affordable real estate leads in Canada

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Growing Optimism Regarding Housing Market Amongst Canadians

Published August 20, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

Earlier this year, the CMHC joined economists and many other industry experts in declaring that the market for detached homes in Canada was now ‘flat’ – meaning that it wasn’t moving in either direction and thus favouring either buyers or sellers OR meaning increased or decreased property values for homeowners.

It would appear that things have changed since then. Have they changed enough to warrant a change in the ‘flat’ condition of the detached home market? That’s up for debate, but of course as well all know there’s much more to the market and housing stock in Canada than just detached, single-family dwellings. Sure, they may be the shining pinnacle of home ownership, but the reality is that the ‘norm’ of what housing and should entail is shifting very rapidly in todays’ world.

Ascribing to and working with these new bigger-picture realities is a part of what separates a great realtor from a good one, and as we keep harping at here – knowledge is real power in this business in much the same way it is for any of them. Here at Real Estate Leads, our online real estate lead generation system is an excellent way for realtors to harness the power of the Internet and get so much more out of their prospecting efforts. And that means opportunities for you to flex your real estate industry knowledge muscles!

Stronger Market Performance Seen

The consensus seen nowadays is that Canadians have an increasingly positive outlook on housing, and that’s something of a marked change from as recently as 2 summers ago. This has been amplified by stronger market performance and an increase in housing starts across the country as a whole.

The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index confirms this, with a posted a 58.6 reading that’s up from the 58.3 seen at the end of June. The increase may seem small at face value, but in this context it’s significant. Vancouver and Toronto continue to be the very centres of real estate activity and demand in the country, and accordingly this growing optimism is being bolstered by surging home sales in Toronto and Vancouver.

Both cities enjoyed 24% growth last month.

National Economy Influences

This is then coupled with a steadily recovering national economy, along with downward movement in borrowing costs. As a result, ever greater numbers of Canadians are less intimidated at the thought of a potential housing downturn.

According to a recent Bloomberg-Nanos survey, 43.2% of respondents believe local real estate prices in their area should increase in the next 6 months. Oppositely, the percentage of those expecting lower prices came in at 15.2%, which was decidedly lower than the 2019 average of 16.4%.

This more positive consumer outlook is buoyed further by higher levels of construction activity or building ‘starts’ as they’re referred to in the industry. Recent CMHC figures indicated that the national trend in housing starts was 208,970 for last month (July), an increase from the 205,765 units that were started in June.

Most notable here were High levels of activity in apartment and row starts in urban centres, and these housing types and the locations of them were integral in reflecting in the high level of the total starts trend in July.

The ‘Smart’ Choice: Multi-Family Development Starts Leading the Way

Vancouver in particular was key to all of this and provided a major boost – upwards of 85% of the market’s new housing starts last month were in the multi-family development category. Of course, these types of developments flourish in environments where available land constraints and supply-demand imbalance that’s drastically weighted towards demand make them the much smarter choice for civic planners and the like.

We can expect to see much more of multi-family home development projects all across Canada, and the trend is definitely something that’s worthwhile for realtors to take note of in being increasingly aware of where the market is going, and the types of housing that will make the most sense for many of their clients.

And so speaking of clients, we highly recommend that you sign up with Real Estate Leads here and receive a guaranteed monthly quota of qualified, online-generated buyer and / or seller leads that are delivered to you exclusively – no one else will receive them, and as such you benefit exclusively. And not only that, but you’ll also have your own region of any city or town in Canada protected for only you as well.

That’s provided it’s still available and that another realtor hasn’t beaten you to it, so if this online lead generator for realtors in Canada sounds good to you then don’t delay in getting onboard with this!

3 Things Many Real Estate Brokerages Won’t Tell New Agents

Published August 12, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

This topic here today is quite a natural one given the fact that this service will be most attractive to new real estate agents in Canada. The majority will have already chosen a real estate brokerage and the bulk of you will likely be very happy working out of there. Some will have yet to make that decision, though, and it’s in the interest of helping these fledgling professionals that we’re going to use this week’s blog to share some realities of being new to a real estate brokerage that you may not be aware of.

