Realtor uses years of experience to assist clients
mliebenberg@prairiepost.com
Realtor Kelsey Adam from Century 21 Accord Realty has been assisting people with their property needs in the Swift Current area for over two decades.
He appreciates receiving the vote as best individual realtor in the Prairie Post’s Best of Swift Current for 2020.
“You’re just doing a job and you’re doing as best a job that you can do, but it’s typically not a job that people look at and say that’s important,” he said. “So it’s great to get accolades in no matter what you’re doing.”
Most people will only require the services of a realtor a few times during their life when they buy or sell a property, and it usually represents a significant transaction for them.
“I see my job as providing them the guidance and information that they need in order to make the decision that is best for them,” he said. “There’s no specific right or wrong in people’s decisions, as long as they have the information that they need to make the best one for them.”
A certain property might be the perfect fit for one client, but for another person the best choice will be something else.
“My job is to know what it is what they’re looking for, and guide them along in the process,” he said. “The nice thing is that after 22 years of doing it, you develop a knowledge, you develop an insight, you develop a way of being in tune with people so that you’re helping them make the best decision that they can, wherever they are in their situation.”
He will give assistance to people when they are at different stages in their lives.
It might be a young couple buying their first home, a growing family who needs a larger place, an older couple downsizing to a smaller space, a grieving family selling the home of a deceased parent, or a home that needs to be sold after a divorce.
“Everybody is in a particular point in their life and that is what’s most important to them at that given time,” he said. “As a professional we need to be able to help them in whatever situation they are in.”
This opportunity to interact with and assist a variety of people still makes his work as a realtor interesting and exciting after all these years.
“Every day is about listing a home and selling a home, but you’re dealing with so many different situations, so many different personalities, so many different types of homes and different needs that every day is different,” he said. “I wake up every morning excited about the opportunity to go out and help somebody fulfill their need.”
Adam grew up on a farm near Spiritwood in central Saskatchewan.
He studied journalism at the former Mount Royal College in Calgary, and he owned the Herbert Herald for about seven years. He then looked for other opportunities, and he worked in the printing industry and in newspaper advertising sales for several years. He developed an interest in real estate as a career and he became a realtor in April 1998.
“I only had a job for probably six years of my life,” he noted. “Other than that, I’ve been self-employed, and growing up on the farm you kind of develop that desire to be more free.”
He applied his photographic and writing skills to become a trailblazer in the Swift Current real estate market. He used quality photographs with his real estate listings and he moved away from cryptic descriptions of property features with a lot of acronyms that were only comprehensible to realtors.
“It just started changing the way other people did it, because it was getting a response,” he recalled. “I’ve had people call me and said the only reason I’m listing with you is because I like how you put your comments.”
According to Adam, the most significant change in the real estate industry has been the use of technology.
“When I got into the business, realtors were seen as the gatekeepers of the information,” he said. “They were the ones that had the only access to what was listed on the market. Technology now has changed that, where anybody can find out what is on the market now, and because of that our role now is how can we help you through this process.” He added that there is a great group of people working in the Swift Current real estate market and they share a sense of collegiality.
“When you’re selling a home, it’s rarely just you,” he said. “Each and every one of them I’m happy to call a friend as much as a co-worker. We have a great professional group of people who also help make what I do every day enjoyable. It’s not just my clients I work with, it’s the other agents I work with in town.”
The public health measures for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a challenge to realtors, but he still felt upbeat.
“The pandemic will come and it will go, just as other things have come and gone in the past, and thankfully
Saskatchewan is doing a great job of flattening the curve,” he said.
He is still seeing activity in the local real estate market, even though it might not be as busy as during a typical spring market.
“March sales this year were up 45 per cent over last March,” he said. “I looked at what April is doing mid-month, and we are on par for last April as far as sales. Our inventory is down a little bit over last year, but our inventory is still 50 per cent higher than it was four years ago. … Our average price year to date is right on par with last year, median price is right on par with last year. So it hasn’t affected a lot of the market.”
This situation might look different and the impact on the market might become more noticeable if the pandemic restrictions remain unchanged for several more months.
“If this is still going on to this extent in June, it certainly will start having a greater financial impact on people as far as being able to qualify for mortgages,” he said. “So I think the longer this goes on, the more impact it will have.” Real estate is considered an essential service and he has continued showing properties to clients with the necessary precautions.
“I’m showing with Clorox wipes in my hand, where you wouldn’t have done that before, or people wearing gloves, particularly for occupied homes,” he said. “So we’re doing things differently, but we’re still doing business. People are typically not listing their properties right now, but there are still people looking at buying.”
The selection of properties to show to clients will be done more carefully to fit very specific criteria, he will consider their timeline to buy, and if they have already been pre-qualified for a mortgage.
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“So there’s a lot more diligence in what we’re doing,” he said.
“There are people that stepped back, because they’re laid off and they can’t qualify for the mortgage, but there’s still people doing things, and if their plans are to have a house this spring, then those plans are still going forward.”
He is doing more videos for property listings, web conferencing happens more frequently, and home showings will not take place if residents might be immunocompromised.
“There are quite a few houses in our market, because of our increased inventory, that are vacant right now,” he observed.
“So it’s easy enough to get people through several vacant houses and of course keeping social distancing with them and still using the sanitary procedures that we would use. We’re still doing more in-person showings than me walking through with a video camera face-timing people.”
Adam felt positive about the outlook for the local real estate market after the pandemic, and he is anticipating a potential increase in property listings.
“Interest rates are very attractive, and people have a lot of chance of looking at their house and maybe even a chance to do that little painting project that they were always going to do and now they’re ready to sell their property,” he said.
“So I think when this lets go, it’s going to be resuming quite strong in real estate.”