Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ten Things You Need To Know Before Hiring Your Brantford Real Estate Agent!

When it comes to selling your Brantford home, having a real estate agent can either cost or save you thousands of dollars, depending on the quality of the person you hire. When you put your home up for sale on the Brantford real estate market, it’s important that you hire a professional that you can trust. You want to make sure that your Brantford real estate agent is devoting time to marketing your home, looking out for your best interest and using their experience to help you make the best decision possible.

When hiring a Brantford or Brant County real estate professional, it’s important to know exactly which questions to ask. You need to have the right information before you enter a binding contract with your real estate agent. This will help you avoid stressful situations or costly errors in your Brantford, ON home sale. As strange as it might feel to ask a potential real estate agent a lot of questions, you need to remember that the right professional will be able to answer them all with ease.

The first step is to know which questions you should ask your potential Brantford REALTOR. These ten questions should give you all the information that you need to know:

Why should I list my home with you? There are many Brantford real estate agents out there with similar marketing tactics and cookie cutter responses to this question. You want to keep your eye out for the REALTOR with the most creative, outside-the-box and innovative marketing strategy. If their method isn’t current, then they’re probably not the right real estate agent for you.

What is your company’s track record? It’s important to get some background on how many homes your potential agent has sold in the past few years. Chances are if they have a higher volume of sales, then they have the resources to market your listing effectively and quickly. While this shouldn’t be your deciding factor, it is definitely something you should consider when you hire an agent.

How do you plan on marketing my home?
If your agent doesn’t have a unique plan for advertising your listing, chances are you‘ll be fighting for space with their other listings or other listings in their brokerage. Make sure that you know what the plan is for your listing marketing efforts ahead of time so you can ensure your home will get the attention it deserves.

What homes have you sold in the area?
You want to make sure that your agent knows your community. If they haven’t sold a home in your area, then they don’t know your neighborhood well enough. This is important because you’d ideally like your agent to know what other homes in your area have sold for. Make sure your real estate professional is familiar enough with your area that they can give you a good idea of what to expect from the transaction.

Does your broker control your advertising? You want your Brantford real estate agent to have primary control over your listing’s marketing efforts. If the broker controls ads, then your home will be competing for attention with other listings in the brokerage. If your agent controls your home’s marketing, then they can make sure it gets the attention it needs.

When you sell a listing, how close is the asking price to the selling price? You want to make sure you get the best possible value for your home, so if the agent in question is consistently selling homes for well below the asking price, then most likely there is a problem. You want to make sure that the numbers are close enough together that you’ll be getting the most out of your Brantford home sale.

How many buyers are you currently working with?
The more buyers your agent works with, the more likely it is that your home will sell quickly. You want your Brantford real estate agent to have access to interested buyers so that he or she can sell your home to them.

Do you have a reference list of clients I can contact? The best way to find out everything about the agent you’re interested in working with is to ask his or her past clients what they thought of their Brantford or Brant County real estate experience. It’s a way to do your research, find out the pros and cons of each agent you interview and make sure you found the professional who is the right fit for your needs.

Will I be able to get out of this, if need be? Nobody likes to bring this up, but things happen where you may not be 100% satisfied with the service you’re getting from a particular agent. When this happens, you want to make sure that you are able to get out of the contract and that your best interest will be served in that instance. This is part of knowing what you’re getting yourself into in this real estate transaction, so don’t be afraid to make sure you’ll be protected!

Asking these ten questions will help insure that you have found the right Brantford real estate agent to guide you through the ups and downs of selling your Brantford or Brant County home. If you have any questions about what to look for in an agent, don’t hesitate to contact me! Whether you choose to use my services or not, I’d love to help you start your home sale in any way I can. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage
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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Canadian Home Prices are a Bright Spot in the Economy

When you turn on the news in your Brantford or Brant County home, chances are you hear something about how the global economy is in a state of turmoil. The real estate markets of several countries are struggling at the moment, and it’s hard to remain optimistic when the news is so consistently negative. It can definitely put a damper on your day.

For Canada, however, this isn’t the case. In Brantford, Brant County, and elsewhere in Canada, home prices were up in September, showing signs of a healthy and thriving real estate market. It seems that the Brantford real estate market is a bright spot in the global economy along with many other Canadian markets.

