Why hiring a REALTOR will make your life easier.

I believe in education and sharing information freely for the benefit of the public. A lot of people seem confused or just don’t understand what we actually do and I would like to shed some light on the topic.

What do real estate agents actually do?

We write contracts, negotiate a price and terms for our clients, advise/ give opinion, we constantly educate ourselves and our clients. We spend nights worrying and re-reading contracts, constantly anticipating what could go wrong and how to protect our clients if it does. We do a lot of free work and are the last ones in a transaction to be paid. The assumptions of big egos, big paycheques and fancy cars often take the centre stage; however, there are a lot of activities happening behind the scenes the public doesn’t see.

Our license is issued by the province of BC titled “Real Estate trading services”. The license needs to be renewed every 2 years upon completion of several mandatory Professional Development courses, be in good standing (no criminal record) and of course pay the fee.

Many people will be surprised, even some agents, that being a real estate agent requires much less sales than most people assume. As agents, we owe our clients a Fiduciary Duty which means that legally we must take our client’s interest as the highest priority, even if that means a loss of our own earnings. When you go to buy a car for example, the sales person owes you NO duty to protect your interest. The sales person will simply match your needs with their inventory.

When you hire an agent, the agent is working for you to make sure you can buy or sell your property in a safe and legal way and that you know as much about the property as possible.

There are 4 basic duties Realtors owe to the public:

Loyalty- a realtor’s duty to their client is to be loyal to them and avoid conflict of interest. If your listing agent tells you he/she already has clients to buy your house, it may sound enticing but it’s a big red flag. You have to wonder who the agent works for. Are they working for you to get the best deal or the buyer? The agent is supposed to be working only for your benefit.

Full Disclosure- your realtor is supposed to always tell you EVERYTHING that he/she knows about the transaction, the property and the market.

Avoid Conflict of Interest- this can be very tricky especially in a small community when an agent knows both the seller and the buyer. The question is always the same- who is the agent working for. Recent rule changes allow agents to represent only one party to the deal. It is easy to get carried away as we naturally want to help people. However, when I am selling a property for a client and a buyer calls me to ask if I can show the property, I will advise them to arrange the showing with their own realtor and I will make sure they understand who I represent OR do what my client advises.

Confidentiality- When we represent a seller or a buyer, same rule applies. We cannot share information about our client’s motivation or anything private unless our client allows us to do so in writing. Even after the transaction is complete, private information should remain confidential.

In our industry there is now more than ever before more emphasis on ethics and protocols to protect the public from predatory behaviours of agents. For example, we are not allowed to ask you any personal questions until we give you 2 forms called “Disclosure of Representation” and “Disclosure of Privacy”. It makes it awkward and unnatural as a conversation starter but in order for us to be fully compliant with the rules we have to do it that way. Both of these forms basically inform you of all the things I have just written in this article. 

Any agent these days needs to be also connected and fluent in technology. According to statistics, 90% of buyers find their new home online. The majority of marketing of your home is done online and virtually all the due-diligence is done online as well.
When hiring an agent, think about how busy the agent is and how much time they will dedicate to you. How many clients is the agent working with right now? Do you want to be the 4^th client or do you deserve to have the full attention of your agent?

Don’t be afraid of your Realtor! Ask us questions, talk to us. Vast majority of agents are good people that very much care about their clients. I obviously can’t speak for all agents out there but I know a lot of agents and they all show a high degree of morals and caring. What attracted me to this industry is that I can help more people with some of the most important investments of their lives and it is an honour to be part of the process.

Quick Market update:

Vancouver is seeing a market shift already. When a listing is priced well it will show fairly quick but the average days on market has gone closer to 35 days now. In some cases, sellers receive no offers in the first 2-3 weeks. I was convinced that the hot market would continue into the summer and in some regions it's still the case. Locally in the Campbell River area or the North Island things seem to continue to sizzle. Quadra Island listings are mostly over a $1mil these days. Not much is available for less than a million.

If you’re thinking of selling, NOW is probably the best time. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 250-285-2141. I’m here to serve you better.

Roman Krzaczek

SOLD

Such a beautiful home in a great neigbourhood of Whiskey Point Estates. Congratulations to my sellers! Thank you for including me in this chapter of your life. Wishing you all the best!

