same thing – he or she gets a call directly from a buyer. The stats for this happening on MLS listed properties is less than 5%. Meaning that 95% of all sales comes through another buyer agent. SO – basically you are waiting for the same thing – a buyer to call you directly…..
2. When it comes right down to it – there are some homes that are just destined to sell on the MLS system. This could simply be that the demographic attracted to this type of home – prefers to work with a REALTOR®, or they are just not comfortable dealing with the owner directly. Or for more expensive homes – buyers are alittle more resistant or hesitant dealing either without representation or the owner directly.
3. The other resounding reason is really quite obvious: there are around ~3000 hungry Edmonton area REALTOR®’s all motivated to bring buyers through the door. This is quite a herd of sales people working on your behalf. Once a REALTOR® posts a property on line – it gets put into the general MLS mix and is open to all 3000 REALTOR®’S to help sell it. When you are selling on your own – you do not have this force working on your behalf. And keep in mind even with that force behind you – sometimes it still takes a while to sell. I can’t imagine how much longer it would take to sell that same property privately.

KENNEDY Real Estate understands that everybody has different needs for selling and a variety of methods to sell their property. The above is by no means a comprehensive list – but probably the most compelling.

** Please Note: At KENNEDY Real Estate, we offer a competitive (full) Buyer’s agent commission. After all – if 95% of all sales are brought in by the Buyers Agent -we certainly like to thank them with competitive compensation.

Jennifer Kennedy

Broker/Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate

Need to get YOUR home sold…click here.

Did you  know about our Staging Services?

These are before and after pictures of a unit that needed a total overhaul after the tenants moved out…well some of their stuff anyway…

Yikes! Its hard to believe that some people live this way…hoarding their lives away. This unit was rented out to seemingly nice folks. But they had a secret problem: they liked to collect things…lots and lots of things. Sadly, none of which included a garbage bag or a hanger or a plate to help with the ‘management’ of the ‘collection’.

How do you prevent such destruction from spiraling out of control as a Landlord? Well among other things: regular or ‘seasonal’ inspections of the property – to check on the furnace, water leaks or to complete any seasonal maintenance work. These ‘check ups’ will help keep your renters in check and ‘collections’ at bay.

In addition, the 24hr required notice to enter will not give enough time for cigarette smoke smell to dissipate. This is potentially even worse than hoarding because cigarette smoke attaches to everything and goes into the attic – causing lots and lots of work for you to repair.

Landlord and Tenant mantra: ” I’ll be good to you – you (renter) be good to me and together we will live happily ever after.”

Watch for the next article in the series : How to Find and Interview for Good Tenants

Jennifer Kennedy

Broker/Owner

KENNEDY Real Estate

Want to learn more about investment properties or properties with hidden potential contact us today!

See more Before and Afters here