Why Your Brokerage Needs Deal Manager: The Ultimate Back Office Solution for Real Estate Professionals

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In today’s fast-paced real estate landscape, efficiency isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. Brokerages juggling multiple transactions, documents, and compliance requirements know how quickly administrative tasks can spiral into a bottleneck. Enter Deal Manager, the all-in-one Real Estate Back Office Solution engineered to streamline your entire operation from listing to closing.

At its core, Deal Manager is more than software—it’s your brokerage’s central nervous system, keeping your team connected, compliant, and productive. Here’s why brokerages serious about scalability and service quality are adopting Deal Manager as their transaction and business management solution of choice.

Document Management for Real Estate – Organize, Simplify, Secure

Forget third-party add-ons and disjointed systems. Deal Manager’s built-in Document Management functionality offers seamless integration, allowing your agents and administrators to attach, edit, and share critical documents effortlessly. Whether it’s deal paperwork, listings, client information, invoices, or T4A processing, everything lives in one secure, easy-to-access hub.

Key Benefits:

  • Attach documents directly to deals, listings, or contacts
  • Eliminate lost paperwork and filing chaos
  • Secure cloud storage accessible 24/7
  • Simplified document sharing with lawyers, brokerages, and vendors
  • Full audit trail for peace of mind and compliance

In an era when deals close faster than ever, centralized document management for real estate is no longer optional—it’s mandatory.

Deal & Transaction Management – Close More Deals, Faster

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Time kills deals. That’s why Deal Manager’s Transaction Management tools are designed to give your agents an edge. Every document, note, and interaction tied to a transaction is recorded and easily retrievable, so your team stays organized and responsive.

Agents can quickly access transaction history, update client details, and track progress—all from a single, user-friendly interface. Whether in the office, at an open house, or working remotely, your team has what they need to move deals forward without delay.

Access Anytime, Anywhere – Real Estate Software Without Borders

Why limit your team’s productivity to office hours? Deal Manager’s cloud-based platform means your agents and staff can work when and where they need to. Scanned documents can be uploaded at the point of entry, whether that’s from a client meeting, open house, or even at the kitchen table.

All parties—agents, administrators, brokers—have secure access to the system 24/7, allowing for seamless communication and document flow.

Business Management for Real Estate Brokerages – Simplify Your Operations

Deal Manager goes beyond transactions. Our Business Management suite was built to support every facet of your brokerage’s back office. From bank reconciliation and invoicing to compliance tracking and tax processing, we offer a comprehensive toolkit to keep your business running smoothly.

Features include:

  • Vendor and customer invoice management
  • Bank reconciliation tools
  • Payroll support with T4A processing
  • Real-time financial reporting and tracking

By consolidating your business operations in one place, you reduce manual errors, improve transparency, and give yourself more time to focus on what really matters—serving clients and growing your brokerage.

Why Brokerages Choose Deal Manager

Real estate professionals need back-office software that works as hard as they do. Deal Manager was developed with feedback from brokers and agents who understand the industry’s unique challenges. Our goal: eliminate inefficiencies, reduce redundancies, and empower brokerages with the tools they need to thrive in a competitive market.

Whether you’re an independent brokerage or a growing firm, Deal Manager helps you:

  • Improve agent productivity
  • Maintain compliance with ease
  • Centralize document and transaction management
  • Simplify business operations
  • Scale without sacrificing service quality

Ready to Simplify Your Brokerage’s Workflow?

Stop wasting time juggling disconnected systems. Let Deal Manager transform your real estate brokerage with a complete, integrated solution built for today’s market demands. Contact us today to schedule a demo and discover how much smoother your business can run.

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Shocker! Couples buy homes before wedding

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A new study from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC says that about one in four married couples between the ages of 18 to 34 purchased their first home together before their wedding date, compared to 14 per cent of those ages 45 and older. According to the U.S. online survey, 35 per cent of all married couples purchased their first home together by their second wedding anniversary, and 80 per cent of married homeowners who purchased their home while married said it did more to strengthen their relationship than any other purchase they made together.

