In partnership with Luke Lintz
Like every other working realtor, Steve Haid has had an interesting couple of years. The market forces of increased demand for real estate, and an inventory that couldn’t satisfy it, led to price increases that didn’t bypass the Muskoka Lakes area where Steve mainly operates. “For some of the luxury lakefront properties we focus on, prices went up 50-70 percent yearly,” he explains. “It was too much, too fast. Luckily, they’ve been stabilizing.”
Steve Haid and his team of agents are preparing for a few months of smooth sailing in real estate, thanks to a forecast of a balanced market that might last well into the spring. Steve is one of the district’s most prominent champions and foremost realtors, and he doesn’t shy away from sharing what made him such a successful realtor.
It starts with the reason for entering the industry. Some think real estate presents the perfect opportunity to earn well while barely doing any work. Others might think it’s a great way to supplement one’s income. None of that is true, of course – and having a good overview of the industry, what it entails, and the opportunities it presents is vital for getting off on the right foot.
When he started his career, Steve Haid worked in a bank in Toronto as a financial planner for over 7 years, and he had a front-row seat for the upcoming Toronto boom. Having seen a market boom in the making, he decided the time was right to give his love of real estate a shot. He got his license and became a realtor at the right time, in the right place.
As years went on, however, Steve found that he was more and more attracted to other markets, namely Ontario’s cottage country. After over half a decade of working as a real estate agent in Toronto, he uprooted his life and moved to the Muskoka Lakes area to manage a real estate brokerage there. The opportunity made sense because he got to live and work in the part of Canada that he loved the most but also gave him a huge opportunity to sell plenty of luxury waterfront properties. He made a move that made sense in every way that counted.
However, Steve Haid wasn’t the only person who loved that part of Canada. Muskoka and the nearby lakes are beloved across the country, the United States, and Europe. Property owners in the area come from around the world, so Steve Haid had to adapt his services to match the client’s needs. He developed the white glove service style that sees him as his client’s agent in the field, so much that some of his clients buy their properties without even seeing them in person. His video tours, international marketing with the latest technology and diligence at work count for a lot in his clients’ decision-making process when they are selling or buying waterfront properties.
Over his years as a realtor, Steve Haid has built a career on solid grounds of making good decisions based on reliable information, going the extra mile for his clients, and working in the market he has a great feel for. It’s his community, after all, and he likes seeing it prosper. His parting advice for becoming a successful realtor would be to try to enjoy it and find your niche market, as that will make everything else at least a little bit easier and enjoyable.