Yves Doyle, affiliated real estate agent from La Capitale du Mont-Royal

The small world of real estate
Volume 2, Issue 4 April 2010

Internet and real estate: friends or foes?
How many real estate websites are there in Canada? No less than 400! According to an article on canoe.ca, 85% of people use the Internet to buy or sell their house. The social networking sites have also begun to transform the picture. Indeed there have been cases of people selling their property in just a few days after having sent a message to their Facebook and Twitter contacts. What exactly is the role of the Internet in the resell business? According to Yves, who has been following the trend over the last 10 years and who quickly realized that a website can make all the difference in the world, the Internet is a definite must. That said, one must not think that “tweets” will erase real estate agents from the map. Of course, it is possible to get a quick sell — without the help of an agent but with the contribution of real estate websites — for one’s lovely-two-bedroom-condo-on-the-Plateau-at-the-market-price. But will it really be the best price the owner could have gotten? We will never know because the property was not shown on the actual market. When the situation is a tad more complex, such as an undivided apartment, a plex located out of the mainstream or a property sold without legal warranty of quality, the owner will have to contact a real estate professional if he really intends to sell his property within a reasonable time frame. Yes, the future of real estate transactions depends on the Internet and the use of social networking sites but no, real estate agents are not on the endangered species list…!

Yves’s website in numbers
According to Google Analytics data for www.yvesdoyle.com from February 5 to March 7, 2010, there were 890 visits (including 668 absolute unique visitors). There was a traffic peak on February 8 and March 1st, when the monthly newsletter was put online. Visitors came from 5 countries, as follows: Canada (872), France (8), United States (6), Australia (3) and Haiti (1). On average, each visitor looked at 4.75 pages/visit and spent 2,36 minutes on the site. Finally, 65.51% of traffic was made up of new visitors. Keep reading and we’ll give you more stats at the end of 2010.


2009 Performance Gala
Just a few words to underline Yves’s fine performance as a solo real estate agent (remember he worked only part of 2009 as a solo agent): he was ranked 64th of the top 100 solo real estate agents of La Capitale in the province of Québec!


La Capitale du Mont-Royal
CHARTERED REAL ESTATE BROKER
1152, ave du Mont-Royal est
Montréal (Québec)
H2J 1X8


Office: 514-597-2121
Fax: 514-597-0712
Cell: 514-812-7582
ydoyle@lacapitalevendu.com
www.yvesdoyle.com

© 2010 Anne Marie Joly — Copy Writing and Page Setting

Fabienne Malenfant
Relationist
Agents by Sector

http://agentsbysector.com

Canadian Real Estate Market in February

As written in the Toronto Sun .

Canada’s real estate market showed no sign of losing steam in February, with housing starts rising faster than expected and a new survey showing 10% of Canadians expect to buy a home in the next two years.

Seasonally adjusted housing starts were 196,700 in the month, up from 185,400 in January, according to figures from the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corp. That was above analysts’ forecasts for a 190,000 gain.

RBC’s 17th annual home ownership study found that the number of Canadians saying they are very likely to buy a new home rose from 7% two years ago to 10%. The number of people who view their house as a good investment rose to a 12-year high of 91%.

Canada’s real estate market has been one of the main drivers of economic growth, with housing construction helping to power a 5% expansion in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter.

Some economists have forecast that the property market will begin to cool from the second half, when the Bank of Canada is expected to begin raising interest rates and demand and supply of available housing becomes more balanced.

“The gain in February housing starts was concentrated in the multiple starts segment, particularly in Toronto,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre.

Urban multiple starts, or condos, increased by 19.1% to 89,900 units while single urban starts increased by 0.5% to 89,200 units.

Urban starts rose 28.6% in Ontario, 14.3% in Atlantic Canada, 10.8% in the Prairie region and 8% in British Columbia. In Quebec, urban starts dropped 14.1%.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,600 units in February.

According to the RBC poll, younger Canadians between the ages of 18 to 24 are likely to lead the market. About 15% said they were likely to buy, almost double the number in 2009.

About 60% also believe housing prices will continue to rise this year, up from just 25% this time a year ago. They also expect mortgage rates to rise, with two-thirds expecting to have to pay more, the bank said.

That belief is being reflected in the choice of mortgage, with 16% opting for a variable rate loan compared with 20% last year.

