MIKE LIND

Category: Business

  • Who Do You Blame For Not Being Able To Buy A Home?

    I get it; everyone wants a bad guy to blame all their problems on.

    For people who think they’re entitled to own a home yet have complained about home prices in Toronto, even when they could have bought a house in 2006 in the East End, Leslieville, and the Junction for $500,000, they blame everyone from banks to all levels of government, and especially us dickhead realtors for inflating the price of a home in Toronto.

    Then, some people hate their agents after they fail to buy a house after several attempts, lumping all agents in the same boat as greedy, keeping them from being able to buy a house.

    Sure, some blame should be put on the agent they chose to represent them, but not the homeowner’s agent.

    The seller’s agent is there for one purpose: to get the best deal possible for the home sellers.

    Period.

    It’s one thing to decide to use the agent that appears in your social feeds doing dances and home tours where they waive you into each room in fast motion.

    A better idea is to choose an agent with experience analyzing the price range of what a home will sell for so your time isn’t wasted on homes you could never afford.

    Here’s an example of a recent listing of mine. I had ten competing offers on a vacant house in Pickering, listed for $699,000. My evaluation suggested it would sell in the $820,000 to $840,00 range. Seven of the nine agents expected me to give them the “price expectations” of my seller.

    In other words, they were clueless about determining the price range at which the house would sell.

    One agent asked me if I would advise her on the side after offers were submitted. She had two separate buyers with offers. 

    No conflict of interest there, huh?

    I’ve always suspected this happens between agents from certain unreputable brokerages, including some of the big-name brokerages you’ve heard of.

    But that’s another post for another day.

    My answer to the agents who asked about price expectations was always the same: the seller is looking for the best offer.

    I gave them my seller’s preferred closing date, June 24th or sooner.

    Why would I tell any agent what the seller was expecting? My “job” is to get the most favourable terms and selling price possible for my client.

    If I gave agents the expected price, how many would pay more? Why would they? I’ve tipped my hand.

    I think this is all an echo of the past decade of a red-hot seller’s market, during which buyer agents would submit an offer, say, $200,000 more than the asking price, only to find that the house sold for $330,000 more than the asking price.

    It could also be that because they have never experienced a truly balanced market, they’ve never had to evaluate a house and likely have never had the option to negotiate a price lower than the asking price when there was an opportunity.

    When I first got into the industry in 2004, I would submit offers of $40,000 less than the asking price, riddled with conditions and clauses that would get laughed at by selling agents today, a deposit of $5,000. I would give the seller 3 days irrevocably because the house had already been on the market for three months.

    Those were the days. Selling 3,500 square foot homes in Aurora for $600,000.

    Let’s look at how this offer night went, and please pay attention to the closing dates. I’ll explain later.

    1. Agent one:
      1. Offer price: $750,001
      2. Deposit: $15,000
      3.  Closing date: July 11
      4. Conditions: none
    2. Agent two:
      1. Offer price: $777,900
      2. Deposit: $40,000
      3.  Closing date: July 4
      4. Conditions: none
    3. Agent three:
      1. Offer price: $770,000
      2. Deposit: $45,000
      3.  Closing date: June 27
      4. Conditions: home inspection and insurance
    4. Agent four (This agent had offers for two buyers):
      1. Buyer one:
        1. Offer price: $770,786
        2. Deposit: $45,000
        3.  Closing date: June 26
        4. Conditions: none
      2. Buyer two:
        1. Offer price: $785,786
        2. Deposit: $40,000
        3.  Closing date: June 25
        4. Conditions: none
    5. Agent five:
      1. Offer price: $800,000
      2. Deposit: $50,000
      3.  Closing date: June 27
      4. Conditions: none
    6. Agent six:
      1. Offer price: $808,000
      2. Deposit: $35,000
      3.  Closing date: June 20
      4. Conditions: none
    7. Agent seven:
      1. Offer price: $670,000
      2. Deposit: $60,000
      3.  Closing date: July 19
      4. Conditions: home inspection and insurance
    8. Agent eight:
      1. Offer price: $779,000
      2. Deposit: $30,000
      3.  Closing date: July 9
      4. Conditions: none
    9. Agent nine:
      1. Offer price: $850,000
      2. Deposit: $50,000
      3.  Closing date: June 21
      4. Conditions: none

    The choice is obvious: who wins here?

