Thank you to those who came out to our session yesterday on YouTube basics. For those who could not make it here is what we covered off.

YouTube.com is an online video sharing network. It is the third-most popular social networking site and the second largest search engine on the internet today.

Why You Should Use It
Video is a fantastic marketing tool. Most consumers would prefer to watch a 2-minute clip rather than have to read through a page of text. If you use video as part of your marketing, you should use YouTube to host and disseminate your content. Even if you don’t use YouTube, you should seriously think about how you can leverage video as part of your marketing. This trend is really picking up steam.

YouTube has an estimated 490 million users per month worldwide who generate approximately 92 billion page views each month. YouTube accounts for 42% of the online video viewing market. On average, users visit the site 14 times per month and spend between 15 and 25 minutes on the site each visit. That is an extremely large and highly engaged market worth tapping into.

Google is also integrating video search results into their search results page with greater frequency. So not only are you getting exposure to all those people on YouTube but you are potentially getting exposure to people who are searching via Google.

Setting Up Your Account
There are two options to choose from when setting up your account: you can create an ordinary profile, which is great if you do not plan on posting your own content, or you can create a YouTube channel. Having your own branded channel is the preferred method if you are planning on posting videos on YouTube.

Your channel is the centralized place on YouTube where visitors can see your public videos, favourites, comments, subscribers, and profile information. It is worthwhile taking the time to customize your channel; this will allow you to add your branding, customize the colors to compliment your palette, and add relevant information and links.

How to Leverage It
To fully leverage your YouTube channel you really need to post your own content. Some good ideas for content include:

• Video tours of your listings
• Video testimonials from your clients
• Interviews with subject matter experts
• Video interviews with community influencers, such as:
• Head of the parent-teacher association
• School principal
• Small business owner
• Turning the camera on yourself to talk about your subject matter expertise. Instead of writing a blog posting or creating an article, take that content and deliver it to the camera
• Neighbourhood profiles

You should also become an active member of the YouTube community in order to raise the profile of your channel. This will help you position yourself higher in the search results. You can do this by connecting and engaging with other people and channels. Comment on and take the time to rate others’ videos. Often this will lead to reciprocal behaviour and the more views and engagement you can get on your channel and videos, the better you will position when people do searches that are related to the content of your videos.

Don’t be afraid to encourage your viewers to rate your videos and to push people from other social media to your YouTube channel to view your content. The higher your ratings and the more views you get, the more prominent a position you will have in the video search results. The higher in the search results you are, the more exposure you get.
Be sure to fill out the sidebar/description information for each video. This is where you can include keywords relating to the topic of the video and calls to action for viewers to check out additional content on your other digital properties, i.e. website, blog, Facebook page, etc. Also be sure to fill out the tags for your videos. It’s important to tag your video with relevant keywords as this will in part determine how your videos come up in the search results for those keywords.

How to Grow Your Network
You grow your network and get more exposure by getting prominent positioning in YouTube’s search results pages. You can also gain exposure by being active in the community and making comments on others’ videos. Often when a comment is posted, the owner of the video will click on the commenter’s profile. You should also leverage your other social networks and website/blog to drive traffic to your channel. When a new video is posted talk about it on your blog and through Twitter.

The rise of Netflix is an excellent case study that underscores the importance of identifying and capitalizing on fundamental shifts that are taking place in an industry.

How many of you have heard of Netflix? How many of you have heard of Blockbuster? At its peak blockbuster was a true titan in its industry. And today they are no more. Why is that? They chose to ignore the fundamental shift that was occurring in their industry. Consumers want to watch what they want, when they wanted it. Consumers do not want to have to put on their coats get in our car drive to the store and hope that the movie they want is still in stock. This trend is exactly what Netflix capitalized on and Blockbuster ignored until it was too late.

Blockbuster has no excuse. They were approached on multiple occasions by Netflix back in 2000 to buy them. Netflix laid everything on the table but Blockbuster being the titan they were decided to ignore this little start up. So Netflix stayed on task for the next 11 years and gave consumers what they wanted, instant gratification. And now they are a big player doing 2+ billion in revenue and Blockbuster has gone bankrupt.

The long and short of it is that Netflix recognized a shift was occurring in their industry and capitalized on it. We in the real estate industry are in a similar situation. We can see a shift is occurring in the way consumers communicate and we can either choose to capitalize on it like Netflix or ignore it like Blockbuster.

