Upcoming RECO Update Courses

Over the past while, I have had several Cambridge agents ask me about schedules for upcoming RECO Update courses being held in the area. The Kitchener-Waterloo Board holds RECO Updates in their classroom almost every month. You still have to register at OREA to attend. Here is a list of the upcoming seminars in K-W and the instructors:
March 19th - Marg Gourlay
April 9th - Mark Weisleder
May 14th - Angie Asadoorian
June 18th - David O'Gorman
July 9th - Mark Weisleder

Do You Think About the Competition?

Competition is everywhere. Coke vs Pepsi. General Motor vs Ford. McDonald's vs Burger King. Re/Max vs Prudential (we already know who has the better agents!)

When you're listing a property and talking about the asking price, how much time do you spend talking to your seller about the competition? My suspicion is not as much as you should.

If you look at the neighbourhood and properites within an 25 to 50,000 price range, how does your listing stack up? Is your listing the best deal? Is it maybe a little weak in a couple areas but the price reflects that? Is it maybe a bit more money but has lots of features to dictate the higher asking price? These all fit in with the $ 64,000 question. In reality, the buyers looking and comparing, are very bright people. They can't be tricked. They are going to buy the one that they like the best and is the best value.

In today's market, the average days on market (DOM) is around 50 days. We have discussed ad nauseum how this statistic is skewed by agents who cancel or expire listing and "put them back on". But, irregardless of the number, the fact is that well priced properties sell in less than the DOM average and over priced listings (with price reductions factored in) take longer to sell.

Do yourself, and your seller a favour. Spend an hour or two showing them "the competition". Tell your seller he has a bit of bias that they need to leave on the doorstep. You may find that all your CMA homework is out the window when compared to what else for sale right now. Buyers are not stupid, and ultimately, it is they, not you or your seller, who decide the value.

Ode to Bernie

It is with sadness that we learn of the retirement of Bernie Vogt as Canadian President of Prudential Real Estate.
Bernie has lots of ties to Waterloo Region. He grew up in the Preston part of Cambridge, attending Preston High School. His parents owned and operated a restaurant for many years on Frederick Street in Kitchener where the Three Kretans Restaurant is now. His first real estate career was as a sales representative in Kitchener with Canada Trust Realty.
He has held his present position with Prudential since 1998 when he sold out his Countrywide franchise operations to Prudential. Prior to that he had been a senior Vice President with Royal Lepage.
He has always been a great supporter of Prudential Grand Valley Realty and attended many of our events. Many of our agents have got to know Bernie well. He will be sadly missed.
We sincerely wish Bernie all the best. We hope that he and Joy enjoy a long and happy retirement.

January 2008 Monthly MLS Statistics

Here are the January 2008 MLS monthly statistics from our two real estate boards:

	K-W This Month	K-W Last Year	Cambridge This Month	Cambridge Last Year
Avg. Sale Price	$ 263,860	$244,832	$251,640	$241,853
Percentage Change	+7.8%		+4.2%
Properties Sold	381	379	177	196
New Listings/Sales Ratio	41.0%	41.8%	63.9%	69.3%
Properties For Sale Now	1553	1935	483	543

Draw the Button, Daryl!

Daryl Shane is doing our company proud! If you don't know Daryl already, you should know that he is an avid curler, and certainly has a reputation as one of the best in Waterloo Region.
This week, he is representing our area in the Ontario championships, the TSC Tankard, being played in Waterloo at the Waterloo Rec Centre. He is the skip of the local team and certainly has the home field advantage.
You can check out his results at TSC Tankardwebsite. Also, here's an article in the K-W Record about his qualifying last week.
Go Daryl!