Here at Real Estate Leads, our online real estate lead generation system in Canada is an excellent way to increase the effectiveness of your client prospecting efforts and help you build your client base more quickly. Paired with the usually less-than-rosy realities of what it’s like to be new to the business and a brokerage you’re about to learn of here, the value of using technology to get your business gaining steam is probably going to be that much more attractive.

So let’s get right to it – 3 realities that most new realtors aren’t told during the brokerage interview.

The Curveball Pitch

Brokerage interviews are usually 30-minute sales pitches where the brokerage aims to impress on the new realtor why their brokerage is going to the best spot for them to branch onto. You’ll be making money for them, so they need you as much as you need them. Most brokerages will keep it all very upbeat and positive as a result, and avoid mentioning anything that could be perceived as a negative for them or the profession as a whole.

It’s not so much that they want to omit the information for its own sake. It’s more that they don’t want you thinking the bad stuff only happens at their brokerage.

Yes, all these pitfalls to extensive success early in a real estate career will apply to every new realtor and whichever brokerage they end up choosing to work with.

Real Estate Business is Difficult, and You May Fail

To say directly – or even imply – that real estate is easy money is really doing a disservice to someone. Unfortunately, real estate is not as easy money as a lot of people make it out to be. It requires a great deal of hard work, patience and persistence. The fact of the matter is that real estate sales involve a lot of time doing a lot of work, and often for no money. There’s a lot of running around, researching, networking, following up, and showing and submitting of offers – all with people who could be ready to submit an offer or leave you entirely hanging after all you’ve done for them.

The success rate in real estate for newbies isn’t high can be pretty low and it’s possible that you may end up being one of the 1 in 6 realtors who leaves the profession within one year of becoming licensed – as is the statistic from the RERC (Real Estate Regulators of Canada).

You Get What You Pay For

Brokerages make money by charging their fees. Charging agents to be a part of their brokerage is how real estate companies make money. That may be with a monthly desk fee, a commission split, an annual fee – or a combination of all three.

Just as it is in any business, the more you are able to charge equates to having more services, value and time you can provide. It’s simply not possible to provide quality real estate services to your clients if you’re charging discount rates. This applies to brokerages too, so choose wisely with this very important fact front and center in your decision process.

Unfortunately it’s fairly common for some agents to think they can pay the lowest possible brokerage fees and still get good service from it. That’s unlikely – be wary of brokerages that offer lower brokerage fees, as you truly do ‘get what you pay for’ here too.

Prepare for An Extended ‘Cash-Strapped’ Period

A new real estate agent is always going to be in the process of building a real estate business. If you’ve ever spoken to any business owner, you’ll know that money is usually tight in the beginning. The biggest reason for that is there’s a lot of upfront costs that are being incurred ongoingly while you’re not creating income – or creating very little of it. Going for months like this in the beginning can make this business very intimidating.

Again, the reason brokerages won’t be telling you this very clearly is that they don’t want to think that’s a reflection on them. It’s the nature of the business, and so it really is smart to be prepared for a less-than-smooth start to your real estate career. Focus on the right things, provide real service and value, and be very proactive in learning the trade and you’ll be much better equipped to get through the lean period without second-guessing your career choice.

Sign up with Real Estate Leads here and receive a guaranteed monthly quota of buyer and / or seller leads that are yours exclusively. You have your own region of any city or town in Canada, and all of the leads generated by individuals in that region will be sent to only you. It’s a sure-fire way to supercharge your client prospecting efforts and ensure that your new real estate business becomes profitable sooner rather than later.

Decline in 5-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate a Big Plus for Prospective Buyers

Published July 29, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

As a realtor, one of the things you’ll encounter often is people who are adamant that variable-rate mortgages are always preferable when financing a home. There’s a lot to be said for them, no doubt, and it’s one of the many things a client may ask their realtor long before they talk to a mortgage broker for the first time. As we keep harping at here, an informed and knowledgeable realtor is one who tends to be well regarded – and referred – by his or her clients.