    Take the 850, get it signed immediately, and we’re done.

    I’ve done my job and made my client a boatload of money, right?

    That’s what an inexperienced agent would have done. What’s the saying, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush,” or something?

    Here’s where my experience with negotiations comes into play.

    I set Agent Nine’s offer aside.

    I called agents five and six. They are within my estimated selling price range, and experience tells me with the size of their deposit, they likely have left money off the table and have room to improve. I let them know where they stand regarding offer strength.

    The other agent’s offers were either too far away on price to work with or, if you look at their closing dates, were too far past what I had told them the preferred closing date was.

    See what I mean about choosing your agent? Did the agents not tell their clients about the closing date, or did they simply not pay attention?

    I called and thanked them for their offers, but we will be working with another offer.

    Agent Four insists on having an opportunity to improve her offers. I told her she was too far off and we’d already decided. 

    If, by chance, one of those offers (or both) comes back and is higher than Agent Nine’s, then they will both be given one final opportunity to improve.

    As it happens, Agent Five improved their offer price to $860,000 (Agent Six came up to $828,000), so both Agent Nine and Five were given a final opportunity to give their final and best offer. 

    They were once again reminded that closing before June 25 was important.

    Agent Five returned with $875,100, and Agent Nine with $871,000.

    Which offer did the seller end up working with and why?

    Recall earlier when I said to pay attention to the closing date. A certain tax being threatened (“we’re only asking the top 1% to pay their fair share.. “) would cost a lot more in tax than $4,100.

    Agent Five’s clients were livid—how can we have the highest offer and not get the house? When I reminded them that the closing date was important and ended up being the determining factor, they said their mortgage agent wouldn’t allow them to close sooner than 30 days because it would require them to resubmit paperwork, which made no sense to me.

    Then, they promised me, hand to God, that if we accept their offer, they will 100% be able to close on June 24 once the offer has been approved by the mortgage underwriter.

    I told them I appreciated their promise, but if they can’t move the closing date now, there is a good chance they won’t be able to do it later, and we didn’t want to take that risk.

    Do her agents hold my client’s decision against me? Do they now think I’m the bad guy for not accepting their offer? It was always my client’s decision, not mine, but I’ll be the blame in their eyes.

    What about the other people who submitted offers?

    Do they see the final selling price and blame their agent for not giving them a realistic selling range?

    Am I the asshole agent for “inflating” the final selling price?

    Is my seller to blame for accepting the highest price (even if it wasn’t)?

    Do you see how some people blame others for their inability to buy a home?

  • Ineffective Open Houses Are Done By Ineffective Agents

    When you’re grocery shopping and you see a person handing out food samples, do you automatically go over and get a sample?

    Maybe you’re like me and look it over first to see if it’s something you’d be interested in trying. Most times, it’s something that I’m not interested in eating either because it’s junk food or has something I shouldn’t eat, like beans or grains.

    Food demos and sampling are done because they bring awareness to the product and result in more sales.

    If it didn’t result in more sales, samples wouldn’t be offered.

    My wife is a food entrepreneur. Her business model is helping food companies get their products listed in grocery stores and she has a subsidiary food demonstration company that holds food demos at grocery stores.

    Some of the food companies are hesitant to do demos because they have to supply the food. That’s a cost that some of them are unwilling to absorb.

    My wife explains that the demos produce more brand awareness and sales and they should be seen as an opportunity, not a hindrance.

    The demos held by my wife are somewhat elevated. They are set up to look better, drawing even more attention to them.

    All of the demo people, who are affectionately named brand ambassadors, are told everything that is a benefit about the product, and the drawbacks so that when a potential buyer has a question, they are getting factual information from a knowledgeable representative.

    This is crucial in case there is a food allergy and it also shows the consumer that the person is not there just handing out samples but knows what they’re talking about.

    It also benefits the food company. They are being represented by knowledgeable sales reps and it shows through increased sales.

    You know there would be a real estate angle to this, didn’t you?

