Unless you are an actuary and you must stare at lifespan charts for a living and rarely permitted to leave your cubicle in an office high-rise at a life insurance firm, life is not about analyzing facts and figures.
However, it is commonly understood that in Canada – and certainly in southern Ontario -- we have an aging society.
Statistics Canada recently released its 2011 numbers, which in essence told us something we already knew: “The share of seniors 65 years and over among the Canadian population was 14.8% in 2011, up from 13.7% in 2006. However, the proportion of seniors in Canada remained among the lowest of the G8 countries.”
In Ontario, that percent is 14.6 – only slightly lower than the national average.
In terms of real estate sales and marketing what does this mean? Really not a lot because people are living longer and want to stay in their house living independently.
Meanwhile, those who do want to sell the home in which they raised a family certainly have different challenges than a young family when considering a sale.
I did post here previously that I recently took a course in London in which a designation or specialist tag would be the result.
I can now say I’m a Senior Real Estate Specialist. This SRES term is recognized by both the Canadian (CREA) and American (NAR) governing bodies for real estate.
Not only did I receive a certificate in the mail, but a folder with additional background information to accumulate with the large textbook I acquired with the course. My knowledge base was increased as the course’s topics ranged from a study of demographics to the pros and cons of reverse mortgages. The conversion of a RRSP to a RRIF at age 71 was explained, as was the idea of ‘activities of daily living’.
The SRES council documents included a letter stating: “The course (you) completed for this important designation has given you a formidable baseline to serve the needs of these consumers.”
They always say that successful sales people are able to quickly put themselves into the shoes of the consumer they are working with. The SRES designation will assist in the empathy required for a person down-sizing to an apartment from a larger home. However, the main reason I wanted to partake in the course is that many of my clients already are in the category of empty-nesters.
At the end of the day, every situation is different, every family is an individual house, no two houses are the same, and every individual is unique.
As I said in the previous writing about the SRES course: The next step is to take the 147-page manual and use its concepts in my daily career as a full-time Realtor.
In a couple days I will re-post my original writing after just completing the course.
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