Sometimes I despair over the direction our business is taking at the behest of our government (i.e. Competition Bureau).

Posted listings are a case in point.

Don’t get me started on just how bad a thing they are for everyone.

OK. Latest fiasco.

This Seller thought he would save a buck by posting his listing onto MLS through a brokerage and not have to pay any listing fee. That should have been our first clue!

The incompetence of this sorry ‘listing’ brokerage was also staggering. Should have been clue number two! The listing didn’t even indicate the correct form for any co-op brokerage to present to the Seller for payment of commission. Never mind listing’s deficiencies of basic listing information. Way to help the selling process along, guys!

OK. We showed this non-listing listing and the next problem was that our clients liked it. Agent asked me how we get paid our commission. Directed him to present Form 202 to Seller for signature. He did.

Seller told our agent that there was another offer under consideration and we were in competition. Nice. Competition on a bloody posted listing!

Additionally, this vacuous Seller would not sign Form 202 (Agreement To Pay Commission) unless and until after the Seller had been presented with the offer. Give me a break.

What to do? We’re in competition; Buyer really wants the joint but Seller will not sign any commission agreement until having the offer firmly in hand.

Incidentally, we had a signed BRA with our Buyer agreeing to pay us our full commission. However, the offer that the client had signed already included the commission that the Buyer would be obligated to pay us through the BRA were his offer to be accepted. If we sent the offer to the Seller before the Seller signed Form 202, the Seller could accept our offer and circumvent the requirement to pay us any commission. The Buyer would then be responsible for paying our commission in addition to paying an amount for the house that the Buyer had anticipated already included all commissions. We couldn’t allow that to happen to our Buyer client.

The Buyer wanted the house. Our agent wanted the deal.

Had the Buyer not been so keen I might have suggested walking away from this Catch-22 situation.

What to do? (This is why I get paid the really big, big bucks!)

I suggested arriving at the Seller’s doorstep and letting them see the offer but not putting them in a position to sign the offer until they had first signed Form 202. Foiled again because Seller refused, demanding that offers be emailed and would not agree to any personal offer presentation.

OK, time for Plan B.

I wrote a simple ‘Agreement To Pay Commission’ clause and had the agent put this clause right into the offer and have the Buyer sign this revised offer. It is my derivation of a clause I learned about in Adorna Carroll’s Accredited Buyer Representation course (excellent, by the way).

Here it is:

Upon completion of this agreement the Seller agrees to pay 2 ½% of the purchase price of the real property, plus applicable HST, to the Buyer from the proceeds of the sale in order to settle the Buyer’s contractual agreement with his Buyer Agent, Sage Real Estate Ltd.

So, clause went into the offer and the offer was emailed directly to the Seller. If the Seller wanted to accept the offer he also had to accept my payment of commission clause. He couldn’t accept the deal without having to agree to pay us our well-earned commission.

They signed. Deal was done. We’re holding deposit.

Please feel free to utilize this clause if you run into a similar situation.

P.S. when the Seller told our agent there was another offer, it subsequently came to light that the ‘other offer’ was verbal. Rats. Duped by somebody not legally bound to follow Realtors’ Code Of Ethics.

Stupid Posted Listings.

Thank you to all the agents who came out to our Intermediate Twitter event. Outlined below are the notes from the session:

Sharing Photos

• If you want to share photos on Twitter and have the little photo button show up under your Tweet, the best tool to use is www.photobucket.com
  • To set up your account, go to http://www.photobucket.com/twitter and click on ‘Set Up An Account’
  • Link your Twitter account to your Photobucket account when prompted
  • Word of warning: don’t select ‘Automatically Upload’ your photos to Twitter. If you do select ‘Automatically Upload’ then all photos will get uploaded and the tweet will just be a link to the photo. You don’t have the chance to add a message to the tweet before it is sent out
• To send out a pic on Twitter you need to upload the photo to Photobucket, then go into your Photobucket ‘Album’, hover over the photo you want to Tweet out, click on ‘Share’ and then select ‘Twitter’, add your message where prompted, and click ‘Share Now!’
• This allows people to also view the picture while still in Twitter. They no longer have to click on a link and be taken outside of Twitter to a third-party site to view the photo.

