Brent Jones – Brent Jones, Real Estate Sales Representative – RE/MAX Niagara Realty Ltd., Brokerage – Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada – Page 2 – Brent Jones, Real Estate Sales Representative – RE/MAX Niagara Realty Ltd., Brokerage – Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada

Are realtors in Ontario a bunch of greedy pigs?

August 2, 2019 By Brent Jones

Earlier this week, I met with a potential seller client to discuss listing his home for sale.

We had a conversation about commission and it went a little something like this:

Seller: What’s your fee?

Me: Six percent, if I thought your home would be difficult to sell. But, since I’m pretty confident I can sell your home relatively fast, I’ll only take five percent.

Seller: Five? (taps his fingers on the kitchen table, thinking) So, if you sell my house for $400,000, you get $20,000?

Me: I don’t get to keep all of it, but you’ve got the right idea.

Seller: That seems a bit…steep. Can you do any better, Brent?

Any better? Part of me wanted to reply with, “Better? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what selling your home involves?”

But, of course, I was polite. I simply grabbed a pen and paper and began to break down for him exactly what a typical real estate transaction (in my market) looks like.Continue Reading

5 Things to Look for When Viewing an Older Home

August 1, 2019 By Brent Jones

It almost goes without saying that, when viewing a property of any age or condition, a home inspection is an excellent idea.

This will help to uncover latent defects — the type of defects that may not be obvious based on a cursory glance, especially to an untrained eye.

The cost of having a home inspection done — often between $300 and $500 — pales in comparison to the cost of repairing a cracked, sinking foundation, or gutting the house to replace old knob and tube wiring.

For the purposes of this post, however, I want to address what are referred to as patent defects. In other words, defects anyone could see with an untrained eye, but might not.

A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.

—James N. Watkins

Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.

—Lori Greiner

Fort Erie SPCA Fundraiser BBQ

July 27, 2019 By Brent Jones

Today, my wife and I (and two awesome volunteers) raised $560.55 for the Fort Erie SPCA by hosting a fundraiser BBQ in the RE/MAX Niagara parking lot.

The Top Restaurants & Bars in Fort Erie, Ontario

June 18, 2019 By Brent Jones

When you’re new in town, it usually doesn’t take long to start picking favorites. And by favorites, of course, I’m referring to where to grab breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even a few drinks in between.

Since moving to town in 2014, my wife and I have tried eating (and drinking) just about everywhere we can. In part, because we love to support local businesses, but mostly because we really like to eat (and drink).

If you happen to enjoy a particular restaurant or bar and it doesn’t appear on this list, it might be because I either…

haven’t been there enough to form an opinion, or
I’ve been there and didn’t have a great experience.

In all likelihood, however, I simply forgot to include it. What can I say? For a small town, Fort Erie has a lot of options to choose from.

Here are my top picks (in no particular order).

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.

—Publilius Syrus

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

—Stephen Covey

The OREA Salesperson Registration Education Program: My Final Transcripts

June 1, 2019 By Brent Jones

I passed my fifth and final exam today in The Salesperson Registration Education Program with the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), which means I can now apply for registration with the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO).

I thought, for anyone who might be interested, that I’d publish my final transcripts.

Stirling’s Story: A Review of Dr. Jim Turpel and Upper Canada Animal Hospital

May 22, 2019 By Brent Jones

This is our dog, Stirling.

I know it’s probably not immediately obvious, but Stirling is a giant suck. He’ll be turning six on June 30, 2019, and you can find more photos and videos of him on Instagram.

After several months of intermittent limping (lameness), Stirling experienced a complete rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) in his hind right leg on May 3, 2019.