Top 5 Tips for Choosing the Right Realtor

Sandy Gum, Insurance and Private Equity Advisor
Vanya Wryter Consulting

The housing market is hot and people are either talking about buying a home or thinking about buying one. Either way, it’s a major decision, so getting the advice of a professional will help the process go more smoothly. 

Here are five reasons why you should work with a realtor and what you should look out for.

1. Experience and Knowledge of the Buying Process

The right real estate agent for you is someone you feel comfortable working with and is the right fit for what you need. 

This person doesn’t have to be a top sales agent or the most experienced on the team because either may not be what works best for you. Here’s why. Having a top agent definitely has its perks because they are very knowledgeable in their area of expertise.They have a lot of clients who trust them. 

However, they may not have enough time to show you all the places you want to see or listen to you if you have many questions and concerns to address. These realtors may draw on their experience with similar clients and recommend what they think is best for you based on their experience.

Having someone who has the time to listen and put themselves in your shoes is a little different. When someone is not a top agent, they may have more time to take you to more places and listen to your thoughts about each place and what you’re looking for. They’re on the lookout for better things for you.

2. Knowledge of the Local Market and Neighbourhood

When you work with a realtor near you, you’ll have access to knowledge about the local area where you want to buy a home. They can tell you about public transportation options and commuting issues to be aware of. If you have children, they can tell you what schools are in the area. 

A realtor can give you the big picture and tell you what future trends will be, what the market looks like and if it is a good time to buy. Each location is different. As another bonus, a realtor can get good deals that are off the market, although this happens more often in the USA than Canada. You can get some of these off the market deals at a heavily discounted price!  

3. Access to the Realtor’s Network and Resources

In addition to information about a local area, your realtor has contacts to a network. While viewing a home, your realtor (or yourself) may notice something that needs fixing or minor repairs. The realtor can arrange for a quote for the repair or even let you know the approximate cost for the repair based on experience with similar homes. 

They can also recommend a company for repairs or renovations that you would like done prior or move in or after. If you’re new to the area, they can also recommend who you can go to for home insurance, or even a consultation about legal matters.

4. Assistance with the Transaction and Paperwork

You’re probably not looking at real estate documents all the time. A realtor is much more familiar with reviewing those documents and going through those transactions. They may notice details you’re not aware of and can answer questions you may have about the process. 

If you’re buying insurance, your realtor can provide information that the insurance agent will need. For example, they can provide you with the details about the property in order to request a quote from an insurance agent. If any legal issues arise, they have access to a network of lawyers and notaries they can consult on your behalf. 

5. Negotiation and Communication Skills

You want to work with a realtor near you who is neither pushy or nor salesy. When you’ve found a home that you see yourself living in, you want to be able to rely on the realtor’s negotiation skills. They will respect the budget that you’re working with. 

They will also be able to negotiate with the seller to come to a mutual agreement on your behalf. Buying a home can be a stressful process so you want to hire someone you trust to represent you during the negotiation. 

You want to work with a realtor who is a clear communicator and can answer any questions you may have. A realtor who can understand your needs throughout the process can reduce your stress and make this a positive and memorable experience. 

Are you looking to buy or sell a home? Find a realtor near you and use our top five tips to narrow down the right one for you. 

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How to Deal with Harassment at the Workplace

This is an ugly topic, one that’s too hot to touch, or perhaps better off shoved under the furniture where it won’t bother anyone. Problem is, even if you bury it somewhere in the back of your mind, it will come back in the future. For a friend of mine, a harassment at the workplace incident came back to haunt her years later.

Incidents like these are not clear cut. It’s not like a diagram in which you can draw an arrow and label the bad guy and the good guy. Nor can you pinpoint the moment when the incident caused the damage. It’s not like identifying precisely when a sharp object cut your skin.

Her co-worker didn’t even have malicious intent. He thought he was trying to set a good example among the employees. What he didn’t take into consideration was my friend’s past experiences and how they would affect her perception of what happened that day.

