Some notes on Realtoring in a Pandemic

July has been and interesting month for Jen and Me.  We came off one of the busiest months of our careers both for the Winnipeg market as a whole as for our team.  Jen and I together did 28 deals in June, which definitely kept us on our toes.  We also capped off the month with a new addition to our family.  Our son, Asher Logan Queen, was born at 12:26 am on June 30^th, which put the icing on the cake for an amazing month for our business and our family.

We have been adjusting to life in this Covid-19 era just like many of you have. We have adjusted a lot of our business to be from home, or to limit our exposure to others as much as possible.  Which is not easy when your careers literally mean meeting new people all the time and leaving the house to view properties.  We have been granted some tools to help us though.  We have been granted the ability to digitally sign documents for the first time in Manitoba.  They say that it is only temporary but they are going to have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers! It is so much more convenient for agents and clients alike!

Other changes you may have noticed if you are actively looking for a home or watching the market is that Winnipeg has been a strong Seller’s Market.  There are a significant number of homes selling for over list price, similar to what the market was seeing back in 2008!  Personally, I have had a bunch of clients have to compete in multiple offer situations and in my honest opinion it is not a lot of fun.  I truly think the only people who enjoy it are the vendors.  Even as the realtor representing a multiple offer sale you have to deal with a lot of scrutiny and a lot of uncomfortable phone calls, messages and conversations with other realtors who are attempting to get the home for their clients. 

That being said there are some tips for people who are trying to buy and are having a hard time dealing with competing offers. Here are some of mine:

1. Get a Buyer’s Agent to represent you.  The best way to go into an offer situation is to be prepared.  Having an agent represent you who knows the market and can give you the best advice for pricing on a home is a great place to start.
2. Make a plan.  I know that sounds silly, but a multiple offer situation with 2 offers is different than one with 10.  Speak with your agent about the possibilities of the offer and what could potentially happen on offer date.
3. Make your offer as attractive as possible.  What does that mean? To be honest the best way to make your offer attractive to a buyer is to leave out as much uncertainty as possible, which usually means less conditions.  Some people are comfortable writing offers without conditions and some are not.  You have to assess the risk involved with writing offers without conditions and what could happen if something went sideways. If you need to have conditions for the purchase, then finding other creative ways to make your conditions look less uncertain helps.  Feel free to contact me if you want some ideas!
4. Be patient.  I know that some people are on deadlines and don’t want to wait, but truthfully, I don’t believe this can last forever.  The market will shift again and there will be changes that allow buyers to have a more reasonable opportunity to purchase a home.

So what can be said about the current market in Winnipeg? Well I don’t think it has turned out the way anyone thought when COVID struck earlier this year.  Record months, record sales numbers, multiple offer situations and lots of demand for homes were definitely not projections made by many real estate professionals in Winnipeg and throughout Canada.

That being said if you want some help navigating this crazy market we would love to help you.  We are always just a call, text or email away!

#AgentLogan

Logan Queen

Tel: (204) 226-1261
Email: Logan@JenniferQueen.com