Times sure were different when I was growing up.

The bulk of my high school years took place in the 80’s. In those days, if a set of parents dare went away for the weekend it presented a perfect opportunity for us to invite some close friends over for some discrete beer drinking, a lot of horseplay and, if lucky, maybe a kiss on the lips from the cute girl in my Grade 9 history class.

Good luck trying that these days. With the plethora of social media sites and tools that exist today a small get together can easily get out of hand and unintentionally turn into an event that absolutely nobody can control – including the police. Chaos ensues.

That’s because today’s social media platforms provide a convenient and turbo-charged means of promoting events such as house parties. Hosts can create event pages, share invitations, and reach a large audience quickly, leading to an influx of attendees beyond what was initially anticipated. Viral promotion can attract attendees who may not have been directly invited, further escalating the size and scope of the party.

We have all heard a horror stories about high school or college students inviting a handful of friends over only to discover hundreds showing up unannounced.

A similar phenomenon is happening in the Toronto’s real estate market.

Technology and social media have slowly but surely permeated almost every aspect of the home selling process. Gone are the days when new home listings for the past week were published in book form every Tuesday. Realtors would have to peruse over all the listings, decide which may be enticing to their buyers, rip out suitable listings to photocopy and then either snail mail the listing or literally drive a hard copy of the listing over to the client’s home to view.

All this took time. Too much time if you ask me.

It’s no wonder then with the continual introduction of new technology in the real estate industry the amount of time on market to sell a home is continually shortening and multiple offer situations are becoming the norm rather than the exception. In fact, I would suggest that if your home is not sold within 10 days to 2 weeks and without several offers from interested buyers something is definitely wrong. The Realtor surely isn’t doing their job correctly.

Let’s take a deeper look at how technology and social media impacts the listing process in today’s real estate market and how it encourages the likelihood of multiple offers:

Listing Platforms: Online listing platforms like MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and real estate website and apps (Realtor.ca) allow seller’s to showcase their properties to a wide audience of potential buyers. This increased visibility leads to more interest and, by extension, multiple offers.
Virtual Tours and 3D Imaging: With advancements in technology, buyers can virtually tour properties through 3D imaging and virtual reality (VR) tours. This allows them to get a realistic sense of the property’s layout and features without physically being present which can attract both local, out of province and foreign buyers and potentially lead to a multiple offer situation.

Digital Signatures and Documentation: Rather than exchanging physical documents, electronic signatures and digital documentation platforms streamline the offer submission process. Buyers can submit offers electronically, making it faster and more convenient for all parties involved. No more waiting outside a home for sale with my clients at midnight in the cold hoping a seller accepts our offer or awaiting a counter offer requiring even more signatures.

Communication Platforms: Technology enables efficient communication between sellers, buyers and their respective agents. Messaging apps, emails and video calls allow for quick and clear communication throughout the negotiation process. This is especially beneficial when dealing with multiple offers simultaneously.

From a seller’s perspective this is all great news. Not only can a seller reasonably expect multiple offers for their home on a prescribed date of their choosing but they can anticipate going through the entire sales process and all the tasks and inconveniences it entails in a relatively short amount of time. Furthermore, the fierce competition between buyers vying for the same home often results in a higher sale price than would otherwise be attained.

But it’s not all a bed of roses.

Dealing with a multiple offer situations is complex. Timing is also of the essence. A Realtor representing the seller’s interest need to strike while the iron is hot while at the same time being consciously aware of crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s. There is a tricky balance that needs to be found here. Not all Realtors are up to the task. New entrants into the industry will definitively drop the ball. So will Realtors who insist on doing things “like they’ve always been done”.

This is where the choice of Realtor really comes into play. Your Realtor has to have a firm grasp of the basic rules of the game coupled with intuitively knowing exactly what to do given any unique and quirky situation that may arise. And arise they will. The Toronto real estate market is like the wild west. Anything can happen.

Having a competent and experienced Realtor to navigate you through this complex and fluid process is paramount.

Choose wisely my friends.