Month: March 2021

Commercial real estate agents certainly had their work cut out for them in 2020—although the industrial sector was on fire, the same can hardly be said for the office and retail spaces.

Some agents, however, were looking at commercial real estate in a different way.

“My business partner, Kathleen, and I both have our CCIM [Certified Commercial Investment Member] designation, which includes education and a minimum quota,” said the head of the Sunny Sharma Commercial Team and co-owner of Century 21 Leading Edge VIP Realty. “You receive a pin and take an oath to represent it with honesty and integrity. It’s comparable to having a CPA or CGA in accounting, but it’s specific to commercial real estate.”

CCIM is the National Association of Realtors’ highest designation, requiring 250 hours and to eight to 10 courses, and allows members to network and enhance their investment opportunities in the world’s most vigorous markets.

In particular, CCIM teaches adherents how to evaluate commercial properties in wholly different ways than their cohorts do.

“We look for needs and do something called ‘gap analysis,’ which is based on the supply and demand of certain sectors in any given area and we look for what’s lacking,” said Sharma. “Maybe there’s only one tire store there but 10,000 households. Based on people’s spending habits over X number of years, there’s this much business sitting on the table, and only one provider is eating up all that money.

“We examine the goods and services in a certain city or neighbourhood to see if there’s a way to capitalize. Let’s say there’s a retail plaza on a main street that gets a transit line, the city, as per the provincial intensification mandate, will increase residential density. That plaza’s best use then becomes a mixed-use development with, say, a doctor’s office on the ground level and apartments above it. Or more land could be acquired to turn it into a master-planned community.”

For Sharma and his business partner, and Century 21 Leading Edge VIP Realty co-founder, Kathleen Xie, that kind of outside-of-the-box thinking stems from careful study of city plans. Xie says that’s the difference between discarding a condemned, seemingly worthless site or conjuring a higher use for it that aligns with forthcoming city development plans.

“We did over $60 million in commercial transactions in 2020 just in Toronto alone,” said Xie. “A lot of what we see is development opportunities. Retail, for example, is in the midst of evolution; yes, it’s changing and it needs to be redeveloped. We help find it that better use.”

The Sun Belt states are the beneficiaries of significant interstate migration in the U.S., and with a deluge of new residents, the multi-family residential sector is slated to see voracious demand, particularly over the next decade.

According to GTA-based Seth Ferguson, CEO of Multifamily Real Estate Investments Inc., Texas has arguably the most propitious horizon in the Sun Belt, driven primarily by a rapidly growing population and, true to the state’s ethos, limited regulatory regimes.

“There are a number of leading cities, in terms of ‘young population’ growth, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio—they’re in the top-10 countrywide for population growth,” said Ferguson, who’s also the host of TV show Real Estate Simplified and the Real Wealth Through Real Estate podcast. “There’s a strong job market and robust GDP growth. Between 2010 and 2019, Dallas-Fort Worth gained 1.35 million new residents, and the 2020-2029 forecast calls for an additional 1.39 million residents. You have tremendous growth, and it all comes down to jobs.”

Hyper job creation in the aforementioned cities and Texas’s traditional aversion to regulation have conspired to lure millennial-aged Americans from both coasts—New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Sacramento are among the bottom-10 U.S. cities for population growth—many of whom are relocating to Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

“From 2010 to 2019, Houston gained 1.28 million residents, and the 2020-2029 forecast is another 1.24 million, so when you look at Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, there’s a huge population boom, and it will drive the economy for the next two to three decades,” said Ferguson.

However, even in a state that has substantially less red tape than Canada’s major cities, there’s a pronounced housing deficit that’s about to become amplified by the imminent population boom, and that’s created an opportunity in the multi-family residential sector.

Multifamily Real Estate Investments Inc. purchases underperforming assets that contain over 100 apartment units and systematically augments everything from how they’re managed to the rental rates.

“We focus on value-add opportunities—that could be mismanaged properties where the rents are below market value or where expenses are way too high, and we implement our system, whether it’s renovations or new management,” said Ferguson. “We take underperforming assets and optimize them, and after our work is done that generates returns for our investors.”

Before Multifamily Real Estate Investments Inc. finds assets in which to invest, it undertakes stringent due diligence to ascertain whether or not it’s operating in the right city, Ferguson added.

