Three reasons to shop local when choosing a realtor

As I view homes that are currently listed for sale and ones recently sold, I have noticed many of the sales representatives have offices that are out of the area. In fact, I recently saw a new property listed for sale with the office located in Waterloo. I am in no way disparaging any other realtors, however I am looking at what happens when a buyer or seller chooses to work with a local realtor, and where the monies that are generated during the sale end up. A seven-day snapshot for sales in Oshawa revealed that of the 71 homes sold, 37 of the sellers used realtors who had offices located outside of Durham Region.

• Local Knowledge

Other than local sales representatives knowing the area, as locals would, understanding where the churches are, the best places to buy a steak or burrata cheese or even local information such as how quickly the Go-Train will arrive in Bowmanville, what are the other benefits that using a local real estate professional offer? Let’s dig in and see how “supporting local” can help not only you, but the entire local community.

• Locals Spending Locally

When a local realtor is hired to sell a home in Durham Region, they start to spend money locally. This begins immediately. They rely on services that are local, and by doing so the people they hire, in turn, spend the money they receive locally. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that in 2015, one single house sale resulted in $67,500 in ancillary spending and costs directly related to the sale. This “spin-off” spending included, general household purchases, furniture and appliances, moving costs, renovations and financial, legal, Real Estate services, appraisals, surveys and accountants. This is a significant amount of revenue, that if kept locally can help to prop up the local businesses that have struggled over the past one-and-a-half years. Last month, May, the City of Oshawa had 301 detached homes sell. This means that if all of the homes that were sold used local Realtors, $20,000,000 would have been reinvested locally. That is $20 Million!

• Realtors Reinvesting in their Communities

When you hire a local realtor to sell your home most, if not all of this money goes back into the local economy. Local Realtors reinvest their incomes into hiring administrative staff, using local sign installers, marketing companies, local advertising mediums, (think soccer jerseys) handymen, stagers and mortgage brokers. Once you get beyond the costs of marketing and selling homes, locals tend to spend their disposable cash in restaurants, shops, hair salons and donate to local charities. The money circles back into the community. It is a logical assumption that if a seller hires a broker with an office located an hour drive from town, that the monies generated with the transaction will be spent in the far away town. The revenue generated gets reinvested, just not in Durham Region.

As we have seen during the pandemic, people have started to rely on large online platforms to do much of their purchasing. Alas, a few months ago we needed an extension cord for our garage and the only place to find one was online. I do my best to shop local, so buying something online that I could have purchased from a local retailer troubled me.  However, when it comes to real estate a buyer or seller has a choice to shop local or use someone from outside of the area.

I have always believed that real estate sales is a local gig. That my knowledge of our area is one of the most important “tools” in my tool kit and I feel that my clients appreciate and utilize this knowledge to help them make informed decisions. (even if it is where the best butter tarts are in Durham …. Hy-Hope farm I mean.)

Our local retailers have been closed, on and off for most of the past year. By using a local realtor, you will be paying it forward to the people in our community who are struggling. A number to ponder is $2,500,000. This is the spin-off money that would have been spent locally if the Sellers in the past week used a local realtor.

Supporting local helps our community. Our local retailers, restaurants, hair salons and travel agents need us to shop local like never before.

If  you have any questions on the above information, or if you can see a real estate emergency on the horizon, I can be reached at www.buyselllove.ca or lindsay@buyselllove.ca