“While life goals and expectations continue to weigh on young couples, their views of homeownership are transcending their plans of marriage and starting a family, creating a direct effect on the patterns of buying a home altogether,” says Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist and Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC lifestyle correspondent.  “What we’re seeing is that young couples are switching up the order and purchasing their first home regardless of whether or not they have set a wedding date. This is a huge movement within today’s culture. While younger generations may be focusing more on their career, and in turn waiting longer to get married and have children, they are not delaying their dream of homeownership.”

Some other survey highlights:

* More than one in three married homeowners purchased their first home together by their second wedding anniversary.

* Only 16 per cent of married adults responding to the survey had not purchased a home together with their current spouse.

* 80 per cent said purchasing a home with their spouse did more to strengthen their relationship as a couple and family than any other purchase they have made together.

* Over one-third of married homeowners (35 per cent) wish they had taken the plunge (into homeownership) sooner than they actually did.

original article via http://www.remonline.com/shocker-couples-buy-homes-before-wedding/

image courtesy of

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Insurance Industry VS Weather Disasters

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The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the frequency, severity and cost of extreme weather in Canada are increasing, with Alberta leading the way.

Alberta accounted for 67 per cent of disaster payouts in Canada, according to the bureau.

Don Forgeron, the organization’s CEO, says Canada has been caught off-guard by the uptick in destructive weather.

“Storms that used to happen once every 40 or 50 years are now happening once every 15 or 20 years,” he said. “And as a country we’ve just done nothing to prepare ourselves for this eventuality.”

Annual payouts from flooding, fire, hail and windstorms increased from $100 million about 10 years ago to $1 billion between 2009 and 2012. Last year, hailstorms across Alberta caused $530 million in damage.

“Here in Alberta you can expect more drought where you’ve had a history of that over the last 100 years or so,” said Forgeron. “At the other end of the spectrum, you can expect more weather in the form of hail and rain.”

Gloomy forecast

Forgeron offers a gloomy forecast of more extreme weather in the years to come and is urging municipalities to fix crumbling stormwater infrastructure to prepare.

‘The insurance industry claim payouts are the canary in the coal mine.’— Don Forgeron, Insurance Bureau of Canada

“The numbers would indicate the possibility is becoming more the reality. We’ve seen a change in weather patterns … the experts that we’ve consulted say that we can expect more severe weather across the country,” he said Wednesday following a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

“We can choose to ignore it — bury your head in the sand and not do anything about it — or we can take a look at what’s happened and use that as a bit of a guide going forward.”

In November 2011, officials had to shut down Calgary’s downtown core because extreme winds blew windows out of buildings.

Earlier that year, a wildfire ravaged the community of Slave Lake, Alta., with losses pegged at over $700 million.

“The insurance industry claim payouts are the canary in the coal mine,” Fogeron said. “It’s a bit of a sign or an indication of how much the cost is to communities across the country, and we’ve seen those numbers, especially here in Alberta, just skyrocket over the last four years or so.”

Increasing deductibles

Earlier this month, the Insurance Bureau of Canada confirmed that added weather costs have prompted some insurance companies to double the deductible for weather-related claims to as much as $3,000.

Forgeron deflected questions about whether Canadians can expect escalating insurance premiums. He said many insurers are being very “proactive” with their customers to make sure they are prepared for problems that can arise.

“We’re doing what we can to keep costs down. It’s my hope we will be able to limit those to an absolute minimum going forward, but if the past is any predictor we’re going to see some nasty weather.”

Forgeron said aging municipal stormwater and sewer infrastructure is the big worry.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has estimated there is $69 billion worth of outstanding repairs, he said.

“While science has confirmed the weather is getting worse, we also know that aging stormwater and sewer infrastructure failure is to blame for most of the damage.”

Warning issued to Calgarians

With the rain Calgary has seen recently, and with more unsettled weather expected this week, the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) issued a warning Wednesday for local residents to prepare for the possibility of damage from flooding and severe weather.