“The market cycle starts with a growing GDP and business expansion, job availability and how many people move to the city for those jobs, and that puts upward pressure on rent as competition increases, compresses cap rates and increases the value of the assets,” said Ferguson.

“We’re seeing that through the Sun Belt because they have jobs, less red tape and a better tax situation. As a result, productive millennials are creating a very promising horizon for multi-family real estate.”

The real estate market is hotter than it’s ever been. But while there’s a lot of business to go around, competition between agents has also never been so fierce.

Top Canadian real estate agent and coach Craig Proctor, who was the No. 1 Re/Max realtor in Canada, has seen his share of sellers’ markets over the past 25 years.

“The specific media and mechanics may change,” said Proctor, “but the underlying strategies that agents need to embrace to dominate in a hot market like this are the same. You must have a very clear understanding of what your customer wants and be able to demonstrate to them that you can help them in a way that other agents can’t.”

What do sellers need in the current hot market and how can agents deliver that? After all, houses are selling in days, if not hours, often for hundreds of thousands over asking price. But here is the challenge: many “would be” sellers are reluctant to list their home for sale because they are afraid, with such low inventory, that they won’t be able to find their next home.

“This is a huge opportunity for savvy real estate agents,” said Proctor. “Find them a home and you will get their listing. So, in order to get their listing, you really need to understand them first as a buyer. The problem, of course, is that as a buyer they’re up against heavy competition. Every house on MLS is sold before they have a chance to make a serious bid. If all you’re doing is serving up what these buyers could access themselves through an internet search, you’re not really providing them any benefit or expertise and most importantly the buyer isn’t able to buy. Here’s what to do instead. We find out exactly what the seller prospect wants in their next home—number of bedrooms, what neighbourhood, etc—and then we assemble a list of off-market properties that match their criteria. How do we get the list of off market properties that match what our buyer is looking for? It’s easy, we do the opposite of what most agents do. Instead of advertising houses to get buyers to call us, we advertise the buyer and their criteria to get future sellers to call us.”

Homeowners who have homes that match what our buyer is looking for contact us and now our buyer finds the perfect home without competing with other buyers and we now get their listing.

If this sounds complicated, it’s really not. This is an example of doing the opposite of what other agents are doing to benefit your client.

This is just one of many strategies Proctor teaches the agents he trains from all over North America. Hundreds of his students have grown high 6-figure and even seven- and eight-figure businesses under his tutelage, including Sarah Reynolds, the No. 1 KW agent in the world.

“To really succeed at this business,” said Proctor, “you need to learn how to work on your business versus just in it. If all you’re doing all day long is real estate agent things, that’s all you’ll ever be. You need to learn instead how to move the needle. Not just be a better ‘agent’ but learn how to become a better marketer. In my experience, the agents I work with are intelligent and dedicated and skilled—but that in and of itself isn’t enough. You need to learn how to market and grow your business, and that’s where I come in.”

An important strategy Proctor teaches agents is how to create omnipresence in their marketplaces. Not the vanity, glamour advertising kind of presence that doesn’t offer prospects any meaningful benefit, but unique selling propositions, or USPs, that essentially answer the prospect’s question, “Why should I do business with you versus any other option including doing nothing at all?”

“If you don’t have a good answer to this question,” said Proctor, “you’ll always have a lead generation and listing problem.”

Proctor teaches agents how to create a benefit-rich omnipresence by harnessing easy social media strategies that any agent can master.

“Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc., have leveled the playing field,” said Proctor. “Anyone can jump online for very low cost with copy or image or video posts but it’s tough to gain any real traction if you don’t know how to properly harness these platforms. We teach agents how to gain critical mass by creating custom audiences based on engagement. For example, you could set it up so that Facebook pixels anyone who watches 50% of one of your videos, and if you put out great content that truly benefits your prospects, they will watch. You’re not selling anything. You’re just positioning yourself as the expert and helping people. Once they watch, however, the algorithm automatically places them within your custom audience so now you have the opportunity to retarget them with more content including offers that result in prospects chasing you instead of you chasing them. Most real estate agents don’t know how to do this because they’re still stuck in the world of knocking on doors, giving gift baskets to past clients, handing out business cards, etc. We show agents a better way so that buyers and sellers are coming to them. No more chasing. No more prospecting.”