We would like to thank Ms. Sharon Singleton of The Toronto Sun

http://www.agentsbysector.com

Commercial Rea Estate

Origin :Le Collège De L’ Immobilier au Québec According to the current Real Estate Brokerage Act, all real estate agents with a valid Certificate of Practice can work in residential real estate, commercial real estate or as a mortgage agent. Under the next Act, which was passed in May 2008 but has not yet come into force, this situation may change since each “specialization” will require a different permit. The duties and functions of commercial real estate agents are very similar to those of residential agents. However, they must have strong financial training. They must be able to handle a variety of brokerage operations such as the sale, purchase, exchange and leasing of a commercial property or lot, or a company. They deal with clients who are supported (or represented) by various experts such as lawyers, tax experts, accountants, valuators, architects, environmental and commercial design specialists, etc. If commercial real estate interests you, the Collège is now offering its Introduction to Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Program. This specialized program will be “recognized” when the new Act comes into force. The program (in French only) consists of the following 10 seminars: Commercial Leasing Basics Public Relations Preparing a Commercial/Business Sale or Lease File Introduction to the Industrial Field Understanding Business Valuation Environmental Analysis Taxation Selling a Retail Business Commercial Law Marketing Commercial Real Estate Fabienne Malenfant Relationist www.agentsbysector.com Collège de l'immobilier du Québec : The College of Real Estate Leaders

Much More Than a Representative

We often associate the real estate agent profession to the one of salesperson.Yet, the agent is a lot more than a representative.Boasting certified education and a sound knowledge of the market, he is first and foremost an advisor, helping his clients make enlightened decisions.

The LISTING agent, who represents the owner-vendor,visits the property, produces a comparative market anlysis, prepares advertising strategies and gives great exposure to the property by listing it in a database, exclusive to real estate agents ahd brokers. He also manages showings, offers to purchase, counter-offers and legal documents, while coordinating the deed of sale signature.

As for the SELLING agent, he helps the buyer identify his needs and target the properties that suit him with a database exclusive to real estate agents and brokers.He then helps his client during showings, objectively analyzes properties and assists him during every step of the transaction , including the visit at the notary's office.

Fabienne Malenfant
Relationist
Agents by Sector
http://www.agentsbysector.com

Much More Than a Representative, courtesy of the Collège de l'Immobilier du Québec

The Potentiel of Social Networks for Real Estate Agents

(Agents by Sector found this article via a contact on Twitter )
http://www.agentsparsecteur.com


Question: What do Facebook, Twitter, Youtube have in common?
Answer: They are all social networking sites.
OK, So what? What does that actually mean?
Social networking sites are places where you can find new “friends” and build relationships. That makes them potentially important marketing resources. So if relationship-building is important to your business, then you really should not ignore the potential of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and MySpace.
Waste of Time?Of course many people think online social networking is a complete waste of time. As a real estate agent, for example, you might say “I prefer to do my social networking with real people rather than ‘virtual’ people on the internet.”
There is a lot of truth to that. Much of the activity that takes place on social network websites is completely self-serving. There is a lot of navel-gazing and self-promotion going on, there’s no doubt about that.
But on the other hand, you can meet a lot of people very quickly, and if you have something to offer then you can very quickly put your offer out there and see what kind of people respond.
That is exactly what AgentMapIt is about – putting your profile in front of a lot of people who are looking for agents to “network” with and who are interested in sharing referrals. In fact, with AgentMapIt this is such a painless process that it is difficult to know why you would NOT want to do it.
No Effort, No Results
Many people think these sites (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) are just alternatives to magazines or newspapers, and they are disappointed that you cannot just place an ad and sit back and collect the results.
As with all other social networking sites (Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), the benefit you derive from them is completely dependent on the effort you put into them. People who are really good at making these resources work for them – not as entertainment, but as business/marketing tools – are unanimous thatyou have to work at building relationships online just as you do offline.
What does that mean?
It means you have to really “network” with people by staying in touch with them. And not just by sending out ads or promos to them (although that’s OK from time to time).
Just as in the offline world, the best online relationship-building techniques involve sharing information and expertise, expressing an interest in what others are doing, helping people with their problems and concerns – especially when there is no immediate payback.
Sometimes all that means is just saying “Hi. I just wanted to touch base with you. How are things going in your neck of the woods?”

Thank you to AgentMapIt for sharing this article with us.
Fabienne Malenfant
Relationist

http://www.agentsbysector.com

Agents by Sector

To sell or to buy a property, find easily and rapidly a real estate agent who knows the sector you are interested in and who will be able to give you advice about that sector. The real estate agents in this Internet portal are known for their experience and have the knowledge to guide you in your real estate transactions.
Whether you want to sell or to buy, an experienced real estate agent is a definite asset for the realization of your real estate projects.He can inform you about the value of properties in the sector of your choice; also about selling or purchasing strategies and the characteristics of that sector and much more.
http://agentsbysector.com