GOOD QUESTION!
Even working in real estate myself, the whole issue about the Competition Bureau, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and what was being negotiated was very confusing. Luckily there is a very simple answer.
The Competition Bureau was mainly concerned with the possibility in real estate that some Realtors were engaging in discriminatory practices against other Realtors or companies, namely not showing clients any properties listed by Realtors or brokerages who offer “mere posting services.” A mere posting service is offering a seller access to the MLS for a low or flat fee under the brokerage’s name for that property to gain access to a wider customer base and exposure to the other Realtors who are searching for homes for their clients.
So what does this mean for buyers and sellers? It really just ensures that there are other options available for both the buyers and the sellers. Most home buyers are going to access the public mls.ca website to see what homes are listed for sale in their target area with a set of customizable search parameters. For sellers, the MLS is the optimal market for listing your home as available for purchase, but there are sellers out there who wish to handle the sale of their home themselves, yet still want that greater exposure on mls.ca rather than the other sites available for owner-sellers.
The agreement between the Competition Bureau and CREA ensures that Realtors and brokerages who wish to offer a different business model – or negotiate with potential sellers for a different set of marketing strategies – will not be discriminated against by other Realtors or brokerage companies. It’s really all about commissions; how much do you want to pay and what duties or marketing strategies are going to be included for the commission you negotiate? For sellers who simply want access to the MLS, a low- or flat-rate commission for a mere posting service may be their ideal choice. For those sellers who want a more hands-on Realtor, or sellers who don’t feel comfortable handling their own sale or negotiations, they still have the option of a traditional sales representative responsible for advertising and marketing, producing marketing packages, and spending the time and money to maximize the exposure of the property to the buying market. Or maybe there’s something in between the do-it-yourselfers and hiring someone else to do it all that is more appealing. This agreement ensures that there is flexibility in real estate marketing services and that each potential seller can take advantage of it.
Dennis Fung
Kelly Bohl