Proctor is conducting a live, three-day virtual conference—the Millionaire Agent-Maker SuperConference—from March 19-21 during which he will dive deep into these strategies and much more.

He’ll lead agents through three key systems that were not only responsible for his own massive success as Canada’s top agent, but also the success of thousands of agents across North America. While most of the online conference is taught by Proctor himself, he’ll also interview several of his most successful members to give attendees a broader understanding of how to incorporate these systems in their own businesses.

“What you’ll get are the details of how to actually do what we teach,” said Proctor. “What technology do I need? How do I run the ads? What mistakes to avoid? It’s intense, that’s why it’s three full days.”

For a limited time, interested agents can access the Early Bird price of $189 before the price goes up. By registering as an Early Bird, agents will also receive $5,850 worth of bonus items including Proctor’s PowerPoint Listing and Buyer presentations, swipe files of successful marketing, his one-hour business plan and more.

To learn more about Proctor’s March 19-21 Millionaire Agent-Maker SuperConference, click here.  

Fixed-rate mortgage rates are rising, but don’t be fooled into believing that this halcyon low interest rate environment is ending, because it isn’t.

“Firstly, it doesn’t affect anybody with an existing fixed-rate mortgage; it’s only for new mortgages—and not variable-rate mortgages—but it’s only gone up a quarter point, which equals $12 for every $100,000 of mortgage money,” Dustan Woodhouse, president of Mortgage Architects, told CREW. “This is also well below the stress test threshold, so there’s no change to the mortgage money Canadians qualify for. It only affects new homebuyers about to take five-year fixed mortgages and it only affects them to the tune of $12 extra per $100,000 a month.”

The bond yield has risen, but marginally so, and to negligible consequence, added Woodhouse. However, while higher interest rates shouldn’t worry homebuyers, the slight increase for fixed-term mortgages could compel more people to take the plunge in search of their dream home and, through a function of higher demand, drive prices up that way.

“What happens when the price of something that’s already scarce goes up? People hurry and buy more—they buy faster and sooner,” said Woodhouse. “A little bit of a rate hike will do the opposite of what some expect: it will push the market harder and another quarter-point rate hike will put more heat under the market because people worry about rates rising and that they will, therefore, miss out. A quarter-point or two, or three, rate hike will only make the market crazier and not slow it down at all.”

Consumer behaviour isn’t to be underestimated, though. As Woodhouse alluded to, news of a fixed rate increase might inspire a craze of sorts and consumers, driven by fear of being priced out of the market, could become even more active in Canada’s already white-hot real estate market. In tandem with sales vastly outpacing new listings, prices will only increase faster.

But, Daniel Johanis, principal broker of Pekoe Mortgages, recommends taking a deep breath, because while the fixed-rate upsurge could encourage more people to enter the market, their presence will be as marginal as the hike itself, and, additionally, variable-rate mortgages are still preferred.

“The amount that fixed rates have gone up is fairly insignificant, especially in dollars-a-month terms,” he said. “I’ve been fielding calls from people afraid of not locking in now with preapproval, a rate hold, or even buying now because there won’t be enough inventory left out there and that will eventually cost them more when they do find a place.

“Look at the other side of the coin: variable has historically outperformed fixed and you have a lower penalty to go along with more flexibility, especially since life usually happens and people who break mortgages usually don’t expect to. But if you do have to, it’s good to know it won’t cost you as much.” Johanis also stressed the fact that only fixed rates have gone up and that variable rates are static.

“The nice thing is fixed may have gone up, but variable is still prime-minus-100 basis points, so to make the comparison, it used to be closer between the two and now the gap is widening,” said Johanis. “I remind panicked clients that variable is where it was last month. Focus on finding your property and don’t worry about this too much”

for what the market holds in store for the remainder of 2021, Woodhouse is unequivocal that hardly anything out of left field is to be expected.

“I think the whole year will remain very similar to 2020,” he said, “in that unprecedented volumes will continue and we may see a little more movement on the fixed-rate side, but not enough to slow down the amount of mortgage money people qualify for, so it won’t slow the market down from that perspective.”

