Duncan Fremlin

Over the years, as I was trying to make a business for myself as a Realtor, I had mentors who would advise and guide me when I was losing my way. I owe every one of them a debt of gratitude. Each of them would begin the relationship by asking me if I had a business plan. At first, I poopooed the idea. I didn't appreciate the value of such a document. Then over time, I discovered it was vital, not just as a document, but also as a process.

How can I know where I'm going if I have no idea where I've been and how will I know how to get there if I don't draw a map? Or, to put it another way, by understanding how I achieved the success I had in 2009, I'm better able to build on that success in 2010 and become an even better Realtor.

It's that time of year. What kind of year will I make for myself and my business in 2010?

Last year was a roller coaster ride for pretty much everyone in pretty much every business in this country. There was no market for the first 3 months. Sales were rare and customers were reluctant to commit. That changed almost overnight and what a change it was. The life of a Realtor requires us to roll with the punches and adjust our day to day activities at the drop of hat. For many new agents, this is not easy to do. It takes practice. It's what makes this career so vital and exciting.

We also had to deal with a new City of Toronto Land Transfer Tax (LTT) that many predicted would be the end of real estate as we knew it. What nonsense. Buyers adjusted, as I knew they would, by continuing to offer "what they could afford". No big deal. If they couldn't afford the added cost of the new LTT, then they would simply offer less on the property. They didn't miss a beat.

In 2010:

- the market conditions appear to be favourable for trading in real estate. Interest rates should remain steady. Owning a house or duplex still looks like a better deal than owning a stock or mutual fund. However, if there is a dramatic shift in either direction as there was in 2009, I'll be ready for it. No problem.

- the Harmonized Sales Tax will increase the cost of selling (and buying to a certain extent) a home and again, the customers will prove to be the resilient people they've always been. They won't like it of course but it looks like there's little we can do about it.

- there will be new developments technologically speaking in 2010 but nothing that will change society one way or the other. I still won't likely become a regular Twitter user. I'll find more fun ways to use Facebook and Linkedin. This blog will continue to bring out the "little boy" in me. Karen will continue to dazzle the real estate world with her natural abilities. I'll drive another 50,000 kilometers. I'll play thousands of banjo notes, some good, some not so good. I will not ever play a major 7th chord. I'll attend a lot of meetings, make a thousands of phone calls, do my bit to add to the bottom line at Rogers Communications, score the occasional goal and use my hockey stick to impede the progress of my fellow players (it's called hooking),

- but most importantly, I'll be entrusted with the role of helping families, young and old, buy and sell their most valuable asset their home. It's what I do. I like to think it's what I do very well and I can hardly wait to start another new year.

Good is the enemy of better

I'm not sure if it's original to any particular author but I first read this phrase a few years ago and it stuck in my normally fluid brain. "Good is the enemy of better."

I can't recall exactly but I think I read it in a James Hollis book. I've read pretty much everything this author has written and I've attended many of his lectures. He's a visionary but more importantly, he has the ability to speak about personalities, complexes and the like in a language that everyone can understand and relate to. In the C. G. Jung community, he's one the the main guys (although these intellectual types wouldn't put it this way").

His most recent book, "What Matters Most" is intended to challenge us "to have a more interesting life, a life that disturbs complacency".

I bring this up because as with most of us, I'm beginning to process the year 2009 and reflect on what I might change in 2010. Yes, I'm talking about resolutions. The phrase, "good is the enemy of better" is helpful because I don't want to ignore anything that might be going well. For example, maybe there's something that's working ok in my business but if I challenge myself a bit more, I could make it much better. Or perhaps there's a banjo lick that I've been using over the years and I like it very much. Does that mean I can't make it better? Of course not. The easy thing would be to sit back and nestle into a state of complacency but that's counter productive......and boring.

Change is good but not for the sake of change.

I read a piece in the paper yesterday about luxury homes. They are selling quite well here in Toronto. The builder/developer who was being interviewed mentioned something that I've heard before but only now did it register.

How best to measure the desirability of a property? This fellow described a home in terms of how many "wow" factors it had. The house in question had "a movie theatre"! Wow. A "library panelled in walnut"! Wow. A "lavish backyard with fountains and reflecting pools"! Wow. There's three "wows" right there.

It made me think of a humble bungalow I had listed last year. It wasn't particularly better than any other bungalow but it had two "wow" factors. There was a drop-down staircase leading to a very large unfinished attic. That feature received many "wows" during the open house. It also had a new detached garage that was finished and heated and that too received a few "wows". Consequently, the house sold for oodles of money.

The most important "wow" factor of course should be location. A humble home on a great street will win every time but failing that, try to create some "wow" features before selling a home. It's money in the bank.