Which leads us to also say again that there’s so much to be said for making a strong first impression when meeting with would-be clients. Here at Real Estate Leads, our online real estate lead generation system is a proven-effective way of not only creating more of these opportunities, but creating more genuine ones – meaning with people who are genuinely considering buying or selling homes in the near future.

So, in the interest of building on your knowledge base, let’s discuss the ramifications of this reduced 5-year fixed mortgage rate in greater detail.

Dipping to 5.19%

There it is – the interest rate used for mortgage qualification has fallen to 5.19% from its previous spot at 5.34%. it’s especially noteworthy because it marks the first decline since September 2016. Back then the benchmark qualifying rate fell to 4.64% from 4.74%. It’s been rising ever since, and that’s based on the same reflection of what the BoC (Bank of Canada) sees as the economic outlook of the country.

This past week’s drop has much to do with global central banks deciding to loosen lending policies, but we should keep in mind that Canada’s five-year bond yield – which impacts five-year fixed mortgages – has been going down from January 1^st onwards.

More Purchasing Power

The consensus seems to be that the interest rate decline will allow a homebuyer earning $50,000 a year to afford a home that’s some $4,000 more expensive than would have previously been the case. For someone earning $100,000 a year, they can be looking at something $8,300 or so more expensive.

How this will be beneficial for homebuyers – and investors – doesn’t need much explanation. In tandem with the Bank of Canada’s decision to hold the interest rate two weeks ago, we’re currently seeing the most auspicious period for prospective buyers in 19 months. Further, economists believe we’re unlikely to see the interest rate move on the variable side over the next few months.

Additional Considerations

It should be mentioned as well that there has been considerable speculation that the Bank of Canada will cut rates before the end of the year. While this would be even more beneficial considering a mortgage, those same economists say we shouldn’t hold our breath in that one. The belief is that unless we see those risks affect the domestic economy, it is unlikely rates will decline this year. In contrast to the US, real policy rate in Canada is still 1.75% and inflation was 2%. Long story short, the real interest rate here in Canada will be lower.

Sign up with Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of qualified, online generated buyer and / or seller leads that are delivered to you exclusively and for your privately-served region of any city or town in Canada. It’s a dynamite way to supercharge your prospecting efforts, and you’re almost certain to see your business grow exponentially

The Promise of Blockchain Technology Development for Real Estate

Published July 15, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

There’s few buzzwords if any that are as hot in the world of computing quite like Blockchain is. Some realtors in Canada may be familiar with Blockchain, but we imagine the majority aren’t familiar with it. A blockchain is a growing list of records that are resistant to modification of the data and can digitally record transactions between two parties efficiently, verifiably, and permanently.

Now some will read that and see the words ‘transactions’ and ‘verifiability’ to quickly make the connection for how blockchain technology could be beneficial for real estate. Others may still need it to be laid out a little further, and that’s perfectly fine too. And of course while we’re on the subject of beneficial technologies, here at Real Estate Leads our online real estate lead generation system is 100% proven beneficial realtors looking to build on their customer base. See out testimonials page for more convincing on that if you need it.

But back to Blockchain for now. What makes it have so much potential for Real Estate?

Open, Transparent, and Traceable

A group called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) recently put out a 30-page Real Estate Use Case document to promote blockchain as a more open, transparent and traceable method of conducting transactions in the real estate industry.

It lists eight different uses for blockchain, including:

-property identification (including listings and data)

-token-enabled marketplaces

-token securitization

-public registries detailing ownership of properties

-sales process optimization

Along with its role in the creation of a real estate exchange, blockchain has been used as a platform for conventional real estate sales. Look no further than New York-based ShelterZoom, who have plans to go live this year with a platform enabling buyers and sellers to make and consider offers over an Ethereum blockchain.

Real estate tokenization may take some time to take hold, but it’s quit likely that it will. How this will almost certainly work is that the firm will offer a number of buildings in an index, and participants can buy tokens from that index. The appeal is quite simple, less risk and more profit.

It’s important to remember that the real estate market is highly liquid, meaning property can be bought or sold relatively speedily with little to no loss in value. To date, however, the marketplace has primarily been for a wealthy investors. Blockchain has the potential to change that.