“There is little doubt Calgary sees its share of severe weather,” says Len MacCharles, CEMA deputy chief, in a release. “There are things Calgarians can do to minimize the effects of severe weather on their safety and property.”

Some of those steps include:

  • Securing items in backyards or on decks so they don’t become airborne during high winds.
  • Direct downspouts away from foundations so water doesn’t pool near the home
  • Install a backflow prevention device on basement floor drains.

CEMA also recommends drivers avoid pooled water, as some misjudge the depth and get stranded in rising water.

“Do not attempt to walk through pooled water or running water: it takes only six inches of water to sweep an adult off their feet, and only a foot of water to move a car,” said CEMA officials in a release. “Do not allow children to play near running water, pools of water or storm drains.”

Another tip is to prepare a 72-hour kit for the home in case of an emergency, such as power outages.

original article via CBC

image courtesy of carolynconner

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Affordability is Key

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Despite how many reports are claiming that new construction is the key to developing a healthy recovery method for the real estate market, it would appear these reports aren’t looking in all directions very effectively. If they were, there would probably be a leniency towards re-visiting that mentality and developing a more comprehensive approach, rather than a shrouded one.

Fluctuations in the property market are of no surprise to many at this point, however these particular market activities seem to be telling a story not many want to hear – the market’s recovery is moving in the wrong direction. As it stands, new buyers are in a tough position when it comes to entering the market due to the revisited amortization constraints wherein down-payment amounts increased, while amortization lengths were decreased, meaning more money up front, and higher payments; a compromising situation indeed. So, what happens now? Property investors have incidentally taken the market by storm to scoop up properties at a healthily reduced rate to be owned as secondary properties, and rented out to the general population – presumably those same potential new buyers who can’t afford to get a piece of the market activity.

Reports are suggesting that one of the only ways this young buying population will enter the market is if their baby-boomer parents (the same demographic investing in the renter’s market) provide down-payments in order to make the endeavour more affordable. The means to do so come from their parents’ act of downsizing, thus freeing up funds that can be allotted to their offspring’s hopeful property purchases.

Our neighbours to the South have also released some purchasing statistics which indicate the trend that pains new buyers is one felt on both sides of the border, as the sales of previously owned homes hit the highest they’ve been in 3-1/2 years. Now, if you take a look at these impeding market factors it’s hard to lean on the argument that new developments are the way to go, as they are even less affordable than previously owned homes and provide no positive alternative to what’s paining the market: the low number of new buyers.

Instead of putting up new developments that hardly anyone can afford to the extent that would stimulate a positive increase in market activity, we should be focusing on resolving the impeding factors that are vice-gripping the market’s potentially young population. If amortization laws are revisited, or if market activity ceases to favour some and down-play others, and instead reaches a content equilibrium for the purchasing population, we could expect a healthy and fulfilling market recovery rather than the lop-sided one we’re experiencing now.

 

image courtesy of katerha

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Taking Advantage of a Renter’s Market

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The property market’s slow yet steady recovery is not a result of new home-owners entering the market, but instead can be attributed to the purchases being made by investors to capitalize on the market’s vulnerability and the current amortization restrictions, which were tightened up last year. Though the market seems unfruitful for new home-owners, investors are cashing in while contributing to market recovery.

The unfortunate circumstances of the adjusted amortization restrictions (increased down-payments and shortened amortization periods) have resulted in this paradoxical recovery, wherein existing owners are the ones who appear to be scooping up properties at the affordable rate which they’ve been lowered to. Purchasing a second home to reap the benefits of a mortgage that pays itself while increasing equity and (potentially) profiting from the value increase of the property.

New home-owners, as previously stated, are in a bind when considering the adjusted mortgage restrictions. Instead of being able to contribute to the market’s recovery directly, these parties are indirectly supporting its recovery by their participation in the renting of these secondary properties from investors.

The nature of the market’s recovery seems rather cyclical in this sense; investors buy the properties, and potential buyers instead rent from these investors and property owners while contributing to their mortgages and increasing the value of their properties. Unfortunately, this divide is one that may not be sustained for long, as every co-dependent relationship will eventually reach a threshold for its functioning potential.