Sales is as much of an art as it is science and I love both sides of it. The art aspect is being able to use more of your intuition to figure out solutions and the science part is when we ask relevant questions.
What I find very interesting is the study of human behaviour on why we behave in certain ways. When it comes to purchasing just about anything, we fully engage with our emotions. That’s why stock brokers always repeat to stick with your plan, have a sell-stop or stop limit and be disciplined with your strategy for that very reason. It’s nerve-racking to buy a stock you know for sure will go up and watch it go down. If you are a geek like me who loves to analyze numbers, you will appreciate the next bit of this article.

What is the number one reason home buyers are moving farther away from the big cities? It surely can’t be because they want to spend more time in traffic.

This health emergency we are still facing has sure tested my own believes in what is truly important to me and many other people I know. There was a case study done in the US based on 1200 respondents who plan to buy a home within the next 12 months. The study was to analyze the most frequent keyword searches on realtor.com website from January through May 31, 2021. The results indicate the most important home feature for buyers are:

 #1- a quiet location, #2- updated kitchen, #3- garage and large backyard, #4- outdoor living areas, #5- spaces for pets. Additional square footage of flexible space that can be reconfigured for different needs has also risen in importance.

The hyper competitive market has left a lot of buyers re-evaluate their needs as well. Fewer people have searched for short commutes and smaller homes. Seems like people don’t care as much about “remodeled” homes, granite countertops and media rooms. The least searched key words were man caves, pools, guesthouses, in-law suites and new construction. My guess is that most of those are probably driven by the cost of housing.

One common threat that’s clearly visible is that more buyers are looking to relocate to live closer to their families, or even move into the same household together. About one fifth of buyers are seeking to share their homes with members of their extended family.

Numbers don’t lie (if the study is done right and there is no hidden agenda) that’s why it’s a great measuring stick to be able to compare relative items together. I’m not sure if you’re aware but there’s a pretty cool tool online called “google trends”. Just go to this website: https://trends.google.ca/trends/?geo=CA

 I’ve used it for many years to see trends in google search patterns. Everything we do online is recorded and some of that data we can access for free.  If you type in Quadra Island for example you’ll see that most searches on google about Quadra island came from geographical location of British Columbia, second was Alberta and third was Ontario. Most searched topics about Quadra Island was: camping- about 80%; followed by /my favourite/- REAL ESTATE (40%). You can also add search criteria to see how Cortes Island compares with Quadra searches. Same geographical locations are shown in different order #1 BC, #2 Ontario, and #3 Alberta. Unfortunately, not many people are searching Real Estate on Cortes Island.

I hope I didn’t bore you with numbers but when you love what you do for a living like I do, you’ll constantly try to find ways of improving and learning.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 250-285-2141. I’m here to serve you better.

Roman Krzaczek

Dear Quadra community,

Being a new resident to this beautiful island I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself.

In summer of 2019 I had the privilege to sail to Desolation Sound and Discovery Islands. Sailing has been a passion of mine for years and sailing through this breath taking part of BC turned out to be a life changing experience for me. Prior to coming here, I haven’t even had any idea where Quadra was. After that initial sailing trip, I kept returning until I finally moved here permanently in September 2020. The long days stuck in traffic didn’t appeal to me anymore, the hustle and bustle of Vancouver wasn’t making me happy anymore. I craved the peacefulness, nature and serenity this island offered. It is however not the place as much as the people that live here that caught my attention at first. I fell in love here and then very quickly fell in love with the Island as well.

Working as a Real Estate agent is another passion of mine. Getting into Real Estate proved to be the best and right choice for me and I highly treasure all the experiences I already gained. I became a home owner at a very young age, managed a flooring company, flipped houses and did various other jobs. None of them however provided me with a sense of fulfilment and excitement.
Real Estate is not at all about numbers or houses. It’s ALL about people and people’s lives. It’s about caring, open and honest communication and always doing the right thing. As Realtors we have a fiduciary duty to represent our clients, putting our client’s needs ahead of our own. Buying a home is a very emotional and stressful process and Real Estate in many cases is the biggest investment any person will do in their lifetime. I believe it is important to have someone in your corner that really cares and understands, someone competent and trustworthy.

As any changes in life, moving out here to a new territory comes with challenges. Covid has also brought many changes to our lives and we live in a different world now. I feel optimistic however that I will be able to contribute to this community in positive ways. My job can be very consuming but I absolutely love what I do and I am here to help in any way I can. Writing in the Discovery Islander http://www.discoveryislands.ca/news/ is going to be my regular occurance and I look forward to sharing any information you may find interesting. 

Real Estate is my passion and I would love to share my knowledge and experiences with you.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out. My local number is 285-2141.