It will enable anyone to invest because the costs to do it are so much lower, and it enables fractionalized ownership. Tokenization makes it so that someone can indirectly acquire a piece of real estate, and it also has the potential to create a much more transparent marketplace. This makes more of a level playing field so that everyday people aren’t at a disadvantage compared to more seasoned, deeper-pocketed buyers.

It has the potential to enables anyone to own and acquire a piece of real estate. Blockchain allows anyone to sell anytime, even if that means selling your share on a secondary market. Of course, a decentralized exchange for real estate tokens.

Blockchain and REITs

A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a fund or security that allows investors to purchase shares of income-generating real estate properties. REITs are owned and operated by shareholders who invest in commercial properties such as office and apartment buildings, hotels, and shopping centers.

With the new technology, the property will have its own smart contract and thus its own token. They can choose to invest in a specific property at a specific address wherever they like.

How It Works

There will be a central authority of users who whitelist those who can participate by first authenticating their identities. Once the individual is cleared, their personally identifiable information is encrypted and stored in a crypto wallet – a piece of software that keeps track of the secret keys used to sign blockchain transactions digitally.

The blockchain onboarding process involves potential users automatically being asked questions and required to submit sufficient proof of identity through a business automation application known as a smart contract – which serves to satisfy financial industry regulations. Once buyers / investors have completed the onboarding process they’ll have their crypto wallets whitelisted for blockchain real estate transactions.

All very interesting stuff, and something for real estate professionals in Canada to keep tabs on.

Sign up for Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of buyer and / or seller leads delivered to you exclusively and for your similarly-exclusive area of any city or town in Canada. You’ll quickly come to see it as money well spent as you build your client base much more quickly than you would by traditional means. It’s a proven performer in every sense of the term!

7 Best Customer Service Practices for Realtors

Published May 13, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

We imagine there’s not even one practicing real estate agent who needs to be convinced of the importance of superior customer services when it comes to advancing their business. Further, the vast majority of realtors will already be providing their clients with good customer service, but it’s entirely fair to say there’s always room for improvement. As is the case with nearly everything, getting right down to the absolute truth of a matter often involves going beyond conventional thinking, and this is entirely accurate in the real estate business.

Here at Real Estate Leads, our online real estate lead generation system for Canadian realtors is an excellent way to augment a realtor’s client prospecting efforts. More leads equals more opportunities, and the best realtors will know that turning a prospect into a client often isn’t as much of a challenge as retaining that client for future business opportunities as well. Enjoying repeat business from a client who decides to buy or sell a home again in the future is dependent on your being every bit the knowledgeable and reputable professional they hope you to be.

That, and meeting their every expectation when it comes to your role as their realtor. Obviously, customer service is going to be a big part of that and so our focus here to day will be on a handful of proven-effective customer service practices for realtors.

There’s no industry where customer service (client service, if you prefer) is more essential than it is in real estate–an opinion I’ve found support for even as the list of industries and professional services niches for which I’m a customer service consultant and speaker has climbed above a dozen. In real estate, empathetic, patient customer service from a dedicated agent, supported by a skilled, polished, and motivated office staff, is a prerequisite for success. If you work in real estate, the principles and best practices I offer below will put you on your way to building a superior level of client service, thereby creating loyal customers, generating word of mouth marketing, and building passionate brand ambassadorship.

Always be Quick to Respond

Real estate clients in today’s world expect speedy service, and now more so than ever before. The saying that an hour represents a year in internet time is pretty appropriate when it comes to what they considerable to be reasonable in as far as response times are concerned. A prospective client who doesn’t hear back from you before the end of the day (at the very latest) may very well move on, or at the very least be starting to develop an unfavourable opinion of you.

Smartphones make it entirely possible to respond to any manner of digital communication quickly. You have one, so be sure to use it and always respond to client communications as promptly as possible.

Anticipate Client Wishes to the Best of Your Ability

It’s a fact that when a client’s wishes are met before they’ve needed to be expressed, that client is going to be plenty pleased with their realtor. Making yourself better equipped to do this requires aligning your systems and your people to anticipate what your clients – and well in advance of the point where they feel they need to ask for it.