That day, she was a new hire meeting the team for the first time. When the day ended, everyone started to say goodbye. The standard practice at the company was to hug each other goodbye, and the team promoted a family type of atmosphere.

That Awkward Moment You Don’t Forget

To her surprise, however, she was being judged on her technique. Her supervisor’s boss felt her goodbye hug was not satisfactory, and he told her his opinion in front of her coworkers. He said she had that loose armed type of hug that kept the other person at a distance. Then he took her aside for a talk on the first landing of the stairs.

He accused her of having low self esteem and poor attitude. A proper hug was a bear hug, because that showed a positive and friendly attitude to her coworkers, whether male or female. He spoke loudly, and other co-workers had to pass them and could hear whatever they were saying.

To her, this was harassment at the workplace. But perhaps he had a different idea about what he considered as workplace harassment. To him, a big hug showed that you towed the company motto that you were all family, and you hugged co-workers like they were family.

It was a horrible feeling to stand there and be lectured while people she knew passed by. It was also humiliating when he didn’t like her first hug and he had told her to redo the hug. He had demonstrated the “correct way” by hugging her again in a chummy, big brotherly way before taking her aside for a talk.

As the supervisor’s boss spoke, she weighed her options in her head. It was a startup company, so there was no HR department to take grievances to. Even if there was an HR department, she didn’t want to complain and be fired. After all, she was a new hire still on probation.

Live in the Present but Remember Your Past

Maybe the boss thought he was trying to encourage her to be more co-worker friendly, but as a man, he was also oblivious. That one incident triggered her memories of men in the past who used hugging for a power play. For example, the friend who wanted a girlfriend and when she turned him down, he insisted on a friendly, body slamming bear hug. Or the date who insisted on a big, smothering hug when he realized the first date had gone badly and she hadn’t liked him but he was crazy about her.

Had she been free to choose, she would have ended the first date with just a goodbye. At most, she would have offered a cool, formal hug. Things were awkward with her friend when he confessed his feelings for her. She felt sicker inside when she realized he mistakenly thought she was half his age – and he liked that even more.

When the boss’s boss insisted on that hug, her old memories rushed back, of men who exerted control in a physical way and disguised it as social etiquette. Sure, the boss was trying to promote treating your co-workers as your brothers and sisters.  However, people are not a blank slate.

They come with a past. In my friend’s case, a “talk” to promote a positive attitude at work felt like workplace harassment. It brought back memories of those men who didn’t take rejection well and wanted a goodbye gesture that made her uncomfortable.

She hadn’t spoken her true thoughts out loud. She accepted her boss’s lecture in silence. She was always accepting things when she should have spoken her mind. Those men had made her uncomfortable and tried to make it okay to invite themselves into her personal space.

It’s not like she’s a cold fish. She will bear hug a close male friend or relative because she feels they have earned her trust to be in that personal space. For male co-workers, it was the same. They needed to earn her trust first.

Bottom Line

The lesson she shares now, is speak your mind. Keeping a job is not worth the silence. One person’s comfort level is not the standard for everyone’s comfort level. If you’re not a “hugger” it doesn’t mean you have self esteem issues, and no co-worker can force you to change those types of values. Speak your mind, she says, because that’s what truly strengthens your self worth.

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How to Start an Online Business with No Money

Guest Blog: Sandy Gum, Insurance and Private Equity Advisor

These days, starting an online business is trending. A quick Google search and you’ll find hundreds of ideas for online businesses that you could be starting to potentially make a side income or make you wealthy. Some options cost a lot to start while others cost very little. Which one should you choose?

Before you decide, I’m going to show you how the type of income you generate from your business directly affects how much work you have to put in. Then I’m going to show you how you can start a highly profitable online business without any money.

Types of Income from Online Businesses

If you’re going to look at how to build a business online, you first need to understand the definition and the concept of a business. Next, you need to ask yourself if you are looking for active income, residual income, or passive income.