Hashtags

• A hashtag is the number sign that you see used in front of a keyword phrase in Twitter – i.e. #TOrealestate
• Hashtags are used as a tool to organize content in Twitter. You will often find the hashtag used at events and conferences to help attendees organize themselves and make it easy to search for content that others are tweeting about the event.
• The hashtag is usually placed at the beginning or end of the tweet.
• To find all the tweets related to a specific hashtag, just go into the Search bar at the top of the Twitter interface and type #<searchterm>
  • This will pull up all of the tweets that were sent out using that hashtag and display them in reverse chronological order – i.e. newest tweets at the top
• There are a couple of websites that have attempted to be the go-to resource for defining hashtags. If you are trying to find out what a specific hashtag means, then you can try looking them up here:
  • http://twubs.com/
  • http://www.tagal.us/

Engagement

• Twitter is not just a content distribution channel. It is a very effective conversation medium.
• In order to get maximum value out of Twitter, you need to be actively engaging with other Twitter users. It is through this engagement that you develop and deepen relationships
• I highly encourage that you be the one to reach out first instead of just distributing content and hoping others will make the first move
  • Outlined below are some good ways to make that first move:

Retweeting

• When you see an interesting tweet that you think your followers would find of interest, you should retweet it. There are two ways to do this:
  • Type ‘RT @<username>: <copy and paste their tweet>’
  • Hover over the tweet in your stream and some options will appear in the top right corner. Click on ‘Retweet’
• This is a good way to not only get interesting content to your followers that you don’t have to write, but it is also a good way to be top of mind and get some brownie points with the person you are retweeting. Retweeting is a very big compliment in the Twitter world and when someone is retweeted they receive a notification that it has been done

Replies

• Replying to a tweet is another great way to engage because you are proactively reaching out to the person who sent the tweet that you are replying to
  • Think of this as the same as hitting reply on an email, but be aware that in this case, it’s public
• There are a couple of different ways to reply to someone:
  • Hover over the tweet in your stream and some options will appear in the top right corner. Click on ‘Reply’
  • Or type @username + message: This directs a tweet at another person, and causes your tweet to be saved under that user’s “@Mentions” tab. It will look like this: @bsage I love that module on Twitter. Thank you for being so awesome.

Direct Messages

• Twitter has a private messaging function where you can communicate privately with other Twitter users. This is like sending an email in that only the recipient will see it.
• To access your direct messages, click on the person icon in the top right corner. A drop-down menu should appear. Select ‘Direct Messages’. Here you will see the direct messages that have been sent to you, and you have the ability to send direct messages to others.

Search Function

• Twitter has incorporated into its main interface a very powerful search functionality that allows you to not only search for individuals on Twitter but also search for content.
• The content side of the search provides a great opportunity for Toronto real estate agents to use it as a prospecting tool
  • By using quotations you can search Twitter for tweets that include specific phrases such as “moving to Toronto”
  • By using strategic terms you can identify prospects based on their tweets
  • Once you have identified a potential lead, you can then click on their profile and review their other tweets to see if it might be a decent lead. Then engage with them by replying to one of their tweets. Be sure to be very soft in your approach as you don’t want to scare them off.

Customizing your backdrop

• It is possible to create and upload a custom backdrop for your Twitter profile
• This is a great idea as it allows you to add your personal branding to your Twitter profile and add additional information
• Because of the character limits in your Twitter bio, I recommend that you create a custom backdrop that includes the URLs to all of your other digital properties
• To upload the backdrop, you first need to have one created. Because of the dimension restrictions imposed by the Twitter elements it is highly recommended that you work with a graphic designer who is familiar with creating these sorts of things. If you are more of a do it yourselfer, then the following blog post outlines all of the dimensions quite well:
  • http://mashable.com/2010/10/06/new-twitter-background-customize/
• Once you have the backdrop created, you then want to click on the person icon in the top right bar and select settings from the drop down. Then in the left hand column select ‘Design’. Now click on ‘Browse’ to upload the file

Automatically post your tweets on your Facebook wall

• There is a feature in Twitter that will allow you to automatically post your tweets onto your Facebook wall.
• Depending on your social media strategy, this can be either a good thing to do, or not.
• To enable this feature, click on the person icon in the top right bar and select settings from the drop down. Then in the left hand column select ‘Profile’. Now scroll down and click on ‘Post your tweets to Facebook’. Then click ‘Save changes’

Email notifications

• Users can manage the notifications that get sent through to their email
• I would recommend that you make sure to have it set up so that anytime someone sends you a direct message, reply or @ mentioned or retweets you. You receive an email letting you know.
• Each of those actions or specific interactions with you and worthy of a response
• To manage your notifications click on the person icon in the top right bar and select settings from the drop down. Then in the left hand column click on ‘Notifications’. Now you can manage your email notifications