It’s true that much of this foreword thinking is the type that only comes with experience working as a realtor, but it’s also true that you can go a long way in this regard simply by thinking about what your wishes would be if YOU were the home buyer or home seller. aligning your systems to focus on what clients really want from your processes is really a key, and make sure to understand that each and every client is going to be different from the next in this regard.

Take Initiative to Share Information with Clients

Clients that feel empowered tend to be satisfied ones, and that comes from the satisfaction of being possession of all the facts they deem to be important. For you, the focus should be on explaining what they need to know and why – before they need it. You can start by NOT assuming that ANYTHING is common knowledge between you and the client. Even if they do, you’re not going to be disadvantaging yourself by sharing it with them, and if anything they’ll see it as evidence of the fact that you’re making entirely sure they’re sufficiently in the know.

Choose Wisely When Building a Real Estate Team

Every real estate firm will have measures in place to promote their clients receiving superb service, and if you’re a realtor who’s become successful to the point that you need to start building a team then you should choose those team members very judiciously – keeping in mind the importance of great customer service in real estate. It’s true that a single disagreeable or unresponsive team member can severely diminish client loyalty. You can and should aim to become an expert at recruiting, selecting, training, evaluating and reinforcing the efforts of service personnel.

Master your Greetings and Farewells

Industry research has indicated that clients that the parts of an encounter they remember most vividly are the first and last minutes of them. It’s for this reason that you should focus on ensuring you have the interaction skills and moxie to make sure these parts of the conversation / interaction are most to the clients’ liking. Yes, that often means engineering them, and while that many not be ‘natural’ it’s perfectly fine to have scripts in place for these parts of your discourse and meetings with clients.

Practice them so that they are natural, but do make sure that you have them in place to make certain that you start and end on the right notes with clients.

Acknowledge Returning Clients in a Personal Manner

You stand to benefit immensely from being able to speak to a returning clients with the kind of ease, naturalness, and personability that indicates you both remember them and know of their individuality. This goes a LONG way in creating the impression that your excellent customer service is paired with a continuing degree of genuine interest in these clients as distinct people.

Some realtors have expressly strong memories that serve well for this purpose. For those of you who don’t, it’s advisable to make notes in your digital files on clients where you jot down little things you catch onto about them. Keeping a notes file in your phone so you can add to it immediately after meeting with them is the best idea, and you then transfer those notes to a master file on your computer once back at the office or at home.

Don’t Measure Yourself Against Prevailing or Conventional Standards

This one is fairly self-explanatory; you shouldn’t be resting on your laurels based on the fact you’re meeting or exceeding what’s seen as the minimum for customer service in real estate. Instead, benchmark yourself against the best practices you can find throughout a variety of service-intensive industries, and do so because that’s going to provide your with a more realistic interpretation of what clients ACTUALLY expect from ANY service provider – their realtor included.

Every client interaction with you is judged based on expectations set by the most receptive and in-tune providers in hospitality, the financial services industry, and other areas those who’ve mastered customer service best practices have reaped the rewards for their efforts.

Sign up with Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of qualified, online-generated buyer and / or seller leads that are delivered to you exclusively, for any area of a city of town in Canada that’s protected for you exclusively within our system. The region is yours and yours alone, and you’ll be the only realtor who’ll receive leads for it. It’s a proven-effective way to supercharge your client prospecting efforts and you’ll have more in the way of opportunities to showcase your real estate excellence – including exceptional customer service.

Young Canadians Still Holding onto Detached Home Aspirations

Published March 19, 2019 by Real Estate Leads

Much has been made lately of the way the new home development industry has shifted more and more to a focus on condominium development over the years due to land constraints, average consumer purchasing power, and the need to build upwards in popular major metro areas in Canada. All of this continues with just the same energy as before, and it is true that multi-family housing development IS the future of housing in Canada’s big cities whether people like it or not.

Successful realtors adapt to the new realities of the industry, and it’s likely fair to say that the majority of first-time homebuyer clients are going to be looking at condos exclusively if they’re looking for a first home in Vancouver, Calgary, or Toronto. Where you put your energies is a very strategic decision, and being more explicitly in the know about the condo market may be an advantage. However, it would seem that the classic dream of a detached home with a backyard and every other kitschy appeal isn’t one that some people are willing to forego.