Let’s start with defining the different types of businesses. The first is an active income business. With this type, you are trading your time for money. For example, operating a marketing agency requires you to be involved in the daily operations. You’re making money, but you are also putting in your time.

When you have a residual income business, you are able to earn some money with minimal involvement in the daily management of it. You’re earning income from paid subscriptions and royalties. At the beginning, you put in more work, but later, you’re mostly involved in just the management of the business.

With the third type, a passive income business, you can completely remove yourself from the daily operations and it will keep running without you. You can disappear for years and it will continue to run itself. For example, you have e-commerce that does not require you to do daily operations and customers come to your shop regardless of your presence. We’ll look at an example of this later.

Everyone wants to go from step 1 to step 10, starting from active income, and slowly building their residual income until they achieve passive income. But is there an online business that will get you to that goal? Let’s take a look at an example.

Examples of Online Businesses that Make You an Income

An online business that you may have come across that’s very popular is e-commerce. You may think it’s a type of passive income business, but I’ve discovered it’s not really passive at all if you don’t have a solid vendor to partner with.

When I was a seller on Amazon, I discovered that you need to learn many things, source products, talk to vendors, negotiate to find products, calculate the shipping cost, and put everything in management. 

Amazon is an active income business. You’re involved in all the details and you’re getting orders that you’re handling physically. You’re managing each of these transactions.

However, if you’re able to hire someone to do the work for you, then you have transitioned your business to a residual income business. Now you’re just supervising your employees. You still can’t be completely hands off in case an employee makes a mistake. You’re not yet making passive income, but you’re able to free up some of your time.

Starting an Online Business Without Any Money

So what are some types of passive income businesses that you can do? Instead of building up an e-commerce business from the ground up or using platforms like Amazon, you can actually partner with a vendor directly without any upfront set up costs. This vendor will do product research, produce products, and provide the logistics, payment, and systems exclusively for you, so you focus only on building clientele. 

Once you have built up a clientele that buys products from you on their own without any further marketing effort on your part, that’s when you generate passive income. Costco or Walmart doesn’t keep reminding their customers to buy their chicken or veggies. When customers need their food, they will go back to them. You want to achieve this level of hands-off customer retention.

Once you reach this level, you have achieved passive income in business. Marketing is what attracts new clients; good products is what retains your clients.

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Skills Insight of the Day #10 Job Opportunity Beware

During the pandemic, many people are looking for “work from home opportunities” and starting a “side business” as ways to make an income. Unfortunately, many MLM (multi-level marketing) and networking marketing companies right now are using these same terms to entice new recruits to join them.

Their selling point is appealing at a time when thousands of people are losing their jobs and people are being encouraged to stay at home.

For example, you may read about a sales opportunity that is commission based, with opportunities for advancement into management positions. You get to work at your own schedule and training is provided. Then you send in your resume, get invited for what you think is a job interview at an insurance company, and then you discover you’re being invited into an MLM.

It sounds like a dream to “be your own boss” and work at “your own schedule” and “no experience is necessary” because training “will be provided.” But what they don’t tell you is that many associates make it through training at these sales jobs, which aren’t paid, and barely make enough in commissions to replace a livable, full-time salary.

There are associates who do make five and six figure salaries from their commissions. They are the ones celebrated at company awards ceremonies. However, for every one of these superstars, there are ten trainees who graduate, make it out in the field selling a product such as insurance, and then fade away, never to be seen again at a team meeting.

If you’re actively job searching at the moment, be aware of these types of “job opportunities.” Understand the lingo, and answer the ad if you’re sure you can become one of those sales superstars.

5 Tips for an Effective Networking Meeting

If you’ve attended a networking event, you’ve likely connected with other business owners and entrepreneurs who later said, “Let’s meet over coffee.” Seems like a good idea, but what if you don’t know what to talk about at that follow up business meeting?

Whether it’s in person or at an online virtual meeting, you can make that follow up to the networking event a successful one by having clear objectives meeting again. Are you looking for opportunities and clients or just building connections?