Without loosening the belt on mortgage restrictions, we can expect this cycle to continue until it flops. Do you feel that the mortgage restrictions should be revised to encourage new buyers to enter the market, or should we continue down this path benefiting only the investors? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @enviromint.

image courtesy of EraPhernalia Vintage

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The High Road to Success

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The world is filled with talkers, but not many walkers. The timeless question for many real estate agents and brokers is how they can differentiate themselves from the competition; to appear as the more legitimate choice when it comes to doing business. Many approaches are taken to try and achieve these levels of appeal, but we’re about to let you in on a little secret: It doesn’t take as much as you think! All you need is the right set of tools and (of course) to know how to use master them. Let’s take a look at some of the stepping stones to the debut of your real estate success story.

Presentation: We’re not talking about clean breath and nice clothes – hopefully you’ve figured that one out for yourself by now. When talking about how you present yourself to your clients, there’s much more to it than simply looking the part. One of these for example are e-mail and phone etiquette, which, whether you like it are not, are vitally important, especially when encountering a new lead. E-mail is undoubtedly the most adopted form of communication in the professional world as we know it, so to match your new clothes and fancy haircut, take the time to ensure that your e-mail appearance is acceptable and professional in order to further trust with your clients. Reply within reasonable mounts of time, don’t rush it (that’s how details get skimmed over, which freaks people out entirely) and make sure your spelling, phrasing, and signature are all on-point. Think of it this way: if a client you’ve never met before’s first impression of you is a grammatical e-mail disaster with no capitals, lackluster spacing, little to no detail, spelling mistakes, phrasing errors…we could go on. At the end of the day, no clients are going to trust you with the largest potential investment of their lives if you don’t appear smarter than a 5th grader. Having an e-mail signature with your contact details is also excruciatingly important (so that people can get in touch with you!).

Execution: Now that you’ve got a grip on how to look and sound the part, it’s time to play it. The execution of your tasks is just as important as how you present yourself; the only difference is that one is more ‘face-value’ than the other. This is the part where you take the slick professional agent that’s on your business cards, on your website, on the phone, and in e-mails, and make them come to life for your clients. How, you ask? Well, showing up to meetings on time, taking calls when they come through, returning to messages promptly, thinking ahead (for both you and your clients’ sake), and all-around being on top of everything so that your clients don’t break into a sweat every time you talk to them would be a solid start.

Looking for a better way to stay on top of everything? Well, look no further – we’ve got it!

The Deal Manager To Go now gives you the freedom of having what we like to call a ‘pocket office’ without having to buy new pants. We’re not kidding. It’s all in there. From entering deal sheets online, to tracking your expenses, checking deal archives, and personalized performance reports – there’s no reason for you to miss a beat again.

Want more? Check out the The Deal Tracker, bringing unparalleled communication effectiveness to the table. It’s essentially our answer to all your problems. Now you’ll never forget where you parked your deal! You’ll love the gentle reminders that not only you’ll be receiving, but also the effortlessness of the process, without a doubt. You no longer have to fret about sending 100’s of emails to remind lawyers, to remind clients, to remind you that you need to be reminded. Once you see how easy it is to track your deals in real time and how much communication time you’re saving, heck, you might just go out and do something crazy, like close more deals.

 

image courtesy of Lars Plougmann

 

 

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Generation Gap In Buyers

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Beyond speculating the ups and downs of the market, there seems to be a disjoint in most peoples’ thoughts about the future of the real estate market, and more importantly, its future buyers.

The future of the real estate market is dependent on an availability of properties, but also on the presence of an actively participating buying and selling population…which, at this point, is looking feeble at best due to the weight of insurmountable student debt that the next generation of buyers are dragging into the market by their ankles. Now, buying a house could potentially slip right off the list of practical goals for many of those who are classified as ‘the next generation’. After all, when weighing out paycheques, these future buyers are likely to contribute to their existing (not to mention huge) debts; and that’s a hindrance the market will unfortunately have to absorb one way or another.

