We can all read the headlines, listen to the news, or follow the latest tweets but that doesn’t truly give the whole picture when it comes to what is happening in the marketplace.
The best source of information is those that are deep in the day to day grind. They are the ones with the fingers on the pulse. So get off your computer and get into the marketplace and connect with the industries that influence you. For real estate, I meet regularly with mortgage brokers, lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, and home inspectors to get the behind the scenes information on what is going on in our connected industries. When a client asks me for help, I don’t want to answer with the same information that google would give them, I want to give them up-to-date, detailed information from a reliable source, on what is going on in our city and in our market.
For example, there are new mortgage rules going in to play but they likely don’t have the same impact in Calgary as they do in Vancouver or Toronto. The insurance agent blog might not understand the nuances that impact Calgary after the flood in 2013.
So get out there and talk. Take the broad brush information you hear on the news and ask questions to the people that are experiencing it on a day to day basis. That’s how you understand the market.
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