HawthorneVillager.com

Thanks again everyone for the awesome comments! I have the best clients - the ones who openly listen to everything I say, allow me to change things in their home for maximum impact, and really put in 100% effort to help me get the house show ready - you guys deserve a lot of credit too

greenr and serendipity, seriously, give yourselves a ton of credit, and thank you for trusting me every step of the way


Kiddan, nope, I do not drive a white ES350. Must have been another bald guy with glasses. LOL, you baldist.

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Fred De Carolis
FREDHELPS.COM or on Facebook
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Hi

Fred might not drive a White Lexus ES350 but he still drives a nice, fancy car

Hi all, I just met Fred today and I am extremely impressed. He came to my house to decide what needed to go and what needed to stay as we begin to prepare for the sale of our home. He was extremely personable, honest and informative throughout our brief meeting today. He spent his time explaining the listing process and what needed to be done in order to maximize my earning potential.

I could not envision myself listing with anyone else. He truly does go the extra mile for his clients, thanks again Fred and I am looking forward to working with you in the near future.

Consider this a free bump, but moreover it’s another post in the long list of posts praising Fred D. He listed and sold our house in two weeks during the summer market, but this is not the only reason I was thoroughly impressed with him as a real estate agent. He came in a month early to give us an idea of what our house is worth and how we could get the best bang for our buck as we prepared to put it on the market. Once we decided to put it on the market Fred came by to fully stage the house with furniture and accents that brought out the best of our existing furniture and colours. We were so impressed with the look of it that we were considering keeping it . Once it hit the market there was tons of traffic as it was priced appropriately (again thanks to Fred). What was most amazing about Fred was that he educated us each and every step of the way, keeping us informed and in the loop. It was an absolute breath of fresh air as this is the third house I have sold and after rotating through multiple real estate agents it is obvious that Fred is well deserving of all the accolades and praise. Thanks again Fred for a job well done!

Congrats on selling your home in 4 days and above asking Nice

However, although you sold privately , I'm not sure you truly sold Privately . Based on what you posted, I think what you did was had the assistance of a very knowledgeable realtor and used his advice, experience and generosity to sell your house but didn't pay him commission. That was mighty generous of Fred indeed.

There are certain professions, like Realtors where people solicit advice, knowledge and their experience all the time without ever expecting to pay for it or any kind of retribution.

Thanks Dan! You guys are an absolute pleasure to work with!
Islander, Thanks for the post but just to clarify, The original posters did do 95 percent of the work, And they were rewarded for their efforts.
I was too, as it spawned this awesome thread , and not that it matters, but they used me a year later to help find them a house to buy as well.

I know you are probably trying to comment that selling privately is not actually that easy if you are doing it completely on your own, but I think the theme here is that you don't have to do it all on your own. There are some agents out there that are willing to help in fact expect nothing in return , assuming they get along well and like each other.

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Fred De Carolis
FREDHELPS.COM or on Facebook
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I just think that as generous as you are, people should pay for your services when you go above and beyond as you did.

He's a few years older now. I'm wondering if he can still lift large rocks (inside joke to Fred).

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
www.peelhomeinspection.com

That's just it, people do pay me over the course of the year. My business is all about helping people knowing that the bills will get paid anyway. Nobody EXPECTS anything from me for free, and those are the people I enjoy helping. Take a look at John and Andy, or Glen the plumber, or Paul from True tech who will take time to hoist your car, give you some good advice, tell you do dont need any work done and he send you on your way with a $0 bill. Was that a waste of his time? Did I take advantage? no, because I know who I've taken my cars to dozens of times since then,

There are still many people in our villager community that help out without expecting anything in return, because they know they aren't going to go hungry, and because it is the right thing to do.

You know what you don't hear as much anymore? "Canadians are so polite and helpful". Nothing wrong with trying to keep that canadian trait alive and well. (Of course, that has no business in the negotiation process, but it can definitely be front and centre when dealing with clients and neighbours.)

If one person literally scams me out of a few free hours by lying, it doesn't bother me at all. Why should it? It is what I choose to do! I still go to bed at night knowing I'm an honest person - of course there are people out there that will try to take advantage, but really, that's my business and I'm ok with it -- we get paid very well as part of our day to day business, I won't try to hide that for a second. 2.5% for a purchase? cmon that's ridiculous. I'd better WANT to put in volunteer hours just to balance things out a little bit.



LOL I wonder that myself sometimes, but I'm never trying that again. I learned a good lesson about density that night, and limitations of suspension on compact cars in the sub 20k price market

I think you missed my point somewhat. Yes, we all agree on helping one another out from time to time and being nice. I think most people do that for one another and give advice etc from our professions. However, in the situation described it was a little more...



You were, in essence, their Realtor in this situation. Only significant difference was there was no commission paid. That's certainly your prerogative, if that what you what to do but I would hardly call it selling Privately. Good for them, they got the help of a Realtor, above asking price and paid no commission. But that's OK with you, as you think Realtors are overpaid at 2.5% anyway.

There were actually many significant differences, I didn't list the property, didn't do any marketing, I didn't arrange for showings.
the scenario above is not what I typically do, but in my spare time, as long as it doesn't take away from time with signed on clients, or my family, why not. These particular people are great people, we sat down, had a couple of beers, and I helped them out with advice a few times as they described.. If what you are saying is it is easier to sell privately if you have a little insight from a realtor in the local market, then yes, you're right. I didn't want, or deserve any money for this transaction, since I didn't do 90% of the work that was done.

I think we both agree, but the OPs are great people and they did put a ton of time and effort into their sale. Did I help at key points in the process, sure, but that's the part that's my choice, that I would never charge money for, and if you want to call it my prerogative, but I personally think it is good business to not nickel and dime for small chunks of effort. I think the point of this thread was that they were appreciative of the help I gave them, and they wanted to share that appreciation with the online community here.

Helping for free is not 'my prerogative' as that's got a negative connotation in my opinion. It's simply what I like to do when I have the spare time, and in my opinion, it's good business to be a good guy in one of the country's most hated, greed-filled industries.

Not sure about this but I'll take your word on it as it is your profession.

Anyway, its good to know for people who are selling Privately, that you're willing to volunteer your help. People might just very well take you up on it.

It is commission sales, unfortunately a breeding ground for when one bad apple can really spoil the whole bunch.

#5 here:
http://www.thequickten.com/people/top-t ... ofessions/
...and on many other lists, for good reason. That's ok that I feel this way -- more reason to make me want to continue to change things for the better and have a different approach than the majority... same as many other forward thinking realtors here on the Villager as well.

Also, thanks, you're right, and they should take me up on it.. My priorities are always with signed on clients, and my family, but if there's time to help on the side, that's what I'll continue to do

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Fred De Carolis
FREDHELPS.COM or on Facebook
Thanks for your support in the
search for Milton's Favourite Realtor!
REVEL REALTY -- MILTON'S FAVOURITE REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE, as voted by YOU!!!