Toronto Real Estate Agents
Feeling the Impact of the Housing Crash

Everyone has heard of the problems in the Toronto real estate industry and how homeowners and lenders have suffered financially. Toronto real estate agents have also suffered tremendous strain with many agencies having to close their doors. With the many foreclosures on the market agents are having a difficult time of it trying to make a sale. The transactions have dwindled drastically, so much so that it often takes six months or more to sell a home or condos in Toronto that once would have sold in a few days. The result of the crash on real estate agents has been that many of them have had to come up with very creative methods in order to remain in business and continue to be competitive.

As part of handling the sale of a home for a client, a real estate agent has to advertise the property and this takes money. There are limits on the amount of money agents have available for such purposes. It is very expensive to advertise in newspapers and on radio and television. Online advertising has become the norm for many agents because it is cost effective. Many agents now have their own real estate blogs in which they provide advice and support for buyers and sellers on a daily or weekly basis making it specific to the location in which they work. Not only can they advertise properties in this manner but they can also provide clients and prospective clients with updates of the market condition of the area.  While agents are trying to attract sellers because it is the seller who pays the commission, they are also trying to attract buyers. With the average price of homes taking a drastic drop, many homeowners are choosing to handle the sale themselves instead of hiring a real estate agent to work for them. As a result, many agents are reducing the commission fees they charge and many are also offering incentives to sellers such as paying for staging the home or even having them professionally cleaned before an Open House event. Real estate agents are facing great challenges in the current housing market. Those who are succeeding are making an extra effort to sell properties that are languishing on the market and are coming up with ways of making these properties more attractive to buyers. They are looking at the homes on their lists one at a time and concentrating their efforts on making a sale. Thus, they have become more vigorous in the marketplace.

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As a real estate agent in this current economic climate, you should look at the amount of exposure you give to all your listings. Those who have not used online selling in the past should consider using this mode of advertising. According to statistics of real estate sales, almost 85% of buyers search for properties online rather than drive around the city looking for “For Sale” signs. If you are not advertising your listings online, you could be missing out on a valuable source of buyers.
You also have to consider the quality of your advertising. It is not enough to simply list the price of the house, the size and the address with a photo of the exterior of the home. Those who search the online listings want to see photos of the interior and more than one photo of the exterior. Having a virtual walk-through video on your site would work to your advantage in bringing in a sale.

While many real estate agents are finding that they have more time to spend in the office these days, you just don’t have to spend your time sitting around bemoaning the state of the market. This is time that you can put to valuable use by updating your database and exploring the websites and blogs of other agents to give you an idea of how you can improve your advertising methods. Use the database to keep in contact with potential buyers and make an effort to contact at least 10 buyers and sellers each week. A simple phone call could net you a sale and thus a commission.