Royal LePage - Your Community Realty, Independently Owned and Operated, (905) 731-2000
Jim Reid, Broker, (905) 731-2000
BUYER REGISTRATION
Home or Property "Buyers" don't pay Jim Reid for his services, except for a few special situations which would be agreed upon ahead of time.
Jim gets paid by the "Seller's" real estate firm for representing you on the sale of their client's property.
There are two steps in working with Jim Reid:
1. Register your personal contact information and needs.
2. Sign a "Buyer Agency Agreement"
Use this six part "quick search" form to have Jim help you find your new home. Jim has access to databases and search tools not available to the public.
REGISTRATION
Registration is very simple as you merely contact Jim, (by phone, fax or e-mail), give him your name and contact information, and tell him about your real estate plans and needs.
Registration enables Jim to set you up in his confidential database and to begin his analysis and research on your purchase project. This usually entails Jim doing several hours work on your behalf as he updates his research in the specific market area(s) you prefer.
He will also review available properties, (often exceeding 100 listings), to carefully select the best possible ones to visit. Then he will contact all the listing agents and book your showings at times convenient to yourselves and the Vendors. Often he obtains extra information on the best properties, such as how much the owners paid for it and why they are moving, etc.
BUYER AGENCY AGREEMENT
You officially become a client of Jim's when he meets with you to look at properties. Buyers must legally sign a Buyer's Agency Agreement before they put an Offer on a property. This document protects all parties to the agreement as it clearly states who is officially representing you and your interests in the forthcoming transaction. This document also protects Jim by entitling him to get paid for his work by the Vendor's realtor, even though he is working on your behalf.
AGENCY
In real estate, agency relationships are extremely important. Depending upon the agency relationship in place, you may not be entitled to all of the information available.
a) No Agency
If you approach a Vendor on your own to buy their property, you have almost no legal protection. (Their spouse might even take possession of the home that you already paid for.)
b) Seller & Buyer Agency
In most real estate transactions, there is a realtor representing the interests of the Seller and another representing the interests of the Buyer.
c) Seller Agency & No Buyer Agency
If you call about a property on the Internet or in a newspaper or magazine ad, you have no one protecting your interests. You are merely a "Customer" with very nominal legal protection or rights.
So, if you meet the agent at the property, or drop in to an "Open House", you have no one looking after your interests or guiding you on what not to tell the Vendor or their agent.
d) Dual Agency - Same agent for Seller & Buyer
Almost 1/3 of Jim's business is conducted with a dual agency relationship whereby he works on behalf of both parties to mediate a successful deal.
The information he obtains from each party is kept completely confidential up until the Buyer expresses an interest in Jim's Vendor client's property. From then on, he shares all new information from each party with the other side.
Dual agency is carried out differently by other agents, especially those who may not share Jim's Christian ethical and moral values.
Jim's clients are very pleased with these negotiations as everything is in the open and there are no "games" involved.
But in general, if you choose not to work with Jim, his advice is to not work directly with the "Seller's" agent in the hope of getting a lower price through a commission reduction. Agents who discount their commission, when they represent both parties, most always give any discount to the "Seller".
PROFESSIONALISM
A "Professional" is someone who gets paid for their work or services. Thus, all 22,000 realtors in the GTA are "professionals". However, there is an enormous range of "professionalism" in real estate.
Many hockey players are "professionals" who play in leagues all over the world, but they will never make it to the NHL. All doctors are "professionals" but few will qualify to do specialist work or specialized surgery. Real estate practitioners are the same.
Within the industry, the highest sales volume agents are considered the best by many of their peers. They receive the top awards from the big franchise corporations for selling as many dollars of real estate as possible. Many of these "Top" agents have a team of sub-agents whose sales are added to the managing agent's total.
To get to this level of highest sales volume, one must focus on their personal goals, and if necessary, to be ready to put their prospect's or client's interests in second place. These people are the classic "high pressure" sales people.
There is another kind of "professionalism" that relates to the values, skills and expertise of the realtor.
a) Values
There are quite a few realtors whose personal value system is much like Jim Reid's. They diligently follow the code of ethics of the real estate boards, plus they add on such things as treating their clients the way they would want to be treated.
Occasions often arise in real estate, where the realtor is in a position to close a deal at a less than optimal value for their client. The "closers" will close, but the "high values" realtor will continue to negotiate on behalf of their client.
(Your agent earns less than 2.5% on the final $5000 he/she negotiates for you. This amounts to only $125.00)
Jim always puts his client's interests ahead of his own. He has several strategies to get you that last $5000. As a result, his selling prices average 2-3% higher than other realtors. Similarly, Jim works to ensure his Buyers purchase below the mid-market value.
b) Skills & Knowledge
Realtors have experience and skill in salesmanship or they don't survive. Excellent selling skills will move a realtor up the ranks, but they need much more to get into the top 25%, or top 1000 in the GTA.
To perform at an exceptional level for their clients, they need highly developed skill in many areas, including: market research & analyses, consumer behaviour, negotiating & mediating, computer & technologies, time management, budgeting, financial analyses, property assessment, design & decorating, construction methods, legal contract interpretation & design, copy writing/editing, printing, photography, advertising layout & design, the 14 types of sales promotions, public relations and professional inter-personal relationships.
Even after 25 years experience in the real estate industry, sales people can not acquire all of these skills. Many are only acquired outside this industry or through extensive academic programs.
Jim Reid has all of these because he obtained his Honours and Masters degrees in Business Administration, he has taught many of these skills at the College and University levels and he has practiced these skills for over 20 years in the corporate and small business communities.
c) Expertise
To become an "expert" in something takes practice and repetition and experience. It requires focus, dedication, persistence and perseverance. It requires research, goal setting, strategizing, planning, organizing and execution.
In real estate, everyone gets lucky and sells a couple of homes in a day or a week. But the majority of homes aren't sold for 7-8 weeks. Also, a high percentage of these have also had a price reduction. Plus, over 30% of the properties listed aren't even sold during their initial listing period!
Of course, there are many reasons for these results. But, Jim Reid consistently beats these statistics.
Jim's superior performance derives from his broad skill set, but also it comes form his approach to real estate. Each property he lists gets its' own unique marketing program targetted at clearly defined buyer groups. His communications strategies through a net which creates much higher than average showings. His follow-up tactics cull out the "lookers" and bring back the "buyers".
Similarly, with his Buyers, Jim culls out the "dogs" and zeros in on the best properties to show his clients. He doesn't stop searching until he feels confident that it will serve their lifestyle needs and both the husband and wife are happy with the property.
Jim's Work Ethic
Jim has mass marketed 100's of thousands of consumer products, valued in the 100's of millions of dollars, in markets all over Canada and around the world. He has managed large teams of professionals. He has been a work-a-holic.
At this point in his career and lifestyle, he wants to share all this expertise to please and service his personal clients. He enjoys doing most everything himself... even careful preparation of Offers on properties. He is a hands on professional.
Jim knows how to assemble a team to sell hundreds of properties a year. But, with a private family life, he doesn't want the stresses associated with running a large organization again.
He works with a limited number of clients at a time and doesn't hesitate to refer you to someone else if he feels they can service your needs better.
He comfortably provides his high service level for a dozen clients at a time and needs a steady flow of new clients every few weeks. If you feel Jim can help you, please call him. The sooner you meet with him, then the sooner he can lay out your selling and/or buying projects.
Jim would appreciate your informing friends or acquaintances about this website.