Upload email database to Twitter

• It is possible to link your email account to your Twitter account so you can see who from your contact database is on Twitter and then choose to follow them or not.
• This is a great thing to do when you are first getting into Twitter because it will give you an instant sense of how many people from you database are using Twitter.
• The only downside is you can’t just upload a .xls or .csv; you have to be using one of the four email clients that Twitter is set up with
• To do this you need to click on ‘Discover’ in the top bar. Then select ‘Who to follow’ from the left drop down. Then find the email client that you are using and click ‘Search Contacts’
• If you do not use one of these email clients you can still use this feature by setting up an account with gmail and then uploading your contact database into gmail and then linking it to Twitter. It is a bit of a process but will save you time in the long run.

In typical Facebook style, business pages have gone through a major overhaul which is going to have a dramatic impact on how you leverage them to build your business.

This overhaul includes both a new design as well as new features. Although we will be losing some valuable features, the ones that we are gaining will more than offset the losses.

Outlined below are the elements worth familiarizing yourself with along with some tips and tricks as to how you can take full advantage of the new Facebook business page layout.

Cover Photo

• Primary visual focus of the new layout
• Ideal dimensions are 851 pixels x 315 pixels
• Select an image that captures the essence of your business and brand
• Some good examples:
• www.facebook.com/SageRealEstate
• www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup
• www.facebook.com/burberry
• www.facebook.com/MagnoliaBakery
• www.facebook.com/Gatorade
• Be aware of Facebook’s rules
• “This space is not meant for promotions, coupons or advertisements. Your cover photo should not be primarily text-based or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.”
• It may not contain:
• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”. 
• Contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section.
• References to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features.

Profile Picture

• Use a logo or photo that people associate with your business
• Use an image that scales from 180 x 180 pixels to 32 x 32 pixels thumbnail image
• Be aware that the profile picture is what shows up as a thumbnail image in news feed stories
• With some tweaking and a graphic designer you can incorporate your profile picture into your cover photo
• See how they did it:
• www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup

Milestones/Highlighting/Pinning

• Add important milestonesYou are trying to tell the story of your brand through the milestones. So think back as to what has happened that has helped form your brand.Sage would do things like:
• Login as your business page and add important milestones for your business much the same way as you would add a status update – but with milestones, you get to choose where they appear in your timeline
• To maximize impact include an image. The ideal image dimensions are  843 x 403
• You are trying to tell the story of your brand through the milestones. So think back as to what has happened that has helped form your brand.
• We would do things like:
• When we were founded
• Talk about major PR wins – i.e. first brokerage in Canada to use QR codes…
• Recognition from Apple and subsequent Apple event
• First year anniversary
• Hiring our 80^th agent
• Renovating office to accommodate our growth
• Highlighting content
• You can highlight important news stories by clicking on the star icon in the top right corner. This will make that story span the full width of the timeline.
• To maximize impact include an image. The ideal image dimensions are 843 x 403
• Great usage:
• www.facebook.com/burberry
• Pinning
• You can now anchor certain important news stories to the top of your page for a week at a time. This is referred to as “pinning.”
• You can only pin news stories posted by the page not other users
• To pin a story, click on the pencil icon and select “Pin to Top”

Private Messages

• It is now possible for regular users to send private messages to business pages
• Be sure to pay attention and respond to any messages you are sent
• Make sure the “Message” button is visible:

1. Visit the Admin Panel
2. Select “Manage”
3. Select “Manage Permissions” and then
4. Check off “Show Message Button”

More Detailed Analytics

• Facebook has made some really valuable information available through the page analytics
• You can now see what individual posts are most popular and how users interacted with them
• It is now possible to see detailed demographics of those who liked the page
•  This comes in handy when targeting ads in Facebook
• You can also see the source of your likes
• This helps you target your future marketing efforts
• You can also analyze the reach of your business page in granular detail including which posts have had the widest reach
• This helps you plan future posts. You want to post more of what has been the most popular
• About Section
• Be sure to carefully fill out the “About” section
• If you want your website to show up, remove your phone number
• See:
• www.facebook.com/SageRealEstate
• Include your web URL at the end of the description along with http:// if you want it to be a hyperlink
• Play with it until you get the info showing up the way you like it
• If you don’t include a physical address then you get to display 170 characters
• See:
• www.facebook.com/kristihinespage