A substantial number of developments in the GTA delivered late are on the hook for millions of dollars in late closing compensation—but purchasers, unaware that they’re entitled to up to $7,500, are leaving it on the table.

Builders provide occupancy dates and have 90 days to notify purchasers of delays, and while anything short of that contravenes the Consumer Protection Act, they can delay as much as they want provided the 90-day rule is satisfied. Although most common in Toronto’s condominium market, this applies to any preconstruction development in Ontario.

“If they don’t give you 90 days, you enter into the automatic firm date. The builder can deliver the property sometime later, but you, as the consumer, are entitled to $150 a day for every day without a receipt,” said Mark Purdy, a consultant with Delayedclosing.com and a real estate investor. “Investors can take advantage of this.”

There is a catch, though: consumers must apply within one year and not a day later. A builder aware of their blunder will delay the building’s registration until just after the 365-day expiry period. Fortunately, says Purdy, a lot of builders are just as ignorant about this as consumers, especially that they can’t miss the firm date even if they provide 90-day notices.

Builders are afforded some grace in the form of unavoidable delays. For example, if the building burns down and it isn’t the builder’s fault, they can claim an unavoidable delay.

Purdy says about a third of new construction properties built in Ontario every year have legitimate claims for reimbursement, but most people don’t take advantage of them and, as a result, builders dodge a lot of bullets.

“The first reason they don’t claim is they have absolutely no idea this exists, and if people do know it exists, they have already thrown out all the letters, so they no longer have all evidence and nobody bothers to tell them there’s a timeline to claim,” said Purdy. “Builders manipulate things a little bit, too. If they know they have a building full of eligible claims, they hold off registration until after the year has passed.”

Of the reasons claimants are eligible in the first place, Purdy says it’s usually because builders haven’t given 90-day notices. Another common reason is because the builder thought they had legitimately unavoidable delays only to subsequently find out they didn’t.

“It’s not an unavoidable delay if your kitchen manufacturer goes out of business. If your appliances can’t show up on time because nobody’s making stoves anymore, that’s not an unavoidable delay.”

Purdy specializes in taking builders to task for delayed closing compensation, and claims a 98% success rate.

“We just found a building in downtown Toronto with 558 units and everyone’s entitled,” said Purdy. “The cost to the builder is just over $4.5 million if everyone applies. But if I were to go down to the building and give out flyers or something like that, only 10-20% would apply because most people just don’t believe it’s possible.”

The office sector might be Canada’s most unpredictable real estate asset class because, on the one hand, tenant demand is plummeting but, on the other, there’s fervent belief that square footage per employee will increase to abet social distancing.

“Although some companies will increase space for social distancing and growth, overall vacancies are expected to rise in most markets due to increasing sublet space and tenants downsizing or offloading space altogether,” said an article from Erika Siegert, senior data analyst of national research insights at Altus Group. “In turn, there will be more landlord-tenant conversations around modifying lease terms and adjusting rental rates, with an overall focus on finding flexible solutions. As safety remains top of mind, remote work is here to stay, but there will still be a need for in-office interaction and collaboration moving forward.”

It’s more likely that working from home, according to Siegert, becomes entrenched in secondary and tertiary markets than it does in juggernauts like Toronto. In fact, Urbanation months ago noted that there’s 8.7 million sq ft of office space under construction in downtown Toronto, much of which is pre-leased, and that an additional 27.5 million sq ft is in the development pipeline.

However, Siegert sees co-working spaces being optimal for Montreal, Kelowna, Calgary, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Halifax.

“Expect more demand for co-working space as an amenity in office buildings, or options to pay for space as you need it,” said her article. “Look for companies using more hub and spoke models to provide employees with better flexibility, maintain connectivity, and reinforce company culture.”

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the office sector, a reevaluation of space was already underway, although it’s unclear if a move towards more square footage per employee was being seriously considered the way it is now.

“Before COVID, the move to less space was ending, because we were looking at 100 sq ft per person and the whole shift to cramming as many people per sq ft,” Dilpreet Mathauda, senior advisor of sales and leasing with Capital Commercial Real Estate in Winnipeg, told CREW. “You’ll see a reversal of that, not only because of social distancing but because that flight to a smaller footprint wasn’t working well. We’re seeing a shift to more traditional offices. We went from a traditional setup to full open concept, and now we’re shifting to a hybrid scenario. This was already happening pre-COVID.”

