Nickola

I need to approach a realtor in Ottawa next month to show me around as many houses as he/she can in three days! How do I find a good, reliable one? Is there a list of registered or approved realtors? Should I expect to be driven around these houses or should I have my own vehicle? I've been on the MLS loads of times and the number of different realtors is mind boggling. Is Remax one of the biggest and therefore the best or because it's the biggest is it one to avoid?

So many questions so little time

R2D2

You'll find they'll be falling over themselves to get your custom, and you know that any realtor can show any house that is on the market here. We used a realtor from a big company in our part of Canada called Royal LePage , who was very efficient and nice. Just try and find one you get on with as you can spend quite a lot of time with him/her whilst searching for that dream home.
As for driving you around....I don't know as we just followed our realtor in our car.

steve of 5-0

Hi, Realtors in Canada have to pass a set course (unlike the UK) as they are then "bonded" as they are required by laws to do some of the legal documentation (that a UK solicitor would do).

The caution is when one gets house inspection (survey in the UK).
Anyone can be a "house inspector" in Canada !!!
At least get one from a recognised association, for a little piece of mind?

Also in Canada, a Realtor can legally be "dual", working for both the vendor and purchaser, weird I know, but we had a genuine lady, it actually pushes the process along, I think.

The norm` is for you to follow in your car, to 3-4 or so, arranged, timed viewings. Also the norm` is the vendor disappears to leave the agent to show the place to you.
A lot of places are empty as well.

If you are looking at places with drilled wells, just lift the lid on the toilet cistern to see what sediment is in the bottom, if it`s very little then subject to a "water test" (e-coli etc.) & a "pressure test" if the water is slow out of the tape, there is no probs`.

Septic tanks - if you buy with septic, have it pumped & serviced at vendors expense, you want the paperwork for that and proof of the installation being originally permit correct.

www.mls.ca is a good guide for prices. But as to whats still for sale it`s a few weeks out of date.
If you see ones you fancy, email the agent direct, they will email more precise details, such as what`s on which floor and size of room, what is incl. in sale - white goods, drapes, rugs, etc.

Sean Boxer

I'd say you should try to avoid realtors working for you and the seller as they aren't working solely on your behalf. We shared cars with our realtor, one day ours, one day his.

You should look at a place called Wakefield, 20 mins out of Ottawa on the Quebec side. It's a beautiful place (Steam Train, river, covered bridge, great music venue, ski hills, golf course, bungee jump) and is booming right now, which may not be a great thing for the village in the long run but your property prices would be hihger when you sell again.

There's a Remax office in the middle of the village, you can't miss it, ask for Danny Syvier, he's the best one there, a really nice guy.

Rich_007

Look for someone prepared to take you out and about, time not of the essence, everything planned, calm and relaxed.
Look for proof of local knowledge, schools, developments, amenities, access routes/commuting times etc. Should also know the level of crime in each area, and esp *where not to live*[every town city hamlet has those places]. Knowledge of current and more importantly future development near homes you look at. They should know the local trends for real estate price movement and future estimations, in different areas in their patch, and the overall 'bigger picture' in the area. Importantly, you need them to be honest and not just to catch you into buying 'the perfect home' - instead you want someone open and prepared to tell you straight up when something looks fantastic but stinks bad. You want someone you feel comfortable talking about your needs, what you're looking for, able to grasp this but also be flexible if your ideas change.

Obvious skills are ability to point out immediate issues with property, you may think you could easily do this yourself but UK/Canada home building is way different and problems of much different sorts arise here even in quite new homes. This is even before a home inspector sees the place for the big "check it out" deal. Then you also need a good negotiator who isn't in the game just to make an easy comfortable cosy closed deal with a "friendly" rival realtor, have someone who will work hard to save you a few $k if possible given the local market.

Go with a recommendation everytime [as above] where someone has actually used their services and isn't just looking to recommend for a kick back of a few hundred bucks.

And note, anybody can qualify to practice as a realtor, many work part time, for what is effectively pin money all for the big deal and prestige of being 'a realtor' esp in upscale, upmarking locations.

Hope this helps, it's my scratty bit of advice

Rich.

Frank'n Sense

I am a recently licensed realtor in Vancouver and agree with a lot that has been said to date.

Some points to add are:

Recommendation is the best way to find someone. You have to find someone you feel happy to work with and can trust.

The realtor, unlike an estate agent in the UK for example,actually draws up the legal offer which becomes the contract of Purchase and Sale. They should include clauses and conditions in this to protect your interests. Their local knowledge is important - as in understanding issues which could exist in the area, municipal regulations, zoning.

You work with the realtor to arrive at an offer that you are comfortable with. The realtor's knowledge of market conditions, will help you pitch the offer at the right level. But ultimately it is your decision as to what to offer. The realtor then presents the offer in person to the seller and their realtor. This is one of many reasons why it is a bad idea to work with a realtor who is representing the seller and you (the buyer). I find it incredible how many people walk into an open house and buy from the realtor there. And I personally will not act in this dual capacity. If anyone wants to buy a listing of mine, I will refer them to someone else.

I wrote an article on the whole house buying process which can be seen at
http://www.cravecanada.com

Get a home inspection done by a reputable person. The realtor will usually give you a list of people (3 at least). Go around on the inspection and ask questions. I've found good inspectors are happy to explain the issues and translate Canadian housing into terms you can understand.