Apps

• You can now have 12 apps
• Four of these apps will be featured at the top but one has to be photos, so really only select three
• To switch which ones show up in the top row:
• Click the arrow on the far right so all apps are visible
• Hover over the app you want moved to the top row
• Click on the pencil
• Select the app you want to swap it with
• It is also possible to change the icons and the names of the apps. To do this:
• Hover over the app you want changed
• Click on the pencil
• Select “Edit Settings”
• Now change the name and upload the custom image you want
• Custom tab image 111 x 74 pixels
• See:
• http://www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup

Build Audience Dropdown

• There are some great ways to build your audience
• You can upload your email database and send out invites as your business page
• You can create an ad and target it to the demographics that you know are interested in your business page
• Sponsored stories are a great way to tap into the network of the people that already like your page

Friend Activity

• Facebook has made it easy for people who like your page to see how their friends have been engaging with your business page

Downsides

• The biggest loss is the default landing tabs
• Previously you could create a beautiful engaging welcome page that encourages users to like your page and set it so that is the default page a new visitor sees
• This is no longer the case: everyone now lands on your main timeline
• The only way to direct someone to a particular tab on your Facebook page would be to give them the direct URL for that tab.

Content Is King

• To leverage your business page to build your business, you need to post interesting and engaging information
• Should be an information resource
• Reinforce your brand
• Provide valuable, bite-sized content. Value is the key
• Educate and inform – don’t advertise
• Demonstrate expertise
• Give people a reason to say thank you
• Should be an extension of your blog
• Focus on the same topics and if possible name it the same
• Go and engage with other business pages. Don’t just post content and hope that they will engage with you
• Tips when writing status updates
• Keep it short
• Posts 80 characters or less have 27% higher engagement
• Post outside of the 10am – 4pm time slot
• Approximately 60% of brand posts are published between 10am – 4pm
• Those posted outside of business hours had 20% higher engagement
• End your posts with a question to solicit interaction

Dimensions Cheat sheet

1. Cover photo: 851 by 315;
2. Profile picture: 180 by 180;
3. Thumbnail: 32 by 32;
4. App image: 111 by 74;
5. Images within wall posts: 404 by 404; and
6. Highlighted and milestone images: 843 by 403.

In typical Facebook style, business pages are going through a major overhaul which is going to have a dramatic impact on how you leverage them to build your business.

Unlike some of its past changes, Facebook is not giving business page owners a choice in the matter. As of March 30, 2012, if you have not already switched your business page over to the new Timeline format, it will be done automatically for you.

This overhaul includes both a new design as well as new features. Although we will be losing some valuable features, the ones that we are gaining will more than offset the losses.

On April 11, 2012 from 1:30-2:30, we will be hosting a training event during which we will go through in detail the changes that you should be aware of and the different ways you can leverage them to maximize your Facebook business page.

REGISTRATION: Register Here ( http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3205621099)

LOCATION: Sage Real Estate Office, 1820 Bayview Ave

WHEN: Wed, April 11, 2012, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, coffee and muffins will be served.

DRESS: Relaxed

PARKING: Lots of free parking at the back of the building

COST: Just bring an attitude of openness, sharing and collaboration.

Okay, can we talk?

Some agents out there just deserve a bloody good smack.

I have another story to tell you.

One of our agents has been working with particular Buyers for several months now. They lost out on several multiple offer bids and were feeling used, disappointed, disillusioned, frustrated, angry…. You get the picture.

But boy, were they ever educated.

They had this home buying process down pat. They were well prepared, having all their ducks in a row. They were psyched and ready to launch at first sound of a starter’s pistol, just as soon as the right house came along.

And one did. Offers were being held off with a presentation date set several days thence. On that date they were the only Buyers to come to the table. Halleluiah!

Purchasers were encouraged. They submitted their offer and it was a dandy. It was over asking and it was firm. Their offer had a substantial deposit. The deposit cheque was certified. Their completion date was the date requested on the listing. Everything, every single term of their offer, complied 100% with the listing. Certainly it would be accepted.

The offer was presented but, lo and behold, the Seller wanted more money. In fact, the Seller wanted much more money. The Listing Agent told our Agent that the Seller wanted some $50,000 over the asking price. Our offer was ‘only’ a couple of thousand over asking. Incidentally, the Seller had ‘directed’ that only the listing agent present all offers. Convenient.

