Steve Haid Explains What to Look for in a Luxury Real Estate Agent

When looking for luxury real estate, buyers and sellers are interested in more than just getting the best possible deal. All those celebrity real estate deals that fill countless magazine and website pages and flash seven or eight-digit prices can only happen with the dedicated professional support of luxury real estate agents. Agents like Steve Haid.

Originally from Toronto, Steve Haid is a luxury real estate agent specializing in properties in and around the Muskoka Lakes area, where he now lives. This part of Canada is known as a cottage country and presents a significant amount of tourist draw. It’s also home to luxury properties, attractive enough to draw the attention of celebrities.

As someone who’s operated in a hot city real estate market and the luxury cottage country market, Steve Haid knows just the kind of service clients interested in buying or selling luxury real estate expect. And it starts with knowing the right people.

“In Muskoka, we have many international celebrities, professional athletes, and busy professionals coming to buy and sell cottage waterfront properties,” he explains. “There’s a lot of Americans, especially, who are interested in the kind of escape that beautiful Muskoka provides while also being relatively close to a major urban center like Toronto.”

Celebrities and people looking to invest in luxury real estate need more time and money to spend on the type of luxury real estate that matches their preferences. Conversely, sellers of luxury real estate want to get their properties in front of the people who can actually afford it.

As an in-betweener, the luxury real estate agent is the professional whose networking skills should ensure that they know both the sellers of luxury properties and the people who could be the potential buyers. With pocket listings, the luxury real estate agent’s ability to bring those two worlds together makes the deal happen.

The ability to make deals happen should also be evident from previous work history and references in the community. A luxury real estate agent with experience should be able to demonstrate all factors contributing to the success of buyers and sellers. Having all the certifications necessary to work in real estate is essential, but more importantly is experience, work ethic and the realtor’s actual network among many other characteristics that establish your presence in the market.

“I’ve been helping clients achieve their investment and real estate goals for more than fifteen years, and I spent the first half working in Toronto which helped build my refined database,” explains Steve Haid. “When I decided to take the plunge and move to Muskoka, I opened our luxury boutique brokerage here and became the managing partner with a team of several realtors working for us. We specialize in the luxury lakefront market, and we’re very well-known for it.”

Steve Haid’s history with the area goes back, even — as many other Torontonians, he visited the cottage country long before he decided to move there. But now, as he lives in his renovated lakehouse on Lake Muskoka, pushing on 130 years of age, it’s safe to say that the people and the community in Muskoka know him, too.

Luxury real estate agents can’t slack in the marketing department, either, even if they’re primarily working with pocket listings — the marketing skills required are too valuable not to be learned. So everything from knowing how to present and market a listing, arrange it for photography, videography and staging, and publish high-quality attention grabbing content could be in the real estate agent’s job description.

For Steve Haid, it’s part of his service package. “I call it white glove service, which means that I’m hands-on from the beginning until the end for both sellers and buyers,” he explains. “The client doesn’t even have to be here for the process, which is very common in cottage country. When we establish that trust, they let me take care of the entire process for them, eliminating valuable time for very busy professionals.”

This is only a part of the whole set of services Steve Haid offers, called white glove service. For example, people who are too busy making money might need help spending it on real estate, and Steve Haid knows how to help.

“I do everything for the client, from finding their unique property while providing complete video tours for our clients who are not able to be present in Muskoka physically,” he explains. “I always recommend actually seeing the property in person but they can rely on my expertise to be their eyes and ears when they can’t physically come to Muskoka. This includes real estate investors who are as close as Toronto or as far away as the US and even Europe.”

With top-notch service, a deep knowledge of the Muskoka area, and an impressive work history, Steve Haid has quickly become the most sought-after luxury real estate agent in the area. For the final touch, he points out another thing that makes great real estate agents, whether they’re luxury or not.

“People let us into their lives. They give us control over something as valuable to them as the roof over their head,” he says. “It’s a tremendous level of trust. I’m proud to say that many of my clients still like to have me around – they see me as not only a dedicated advisor but a friend that’s been with them through making very difficult decisions. And that’s an important method for gauging the quality of a real estate agent as any – the type of relationships they’ve cultivated over the years.”

McClatchy newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.