I Am Not A "Schmo!"

With most products and services today, consumers have an ever increasing selection of choices when it comes to placing their business with someone. Real estate is certainly no different. With a multitude of real estate business models to choose from for both selling and buying a property(s), ranging from multinational franchises to companies that assist "for sale by owners," competition for your business is intense and that's great as competition is a good thing.
With over 30 years of progressive business positions behind me both in Canada and the U.S., I have learned a great deal about what it takes to lead and build a successful business. The one prerequisite however that stands out in my mind more than anything is the need for the utmost in integrity in all your business activities. As previously stated, competition is a very good thing for consumers. Not only does it provide consumers with a variety of pricing alternatives to choose from when making a purchase, it fosters an environment where companies strive to continually develop new products and or services or to re-design existing ones all in the name of capturing their fair share of the market. In all cases, it is ultimately this type of competitive market positioning that creates a win-win for consumers.
In an effort to capture business, some companies find it necessary to berate or belittle their competition. Doing so seldon benefits the party making the defamatory statements and it certainly shows a lack of respect to a fellow competitior hence a lacking in the detractor's own integrity. The unfortunate fact here is that these tactics can result in detracting from the image of the entire industry or profession where such initiatives are employed.
A relative new entrant on to the real estate scene which specializes in assisting home owners sell their own properties seems to feel the need to employ such tactics. Their radio and online media refers to traditional REALTORS® as "some Joe Schmo agent."
I for one resent being referred to as "Joe Schmo." I am a trained real estate professional. My credentials include that of being a "Broker" and "Market Value Appraiser" (MVA) Residential. These credentials must not only be earned through rigorous education and exams, they must be maintained on a 2 year renewal cycle via taking continuous education courses all of which assist me in providing to my clients the best service possible. Further, as professional REALTORS® our day-to-day activities are governed by the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act which is provincial law. These requirements would hardly suggest that REALTORS® should be referred to as "Schmos."
The real estate profession has come a long way in increasing both consumer awareness and confidence. Still, public surveys place REALTORS® well down the list of professions in terms of trustworthiness and professionalism. Companies in the business of selling such a valuable commodity as homes would do well to revise their marketing efforts eliminating the use of terms such as "Joe Schmo." A home represents most consumer's greatest asset. As such, this is no place to use such derogatory vocabulary when dealing with the sale of such a significant consumer owned asset. The reality is, slighting a fellow competitor only serves to lessen the image of all all parties engaged in the great profession we call real estate.

A Better Internet Experience For You!

With approximately 3.6 billion visitors in 2007, the Canadian Real Estate Association's website www.MLS.ca, is by far the most
popular consumer real estate website in Canada. In an effort to improve the Internet experience of today's real estate consumer, http://www.mls.ca/ is about to be launched under an entirely new format.
Effective May 28th, http://www.mls.ca/ will be found under the new domain name, www.REALTOR.ca. More than just a new name, the site has been re-designed and is intended to provide Canadian real estate consumers with an easier property search function along with other useful real estate related infomration that will assist them with their property buying and selling needs.
The name REALTOR.ca better reflects the overall service and value that we in the real estate profession bring to todays's consumers, both online and in person. The re-branded and re-designed site is intended to further the awareness and information that REALTORS® provide consumers when contemplating a real estate transaction. Amongst the many enhancements included with the new site is a "quick search" form located on the home page thus allowing you to readily search for the property type and location you are looking for. Also featured on the new site is interactive mapping using Microsoft's "Virtual Earth" integrated mapping software which will show the approximate locations of the properties you have downloaded in your search. Additional features will include related information about Canadian real estate news and more, all intended to better inform consumers thus demonstrating the value that REALTORS® bring to each and every real estate transaction.
Once the new site is launched, visitors to www.MLS.ca will instantly be re-directed to the new site. Watch for future postings on my blog once we get closer to the May 28th launch date for the new site.

What's Happened to Global Warming

As I write this post, hydro service has just been restored in Collingwood and area after a day filled with much milder temperatures, rain and severe winds. As shown in the accompanying photo of the Beaver River in Thornbury, the spring run-off is phenomenal, unlike any I can remember seeing in quite some some. Conversely, this past weekend saw the area basking in cold, sunny days with ski conditions more indicative of a day in mid-January on the calendar versus the end of March first of April. For the most part it's been quite a winter all across Canada with most people asking what's happened to "global warming?"

A recent article in the National Post entitled "Perhaps the climate change models are wrong" suggests that perhaps things are not as they seem or are being portrayed by the climate change "alarmists." As outlined in the article, there are currently 3,000 monitors cruising through the world's oceans, recording water temperatures at various depths, then surfacing 30 to 40 times per year in order to upload their collective data to satellites for transmission to research labs wherein the data is analyzed.

Data collected over the past five years has yet to detect and or confirm the theory of global warming. In reality, the combined data has detected a slight cooling of the world's oceans. Further, NASA has eight weather satellites collecting 300,000 surface temperatures over the earth daily the results of which equate to a 0.14 degree celsius change per decade, well within the natural variation of temperature and far less that what the climate change models are predicting.

One thing does appear certain, we are seeing much more eratic weather patterns than in the past with significant swings in temperatures and overall conditions from one day and or week to the next. The term "climate change" may in fact be accurate it just might not necessarily mean that global warming is in fact taking place. To read the full National Post article, click on the link below.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=394939