There was no deal. Nor, after that, did the Sellers increase their asking price. They did, however, set another date for offer presentations and the agent re-ran the listing.

Our Buyer came to that offer table a second time. They increased their offer by $5,000. For the second time, they were the only offer. Again, an over asking price, firm offer with certified deposit and fulfilling all Seller terms (possession, extras, etc.). Sellers still wanted more money and again refused our offer.

The buyers were furious.

They went to their lawyer.

Their lawyer said that the Seller could not be compelled to sell at any time, even if their offer did fulfill all requested terms and conditions. However, their lawyer did say that Sage brokerage was in a position to sue the Seller for commission. Sage had, in good faith, accepted the Seller’s offering of their property for sale and had presented an offer in total compliance with all wishes indicated in the listing. Sage had done its job and would therefore, legally be entitled to commission.

The lawyer also said that the listing agent is liable to a RECO charge for false advertising. An argument could be made that the listing agent allegedly did not know what the Seller would accept when she took the listing in the first place but her act of setting a second offer date, knowing the Seller wanted some $50k over its asking, and not amending the asking price to that price made her totally liable to a false advertising claim. Interesting.

Furthermore, the Buyer has connections with the media and after reviewing the matter with their reporter friend, the Buyers are now being pressed for an interview. Can’t wait for that.

I heard on the radio this morning about a bungalow in Willowdale that sold for some $400,000 over asking. The agent being asked to comment opined that listing a property so far beneath its fair market value could only have been a strategy recommended to torque up the property’s final selling price. Sounds so ill advised to me.

These situations portray us all in a bad light. We have bad enough P.R. going on about us these days. Do we really need to add fuel to the flame? Why not list a property at its exact estimated fair market value? Do you honestly think that listing it $400k under value will generate more money for the Seller than listing it at true market value? Whose interests are being served here? Certainly not those of sincere Buyers capable of offering in the asking price range.

Forget the Ides of March, beware the risks of establishing asking prices significantly below a property’s fair market value or what we know the Seller is willing to accept: Lawsuits, RECO complaints, lawsuits, enflaming Buyer suspicion, lawsuits, staining of reputation and not the least of which, no deal. Did I say lawsuits?

I just want to give that agent that bloody good smack.

Then I can get back to dealing with more productive issues.

Can we talk? There is one aspect of this business that sits very uncomfortably with yours truly.  I would really appreciate your comments, thoughts, suggestions and guidance.

This weekend I received the following message from one of my agents:

“Sorry to bother you on Sun. Larry!

I have a offer on XXXXX and now the list agent has her own offer that died 2 weeks ago but came back as well.

Since we both have to put in a 3 day irrev. (one of the principals is out of town), I am kind of worried that this agent will have the upper hand on me.  How can I ensure that there is no hanky panky ie she sees my offer today and then tells her own client to go in just enough higher to beat me tomorrow.

What’s the best way to handle?

I did ask her if she is cutting her comm on her offer and she says definitely NO but I don’t really think her trustworthy.

Any  advice??”

You know, I receive telephone calls or versions of emails similar to above from my agents very, very frequently.

How can an outside agent compete on a level playing field when there are competing bids on a property and the listing agent has his/her own offer?

Really!

We are far from perfect here at Sage but we are trying to instil our philosophy across the board to do what is right for the consumer.  We also don’t want to be walked all over in the process.

I understand well the incredible opportunities our business presents to hard-working salespeople; however, I am also anything but naïve as to the seamy underbelly of our business.  The temptations our system presents to any agent who can often much more than double their paycheque on the typical double-ended deal by slyly feeding the magic number to their Buyer client or by agreeing to retroactively reduce commission to either or both clients after the double-ended deal is done and the listing agent got both ends. Another ploy might be to feed your double-ended Buyer client to a colleague and text the number that will take it to your colleague, at just the right time.  I think I have seen them all but deep down I am sure there is a trick or two still to surface that I haven’t previously endured.  Sometimes, I am ashamed.

Time to clean some of this up?

What about other multiple offer strategies we’re seeing being utilized?

Sellers are typically the main winners in the multiple offer game. Sometimes they even win big, big time.

What do you think of the practice of listing a property well beneath its market value to not encourage not only multiples, but rafts and rafts of multiples?  Does the Seller really fare better than if the property had been listed around its fair market value, not one hundred thousand dollars below that amount? How bitter is the taste left in the mouths of the fourteen unsuccessful bidders on a property that recently sold in our market for almost $150,000 over a very low asking price. Do the unsuccessful bidders resent their offers really only being used to boost the final selling price up even higher.  I wonder what these losing potential Buyers think of our ‘professionalism’.   Would the final price not have been comparable had the initial asking been more in line with the property’s fair market value?  And you know, it is the Buyers’ money that really ultimately ends up paying all of our commissions.

