Now I am not becoming the choir boy of any Real Estate Board or Association, however I do believe it is a good time to sell your home. The media is having a field day with what should be described as at best a levelling of the market. These stories have lead to water cooler and dinner table conversations about the ‘downfall’ of the real estate market. Sure some of the numbers are lower than a year ago. The current numbers are being compared to record settings numbers of the past few years. Lower numbers were inevitable; it would be absurd to expect the market to continue to set new records indefinitely. Point being yes the market has shifted, has the bottom fallen out? Not even close, in fact selling today could be considered selling at or extremely near the market’s peak. Of course this is assuming that the Olympic market surge isn’t coming; Vancouver property owners should not bet against another rise in prices after the Olympics.

Selling in this market is not as simple as plunking a sign out front and having your property listed on MLS. There are more properties for sale right now than ever before; you cannot count on your home simply being stumbled upon. You need to find a professional to help you navigate the markets and get your house noticed. I'm talking about calling a highly skilled professional who knows what it takes and can really give your house the attention that it needs, this isn’t always the Realtor with the most signs in the neighbourhood. You need a Realtor who believes in marketing your home using as many resources as possible. A sign and MLS are great and effective; they are also exactly what every other property for sale is using. I might as well include ‘Just Listed’ mail outs in the standard marketing, I am a Realtor and I don’t look at the 5 to 8 ‘Just Listed’ postcards I get a day, what are the odds this inefficient and unsustainable method will sell your home. Ever notice the picture of Realtor is bigger than the pictures of the property ‘Just Listed’? What are they marketing the property or themselves?

Look for a Realtor who insists on expansive and aggressive marketing using the internet, multimedia photo and virtual tours, multipage professional brochures for those who view the home and insist on servicing the Realtors bringing prospective buyers to your home. From experience I continue to be baffled by the number of times I need to be outright aggressive to schedule a viewing of a property on behalf of my clients. How does making it difficult for Realtors to bring clients to view the property help their clients?

More on who your Realtor should be treating like gold and modern marketing techniques next time...