    Are there demos in real estate sales?

    Absolutely and you’ve already heard them.

    Open house.

    Yes, an open house is essentially a demo of a house for sale and the sampling allows people to come in and walk through the house.

    I have been hosting open houses on every single one of my listings because when done correctly, they are very effective.

    There is a prominent realtor, who is associated with a lion and offers a million-dollar marketing “guarantee”, that campaigned that he will sell your house “without ineffective open houses”.

    Essentially, his “million dollar marketing” is eliminating one of the most effective marketing tools. Think about it, no matter how good the photos, video and virtual tour are, without being able to physically visit the property, how can any potential home buyer know if it would be a fit for them?

    Yes, I know they can visit the house with an agent – if they are working with one, but what if they’re not?

    Not every buyer has found an agent they want to work with or maybe they want to buy without one.

    Another benefit of an open house is it allows many people to tour the home in just a few hours rather than having many people come at separate times over a few days.

    That’s more disruptive than an open house over a weekend.

    Why does the lion advertise that open houses are ineffective? Is it because he doesn’t want to do them? Maybe he can’t be bothered to host them. Perhaps his team of agents are ineffective because they haven’t been taught how to hold an effective open house.

    I see it often, an agent holding a completely ineffective open house.

    Picture this; it’s a Saturday morning. You’ve been searching for a house off and on for some time, and you come across one online that catches your attention.

    You see there is an open house at 2:00. Great! You can go and have a look at it without having to bother your agent. If you like it, you’ll go back with them.

    2:10, you arrive at the house and the agent is just getting there themselves even though it was supposed to begin at 2:00.

    The agent is frazzled and looks surprised that you’re there. You feel awkward and tell them you’ll come back in a few minutes, but they insist you come in.

    There are no lights on, the only information about the house available is a simple, black-and-white printout of the MLS listing.

    You walk through the house hesitant to turn any lights on so you don’t get a good sense of the rooms.

    Your visit is over in less than 5 minutes and as you walk to the door to put your shoes on the agent, while sitting on the couch on their phone, looks up and asks “What do you think?”.

    How is that an effective open house?

    This is a scenario that plays out more often than not.

    Some agents will dissuade sellers from open houses with the excuse that only nosy neighbours go to open houses.

    Neighbours have a vested interest in your home selling too. If your house sells for a record price, that brings up the house values in the neighbourhood.

    Another excuse you might hear about open houses is that agents use them to meet new potential clients.

    If that’s the case, why aren’t more agents sitting in open houses more often?

    If an agent holds an effective open house, meeting new clients would be a byproduct of good customer service.

    Allow me to provide some examples of how I hold an effective open house that provides value, first to my seller clients and as a result, answers the typical questions that home buyers have about the house that mutually benefits them.

    • First, my open houses are always advertised on the MLS beginning Thursday allowing time for the info to flow through the main online portals that home buyers use:
    • Realtor.ca
    • Housesigma
    • Zoocasa

    And any other real estate info aggregate sites.

    Then, on the morning of the open house, my open house signs are put out in highly visible areas by 10:00 am. Too often, agents simply put a sign on the road leading into the area and another at the house – and usually 10 minutes before the open house starts!

    I have a minimum of 7 open house signs put out leading from the main streets, to feeder streets and finally, to the street the house is on.

    Even if this brings in one extra person who was unaware of the open house, that’s still an extra person in to see the house.

    I arrive at the house at least 20 minutes before the scheduled time and turn on all the lights, check to make sure the rooms are presentable and prepare the extra information materials that include info on parks in the area, the schools, where the best places are to eat, distance to highways and public transportation.

    I’m ready with my information as well. Buyers almost always want to know what the property taxes are, when the house was built, the age of the roof, furnace, A/C, windows, and lot dimensions.

    I’m no longer surprised when other agents holding open houses don’t know this info. It should be the first thing they learn about the house.

    Many times host agents just sit on the couch and barely acknowledge the people who come in.

    I make sure to greet everyone who comes in, while standing, thank them for taking the time to attend and invite them to help themselves to any of the information that is on display and ask how they found out about the open house; MLS, street signs, etc. I also ask them if they have an agent they are working with so I can make a note in the appointment system and notify their agent that they came through the open house.