How fair does our current system place the winning bidder when the number two offer is tens of thousands of dollars beneath that winning bid? (“The offers were close” whistles a duplicitous listing agent when queried by the winning agent as to what the next bid was.)

Any suggestions on what would be a fairer way to handle multiple offers?

Has anyone experienced better ways of handling multiple offers in other jurisdictions that they would like to share?

Or am I just out in left field here?

I will post responses and maintain confidentiality if requested.

You know,  the  greatest pleasure I derive from writing these tips, such as they are, comes from the ensuing reader comments that float their way back to me.

Comments generally make me think, reconsider and even, occasionally, feel validated.  They keep me in line.

I have received numerous generous comments about our willingness to share the nuggets of information that we have been able to mine along the way.

As I often find that the right direction for my path gets illuminated by others, I will carry on sharing whatever plums happen to come my way.

I had many favourable comments about last week’s Tip Number 28 regarding a strategy for winning in multiple offers situations and received requests for more hints to help win the day.

As every hot central listing seems to be geared towards initiating a bidding war, these requests for additional hints seem very timely indeed.

So, here we go.

If you want your offer to be the one to secure that Seller’s autograph of approval, it must score high in each of the following categories:

1. The Overall Package:  It helps greatly if the Seller wants to sell to your Buyers. To want to sell to your Buyers, Sellers must feel good about you and your Buyers.  Act professionally (that includes your attire); have offers, clauses and paperwork there, legible and correctly completed; and try to have orchestrated an opportunity for the Sellers to have at least met your Buyers. Do what you can to make every aspect of your presentation impressive.
2. Prove value to your Buyers. Show them what comparable houses are currently selling for. Remind them. Educate them. Encourage them.
3. Don’t tell Buyers: “It will never go for $X.” because it just may well. If you have indicated to your Buyers a figure beyond which you think the property will not sell, the Buyers will not go beyond that cap because, after all, you are the professional.  Don’t forget that a property is worth what the top Buyer is willing to pay.  New benchmarks seem to be set almost daily. Avoid the trap of telling a Buyer that a property is not worth a certain amount.
4. Price.  Get the highest price you can from your Buyers, in Round One.  You are not guaranteed a second kick at the can.  Make the first one count.  Tell your Buyers that you need their best price, right from the beginning. Ask them:  “At what price will you not regret losing the house because that price is higher than it is worth to you or higher than you are willing to go?”  Then ask them to submit an offering price as close to that figure as they will possibly consider going.
5. Deposit. The higher, the better.  ‘Nuff said there.
6. Certify the deposit cheque?  Yes, it adds credibility.
7. Flexible possession.  If possible, give the Seller the option to advance/delay completion date.
8. Few conditions, if any. Read tip Number 16
9. Prove your Buyer’s capacity to close.  Use pre-approval mortgage documentation, letter from bank?
10. Inclusions.  Win the war, not the battle.  Don’t ask for anything to be included that is not indicated in the listing.  I have seen deals not come together because of the Buyer’s perceived unreasonableness indicated through their inclusion of a treasured dining room chandelier! It is your job to keep the emotionality and the transaction negotiations separate.
11. Have your Buyer write a note, provide a business card, give you a photo to present to the Seller.  Every little action helps.
12. Keep your Buyer available during offer presentation.  We had one deal lost not too long ago because our Buyer was half an hour away, at home with the kids having refused to hire a baby sitter. The winning Buyer was in his agent’s car, outside the house during the presentations and quickly submitted what the Sellers had indicated they wanted.  Don’t lose out because you’re stuck in traffic.
13. Insist that the listing agent outline the multiple offer process at the outset and hold them accountable for any changes to that programme.

It is a son of a gun to lose when in multiple offers — so stressful on both the unsuccessful agents and Buyers.   It’s a much easier pill for everyone to swallow if the process has been fair and your Buyers didn’t get the house because someone else was legitimately willing to pay more.

Note to some listing agents: is your reputation worth the few extra bucks to unethically orchestrate a double-ended multiple offer deal in your favour?  What goes around, comes around.  Play fair as agents tend to have very, very long memories.