The actuality of this more-than-slight oversight has manifested itself into what will be a pretty huge speed-bump in the potential future of the property market. While currently being sustained by a generation of predominantly successful and career-achieved individuals, this is about to shift to a large population of over-educated, under-paid and unemployed individuals. Scary isn’t it?

Conceptually, buying a house became even more intimidating for this debt-ridden generation when the amortization laws became even more constricted this past year. Even by cropping the amortization lengths by only 5 years, this translates into a whole lot more money that nobody (at least in this crowd) seems to have. Only time will tell if the student debts will gradually dissipate in time for this population of potential property investors to pick up their socks and put their money where their (poorly fed) mouths are. Hopefully the amortization laws will also become less stringent to give some lee-way for the market to absorb this hiccup and further encourage/ease the next batch of buyers and sellers into the market.

 

image courtesy of limaoscarjuliet

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Green Properties Save Money

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via Vancouver Sun

An environmental program started by employees in 2006 has reduced energy consumption, water use and waste sent to the landfill at Cadillac Fairview’s Vancouver properties, the property management firm said Monday.

Cadillac Fairview’s Green At Work program began in 2006 at the company’s Waterfront Properties in downtown Vancouver. The program measures the company’s environmental impact and sets benchmarks to improve performance. Today it operates nationally, including at all of the Vancouver office properties managed by Cadillac Fairview (The Vancouver Sun is a tenant in Cadillac-Fairview-managed 200 Granville Street).

“At Cadillac Fairview we recognize that designing and operating our properties sustainably is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do,” said Ultan Kampff, general manager, Pacific Centre and HSBC Building, Cadillac Fairview. The program works to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve environmental protection and encourage sustainable procurement.

Kampff said the program’s benefits include decreased operating costs, greater tenant loyalty and a healthier workspace.

“Employees today want to know they are working for a company that believes in sustainability,” Kampff said. “Tenants who occupy space in our buildings want to be able to tell staff that they are working in a building that’s operated by a landlord that cares about the environment.”

Financial rewards are given to facilities and employees when targets are met. For example, an operations manager in a building would be given a target to reduce the use of electricity, Kampff said. The manager might use strategies ranging from reminding staff or tenants to turn off appliances when they are not in the office, to suggesting using more efficient light bulbs or purchasing more efficient heating or air conditioning machines. If the manager meets or exceeds their targets, they would get a bonus, Kampff said.

Maury Dubuque, senior vice-president of office leasing at Colliers International, said virtually every client Colliers deals with considers green initiatives in the office a priority. There are two reasons for this, he said.

“Virtually every tenant of scale that we deal with has a corporate social responsibility platform, for one,” Dubuque said. “The second thing is that the younger generation — the millennials — demand it.”

He said the younger generation demands that their employer take sustainability seriously and that they have at least some environmental initiatives, such as paper recycling, composting or providing electric vehicle charging stations.

Nationally, Cadillac Fairview decreased energy consumption by 12 per cent and diverted 70 per cent of all waste away from landfills, Kampff said.

This month, the HSBC Building at 885 West Georgia St was certified LEED Gold in the Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance category. At that building, energy use was reduced 12 per cent from 2008 to 2012, while water use was reduced 27 per cent. The recycling rate was 65 per cent and 98.5 per cent of all waste was diverted from landfills in 2012, the company said. The 24-storey HSBC Building, built in 1986, contains both office and retail space and a large atrium entrance.

Cadillac Fairview owns and manages more than $21 billion of commercial real estate, including nearly 46 million square feet of leasable space in 79 properties across North America. The company plans to have all of its buildings within the Pacific Centre complex LEED certified by 2015.

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/tracysherlock

image courtesy of stevecadman

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House Prices To Remain Flat Over 10 Years

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According to predictions made by TD Bank, as outlined in the original article included below, house prices in Canada are estimated to remain constant (and flat as a pancake) for the next 10 years. How is this possible? Well, the market IS expected to see some increases, but these will only be as small as a couple % per year, max, which doesn’t leave much room for profit yields when you take inflation into account. So, yes, the market will, despite minor improvements, sustain its essentially flat state throughout the duration of the next decade. Here’s a snippet of the original article with a link for those who wish to learn more.

