Is that about to change?  Can we look at it as an island of refuge from Quebec?  Not exactly, since the dynamic of Eastern Ontario’s economy is not as simple and there is no stampede of Quebecers snatching up every square inch.  There is however, a steady trend.

When considering local economic climates as Canadians, we have wide ranges of scale to consider:  How is the country as a whole doing?  What is real estate performing like on the macro level – all of Canada? Ratchet that down to eastern Canada, then Quebec, then the West Island – how does the forecast look as we zoom in on increasingly smaller areas?

As an investor, how do we decipher the interplay of these microclimates?

Politics and Climate

A fascinating part about our scale is politics.  Ontario and Quebec are so close, yet so far apart politically.  While Montreal was once an engine of innovation and economic growth, it saw much of its wealth and enterprise flee in the 1970s.  Despite this, real estate prices, to Montreal natives, are healthy and rising.  While there is more inventory in the recent months due to the political climate, real estate is still fairly strong.

But the great thing about scale is that you can adjust it.  If we ratchet down the scale to head down highway 40 until we cross the border into Ontario, something very interesting happens – despite being a calmer place politically, does not reflect the same prices as houses do in the Laurentians, Vaudreuil, Hudson or the West Island.

The Quebec microclimate is still strong and maintains healthy, non-bubble, pricing levels.  However, there’s no guarantee that prices won’t fall dramatically (as they did in the late 1970’s and again in the mid 1990’s) if panic does set in.

For now, however, there seems to be a stalemate between the politics and the impending flight of small businesses, allophone families and other less than loyal Quebecers.  The simple fact is that the market is healthy in the microclimates of western Quebec simply because the mass exodus isn’t happening.  But you could argue, that there’s a trickle – and to the parched market of Eastern Ontario, the trickle is well received.

A Trickle Going West

Using Warren Buffett logic, a trickle is good, because time is on your side.  While Eastern Ontario may seem so bleak in so many ways (No sushi! No smoked meat!) the reality is that this is changing.

If you knew that prices were lower in eastern Ontario because, economically, the area was bleak compared to the powerful cousin to the east, then you’d also know that everything, be it a home, farm, business, or land, will cost less.  (I say “land” with the caveat that Eastern Ontario is experiencing an agricultural bubble that is not the topic of this article and completely unhinged from the value of homes, businesses and other types of property.)

But as a rule, when studying the microclimate of the Quebec / Ontario border, things just get cheaper as you head west until you approach the osmotic price pressure of Ottawa’s growth.  But the nagging question for investors is simply: Why?

How could somewhere more stable and very accessible to Montreal, Ottawa, the US and the Laurentians remain less expensive, on a broad comparative basis to Quebec?

Deciphering Markets

The simple reality is that Eastern Ontario is actually increasing in value.  The reason isn’t obvious, however, because it is simply a slower and longer term play.  While the osmosis and push from Quebec helps bring down inventory and the relatively lower prices help drive more sales, ultimately the market is rising slowly and from the consumers perspective, at rate that is hardly noticeable when compared with the stratospheric growth of prices in Montreal and Ottawa.

Put another way, Eastern Ontario is one of the least expensive places in eastern Canada to purchase with close proximity to key markets.  Eastern Ontario may yet become an extension of the West Island, and as many locals here joke, “If there is separation with Quebec, we’d like to take the Vaudreuil peninsula, and make it part of Ontario.”  After all, it is geographically contiguous, the cultures are the same and it makes an elegant boundary.

We humans aren’t so simple.  Decision making is tough, especially as we age.  When we’re young we’re more like the foolish predator or prey – jumping quickly into the cauldron of something far worse than we envisioned.  We did it quickly without analysis or deliberation.  As we get older, we take an inventory of these decisions, the bulk of which are pretty amazing mistakes, and we become a little more cautious in our decision making – some of which become downright paralyzing.It’s just hard to go one way or the other when you know that a little more time never hurts, so long as you aren’t a passenger on the Titanic.  As a real estate professional I have some good news – I’m going to help you.

So how does this affect your Pounce or Pause decision about listing your property?  A big challenge property owners face in eastern Ontario is the lack of comparable analysis in mainstream media and data sources about what is actually happening.  The simple fact is that we live in one of the most undervalued, yet gradually rising, real estate markets in Canada.   We’re not fancy, we’re no boom town, but the value of property, be it residential, commercial or agricultural, seems to be in a steady climb.

While the cities of Ottawa and Montreal are busy with higher transaction volumes, they may also be marching towards a bubble.  Given the rural movement of many Baby Boomers as they age, the same cannot be said of our community, which offers proximity to convenient services, while still offering the magic of being outnumbered by cows, corn and country roads.