Mathauda’s medium- and long-term outlooks for the office sector are positive. Acknowledging that employers will likely push for workers to return to their offices, he says ambitious employees would be just as likely to desire a return.

“We’re all social creatures, and if you onboard a new hire, how do you do it if you’re all working completely from home? Young professionals want to rub shoulder with suite executives and show how hard they work and how late they work, so how do you replicate that by working from home?”

Ultimately, most observers are having difficulty ascertaining what the next few years in Canada’s office market will look like, precisely because this is uncharted territory and because different companies have different needs. Moreover, landlord inducements have become so aggressive that they’re difficult to pass up.

Mathauda added that immediately following the Twin Tower terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a plethora of news articles appeared in which employees expressed reservations about working in tall office buildings. However, in seemingly no time, such consternation disappeared, and he believes that social distancing concerns will be similarly forgotten in two or three years.

“It depends on your job profile and industry—working from home works well in some industries, and not in others,” said Mathauda. “I advise organizations that if they’re looking to add more space for social distancing and no other reason, they should ask themselves how they’re going to use that space next year, or in the next two to five years. If they only want more space for social distancing, they might want a more staggered model for returning to the office: one team comes in one week, another team the next week, and they won’t have to take on more space. They keep their footprint low and reevaluate in a couple of years when the pandemic is behind us.”

The real estate landscape in early 2021 is already showing some similarities to last year, according to a January market release by the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board (WRREB).

“As we enter 2021, the same tight market supply conditions experienced last year remain firmly entrenched,” board president Kourosh Doustshenas said in a release.

Market conditions to start the year come on the heels of a record-setting sales year in 2020.

The board’s January 2021 release noted that this year began with brisk MLS sales and listings still in short supply. There were 934 sales recorded on the MLS in January, increasing by 28%, and the dollar volume was up by 38% year-over-year to over $285 million.

The average price of a detached home in the Winnipeg region was $352,185 last month, while the average attached home was $277,109, and condominiums were $224,338.

Long-time Winnipeg real estate agent Debra Ann Kaminsky has seen the high demand for homes firsthand. There are not enough homes on the market for buyers, and with high demand it’s led to a seller’s market, she says, adding that low interest rates are a key factor in the market right now.

“In my 35 years as a licensed real estate agent, I’ve never seen interest rates so low,” said Kaminsky. “This is one of the reasons we are seeing a buying frenzy out there and multiple offers on homes.”

COVID-19 has also been a factor, with buyers wanting more square footage than ever before, as their homes have become more of a focal point for self-care and nurturing connections with family, Kaminsky says.

Mortgage prequalification has also put buyers in an advantageous position to lock in a low interest rate when submitting their offers, she added.

Peter Squire, vice-president, external relations and market intelligence for the WRREB, says the market has become no stranger to people reevaluating whether their homes meet their needs, with working from home, home schooling, and home gyms top of mind.

However, the spring market will be the real telltale sign of how the second half of 2021 unfolds.

Extensive COVID-19 safety measures remain in place, although tools like virtual showings and e-signatures have proven helpful. Last year, the existing option of 20 photos in a listing on the WRREB-operated MLS was increased to up to 50, and although not introduced specifically because of COVID-19, the development is an added tool.

Moving through the remainder of the year, Doustshenas’s comments reflect optimism.

“One month does not make a year, but January is certainly a sign that buyers are eager to take advantage of historic-low mortgage rates and some of the most affordable house prices in the country,” said Doustshenas.

“Strong demand so early in the year should give those looking to list their property confidence to begin planning now to have a successful outcome in 2021.”

Western Canada’s commercial real estate markets are forecasted to perform very well through the remainder of the year, according to separate reports from RE/MAX and CBRE.

According to RE/MAX, institutional investors and private equity were present in nearly every market last year and spurred demand for multi-residential, industrial and office units. Smaller investors showed strong interest in industrial, which was the strongest commercial asset class from Vancouver to Winnipeg, and retail, albeit to a lesser extent.

The report also noted that institutional investors comprised 48% of sales volumes in Calgary, and that 24% came from private equity in the office sector.

