I’m starting my hunt for the right brokerage for me to work with. Picking a real estate brokerage is even more complex than picking a realtor when you’re going out to buy a property because I’ll likely be tied to them for at least a year or two. Some brokerages take as much as half of your commissions, and while I’m ok with that if I get the right support, I’m not interested in making my broker rich off my fees. Here’s some of my thought process.

What I bring to the table

• ~15 years at a property management firm doing everything from sweeping parking lots and painting fences through reno projects, leasing and doing high-stress and high-value evictions.
• 3 years as a professional internet marketer, focusing on SEO, web analytics and social media.
• 4 years personally investing in Edmonton real estate, learning the REIN system inside and out, and networking with Edmonton area investors.

What I want from a brokerage

• Someone who doesn’t eat their young. I’m not an uber competitive sort of guy, and I don’t want other agents going through my recycling to steal leads.
• Training, mentoring and a chance to work with some very experienced agents
• Proven technology solutions. I don’t really want to have to figure out the best options for tablet PC’s, paperless offices, lead management/CRM, etc. I have my own ideas, but I want to work with an existing system, without becoming the de facto IT guy.
• Advertising flexibility. I want to try weird custom signs, interesting online stuff and generally be outside the box. Particularly if they’re not full fluent in internet, I want to be able to run with it and not have a broker harassing me. Also, don’t make me use your sign supplier, or at least don’t mark the cost up.
• Fluent about or accepting of Joint Ventures. There are brokers who get freaked out by the idea that I might do some JV investments with clients.
• Flexible commission structures and desk fees. I want a broker who does more than just sell desks.

Who I’ve talked to and who I’m talking to:

• Sara and Sheldon at Coldwell Banker Johnson
• Art Valerio at Royal LePage ARTeam
• Bill T. at Realty Executives Polaris
• Jody at Schmidt Realty
• Bill Briggs at ReMax Edmonton Central

There’s more, but my questions are:

Who else should I talk to?

What else should I be looking for?

What do your favorite Realtors do that you love? What drives you crazy?

Photo Credit: neubie on Flickr

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North America is home to a generation of people who have never experienced a recession in their adult lifetime. They’re between 20 and 30, much like myself.

I remember when I was very young, my dad being laid off from construction during the recession which hit in 1984. He’s mentioned it before, but he was unemployed for the better part of 2 years. I’ve had long conversations with him and my grandfather about what it was like to live, work and buy real estate through the cycles of boom, bust and recession.

What occurs to me when I meet young people interested in real estate and business in general is there’s a feeling of invincibility. I noticed it when I was still in Canada, but after spending a fruitless four months trying to find a job in Ireland, I have a new appreciation for the situation.

There’s a number of people who I’ve talked to about the economy who (in a typically Irish fashion, but that’s another topic) are both fairly realistic and nearly without hope. As one landlord said to me:

We (Ireland) gorged like pigs at the trough and now we’re paying the price for it…It’s going to be a decade before things get back to something like normal.”

I also met with several people involved with real estate, investing and the financial services industry. One head of an Irish investment fund, which is more active in the UK and Germany than Ireland described the government as bankrupt. Really, it’s not that far from the truth. It’s a financial situation similar to the US, but with fewer options for creating revenue.

I met young people, lawyers, engineers, scientists, business men and women, many with Masters’ degrees, all looking for work. Easily half of the young professionals I spoke with were actively researching work options in Canada, the US or Australia. It’s just shocking how many people, highly qualified, are totally out of work. It’s just strange to me how many tradespeople are out of work, when I think of the severe shortages we saw in Alberta.

The current Irish government just released a budget that makes some significant cuts, but doesn’t seem to create enough growth or movement to help bring the economy forwards. Their property bailout, NAMA (the National Asset Management Act) will be buying assets at 10-20% above current market value and will either be a great success if it stays the course, or be a huge waste of money and warp the property market for years to come. It’s also the only choice, even if it’s not perfect.

What several people have said is this is a more severe problem than any post-WWII recession in Ireland. I think that combined with the economic changes of the 21st Century and membership in the EU, this time will come to be as significant as the Great Famine or the Revolution of 1912.

It’s been an interesting time to be in Ireland, and it’s given me a lot more perspective on economies and the future.

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Today at 8:30am Eastern Stats Can released the January 2009 Labour Force Survey. Apparently Canada’s lost 129,000 jobs (or so). Where did we lose them?

But there’s a story, and Alberta’s the real winner, followed closely be Saskatchewan.

The number of Albertans employed grew by 1.3% year over year. Saskatchewan grew by over 3% because the smaller numbers make the % larger.

The number of unemployed grew by far less in Alberta.

And the employment rate remained constant in Alberta, growing slightly in Saskatchewan.

Unemployment remains lowest in the west, although BC is trying hard to screw it up.

And Alberta still leads the country in Labour Force Participation, growing by another 0.2%.

And people wonder why I choose to invest in Alberta.

Remember, you can get these charts and some summary stats on my Google Spreadsheet.

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Bank of Canada faces pressure to make deep cuts in interest rates

The Bank of Canada will step up to the plate to support the slumping economy with a whopping three-quarter-point cut in interest rates before Christmas, analysts with Canadian financial institutions projected.

I’m glad I’m on a variable rate mortgage. I love getting the note in the mail telling me how much more of my payments go to principle, and thus how much more cashflow I can have if I want it.

Canada to speed up immigration

Ottawa announced plans to take in up to 265,000 new permanent residents in 2009 and speed up the processing of applications for potential new Canadians in dozens of high-demand occupations.

I think this is great news, and another reminder that there’s lots of jobs out there. People with jobs make good renters.

No further stimulus in the works, Flaherty says

I agree with him that no action is required right now. That dosen’t play well in the media, but it’s the right thing to do, and a number of economists agree. (Quick aside: Stephen Gordon’s blog is one of the most interesting, intelligent and engaging reads on Canadian Economics out there. Don and Russ, you should think about inviting him to speak.)

“When you contrast [Canada's stimulus] with the United Kingdom and the United States, you will see that both of those countries are trying to catch up with what Canada has already done in terms of stimulus,” Mr. Flaherty said.

The Tories Blink, Move Budget Up a Month

If you haven’t caught this travesty of democracy, get reading. This is ridiculous.

Fight recession through infrastructure: Flaherty

This is one of the best ideas yet, and if the P3 partners can get funding it’ll work just fine. There’s a great video about this topic I’ll try to find.

BMO weathering financial storm well despite $338-million loss on investments

Canadian customers were one of the main sources of growth from BMO, with income from domestic retail operations rising 19 per cent to $344 million.

Rates are coming down!

Which leads to:

Banks’ mortgage rate cuts add to housing affordability

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