Good luck putting together a winning package for you and your clients.

One final word of advice: just ignore absolutely everything I said above if one of the agents you are in competition with in your next multiple offer scenario is an agent from our office!!

Thank you to everyone that came out and made this event such a success. As promised here is the presentation from the actual event.

To make things easy here are the talking notes from the presentation:

Why?

iPhone = Productivity Monster & Makes You an Instant Expert

Why Not?

‘Hard to type on’ is just a myth

No BBM…how many people do you actually BBM with? Texting and iMessage accomplish just the same…

Flow of the presentation

General features and usage
When working with Buyers
When working with Sellers
Cool apps
How to integrate into PC world

General features and usage as it relates to real estate 

• Safari; Native web browser; faster and easier to use than the competition’s browsers.
• Links phone numbers and addresses

• Native Camera; Newest version has a 8 megapixel camera with zoom and an HD video camera
• Get those on-the-spot client testimonials
• Take ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots of staging for use in future presentations.
• Get a small tripod to ensure top quality photos
• Phone
• Facetime: quick and easy video conferencing
• Click on numbers and it dials
• Email
• Great search function
• Group email threads

• iCloud
• Input once and have it everywhere
  • Calendar, contacts, photos, apps, and even your music.

• Google Maps
• No need to keep that giant Perly’s taking up all that space in your glove box

• Hot Spot
• Use your iPhone to create a personal hot spot that you can then access to get other devices online.

If you work with Buyers…

• Dropbox
• Lets you access all folders from anywhere
• Share folders with clients
• Create a folder, name it “John and Jane Doe’s Home Hunt, Evan Sage”
  • Create sub-folders
    • Today’s showings
    • Properties shown
    • Documents, failed offers, etc…
    • Share it with them

• REALTOR.CA app
• For now this is the best way to find MLS info while on the go

• Evernote app
• The ultimate note taking app
• Great tool to keep notes regarding listings that they see
• Set up the Notebook with them: “John and Jane Doe’s Home Hunt, Evan Sage”
  • Encourage them to make their notes right on the app
  • Share market info or articles with them
  • See it online, highlight, right click and save to Evernote and then they have it…

• iMovie app
• Edit video and upload to youtube
• Video testimonial

• Keynote app
• Incredible presentation software
• Just jack into your clients TV

• Wiki Hood
• Be an instant neighbourhood expert

• 6 in 1 Real Estate Calculator (Canada)
•  Answer all those financial questions on the spot.

If you work with Sellers…

• Dropbox
• Lets you access all folders from anywhere
• Share folders with clients
• Create a folder name it “173 Heath St E, Evan Sage”
  • Create sub-folders
    • Documents listing agreement, mls info sheets, FINTRAC, etc…
    • Marketing digital copies of all the pictures, PDFs of the floor plans, feature sheets, pre-inspection, etc…
    • Analytic Reports so that they know the activity of the website
    •  Invoices so they can see the bills you are paying for the marketing

• Evernote
• The ultimate note taking app
• Create a dedicated Notebook named “173 Heath St E, Evan Sage” and share it with the clients
• Set up and go through to do list with the client
• Editing the feature sheets
• Make notes on your PC before a listing presentation for quick reference

• iBook
• Great for displaying PDFs.
• Like our interactive PDF listing presentation
• Carry the adapter in your bag and you can plug it in to a potential client’s television through their HDMI cables.

• Magic Plans
• Watch out Plan It!
• Create a full floor plan by standing in the middle of a room with youR iPhone

• iMovie
• Shoot your video testimonial, property tour
• Edit and upload to YouTube right from your iPhone

Cool apps

• Constant Contact
• Manage contacts
• Send mass emails
• Review analytics

• WordPress
• Blog right from your iPhone

• Dragon Dictation
• Hit the button and dictate a note, email or text message
• Helps to keep your eyes on the road.

• Facebook
• At this point we can sort of let it speak for itself

• Yelp
•  Be the one in the know
• Make qualified suggestions and don’t waste time eating at places that just “looked” good.

• Abbyy text grabber
• Allows you to photograph text and then copy, edit and paste it into documents.

• Slydial
• Allows you to call peoples voicemail without their phone ringing and leave them a message

• Family Map
• Allows you to keep an eye on the kids
•  I don’t think you want to set this one up with your clients though…

• Houzz
• Great for design ideas organised room by room.

• Big 5 Bank Apps
• Log in to your own secure account and take care of your online banking.