Here are five tips to help you make meaningful connections and create effective business opportunities.

1 Be clear about who you are and what you do so the right people will connect

At every in person networking meeting, they say you should bring some business cards in case you make connections. It’s also highly effective if you have a succinct, 15 to 30 second description of yourself. When each person is given a chance to introduce themselves, you should prepare an intro that states your name, the name of your business, what you do, and restate your business name again.

If you are clear about who you are and what you do, you will help those in the audience decide if they want to work with you or if they know someone to connect with you. (More about this in tip 3.)

These days, with Zoom and virtual business meetings, having your contact information typed out and double checked for spelling and punctuation saves time. You can copy and paste your information in the chat. In some cases, they invite you to share your contact information in the comments of a Facebook post about the networking event.

2 Attend networking business meetings that attract the type of people you want to meet

Another tip for a successful networking meeting is to learn as much as you can about the event prior to attending. What industries or niches do the attendees represent? Are these attendees new to their career? Do they have a newly-minted business or have they been in business for a while?

These questions are important because if you command a high price tag, a new business may not have the means to hire you. Similarly, if you are just starting to build your skills and your client network, a five-year old business may prefer to hire someone with an established success record.

If you are in a marketing business specializing in marketing for tech companies with 50 or more employees, going to an event for small business owners may not be the best use of your time. To make the connections you’re looking for, do your research on the event prior to attending.

3 Understand that networking is not the same as building a purposeful connection

After attending a networking meeting, you might have a list of contacts to follow up on. You might also be approached by someone who wants to meet with you and learn more about your business over coffee (or virtual coffee these days). Be cautious about such an invitation.

If you’re a new business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur, meeting someone for coffee and getting to know each other’s business sounds like a great idea. You’ll build up your contact list and even if you don’t do business together, you’ll know who to recommend for (insert their business product or service here).

However, if time is valuable to you, this type of meeting may not be worth your time for two main reasons. First, many MLM (multi-level marketing and network marketing) associates start their conversations this way. They pretend to be interested in what you do so that you meet with them one on one, and then they gradually work their way into pitching you to buy their products or join their team.

Second, general getting-to-know-you chats don’t usually lead into any business. You already introduced yourself and what you do at the networking event. If someone truly is interested in bringing you business, they will say something specific such as, “I heard you say you were looking for copywriting clients in the investing niche. My company is looking for more experienced copywriters. Let’s talk over coffee.” 

If the other party just wants to know your business more, they don’t have any specific business leads for you. It’s not even clear if they bothered to take notes on why they want to meet with you in the first place.

4 Research the person or business prior to the meeting

The person initiating a meeting with you might be upfront about their business. It’s also possible that they didn’t have time to tell you much about the details of their business (there is only so much you can fit into a group Zoom meeting, even with breakout rooms). If either is the case, do your own research.

For a new business, the person you are meeting is probably looking for a trade or a collaboration. They aren’t likely to be spending a lot on your products or services. For example, if you are photographer and they are looking for some products to be photographed. Depending on their priorities, it is possible they have set aside a decent budget for photography.  

There is always a possibility that the other party will have more to offer you in the business meeting than you expected. However, in most cases, most sole proprietors and small business owners are working with a limited budget. They are looking to meet with others who are in a similar situation and want to support each other to expand their business through a mutual trade.

5 Be clear about your expectations for the business meeting

Always be clear about your expectations prior to the meeting. Most in person or virtual meetings are about an hour. If the other person says they want to “chat and get to know you and what you do,” expect that you’ll be working on building a connection. The connection might lead somewhere, or it might not.

A more specific objective, such as working on details about whether you can help them build their website if they offer you graphic design and branding will more likely result in business being exchanged.

Summary

Networking is an important part of growing your business. A follow up meeting after attending a networking event will be more effective if you are clear about your goals for the business meeting, whether you just want to make a connection or work on a business deal.

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