This page is intended to share my personal thoughts about Ottawa and, in particular, the realm of real estate in Ottawa. It's not as HUGE as you might think. There are about 2,200 Realtors in total with the core people staying and many newbies coming and going.  It's my life now, and I love it as something new happens every day ... lots of surprises, challenges and always an opportunity to meet and get to know absolutely wonderful people. 

In the Ottawa Citizen recently (April 2007), there was an article written by Keith Woolhouse titled "No thumb-twiddlers here".  It featured another Realtor, Cathy Gamble of Royal Lepage, but since my view is, we're all working together .... I'd like to repeat it here ...

  First, Realtors are not miracle workers. "We can't simply pluck a buyer out of thin air for a seller. Many sellers seem to think we can. I wish we could, but we can't."

  Having got that off her chest, Ms. Gamble is ready to dispel Myth No. 2:  "A lot of people think we're overpaid for what we do. They think we sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for a place to sell and pocket the commission. That is so untrue."

  "They don't see us visiting dozens of properties that come on the market every week. They forget about the weekends when we have open houses and the days we're going from eight in the morning until late at night. They overlook the fact that our work doesn't end with the sale. We deal with property inspections, helping arrange mortgages, and working with lawyers to resolve any glitches and, believe me, glitches do occur."

  It's said that real estate agents must have an affinity for the inside of other people's homes and they have to be people-friendly. Ms. Gamble goes along with both of those.

  It's not just a question of selling a property, it's the relationship between agent and buyer - or agent and a seller - that helps make a good deal."

  She has some sound advice for buyers and sellers on how they can help bring that about.

  "When you're looking for an agent," says Ms. Gamble, "sit down with them and have a frank discussion about exactly what it is you're looking for and your time frame. It doesn't mattr if you're buying or selling. Both involve major lifestyle shifts, so it's extremely important that you're on the same page as your agent and that both of you have the same vision. Don't be concerned about giving the agent too much information.

  "You have to be comfortable with your agent and trust their ability. Trust is one of the biggest factors in this business. I've heard it said that people don't need to like their  agent, but they should trust them. My feeling is ...that's not good enough. I'm not saying you have to love your agent, but hou should like them because with that comes respect, and if you don't hit it off personality-wise, then you will probably become resentful when a deal doesn't happen quickly enough.

  And on that point, Ms. Gamble is firm. "Find an agent you feel you can work with, stick with them and give them time to work a deal. Don't jump from agent to agent. We see that a lot in this business, and the person you're hurting most is yourself."

  Selling or buying a property is a team effort, says Ms. Gamble, who urges her clients to visit as many open houses as they can.

  "I tell my clients, if you see one you like, or even feel just so-so about, let me know and we'll arrange a showing and go back together. If I can walk through it with them and they can point out the features they like and those they dislike, it gives me a much better idea of what it is that they're looking for.  That helps me find them the perfect home."

  Ms. Gamble says she encourages buyers to visit as many properties as possible in their price range because it helps the decision-making process.

  "I had a buyer looking for a condo who asked me to accompany her to an open house. She didn't like it, but there were two others nearby, so we went there and she fell in love with one of them, put in an offer the next morning and by nightfall, it was hers."

  Buyers can be a fickle lot, says Ms. Gamble. There are those who insist they want a four-bedroom house and, after visiting dozens, they're shown one with three bedrooms and they fall in love with it.

  "It happens all the time. They want a two-storey, they buy a split. They want four bedrooms, they buy three. They want old, they buy new."

  So what is it that sells a house?

  "It's all about charm. It's all about emotion." Ms. Gamble says.

  "Something happens when they walk through the door. It's the charm of the place as much as the number of bedrooms or bathrooms. There are exceptions to that and they're the very practical people for whom charm doesn't mean as much. They want four bedrooms, an ensuite, a two-car garage and that's it."

  The most stressful part of a property deal is preparing the offer to buy or considering an offer to sell. That's when we really have to listen to our agent, says Ms. Gamble.

  "We want the deal to go through as much as you do, but we're not getting carried away by our emotions when offers and count-offers are going back and forth. That's when we can negotiate with a clear head and our experience counts because we've been in this situation many times before."

April 30/05

"blog ~ short for web log - open to the world to read"

Today in The Ottawa Citizen, Alex Munter listed the top 10 Ottawa blogs.  They are:

www.placeandthyme.com

www.bywords.ca

www.hannarockhead.blogspot.com

www.lisgaroconnor.blogspot.com

www.natcaprock.blogspot.com

www.nccwatch.org

www.ottawafamilyfun.com

www.ottawasportsblog.blogspot.com

www.smallman.ca

www.waldencabin.com

I think these people know how special Ottawa is .... and have the same idea about sharing.  Check them out.