One of the components that makes decisions easier is trusting your information – much like the animal that makes the leap.  Knowing where you stand is key: Nothing is more refreshing than a fresh look at your property, its market value, and the typical time on market.  Timing and knowledge are key when pricing your property relative to comparable offerings.  If you think you are ready to make such an important decision, be sure to get ahold of key comparable data:  What have comparable properties sold for, and how much time did they spend on the market?

Another factor that is key in a real estate professional’s conversations with clients is looking at the obvious: What does the client need? Are their goals realistic? Is there a way to help them see what they are not seeing?

Part of our liability as humans is that we are much more burdened than animals with too much emotional data:  We raised the kids here, my parents left me the house, etc. etc.  All of these powerful (and valid) feelings have no impact on the buyer with cash in hand.  Your house may trigger emotions in them, but they have nothing to do with your past, associations or attachments.  The property may not be a commodity, but you can bet that their attachment to it is a lot weaker than yours if you are looking for reasons to delay or even prevent the sale of your property.

In the end our homes, like everything on the planet, are temporary.   The decision to pounce or pause is often hamstrung by our inability to recognize this reality – we are often better off knowing exactly where we stand.  Whether we stay or go – the key is to do it with more conviction, less doubt and absolute certainty that staying put, or moving on to something different, is the right course of action.

If you found any of the above deliberation of value, why not learn more.  I’m available on my cell 613.676.4463 or by email at tlynnwebster@gmail.com.

There is still snow on the ground, things don’t look as good as they did in the fall, or even early winter. Let’s face it, it’s a tough time of year: Emotionally, physically and practically – winter is tough, everything takes longer. And winter gets a little less attractive in February and March.

But let’s highlight a problem that this sets up for all too many sellers: When they finally begin the process of selling the home, doing the research, planning next moves, etc., it’s often too late. How can it be too late? Picture this: March 1st you realize it’s time to start planning subsequent moves on the assumption that you’ll price your home right and that it will be sold within three or four months, or less. By April 1st, you begin to sit with your real estate professional, think about how you’ll showcase, stage and present the property. A few more days, maybe a week, of back and forth, and by the middle of April or first of May your property hits the MLS and in my case the listings are being indexed by Google through my blog.

Guess what? Everyone else in the herd of sellers is hitting the market around this time. In our business, I can time this slug of new listings to hit the MLS almost as precisely as we can predict the return of geese to cloud our skies and park in our fields. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that if you see northbound geese, it’s too late to work on getting the house sold. What I’m offering is that you may have done yourself a slight disservice since you are now squarely in the herd.

Herds are great in many ways. Great for protection, anonymity and conformity that prevents you from being singled out. That is precisely the opposite of my job.

IMAGINE BEING SOUGHT AFTER

The key in understanding the herd, is that in sales, you want to be a salient member, far enough from the herd to be noticeable. You want to stand out – Be different. You’ve heard me preach about this before, differentiation, etc.

The short version of all that is simply that being first, being noticed and not being part of a large group is what serves your interests in sales. A good example of how I practice this principle in my business is that it’s rare that I go to listing appointments where there is a herd of other agents also being asked to list the property.

In creating my own customer base, the bulk of my clients just call me, since they’ve isolated me as the one they want. This is the same dynamic you want with your property – they’ve just come to see your home. There is no parade of other options before and after. Why? Because you got your property’s listing information into the system early, first and before the herd of other options raced in ahead of you and with you.

SO WHAT NOW?

So here we are, mid February, and you’re asking yourself what to do. In order to avoid the trap of falling into the anonymity of the herd, a good goal is March 1st or perhaps 15th at the latest. By no means am I saying that if it dawns on you July 1st that you want to sell that you should wait until the following year. What I am saying is this: If you know that this is something you want to do, then timing is important – use it to your advantage. All properly priced and marketed homes should sell in an acceptable time frame, but being the best option, getting the best price and minimizing negotiation pain is all about smart planning.

GET THE TOOLKIT

Preparing your property for sale also requires some preparation. Over the years I’ve begun compiling a helpful document that I give to prospective clients so that they have a clear understanding of what it takes to maximize their chances for good showings, good negotiations and strong selling prices. The topics covered in this document start with strengthening the weakest parts of your home, how to de-clutter, making focal points, the importance of fixing and repairing and lastly some good tips on cleaning and the importance of de-personalization.
Like this above article? Call me at 613.676.4463 and I’ll happily share the time tested sales checklist document I’ve been compiling over the years. Feel free to email at at tlynnwebster@gmail.com if you have any other questions.

But therein lies the biggest opportunity for all sales people:   A customer or prospect who remembers that you laid out the complete territory, landscape and context for the landscape you were buying or selling in will tell other people about your remarkable nature.