    Finally, if they are not working with an agent, I will ask them if they would like me to tour the house with them or if they would like to tour the house on their own.

    This allows people to be more comfortable looking through the house not having a grinning, commission-hungry agent pointing out the obvious good features of the house while engaging in pointless small talk.

    The people who do want me to tour with them are given the factual and pertinent info and not “this bedroom has hardwood floors and a closet”.

    All in all, the more people that get in to see the home, the better chance of finding a buyer.

    The more effective an agent is at presenting and selling the house, because after all an agent is a salesperson, the better the chances are of the house selling for more money and less time.

    Ineffective open houses are done by ineffective agents.

  • Can a Thermostat Blow Up a Deal?

    This post was originally written for my newsletter, May 2019.

    How have you been? Did you hibernate through that deep freeze of winter? If you’re like me, you still haven’t seen your shadow; too gloomy outside to feel like it’s spring.

    As I write this, Maria is asking telling me to turn the furnace on. I refuse to put it on this late in May simply on principle!

    Bah. It will get nice at some point and we’ll all moan and complain about how hot it is and we’ll quickly forget about how bad the winter was.

    Speaking of thermostats, I had to kick a couple of people out of this little community of ours because of a thermostat. 

    Seriously.

    Allow me to regale you with this doozy of a story.

    If you’ve bought a house with me before, you had a protection clause in your offer about chattels and fixtures (appliances and certain other items physically attached to a house) that they would be in working order on closing.

    “The Seller represents and warrants that the chattels and major mechanical systems included in this Agreement of Purchase and Sale will be in good working order and free from all liens and encumbrances on completion.”

    What is good working order? A fridge keeps food cold, a stove warms up food, a furnace that warms the house, etc. 

    To the story at hand:

    I was with (former) clients in a condo that hadn’t been updated since it was built in the late seventies, exactly what they were looking for, when I noticed that the thermostat was one of the old kinds with a mercury trigger.

    Of course, I had to tell the husband a story about how I played with the mercury from a broken thermometer when I was a kid and poured it down the drain once I was bored of it.

    He was taking measurements and wasn’t really listening and, simply said “Oh, OK.” to my story. 

    I need to shut up sometimes.

    The wife, who had been on her phone the entire time (she was like this when they purchased their home at Yonge and St. Clair), looked up from whatever she was thumbing through and became fascinated with the relic fastened to the wall.

    She decided that the temperature should be cranked up to 35 degrees, twisting the dial well past where it could go.

    The dial reset itself back to where it was. That’s what happens with this type of thermostat when it gets turned past its highest possible temperature point.

    Being the HVAC technician that she was, she says, “it’s obviously broken”.

    Awesome! She unknowingly gave me an idea for a closing gift; a Nest thermostat.

    They decided they wanted to buy it, no need for an inspection, much like the first house I helped them buy because, like that house, it wasn’t liveable in its current state.

    Also, being pre-approved for a mortgage, they didn’t need a financing condition.

    Additionally, the status certificate was available to review ahead of the offer day, so I had my preferred lawyer look it over and let us know if any concerns with it should prevent them from making an offer.

    None were found.

    It was one of the best status certificates he had seen in a long while, he explained to us.

    I spoke with the listing agent, and got the preferred closing date, along with a range of what the seller’s expectations were on price.

    After reviewing the comparable sold condos, we decided that $7,000 more than the asking price was what they were willing to pay.

    They won the offer competing against 7 other offers.

    Let’s skip to the juicy part because everything was going swimmingly with the deal until:

    A few days before the closing date, I get a nasty text from the wife,

    “You mislead us. You didn’t tell us that the seller is responsible to make repairs to the condo based on the clause in the offer.”

    What-the-what?

    One of the associates from the law firm (that I recommended) advised that the clause I had in the offer required the seller to repair or replace any non-functioning fixtures.

    To note, all of the appliances worked, even if they were avocado colour, and the thermostat too.

    I was completely confused so I called her to explain to her that the lawyer was wrong (more than likely she misunderstood what the lawyer said).

    I have never been so demeaned in my life. She tore a strip off of one side of me and then the other.