According to Canadian Real Estate Magazine, the average price in September reached $352,600. While this is below some of the record highs in median home prices this year, it’s also a gain over last years’ home prices at this time. Nationally, sales activity was up 2.7% in September as compared to August, and it was up 11% compared to a year ago. The Brantford and Brant County real estate markets remained stable, with an increase in inventory and a 13% increase from August 2010 sales. Overall, the local real estate market, while remaining stable, is showing healthy activity, which is a sign that now is a great time to buy or sell a home in the Brantford or Brant County areas.

Despite tighter lending restrictions, economic uncertainty and a strong increase in investor and first-time homebuyer activity, one factor allowed the national real estate market to stay healthy, and that was low mortgage rates. In contrast to what is happening elsewhere in the world, the tighter lending restrictions seem to be working for Canada and balancing well with lower mortgage rates. While the majority of the international headlines seem to be full of mixed news about the global economy, the Canadian real estate market is a bright spot, with consistently strong sales and price growth over the past several months.

Many industry experts and analysts suspect that the Canadian real estate market will remain steady through the next year, as the push and pull motion between low mortgage rates and other economic factors continues. Regardless, there is one thing that you should take away from these stats: now is a great time to make a move in the Brantford or Brant County real estate markets!

Whether you’re interested in investing in a Brantford foreclosure property, wish to find your dream home in Brant County, or want to put your Brantford home on the market, the numbers are suggesting that now would be the time to act. In order to have a successful and seamless real estate transaction, you need to make sure you consult the right Brantford real estate agent.

My many years of experience as a Brantford and Brant County real estate agent will insure that you get the right guidance and advice during your real estate transaction. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me! Whether you’re interested in investing in a foreclosure property or buying or selling a Brantford home, I’m here to help you along the way to success. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage
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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Welcome to the Brantford-Brant County Home Information Blog!

As your Brantford and Brant County real estate agent, I make it my responsibility to be the “go-to” resource for all foreclosed home information, buyer and seller tips, and local market statistics. I’d like to be seen as the premier resource for those looking to enter into a transaction in the Brantford and Brant County real estate markets. I, along with the rest of the agents at RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage, believe that educating the communities in Brantford and Brant County is a large part of providing superior customer service in any real estate transaction. My years of experience and expertise in the Brantford and Brant County real estate markets will help guide you along the path to selling or buying a home in the area. One of the ways that I continue to help my community is by keeping the lines of communication open with every one of my clients, which is where this blog comes into play.

I find that if you’re honest and open with your Brantford real estate agent from the beginning of your transaction, then you will get what you want out of it. I want to know exactly what you want out of your Brantford or Brant County real estate transaction. It’s always good to get an idea of what someone expects out of their Brantford home sale or Brant County home search before they jump in to the process. That way, I can answer any of your pertinent questions and help you manage your expectations so that you get the best deal possible. While I pride myself on listening to my clients’ needs and gathering their input, I also make it a priority to be honest with them by educating them on the ins and outs of the Brantford and Brant County real estate markets and share with them the different ways to go about their Brantford real estate transaction.

Every week, I’ll be providing you with the latest buyer and seller tips, updates about the Brantford and Brant County real estate markets and latest national real estate news. This informative and educational approach for my blog will give you the tools you need to prepare you for your Brant County real estate transaction, and it will insure that you’re well-informed before you dive in to any homebuyer or seller process!

I would love to be your “go-to” real estate resource for the Brantford and Brant County communities! My years of experience in living and working as a Brant County real estate agent have made me an expert in both the local real estate market and the community. My expertise could be one of your greatest assets during your Brantford or Brant County real estate transaction! Whether you’re relocating to the Brantford area, are looking to sell your Brant County home, or need more information about Brantford homes on the market, my goal is to be your “go-to” resource for anything related to local real estate.

I look forward to providing you with these weekly updates and tips, and I hope that you keep checking back to learn a little bit more about the Brantford and Brant County real estate markets! Feel free to contact me at any time with questions, concerns or advice that you might need. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage
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