OTTAWA – Canada’s real estate bonanza of the past decade has come to end and the long-term trend as one of the most profitable places to invest is also not encouraging, a new research paper from the TD Bank argues.

The “special report” from one of Canada’s largest banks makes the case that gains in housing prices have been exceptionally strong over the last 10 years, even when accounting for a sharp drop during the 2008-09 recession. But now is the time for a bit of a payback.

The report does not predict a collapse in house prices as some analysts have suggested. In fact, it sees prices rebounding after a few years of a correction to as high as eight per cent.

However, the longer term trend is for home price gains to average about two per cent over the next 10 years — flat once inflation is taken into account, says TD chief economist Craig Alexander.

“I do not think we have a housing bubble in Canada,” said Alexander. “We have had abnormal strength in the market during a period of low interest rates and when rates go up over the next three years, you will get a cooling and weaker prices, but not a permanent shock and not a sharp correction.”

The bank said tighter rules for borrowers and lenders are only part of the reason to expect prices to moderate. Other contributing factors include the aging population, modest growth in both the population and the economy and, eventually, higher interest rates.

The bank thinks the market could correct by as much as eight per cent over the next three years, but Alexander said it is possible that prices won’t fall as much as that.

Some forecasters, including Capital Economists, have predicted a bigger correction is in the offing, arguing that houses in Canada may be overpriced by as much as 25 per cent.

But Alexander says that exaggerates the problem, believing the overvaluation is closer to 10 per cent.

The problem with the housing collapse scenario, says Alexander, is that typically a sharp price correction needs a trigger in terms of a steep increase in interest rates or unemployment, both of which appear unlikely at this point…

READ MORE: http://money.ca.msn.com/savings-debt/yourmoney/house-prices-to-remain-flat-over-10-years-td

Original Article By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press, thecanadianpress.com

image courtesy of rob_rob2001

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Will Housing Become A Luxury?

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Everybody right now is complaining that there’s too many houses on the market; which is true. There is certainly a bit of a general market flood occurring in most areas of the country. However we might be too quick to complain because the future or real estate might take a different turn than expected once the market recovers.

At the current rate of market activity, new developments are being executed at a sufficiently sustainable rate. There’s a good availability of workers, costs are relatively low, the listing prices of new properties, due to the nature of the market, are also low, and the rate of new developments is manageable due to low market activity. However we may be getting ahead of ourselves to be pushing for a quick market recovery.

Once the market’s demand and activity stabilizes, new developments will predictably increase, but it’s not looking like enough craftsmen will be available to sustain this potentially increasing demand. And if there’s anything we can say for sure, it’s that once the market recovers, there will certainly be an increase of new development proposals. Now the issue is finding people to build them.

Within the next 10 years, Canada will see an estimated shortage of 800,000 skilled workers due to the lacking emphasis on the social importance and demands for tradesmen. This situation could play out negatively or positively depending on which side of the fence you’re on.

If you were hoping on building a house in ten years, you’d better start saving your pennies (still getting used to that one) nickels, because the price tag is going to look a whole lot different than the one you were expecting. However, for property owners, this may not be such a bad thing.

Due to the labour shortage, house prices will predictably rise due to the squeezed rate of supply and demand, single-handedly increasing market value. Now, this also goes hand in hand with a smaller index of available properties due to the foreseeable housing shortage. That being said, the increases in value may be bittersweet to those looking to eventually sell and settle down in ‘the perfect place’, because that ‘perfect place’ will look like a ham to a herd of wolves when the time comes around.

Real estate comes at a price – that prices varies in many degrees including long-term investment. At this point there’s a large availability of affordable properties on the market, so get ’em while they’re hot, because ten years from now things might be taking a strange turn.

image courtesy of Dave Stokes

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