A recurring stain on real estate is simply the fact that some agents will just take any listing – with full knowledge that the listing will get them exposure and more buyers while not leading to any qualified people to buy your home.  This, we might call a salesperson – one who puts their own agenda first.  They look nice, smell nice … and say nice things.  Just so long as they get your listing.

To go the other direction, in my experience, isn’t actually that hard:  To do the right thing – you just need to make a mental shift – we are not in sales, we are consultants.  Consultants are the trusted advisors whose words are so valuable that corporations pay thousands of dollars per day to get objective analysis on what they should do.  A consultant, the trusted advisor, is the one you call, at the 11th hour, to double check, that you are doing the right thing.

The trusted advisor is also an earned position.  They place the client’s interests ahead of their own, knowing that if the client is aware their well being comes before all else, then the relationship is not only more natural, but more conducive to a win for both parties.  The client gets the best possible help and the real estate professional gets referrals and accolades for being an educator.  Why? Because they did the right thing.  And when you think about it, the right thing is painfully easy to do, despite the fact that salespeople, as a species, often confuse who comes first.

What To Look For

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If you are a buyer, a real estate professional that understands the basic driver as education first will look to learn as much about you and your needs, goals and limitations before they show you the first property.  As a seller, the education and consultant minded agent looks to see what your assumptions are about price, value and the market you are in.  A consultant, wise enough to see problems before they start, may even suggest you list with another Realtor if there is a major gulf in expectations of value, speed of sale and overall market conditions.  Why? Simple, ultimately, if they are confident in being right, they are going to get your listing anyway, after your patience ran out with the one that said “yes” to everything you thought, believed or asked for.

The most difficult thing about doing the right thing, being the consultant, and educating, is giving what might be termed “the tough love.”  The tough love usually involves facts that buyers or owners didn’t see before they worked themselves up for the listing appointment, or decision to buy.

If you needed a checklist for a great real estate professional, you might start here:

a) Listening? Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. Are they listening … or talking a lot?

b) Scarcity? Is there a sense of urgency to do stuff that you don’t understand?

c) Diversity? Are you only looking at listings of theirs, or a broad sampling of all area properties that fit your criteria?

d) Trust?   When asked to believe a real estate professional, but no obvious and easy path to independent data is available, it might be time to dig deeper – or in the words of Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but verify.”

What Now?

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There are many great real estate professionals in the industry.  My hope is that by sharing how to find the best, that lead by best practices, you will keep coming back to read these articles.  (Hey, I’m an educator first!)  The fact is that real estate sales is not magic if you stick to core principles: Understand your client’s needs, educate them, and place their needs above all else and you’ll be sure to make all parties to the transaction not only happy, but evangelical on how the real estate professional behaved.  Doing the right thing may not pay off fast, but it pays off big time, long term.  There are no short cuts, there are no secrets, it simply comes down doing the work necessary to help people make the right decision for one of the most important things in their lives – buying or selling their home.

The last question is key.  Your buyer representative (if you have one) is your best source of information. It is their job to make sure you know what you’re buying, why you should buy it, how much you should pay for it – and where you should look.  They are regional experts – they have to be.

Realtors don’t always highlight the importance of explaining these details, however.   Knowing the dynamic of a transaction is even more important than knowing the subtle nuances – since knowing who is likely to give you the information (and leverage) is the person you want to pay attention to.  The good Realtor recognizes that getting to closing, forcing a transaction, is far less important than helping the client see everything they need to see before making a commitment.

Trust is important in any business relationship, but first, you need to know what you’re signing on to.  Proper representation means that transparency and the client’s interest are placed above all else – this is the intent of the Buyer Representation Agreement.

Approach the listing agent?

Depending on how seasoned a real estate investor you are, you may want to carefully weigh this question.  Time and again, I’m floored by clients who comment on my ability to work “so hard” for them, when in fact I’m doing what basic representation means.  Sure it may seem like a lot of work, but hunting is by definition tough.

The grim reality of our industry is that it is rare that buyers and sellers fully understand when they are being represented vs. being sold.  Many people looking to buy real estate will approach the seller’s agent and not be fully briefed on this critical element.  If your agent is working both sides of the transaction, be sure they explain this to you, and what the built in limitations are.

Picture this: It’s the weekend and you’re out for a drive in the countryside, spotting homes and land for sale. You’re keen to research, so you do – and you call, you look up MLS listing on the web, you call the listing agents. But you might not realize that having a Realtor on your side might make a lot more sense. Get them to do the work for you. Buyer representation costs the buyer nothing and saves them a world of trouble.  Selling agents aren’t thrilled to split their commission, but this is why the rules were laid out accordingly – each party deserves advocacy.

