With the growth of Cochrane, Airdrie and Calgary area real estate sales it is more important than ever to have a good real estate agent on your side. Bruce Tannas is a Cochrane, Rocky View, and Calgary area Realtor®. Based in Cochrane, Tannas has lived in southern Alberta most of his life and has a clear understanding of this market.
According to Tannas “My background includes a lot of business experience. So, I really understand all the mechanisms behind being a good real estate agent, and helping people buy or sell a home, helping facilitate that very important transaction.”
Bruce Tannas became a licensed Realtor with First Place Realty in June 2022. He continues to take every step needed to be a helpful, educated real estate agent including taking additional real estate classes and being mentored by a more experienced agent. Tannas says that “I feel it important to ensure that I use my knowledge of real estate and the market to give my clients the best service possible. So, I make sure to keep my clients informed each step of the journey.”
To ensure that each and every interaction remains not only positive but productive as well, Tannas has put together a package for both his buying and selling clients.
“For most people, you might buy or sell a house a couple of times in a lifetime. And so, even though you may have a general understanding of the process, you don’t think about it every day.” Tannas continues, “As an agent and a realtor, I do. So together, we go through this package, we go through the steps together. If you’re selling a house, you get the marketing plan. If you’re on the buyer side, we discuss the pathway to purchasing a home.”
Tannas emphasizes that this format allows him to constantly communicate clearly with his clients, ensuring that each part of their interaction is well understood.
Part of the buyer package is a buyer checklist of needs and wants for a home.
“It’s not quite the Newlywed Game,” Tannas jokes. “But yes, it’s often surprising to couples to discover what’s the most important and what’s not important to the other. Rather than being a point of contention, it’s often simply a case of something mattering more to one partner over another.”
A large aspect of buying or selling is understanding where you are in the market, as well as what part of the cycle you’re in, Tannas acknowledges.
“Currently, we’re in a definite seller’s market here in Cochrane, Airdrie, and the Calgary area. There are very few listings and lots of buyers. Strategies will differ between buyers and sellers. So, you have to keep that top of mind. I definitely keep both our sellers and buyers very much informed as to what’s happening.”
“Bruce was a pleasure to work with. He provided helpful and knowledgeable guidance during the preparation and selling process. He was always available to answer any questions. During our initial meeting, he came well prepared and provided excellent guidance on best ways to prepare the house for sale. Once we had a solid offer the sale went smoothly. I would highly recommend working with Bruce.” Margeret Payne
Beyond the business background, Tannas also has an aesthetic background. Having been a photographer for years, he clearly understands the balance between what you can see, and what facts need to be considered before purchasing.
“There are two sides. One is the aesthetic feel to the house- when somebody walks in, what are they seeing?” Tannas continues, “The rest is the business transaction, the paperwork and numbers.”
For sellers it is important to stage the home so that buyers can see themselves living there. Tannas says that having a photographer’s eye can help with helping sellers to position their home for sale.
For buyers, Tannas adds that a common pitfall is focusing too much on the house itself without considering its surroundings.
“Some of the mistakes that people make is that they fall in love with the house, but they don’t think about what community they’re in, what’s the access to schools, if the neighborhood has lots of kids if they have kids. Those kinds of things.” He elaborates, “You can paint and remodel a house all you want, but the one thing you cannot do to a house is move it. Unless you have a mobile home, of course.”
It’s a delicate balance between the fanciful and the practical, and Tannas strives to guide buyers of all budgets and backgrounds towards a good outcome.
Currently showing homes in-person as well as virtually, Tannas emphasizes the need to meet people where they’re at.
“It’s however we need to meet the customers,” he shares. “The way we work has morphed, I think, because we have buyers from outside the province. For clients that are from the area, in person showings make sense. But for buyers from outside of the province, like the buyers I recently had from Manitoba, virtual showing works better for them. They came to town. I showed them around all the neighborhoods so that they would understand the area. And then they went home. Only then did I show them a whole pile of houses virtually, and they ended up buying one in a great neighborhood in Cochrane. You really have to meet people where they’re at.”
For more information about the Cochrane, Rocky View, and Calgary area housing market, or to discuss buying or selling a home, call Bruce Tannas at 1-587-899-1903, email bruce@cochrane-realtor.ca, or visit www.cochrane-realtor.ca.