    If there is one thing I know, is when someone is irrational and completely irate, there is no point in arguing. Just listen.

    There were threats of suing me for negligence (I forgot to tell you that both she and the husband are lawyers…), and that I had better have insurance in place and something about going after personal assets.

    She demanded that we revisit the condo at 7:30 in the morning so she could make a list of the required repairs.

    I tried to make her understand that she was wrong about what she expected the outcome to be based on the clause, but she knew best and wouldn’t listen.

    I should have stood strong and refused to take her, but I was scared shitless because I had never in all my time since 2004 had anything like this happen to me.

    But I gave in to her demands and scheduled an emergency appointment through the agent who, thankfully, was understanding.

    I didn’t sleep that night.

    That morning, I arrived at 7:10 to make sure I was there before her so as not to give her any further fuel to complain about if I was late.

    She arrived with her mom at 7:45.

    Pompous you-know-what for showing up late.

    Anyway, it was the most awkward elevator ride ever. The 2 minutes to get to the 7th floor felt like 2 hours.

    I opened the door to let them in and do whatever it was they were going to do.

    While they walked around making notes about the cabinet doors in the kitchen being squeaky, rust stains in the bathroom sink, curtain rods that needed to be resecured, everything that was in plain sight when we visited the place and none of which had anything to do with the clause they were so concerned with, I went into the kitchen and video recorded the solid ice cubes that were in the freezer, the refrigerator (luckily) had a thermometer, so I videoed that and made sure to wait until the compressor kicked on too for audio proof as well.

    I then went to the stove and recorded all four burners heating up, watching them change from black to red, and did the same with the oven element.

    From there, I video-recorded the toilet flushing, both the sink and the shower properly draining, and then went back to the kitchen to do the same with that sink.

    There wasn’t a washer and dryer since the building had laundry facilities.

    All the appliances were tested during our first visit with the husband in tow too.

    I heard her say to her mom to tell me they were done. I guess she was no longer speaking to me.

    “Is there anything else you’d like to look at while we’re here?”, I asked her.

    No. Curt and sharp.

    “Great, you can leave and I’ll lock up behind you.” I didn’t want to ride the elevator with her again.

    “Why, so you can fix things behind my back and cover your mistake?”

    This couldn’t be real, but I didn’t want any more drama. I was exhausted, constipated, and had cotton mouth. I wanted this done and over with, and I was starting to feel confident that she had nothing she could use against me.

    Another tense elevator ride. She actually walked with me to make sure I put the key back in the lockbox.

    I guess she didn’t think I was smart enough to re-open the lockbox after she left and go and fix things behind her back.

    But I digress.

    I called my errors and omissions insurance provider right at 9:00, and explained everything about how they were either confused by what their lawyer said about the clause, or the lawyer was clueless regarding what the clause meant. They asked me to send the offer so they could look it over.

    Around noon I got a call from the errors and omissions legal advisor and he said, “If the appliances are working, there are no grounds for anything. They either received poor advice from their lawyer or, they’re trying to strong-arm you into paying for their renovations”.

    I was instructed not to speak with them anymore and to tell them any further communication should be done in writing, and through their lawyer to my errors and omissions insurance provider.

    So when she called the next day, I didn’t answer and texted her exactly that.

    That final text was followed up with this email:

    Mike

    I have tried to call you to discuss a resolution to the matter discussed on our earlier call.  I have also sent an SMS messages requesting that you discuss this matter with me. You are refusing to speak with me or engage in a productive way in order to resolve this dispute.

    We are extremely disappointed in your behavior and lack of professionalism. We have given you a tremendous amount of work and are frankly shocked at how you have treated us, particularly given the tens of thousands of dollars in the commissions which you have made from our family’s property transactions.

    This is my last attempt to reach out to you to resolve this matter.  If I don’t receive a response from you within 24 hours, providing your availability for a call to discuss a settlement, I will assume that you are not interested in resolving this dispute outside of a formal dispute resolution forum. Please be assured that I will be escalating this matter.

    I didn’t reply, and I didn’t hear back from them or the errors and ommissions until a couple of months later saying that they will put the file on hold as they haven’t heard from their lawyer at all.