Consider, too, the Realtor’s motivations. Did they show you listings that weren’t theirs, that were comparable? If not, why not? Where is the agent’s loyalty if they represent both the seller and the buyer? Be sure your agent is explaining this to you.  All markets should have a healthy mix of listings from competing brokerages.

Who’s got your back?

In my career, the best clients have been the ones that realize they needed to trust someone – and it made sense to trust the one that had as few conflicts of interest as possible.  Even if you have lots of time on your hands, working with someone will open your eyes to just how much information is obtainable, when you know where to look.  Geology, history, and community all play a role in evaluating a home – be sure you vet them as fully as possible.

Ultimately, the best client is an educated one – knowing how the system can work for them fosters a stronger bond between the specialist (the buyer’s representative) and the client.  While some Realtors may not take the time to highlight the difference between types of representation, the most important element to remember is this:  The seller, and most Realtors just want a transaction to occur.  As a buyer, you certainly want this, but you want it in the light of day, with full transparency on every aspect that is fair game.

As a client, it’s only normal to want to know every detail about the property you’re buying – and in fact, you should feel entitled to that information.  The best Realtor is one that will strive to make you privy to that information, as well as any other details that come up along the way.

If you want representation – or just some objective, helpful and realistic advice on what type of opportunities exist – don’t hesitate to call me at 613.676.4463 or email me at tlynnwebster@gmail.com.

License plates are interesting too, since regionally they have a great back story: Maine was once strictly for holidays: Vacationland. Now it is much more and offers a variety of plates for groups that also speak to the essence of Maine: “Lobster” and “Support Local Agriculture,” which, in a way are the same thing if you think about it. New Hampshire has its own strong agenda (“Live Free or Die”) and with the Green Mountains, Vermont was safe to take its claim to “Le Verts Monts” as seen by Samuel de Champlain.

Ontario is special in that the shot is broad and big – it is a big Province, but not as big as Quebec, and certainly easier to discover and travel – more roads, more diversity and more people. Quebec, while stunning in its vastness, really requires an airplane if you want to go anywhere serious beyond Quebec City to the east or Mont Tremblant to the north.

Not so with Ontario – With a population of 500,000 Franco Ontarians, making it more like Quebec than any other province, Eastern Ontario is arguably an extension of Quebec, with a few notable differences: Great roads, great parks, lower taxes and a real welcome mat for people from all corners of the globe, no matter what language they speak at home or with duress at work.

Franco Ontarians, a distinct group inside Ontario, even have their own flag, festivals and yes, words. Moving here will force you to learn words to conclude phrases, such as “Dats it…dats all.” Franglais is not a source of discomfort, but rather an indication that you really are from Eastern Ontario. Where else in the french speaking world can you do an entire sentence in english, but finish with an emphatic “Lah.” Best examples are usually found in the kitchen – “When I cut my steaks lah… I do it dis way.” Again, no shame, just how it is. Franglais, like Creole, is an evolution, a distinction and a way of colouring an area to show what it is – a blend of cultures as opposed to the absurd goal of lingual and cultural homogeniety – which no part of the world truly is if we wind the clock back far enough.

While purists might find this form of diction, mangling, and punctuation scandalous – you have to agree, everyone knows what is being conveyed. That is simply how languages are formed.

Pro Business

Eastern Ontario is also a gateway that many businesses based in Montreal don’t immediately recognize, but flock to when they see the convenience, taxes, and easier government intrusiveness into their operations. While Boston, Plattsburgh, and Maine seem close to Montreal, much of Eastern Ontario’s manufacturing finds its way south easily across the St Lawrence River into Massena or west bound down the 401 to the largest megalopolis in North America – the Greater Toronto Area. Cornwall may not be an exciting town, but due to a steady business exodus from Quebec, it continues to grow and even Jean Coutu operates its largest warehouse in Eastern Canada just outside Quebec in the municipality of Champlain, Ontario, – the township that includes Vankleek Hill, l’Orignal, and West Hawkesbury.

Another thing that the communities of Eastern Ontario fundamentally understand is that economic prosperity is directly related to things you make. While the region has struggled in past decades, the trend with entrepreneurs throughout Ontario is to set up distribution through the GTA (via the 401) and the US via Ogendsburg, NY and Massena, NY while taking advantage of very attractive leases, property values and infrastructure in Eastern Ontario.

To quote the license plate, if you are looking to re-locate, be it for lifestyle, your small business, or your significant manufacturing enterprise, you’d be surprised that Ontario really is yours to discover. The discovery begins with gentle drives down the 40 and 20 and either way you’ll enter a world of surprisingly affordable tracts of land, homes, farms and even factories, mills and infrastructure that is ready for you.