Hiring a realtor...
 

I'm looking to sell off one of my properties.. it's a 1yr old Townhouse.

Anyways, we have to price it pretty aggressively as there are newly developed ones going up in a few months.

Soooo.. what are your thoughts on 1% realty vs normal realtor?

The savings can be substantial BUT from what I've seen, the only real way to sell your property is having your realtor meet with other realtors who bring their clients. These 'other' realtors are motivated by the commissions also of course and with 1% realty only taking $7000, they wont offer much commissions to another realtor. . this of course results in these 'other' realtors taking their clients to different listings which may offer higher payout.

anyone have any experience with 1% realty?

1% realty is a great method to go.....IF its priced to competitively in the market, the demand for property is high, and the market is hot.

Why is this good only in these circumstances?

90% of all deals is represented by 2 agents (buyer and seller). When another realtor is offering a commission pay of $6,000 and they are selling something thats similar to your property (assuming that your property isn't one of a kind), then a $2,500 commission to the agent thats buying your property will have no incentive to show your property.

Sure, i am not sure if i am letting the cat out of the bag....but hey, you asked nicely. I know a few guys at 1% and Team 3000 that are EXCELLENT realtors....but based on the reason that i just stated above, these are the results you should be expecting.

So, just go this route...recommended to anyone selling a property regardless:
1. Look for an agent who is a friend or friend referral (im sure you can find one on ur facebook friend's list)
2. Look for an agent with 1% or Team 3000
3. Look for an agent that specializes in your area
4. Interview all the agents, and don't be afraid to bring the question about commission to the table.
5. Let them earn your business, and make sure your bull-shit radar is fine tuned.

Hope this helps.

Oh....in addition to that, discard the realtor the moment they say that they already have buyers looking for a property like yours.


Biggest line of bullshit realtors will ever tell you.

thanks for the response.. much appreciated. We have nixed 1% realty and listed with Re/Max. The difference in professionalism and confidence was huge... we didn't get the feeling that 1% could get the job done. The Re/Max agent knew her stuff right off the bad and will be worth the price!

Other Realtors avoiding listings by 1% Realty is unethical and against the CREA ethics policies. Your buying Realtor is supposed to help you find the best house for you, not the house that pays them the best. A buying agent is entitled to a paycheque, yet should it be 2.5% of $500K for driving you around and making a couple phone calls?

If you're selling in a hot area, using 1% Realty is best. People will want to see the property regardless if their buying Realtor doesn't want to.

Ottawa is a better example of this. Ottawa has a DIY real estate sales company called Grapevine. They have > 10% marketshare. If you're house hunting you'll often see a Grapevine sign on a house yet did not see the listing on MLS. If you ask your Realtor to see the house, they'll turn you down cause it pays no commissions at all.

In a hot market, not a problem cause people will find your house. In a slow market, Realtors have the MLS monopoly, and you need MLS to get more exposure.

Hopefully this will all change one day when CREA is forced to end the monopoly.

Hey Ray, how long you been a realtor now?
Dang time just flies by.

going into my fourth year in the spring....

My neighbour's selling their house and have their sign up but it does not show on MLS.ca, is there any reason for this?

The sign infront of the house has been there for over two months now.

Exclusive listing? Maybe they're trying to double end with a driveby buyer.

If its a new listing, it will take 5 business days to process into the public MLS database. Kinda stupid. Its up and running for realtors to see within the same business day, but public exposure is a week.

So I guess in my case the realtor just doesn't want to list it online but just wants to have the sign out?

oh whoops...i didn't read it was there for 2 months.

You're pretty much right, as what the previous person above me said, 'exclusive listing.'

I don't know a full out reason why they wouldn't want to have it on mls....its not like its expensive to put a listing online on mls.

What do you mean by "exclusive listing"?

It isn't like a crazy good looking house. It is on a fairly busy street but I can't imagine it getting that much press since it was sold/bought and back on the market a couple times in last 2 years.

exclusive listing pretty much means that the realtor and its office has exclusive rights to sell the property....meaning, they don't have to cooperate with agents and provide them with a commission, and also, it doesn't make its way onto the MLS system.

Really, its just as effective as a For Sale By Owner for most parts....so, why not do it that way.....

Well put Ray.:thumbsup:

Interesting.

Wonder if my neighbour knows this. Just might knock on his door and ask him how much he's selling it for.

Didn`t the CREA lose some sort of non-competition action brought against them? Kind of like real estate buyers were effectively being extorted to pay huge commissions because otherwise they wouldn't be able to list on MLS? It should be interesting going forward what happens with this because there is only so much advertising and PDF contract fill in the blanks is worth to people selling their real estate.

Nope...CREA didn't lose.....yet, at least.

Firstly, buyers don't pay real estate commissions at all...sellers do (with exception).

The whole issue started when the competition bureau implied that realtors have "fixed commissions." That statement is entirely untrue. There may be a commission of a market value....but there NEVER has been and never will be a fixed commission. No office, even 1% Realty sets a standard commission for their representatives to charge their clients.

Secondly, extortion (if you're not using that term to abrasively) is a criminal offence. No business justifies the use of extortion, and theres no need to mention what consequences are involved if prosecuted.

Lastly, be aware that the MLS system is OWNED and OPERATED by real estate agents. So, you can understand why properties will NOT be advertised without the representation of a licensed Realtor.


At the end....yes, it will be interesting. The way I see it is this...
At the end, this will be decided in courts in the manner of 'stare decisis.' or in lamens terms, previous shit that happened in the courts. They will take every scenario that the Competition Bureau throws at them and decide if it turns into a civil manner in the future, would the proper representation of a real estate have changed that situation?

At the end of this whole thing....some issues will go in favor of the competition bureau, and some issues will go in favor of CREA. Yes, it will be effecting jobs of Real Estate agents....its just a question of how drastic or if drastic at all.

Its not gonna be for the Competition Bureau to decide.

mls is a joke. Too bad we don't have anything like this www.midland.com.hk. Transparency is very lacking here and info are very scattered. I wish there is a database for transaction records for vancouver.

Make sure you hire a realtor that hires professional photographers to shoot the house. Less than 10% of the realtors actually do this and they outsell the realtors that use their low res poorly compressed point and shoot photos. since now more than 86% of buyers search for homes online.

pm me for details on getting properties shot.

4th year already... Nice.
Well done.

Considering the bashing and slander happening on this site a few years ago.
The accusations, outlanderish bets.....

A healthy real estate agent.... means my investments are still healthy.

Whats your take on HST coming up?

Theres not much to have a on take on regarding HST in the concern of real estate.

HST will only be paid on new developments for buyers, and on commissions for sellers.

The way i see it is.....if developers want to continue making money on new buildings, they gotta make it a lil bit more attractive pricewise for people to buy. Theres a lot of stuff out there where people won't have to worry about taxes except for property transfer.

update to this thread. Re/max sold the townhouse within 2 weeks of it being listed.

Congratulations. I just sold my townhouse in 8 days through Tony Singh @ Remax West Coast!:thumbsup:

I know Tony Singh...super professional guy. Give him shit for me for not puttin' an offer on my listing...kay??:thumbsup: