Why the neighbourhood specialist is no longer the specialist

The term marketing is a bit of a grey area when used in real estate. When are marketing efforts focused on selling your home, and when is marketing intended to promote the realtor?  In our opinion, calling oneself the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ is one particular marketing ploy that carries misconceptions.

Calling oneself the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ is considered self-promotion

The ‘neighbourhood specialist’ in Calgary usually promotes him or herself in one or a few communities with promotion on bus benches, with flyers in mailboxes, advertising in community papers, and participating in, or even sponsoring or organizing community events. However, in our opinion, this type of advertising is driven to promote the realtor and give the appearance they actively do business in that community.

Oftentimes, people think the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ will sell a home faster and/or for more money, just because s/he is the specialist in one community or area. However, the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ will not achieve this any better than any other agent in the city of Calgary. The term ‘neighbourhood specialist’ implies that s/he knows your area, and, therefore, is able to secure a better  outcome than other agents. Sometimes, area specialists may even suggest they already know a buyer for your home.

Most buyers bring their own agent, not the ‘neighbourhood specialist’

In Calgary, we call them ‘double enders’; when a realtor lists the house and sells it to an unrepresented buyer, and thus ‘double ends’ the transaction. In Calgary these ‘double enders’ are rare these days. The fact is that more than 95 percent of all transactions take place with two realtors: a selling realtor and a buying realtor. This way there is no conflict of interest.

However, despite what many people believe, this means that the listing realtor is not bringing you the buyer for your home. The promotion of your home is basically in the hands of the buying realtor who works in the best interest of the buyer. In the rare chance that the sale is a ‘double ender’, 9 out of 10 times the buyer is not known to the realtor, or in this case to the ‘neighbourhood specialist’.

Glossy flyers from the specialist don’t sell your home

The glossy flyers in your mailbox from the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ are not to sell your house, rather they may be promoting that realtor. These flyers may show some homes for sale in the community. However, a potential buyer for your home, most likely, lives outside the community where this flyer is not delivered.

Some flyers show homes that are not listed by this particular ‘neighbourhood’ specialist. Realtors are allowed to advertise homes for sale from other agents, as long as these are from the same brokerage. It makes for a more impressive portfolio when being a ‘neighbourhood specialist’. In our opinion, this is a somewhat misleading – yet permitted- way to convince the public of being a ‘specialist’ in a particular area.

Competing in your own neighborhood

Another aspect which, in our opinion, may be overlooked is that the ‘neighbourhood specialist’, as a result of efficient marketing, may have more listings in the same community. This means that your home is in competition with the other homes that are for sale in your area by the same agent. In the rare event that a potential buyer is unrepresented by a buying realtor, and does call the listing realtor with the request to view one home, this agent may also show the other homes s/he has listed in the same area or community. As a seller, this is not in your best interest.

The ‘neighbourhood specialist’ did serve a purpose about 30 years ago

The ‘neighbourhood specialist’ did have a place, once upon a time, when the internet didn’t exist. In the ‘old days’, all homes for sale were printed in a booklet, and this booklet was distributed weekly amongst realtors. In those days, it just made sense for a buyer to contact a ‘neighbourhood specialist’, to learn what was for sale in a certain community or area. Nowadays, nearly all buyers start their search on the internet where every home is shown with all its ins and outs with high resolution images, video tours, 3D maps etc.

Why does a realtor calls oneself the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ today?

So why does this ‘neighborhood specialist’ still exist, and why are there so many in Calgary? Simply because it is a way of marketing oneself as a realtor. Most businesses, no matter what kind, focus on a certain market or segment, and realtors aren’t any different. The ‘neighbourhood specialist’ puts all marketing dollars in one segment, in this case one community by ‘farming’ that community with flyers, ads on bus benches, and hosting community events etc. The more you see a name, the more likely you are to call that name when you want to list your home.

However, statistically, in most cases the true percentage of listings a ‘neighborhood specialist’  has are a few percent, a lot less than most people may think. This Calgary realtor actually did some research on neighborhood specialists and their performances. He came to the conclusion that 3 ‘neighhourhood specialists’ combined only did 5.6% of all transactions in that area.

The ‘neighbourhood specialist’ also transacts sales in other communities or even outside Calgary

Most realtors, including the ‘neighbourhood specialists’, will have listings and do business throughout Calgary and surrounding areas, not just in one or two communities. Many Calgary realtors also successfully list and sell in Airdrie, Okotoks, Chestermere, Cochrane, Bragg Creek and in Rockyview County and Foothills County. Therefore it is evident today that a realtor doesn’t have to live and work in a particular community to be able to sell or buy there successfully. And we do thank the internet as a resource for that.

Just to give you a sense about ourselves; we have successfully helped clients buy and sell properties in over 110 communities within Calgary, as well as in Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, Olds, Canmore and Bragg Creek.

 

 

What criteria is there to use in choosing a realtor, besides the ‘neighbourhood specialist’?

Via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), all realtors have all the necessary data needed, including of every home that has sold, going back to the late 1980’s. Finding the recently sold properties, similar to yours and in your community, helps realtors with pricing your home correctly.  Also, the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), provides realtors with all necessary statistics about the current market in your specific community to help price your home at today’s market value. Thanks to all this data, you certainly don’t need to live in a specific area to understand what your home should or could sell for.

The misconception about the ‘neighbourhood specialist’

The ‘neighbourhood’ specialist may imply s/he knows more about the community and therefore will have better results in selling a home in a particular community. Yet, we believe that pricing and negotiation skills, communication skills and honesty are more important in a realtor. This is not to imply that the ‘neighbourhood specialist’ does not have these traits, but merely to mention that a realtor does not have to live or work in a community to get better results in selling a home.

 

 

 

Please note: The above is general information and not considered legal advice. We do our best to write informative articles about real estate in Calgary, Alberta. If you have any questions or concerns about our comments, please feel free to contact us or speak to your legal advisor.