“Rebounding global demand for primary energy should help bolster economic performance, as well as demand for commercial real estate, in Alberta in the second half of 2021,” Elton Ash, regional executive vice president at RE/MAX of Western Canada, said in the report. “In the interim, we could see out-of-province institutional investors walk away with some of the city’s most coveted assets.”

Vancouver, the country’s third-largest city and the largest in Western Canada, saw its then-healthy industrial market really catch fire last year and there’s nary a sign of deceleration, according to CBRE’s report. As has been the case for a while now, e-commerce is the main driver, but it’s expanded to include demand from third-party logistics operators that are forecasted to absorb substantial square footage in a bid to maintain pace with marketplace dynamics. Additionally, Vancouver, a hotspot for the film industry, is galvanizing landlords and occupiers to consider purpose-built studio development.

The office sector in Vancouver is beginning to heed whispers for larger employee footprints—that is, more square footage per employee—as a function of robust economic fundamentals in the city.

“In terms of commercial real estate, the B.C. economy is projected to lead the pace for GDP growth,” Jason Kiselbach, vice president and marketing director for CBRE Canada, told CREW. “Commercial real estate fundamentals are tied to economic growth, GDP and jobs, and those indicators are positive.”

Vancouver is building upon trends that were established in 2020, and in addition to torrid demand for industrial space, the multi-family residential sector is also hot, Kiselbach added. The retail and office sectors, which have lagged the aforementioned segments, are beginning to show signs of ascension.

“We’ve seen large multi-family trades this year, which we think will continue happening,” he said. “We’re starting to see demand for retail and office space from tenants and we’re hoping that by mid-2021 we’ll see a pickup of activity in both sectors.”

Retail, says Kiselbach, is showing the encouraging signs of life in suburban Vancouver, where, because working from home is essentially ubiquitous, residents want sleek amenity access.

“Flexibility to work from home bodes well for some of the suburban retail centres.”

Millennial-aged Canadians looking to enter the housing market have been disappointed in recent years, but, miraculously, the pandemic has brought forth new opportunity.

“There’s been an uptick in the 25-35 bracket because they have seen their savings increase and I think they just needed motivation to transition from renting to buying,” said Mitch Parker, VP of sales and marketing at Hersh Condos, a brokerage specializing in preconstruction sales. “They saw this was their opportunity to get in through low-interest rates.”

Millennials are benefiting from a confluence of factors, like low rates and minimal competition in the starter home segment, that have made homeownership less prohibitive. Parker pointed to the GTA’s sales-to-new-listings ratio as proof.

“It was almost 91% in January 2021,” he said. “The average is 54%, so 91% means virtually every listing you’re putting on the market is selling, and that’s unheard of. Thirty-five markets in Ontario were under one month’s supply of inventory. The GTA is on fire, but it’s not an anomaly compared to the rest of the country, because Canada’s whole real estate market is doing extremely well.”

Royal LePage just released a study that found 68% of non-homeowners aged 25-35 planned on becoming homeowners in the next five years, while 72% of them are confident in their near-term financial outlook. Forty percent of those surveyed have higher savings than they did in March 2020.

Moreover, Royal LePage’s survey determined that 48% of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 35 are homeowners, with 25% of them buying their homes during the pandemic.

“The pandemic provided an unexpected prize for young Canadians—a path to homeownership,” Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, said in the report. “Mortgage rates fell to historically low levels and the competition for entry-level housing lessened. Many investors sought to divest of property as traditional renter groups such as foreign students, new immigrants and short-term renters disappeared behind closed borders.

“In many ways, the pandemic has sucked the joy out of our normally kinetic young adults’ lives. No dining out, no concerts with friends or winter escapes to the sunny south. Even retail therapy has lost its luster when no one will see those new shoes on the next Zoom call. The silver lining is in soaring savings; unspent money that is finding its way into real estate investments.”

Parker isn’t surprised that millennials persevered through the pandemic to become homeowners in greater numbers than in years past. While sales centres have been affected by the government-mandated lockdowns, this generation of homebuyers is known for its predilection towards technology.

“I’m actually not surprised because that demographic is extremely tech-savvy and they’re not reliant on traditional media, unless they’re walking into an open house and looking at a property,” he said. “A lot of research can be done online and through countless other apps out there. They don’t have to be physically present to look at a property anymore.”