Spring has sprung, and with it a flock of for sale signs have appeared in every neighbourhood. Whether you are selling in order to upsize or downsize, a critical decision that can ensure your house sells at the right price within a reasonable period of time is a great real estate agent.

Home purchases and sales are for most people among the most significant financial transactions they are ever involved in. Therefore, a difference of even 0.5 per cent in real estate commission can significantly impact the amount you actually realize on the sale of your property.

First and foremost, you must be comfortable with your real estate agent and feel confident he/she is acting in your best interest. It is typically preferable not to have the buyer and the seller represented by the same agent. You may meet an agent you like at an open house or be referred by a friend or family member who has been satisfied with his/her services.

In a recent video interview on the Global News Morning Show Sean Cooper identifies online sources such as realtor.ca and feeduck.com to help you with your search.

Realtor.ca is owned and operated by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), The site which is accessible online and on mobile devices is popular with sellers, buyers and renters. Features such as the mortgage calculator, social sharing, neighborhood demographics, and ability to connect with local realtors, are all available to assist you.

FeeDuck is a real-time auction that connects you with professional real estate agents who bid down their commissions, or bid up your buyer cash back offer. You are not obligated to sign with the agent – this is simply an introduction based on the criteria you entered. There is also no cost to the home seller or home buyer. You can find a series of frequently asked questions about feeDuck here.

Here are 20 questions to ask a prospective real estate agent before you sign the listing agreement on the dotted line:

1. Are you a full time real estate agent?
2. How many clients are you currently working with?
3. How long have you been working in my neighbourhood?
4. How many homes have you listed/sold in the last year?
5. How long do your listings remain on the market?
6. What professional credentials do you have?
7. How will you market my home for my best advantage?
8. Will you hold open houses? Public, broker only or by appointment?
9. How do you plan to advertise my home?
10. How will you help me stage my home?
11. How will you arrive at the listing price?
12. Can you provide a comparative market assessment?
13. What’s your sold-to-list-price ratio?
14. Can you give me some references?
15. When does the listing agreement begin and end?
16. What happens if my home does not sell in the specified time?
17. What happens if I change my mind about selling my home?
18. What are your commission fees?
19. Do I need to consider any other fees or charges?
20. What makes you different than anyone else?

Also see:
26 questions to ask your Real Estate Professional before you sign on the dotted line
How to Interview a Real Estate Agent
10 questions to ask when hiring a real estate professional
7 questions to ask a real estate agent before you commit

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Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

It seems impossible that is our last Best from the Blogosphere for the year. The next one is slated for January 8, 2018! I wish all savewithspp.com readers a very happy, healthy holiday season and a new year full of promise and exciting adventures.

If you are starting to think about tax season already, you will really appreciate Janine Rogan’s Professional CRA Hacks. With only 36% of calls actually answered it’s no wonder Canadians are frustrated with the tax system. Furthermore, up to 30% of the time the tax information you receive from an agent may be incorrect, which is as concerning for taxpayers as it is for professionals. A few of her hints are:

• Hit redial 10x in a row.
• Call the French line but ask for help in English.
• Ask for your agent’s direct number and agent ID.

On another income tax-related matter, Andy Blatchford reports in The Toronto Star that during the election campaign, the Liberals promised to expand the Home Buyers’ Plan to allow those affected by major life events — death of a spouse, divorce or taking in an elderly relative — to borrow a down payment from their RRSPs without incurring a penalty.

However, a June briefing note for Finance Minister Bill Morneau ahead of his meeting with the Canadian Real Estate Association lays out the government’s concerns that low interest rates and rising home prices have encouraged many Canadians to amass high levels of debt just so they can enter the real-estate market. “Policies to further boost home ownership by stimulating demand would also exert more pressure on house prices,” says the memo,

Firecracker writes about The Five Stages of Early Retirement on Millenial Revolution. According to the self-styled youngest retiree in Canada (age 31), these stages are:

• Stage 1: The Count Down (1-2 years before early retirement)
• Stage 2: Honeymoon (0 – 6 months after retirement)
• Stage 3: Identity Crisis (7 months – 1.5 years after retirement)
• Stage 4: The New You (1-2 years after retirement)
• Stage 5: Smooth Sailing (2+ years after retirement)
  

The Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick considers the new retirement era and questions How many years past 65 will you work? Carrick says, “Retiring later is bound to be seen as negative, but it’s actually quite unremarkable unless you have a physically demanding job or hate your work. Previous generations may have retired at 65 and lived an extra 10 or 15 years. Retire at 70 today and you might look forward to another 15 or 20 years.”   

And finally, Tom Drake at maplemoney goes back to basics and provides a Guide to Guaranteed Investment Certificates. GICs are a form of investment where you agree to lend money to a bank for a set amount of time. The bank agrees to pay you a certain percentage of interest to borrow this money. You are guaranteed a return as long as you keep your money in the bank for a specified period. Terms on GICs generally run from as little as 90 days to as much as 10 years. “It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of GICs. While you probably don’t want to  build an entire portfolio of GICs (especially if you are trying to build a nest egg), they do have their place in a diversified portfolio,” Drake says.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.