    Maybe cooler heads prevailed? Maybe they were told they were wrong, or misunderstood or misinterpreted what the lawyer meant.

    Who knows, maybe they will bring legal action against me in the future.

    All of this stems from a measly, ancient, thermostat and a misunderstanding of a legal clause designed to protect them.

  • When Agents Fight Dirty

    Testimonials. Anyone in business knows how vital they are.

    Stepping out of my business owner shoes, if you’re like me, you make a lot of your buying decisions based on reviews.

    I have always had a hard time asking a client to leave me a review. I don’t know why, it just feels weird.

    If you’ve looked at my Google reviews, most are from clients who decided to leave a review of my service on their own. I have asked a few to leave one for me.

    As I began to gain business traction in my neighbourhood, an agent, or agents, decided I was a threat and declared war on me. No warning shots fired just a full-out blitzkrieg attack.

    Whoever it was, I suspect one of the two “prominent” agents in my neighbourhood, filed a complaint with Google saying my place of business, my home address, was not accurate.

    I guess they don’t like the fact that when you look at a Google map of West Rouge you see Mike Lind, Real Estate Agent on the aerial view.

    mike lind google maps

    This is true for most agents. Technically, your home is not your place of business, it is the brokerage address that is your place of business.

    But I am not most agents.

    I’m a registered Personal Real Estate Corporation, a PREC.

    Some agents call me something that sounds similar, but that’s only because I don’t let them get their way in a deal.

    Anyway, because I’ve registered as a PREC and incorporated with my home address, my place of business is my home address.

    What I suspect happened is one of the top producers felt threatened by my area presence and decided to fight dirty and punch below the belt by complaining to Google.

    Google takes things like this pretty seriously and without warning, suspended my Google My Business profile pending proof of business ownership and registration.

    I was pissed that someone would stoop so low, but I shouldn’t have been surprised that a competitor would do such a thing.

    It was an easy issue to resolve as I only needed to email my article of incorporation to Google and I was back online within an hour of being taken down.

    But if I wasn’t prepared to show proof, then my 25, 5-star reviews would have been gone forever, and that’s not right.

    Even if an agent had themselves improperly listed on Google Maps, have a backbone and let them know that they are improperly using their home address as a business address and give them a warning that if it’s not fixed within, I don’t know, a week, you’ll snitch to Google.

    Not this agent. Too much of a coward.

    And I can see why they’re threatened. You have to be a real technical wizard to show up on Google Maps. You don’t need a physical address in a neighbourhood to do it.

    But they either don’t know how, or they still don’t take advantage of online media.

    I know they don’t because I see their monthly “newsletter” that looks like it was made on MS Word 97, complete with illegible cursive and mismatched fonts, along with dark letter colouring on dark background.

    If you visit their website, it too looks equally terrible. Something I would have programmed when I was learning HTML and CSS back in 2002.

    Is my online presence perfect? No. But I have good reasons for that. One of the teams I worked with made me kill off all my online presence when I joined them so as not to “confuse the brand”. 

    Another story for another time.

    I could go after the one big-time agents in my area too. There have been plenty of opportunities where they have not followed the rules when it comes to signage.

    Remember those “coming soon to MLS” signs that agents would have up for a couple of weeks before the property went on the market?

    What a joke those were; part of an agent’s “pre-market campaign” – please, it was just so they could have their sign up on a lawn longer because houses were selling so quickly; dumbasses likely didn’t know about an exclusive listing.

    Anyway, when an agent has an exclusive or a coming soon for sale sign, the MLS and REALTOR logos need to be covered up. If a property is not on the MLS, then an agent can not use the MLS logo. Plain and simple.

    On multiple occasions, I saw the for sign displaying the logo. I could have filed a complaint to have them cover it up. Essentially wasting their time to have to go and put a piece of tape over it. Teach them a lesson.

    But I find that petty because it doesn’t affect my business. It’s just a trademark stipulation.

    Maybe I should though, make them sit through the kangaroo court that is the TRREB tribunal, waste their time there, and cause them to have to sit through a real estate advertising compliance video.

    Nah, not painful enough for what they put me through.