Real Talk!

Bear with me… this is going to be a bit of a rant! Fabian and I went for a drive, early last evening, to preview properties for some Buyers. It was a delightful evening, sunny, a gentle breeze, and not much traffic.

I had printed out a number of listings and we poured over them, selecting a half dozen to visit. It’s always interesting, trying to plan a tour for viewing. We cover such a huge area, that no matter how you try, you are going to be traveling every which way and there’s always going to be backtracking. (Fabian says he only back tracks in hunting season… it’s his attempt at humour).

These particular Buyers are quite specific with their wish list (and they should be, with the kind of money they will be spending). They want to be in the close proximity of Bancroft, or just south of Bancroft. They want western exposure (sunset views), a fairly new cottage (with no real repairs needed), cathedral ceilings, a fireplace, year round use, a gently sloping lot with 3 or 4 stairs (at most) to the water’s edge. They’d like at least two bedrooms. They want to water-ski, so the lake will have to be large enough and have regulations that can accommodate. During their last visit, they’d seen one that was perfect… but it had eastern exposure- so it was a definite NO.

I had tried to contact the various listing agents about the properties, to ask if they would meet the “wish list” requirements but it is a busy time of year and phone tag often culminates without progress. This was the case with many of the listings. It’s too bad, our data system allows all of these characteristics to be entered and included on the listing, it’s just that sometimes it’s overlooked.

I’m not pointing fingers, I’m sure I’ve neglected things… however, we really work hard on MLS® listing data- we figure it’s our first opportunity to alert a prospective Buyer that the property may fit his/her/their criteria, so we don’t want to miss out on anything that will help them to determine if it is right for them. We’re all busy… even the Buyers and Sellers are busy people and there’s no need to be wasting anyone’s time!

Armed with copies of the listings (which include directions) and a planned route, we set off on our adventure. The directions to the first cottage were basic, but the route is simple and we know the area, so it was a breeze to locate. Unfortunately, there was nothing about the exposure on the listing… when we got there, we found that it had SW exposure and a rather steep driveway (in rough shape) and the lot required more like 30 or 40 steps to the water’s edge. There were neighbours quite close. The listing did say, “varied” under land features.

So… on to the next. Again, the directions were adequate to get us to the property. It didn’t advise us that we were going to be on a wilderness trail for the final 300 yards, but the verbiage begins “Privacy Plus!” so, I suppose that should have been the tip-off. The listing said the lot was elevated… and it was… extremely. There was nothing on listing in the spot for lot size or exposure. The cottage had sunset views. Fortunately, the owner was outside- trimming weeds- he mentioned that it was a no-motor boat lake.

Thank you!

We drove to the next place. And drove and drove and drove and drove. Note: We had no idea about the “exposure” of the property and we were suspect that it might be another small, no-motor lake. Unfortunately, the directions were so crappy that we couldn’t find the place. That was a waste of an hour. We’ll have to keep calling the listing agent, if we wish to pursue this one.

Same thing happened when we tried to find the next listing. We drove every direction on the highway and could not find a correctly labeled road- and we know the lake quite well! It wasn’t like it was typo on the listing or anything… maybe someone stole the street sign. At this point, we didn’t even care… the listing mentions the shoreline is across a quiet road… and we don’t think the Buyers will want to compromise on that. We’ll have to keep calling the listing agent, if we wish to pursue this one.

Man, if I was the people trying to sell these, I’d be annoyed that the instructions were so poor that seasoned Realtors® couldn’t locate them!

Next we went to one that was really easy to find- it’s right on the highway and we just wanted to verify that we were thinking of the right one… one that I had been through it some years back… it was… and being on the highway isn’t a big problem… it means easy year round access and it’s got an embankment for a buffer. Fabulous lake… a definite maybe to tell the prospects about!

Finally, we visited one that we were sure would match the list, except that we know the lake and the some of the shoreline and most of the lake bottom is kind of gooshy… and I don’t think you can water-ski on it (because of dead head trees)… but there is access to a bigger lake, about 30 seconds away…. We were right.

The thing is… when we write up an MLS® listing, we want to sell the property. There is a term in the industry called “fluffing”- it’s like exaggerating or focusing on an outstanding quality and embellishing it, without mentioning the detrimental aspects.
For instance, if a cottage is divided into tiny little rooms, most Realtors® wouldn’t say “suitable as a rabbit warren”… they’d probably say cozy… I’d probably say efficiency cabin…

Fabian and I try to express the true quality of a place… and if anything, we understate. We think it’s better to let people be happily surprised (or at least, not let down) when they get to a property…. And we are careful with “directions” because we DO want them to get to a property!

Ah well, I’m not really ranting; it’s part of the job. It’s why a Buyer should hire a Realtor®, better we should enjoy a nice four hour country drive… most of our Buyers would need at least that much time, just to get here and back… and it would be horrible for them to have to put in eight or ten hours viewing 6 properties, 2 of which would not be found… three of which that would be definite no’s… and one bare maybe. When that happens, Buyers head home feeling disappointed and deflated. Sometimes, they don’t want to come back.

We try to explain this to Buyers ahead of time. It takes a long time to travel between properties here. It’s not like the city where you are often seeing properties in a specific neighbourhood… and it takes five or ten minutes from one to the next. Here, you need time for rest stops and stretches. Here, you need to enjoy bumpy, winding, dusty gravel roads for what seems an endless eternity between stops! At least that’s how it seems, to people who have driven two or three hours and are champing at the bit… anxious to see their dream cottage!

We're happy to do the scouting!