We are still the Purveyors of Information…..
The big real estate tech companies like to tell us that we are no longer the purveyors of information, but that our job is to organize and correlate that information to make it valuable to your clients. I have bad news: computers are infinitely better at organizing and correlating information than we are.
In the old days we held the keys to all the information about real estate and the consumers needed to hire us to get access to that information. This is no longer the case. Property listings and sold information is available to anyone as mandated by law.
Those days are gone but they have ushered in a desperate need for the specialized information and skills that a real estate agent can offer.
We supply the important information that isn’t available online. Information that helps our clients make better decisions about buying and selling real estate.
Here is a partial list of the information a professional real estate agent should have to help their clients to make better decisions and get better outcomes:
- Micro market information that is very current. What happened in the past week, past few days and hours. What is happening today?
- How much activity are similar properties listed for sale receiving?
- What was the spread of offering prices in a recent multiple offer situation for a similar property (I know, not allowed to disclose exact numbers)
- What is most important to the party on the other side of the negotiation
- How trustworthy and fair is the agent on the other side of the negotiation?
- What are the zoning bylaws and what is in the official plan for the area including secondary and tertiary plans?
- Is there any important information about the construction of a particular property or building?
- Nuances about the neighbourhood. How many trains travel along that corridor daily? Nightly?
- What parks do the homeless frequent?
- What is the crime rate for a certain district?
- Could future bylaw changes affect the value of their real estate?
- How are the schools – both in official reports and local knowledge?
This is just the tip of the Iceberg. What other information could you as a professional real estate agent supply to your buying and selling clients that would be valuable to them?