Here at Real Estate Leads, our online real estate lead generation system is a proven effective way of being put in touch with prospective clients who are genuinely considering buying or selling a home sometime in the near future. As far as would-be home buyers are concerned, they may well have their eyes on a condo that’s in town and near to work for the couple, but if there’s kids in the picture they may well be willing to take on a higher mortgage (provided they’ll qualify) and accept a longer commute to have everything a detached home has to offer.

So what’s the ins and outs of why some young people aren’t willing to give up on owning a detached home like the one many of them were likely raised in? Let’s have a look at that here today.

Still Worth It for Some

It’s a given that condo supply in the country’s largest markets will see significant increases in the near future, but a recent Globe and Mail report indicated that for the most part young professionals and those starting families will still prefer to buy and live in single-detached homes.

Federal policy focused on boosting the availability of low-cost condo units in downtown areas is smart and well intentioned, but it has unwittingly encouraged urban sprawl by forcing more Canadians to look further out into the suburbs to be able to realize their dream of a owning a detached, single-family home with a yard.

Why most – especially singles or couples – would see a condo as their best fit is fairly easy to understanding; they’re more likely to be able to extend the amortization period on insured mortgages, easing the stress test introduced last year or increasing the $750 tax credit for first-time buyers.

However, it seems that many millennials still ultimately aspire to purchase single-family homes.

Look at Montreal

Greater Montreal is a good place to see this phenomenon playing out. Updated numbers provided by the Quebec statistics agency showed that nearly 24,000 residents (many of whom met ‘young household’ criteria) moved from Montreal to the suburbs and beyond over the course of 2018. This migration was the largest off-core one since 2010.

The consensus seems to be that attempts by policy makers and urban planners to coax Canadians into accepting condo living as a semi-permanent state in life may come from good intentions, but it is has not stopped millennials from dreaming the suburban dream and realizing that 600-square feet is going to impinge their quality of life to an extent that many of them will deem unacceptable.

If you’re a realtor in one of these pricey urban areas you’d be well advised to NOT approach any young buyer individual / couple without kids with the assumption that they’re going to want to get into a condo. Yes, most will but you shouldn’t make any assumptions – especially for the reasons being laid out here.

Willing to Commute

It seems that younger Canadians are willing to take their mobility in their own hands if it means having their own suburban single-detached property. If a big yard for the kids is a must, many of them are willing to spend 2 or more hours of their day getting to work and back. That of course has it’s own negative ramifications, but it is what is in as far as understanding your prospective clients’ motivations.

It is true that more Canadians than ever are driving to work, proof that efforts to promote mass transit and densification have done little to kill the dream of a house in the suburbs. If that’s what a client wants and is willing to pay for (both in financial terms and what they’ll pay for in lost time commuting) then you’ll be best served by understanding and relating to their buyer prerogatives and catering to them like any good real estate agent would.

Sign up for Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of qualified, online-generated buyer and / or seller leads delivered to you exclusively for your privately-served region of any city or town in Canada. You can count on having many bonafide opportunities to turn these leads into clients, and it’s a fact that most realtors who’ve already gotten on board with this see it as 100% worthwhile investment in the current and future success of their real estate business.

Stronger Market Performance Seen

National Economy Influences

The ‘Smart’ Choice: Multi-Family Development Starts Leading the Way

The Curveball Pitch

Real Estate Business is Difficult, and You May Fail

You Get What You Pay For

Prepare for An Extended ‘Cash-Strapped’ Period

Dipping to 5.19%

More Purchasing Power

Additional Considerations

Open, Transparent, and Traceable

Blockchain and REITs

How It Works

Always be Quick to Respond

Anticipate Client Wishes to the Best of Your Ability

Take Initiative to Share Information with Clients

Choose Wisely When Building a Real Estate Team

Master your Greetings and Farewells

Acknowledge Returning Clients in a Personal Manner

Don’t Measure Yourself Against Prevailing or Conventional Standards

Still Worth It for Some

Look at Montreal

Willing to Commute

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