Thanks for the comment!

It’s always a good time to get into a business if you’re planning on putting in 110% and are ready to support yourself during the startup phase. Alternatively, it’s ALWAYS a bad time to get into a business if you think it’ll take any less than 110% to get things rolling.

The real estate industry in Canada is huge and the competition bureau likely won’t impose sweeping, industry-destroying changes.

All the best,

Sam

The reality is that discount brokers are not discriminated against except maybe by disgruntled non-professionals who generally don’t last. They are totally accepted and, perhaps the only error in your original post, is that their listings aren’t shown if there is no commission payable. Professional REALTORS® just negotiate a commission with their buyer clients because we are bound by the Act to show all suitable listings to our buyers.

We have a large portion of the market because we are good at what we do. The truth is that we still put more money in the Sellers pocket at the end of the day because we only deal with motivated buyers who are willing to pay fair market value for a suitable property that will provide them with a joyful home for years to come. Let the Commission Free (haha) FSBO companies deal with the folks who aren’t really motivated.

Anyways, a good topic, but not worth all the time some REALTORS® are wasting worrying about it.

I’ve seen listing systems come and go, and they all have the same BIG problem: once a property sells, the seller no longer cares enough to remove their listing from the database. The isn’t the case on MLS where the REALTOR/Broker is required to remove the sold listing as a term of their board/association membership.

Liability clauses like the one you’re referring to are fairly standard in most information system documents. The fact remains that data on the MLS is the most accurate available, even in light of these disclaimers.

Sam

Many if not most of the contracts I’ve seen lately have something to the effect of;

THE BUYER ACKNOWLEDGES that the Feature Sheets, marketing materials and any pre- inspection reports provided by the Listing Broker with respect to this property were ordered and obtained for their respective purposes. The Listing Broker makes no representations or warranties regarding these materials and/or their content. Any reliance on the materials is at the Buyer’s sole risk. The Buyer agrees to indemnity and hold harmless the Seller, the Listing Broker and its Sales Representatives for any errors, omissions and any representations, express or implied, contained in the materials.

If realtor’s aren’t going to take any responsibility for the accuracy of the data they share via MLS.ca why would the Bureau not be right in saying the data is provided caveat emptor whether it comes from full service realtor, a discount realtor or a FSBO?

If you want my personal opinion, however, here it is: in transactions dealing with property I use the full-service model because:
- REALTORS I work with put in the hours and provide me with a valuable service – this value is worth paying for.
- In general terms, REALTORS provide consumers with choice by “lubricating” the real estate market. Without REALTORS there would be no amalgamated database, FAR fewer transactions, and far less choice of property on the market. This is worth paying for, and the government should recognize that it’s also worth protecting.

Having said that, fee-for-service and discount brokerages are extremely important in soliciting customers who would otherwise go to comfree or propertyguys and their value to the industry should not be underestimated.

Good article.

I think you’re right: Canadian policy in most things has a way of following suit with the USA. I expect the eventual CREA outcome will mirror that of the NAR decision a few years back,

The real bottom line remains that house transactions are intimidating for most people, and that’s why the industry exists, and is valuable. Even within the current constraints, consumers have options (fee-for-service, discount brokerages, several crappy FSBO sites, etc.). Funnily enough, it seems to be the guys that are experts at the conventional model (good website, marketing, excellent follow-up programs, good customer service) that hold most market share, and not so much the novel ones, despite a myriad of attempts over the years.

It will be hard to hold my breath for the next 5 years while the government and industry associations burn mega$$ to reach a predictable conclusion.

Vincent