We almost always drive our clients around to see properties, unless this is impractical for other reasons. We find this is a good way to get to understand what our clients want. It is a chance to really get to know them and actually is one of the parts of the job I most enjoy.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Just make sure you really are happy with the realtor and get all your due diligence done. In the end the process is much better than the UK and generally pain free.

Warmly,

Frank

CalgaryBlade

We used a realtor here, mainly because we wanted to see houses the day after we landed.

But we found the house we eventually bought by ourselves, just walking around the neighbourhoods near to where we were staying.

We had already made an offer on another house, but we were able to pull out as it had a dodgy roof. Our realtor was not too happy as the selling realtor on the house we pulled out of worked in the same office. Not the case with the house we eventually bought.

You have to watch the "realtor cartels" here.

Helen Parnell

A lot of the previous replys are very good, there are a lot of good realtors and also as many bad ones. We chose one who had emmigrated to Calgary and specialised in helping people move over. We were picked up at the airport, taken to a rental property, taken to get sin and health cards, before we looked for a house! Check out realtors websites to see what they offer.

dbd33

I did this. I knew the area where I wanted to buy and lived close enough that I could drive up and down the streets twice a week looking for signs. I did this for weeks on end and studied the adverts in the local paper and in estate agents windows as well as looking on mls. It 's important to be informed because locally houses are rarely listed for more than a week, if you dither the house will be sold to someone else but, at the same time, there are a lot of very dodgy properties; it's a help to know which houses have been frequently sold.

In the end I walked into an open house, the place was in a rough state but the price reasonable, I made an offer (subject to survey for major structural flaws), 15% below asking. Haggling ensued immediately, ending with a gap of less than 6% of the list price. Since there was only one agent involved I suggested to him that he could make the deal happen by cutting his commission and walked off. I don't know if he beat down the sellers or cut his fee but the deal was done at that price.

I can't see using an agent to sell a property in this neighbourhood unless the vendor needs "plausable deniability". There's enough drive-by traffic or, failing that, enough newspaper readers to get the house sold. Having an agent act for one when buying might make sense though, someone who's sold the termite house a few times would know not to advise someone to buy it.

Souvenir

Surely, though, that would be picked up in an inspection? And wouldn't trying to disguise the fact count as a hidden fault? You can get your arse sued off for that up her, even years after.

skigordi

In your situation there is always a risk unless you can get a personal recommendation.

My own approach was to pick a selection of Realtors from web pages/MLS; email them all in advance saying what we wanted, how much $$ we had, where we liked and when we would be over; see who responds, how quickly and how helpful they appear.....not perfect but if you can find a realtor who is willign to establish a relationship by email then that is a start and important for you.

iaink

Inspectors vary ENORMOUSLY!

Some are excellent and will crawl around in tight dark spaces searching for rot, but some couldnt find there own arse in the dark with both hands.

Its hard to get personal recomendations when you are new to the area, so I cant stress enough how important it is to get references from inspectors of people who will vouch for their work, and how important it is to actually follow up and check that people were satisfied.

There are a lot of cowboys out there in league with realtors. We have friends who were stungby that, turns out the inspector was the realtors brother in law. He missed an oil tank that had been leaking for so long it had contaminated the groundwater supply, and that was just the tip of the iceberg of stuff he missed or ommited. After $100k to fix the problem, my friends insurance company is now trying to sue both the realtor and inspector for damages. We know other people who had less than stellar experiences too.

Dont take the realtors word, remember, they are getting a kickback on the sale, and have a vested interest in making a sale happen.

steve of 5-0

Property tax is like (community charge) and it can vary vastly, plus there are two classes (occupied and unoccupied) for private homes.

Here we paid $600 for 2005, we are not in a town or city, we have our own drilled well & septic. So we are just paying for street maintenance, garbage collection and emergency services as such.

Our two nearest towns would have town water and waste connected and residents pay between $1 and $2 thousand per year, plus get a water company bill regularly.

Sometimes it`s worth calculating the cost of town/city life against "pioneer" life, re. the utility bills against the time and cost of gas for the car journeys.

We enjoy a house in 15 acres, no neighbours on one side and none opposite, on the other side they are 800m away.

We spend $60 a week on gas for the car, we would spend that on additional town utility bills if we lived in a town.

Here in Canada, some people use their front yard as a "scrap processing depot"!!!, they like to claim it`s "landfill", but they are hillbillies really.

So if looking at homes when there is snow on the ground, be careful, because in the spring when it`s gone, horrors can be revealed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dbd33

1. I don't know that a home inspector would necessarily notice something like a termite infestation. They didn't notice that our septic system didn't work (first flush flooded the lawn) nor that my brother's house was structurally unsound due to one basement wall being missing. They didn't even comment on the fact that we had neither a breaker not fuse box, just a tangle of bare wires that sparked attractively in the dark. An inspector doesn't always do a better job than you can do yourself.

2. The reference to "plausable deniability" related to hidden faults and the misrepresentation thereof, if the agent says there's no infestation or whatever, it doesn't follow that the owner said it or knew about it. If you do know that something is seriously wrong an agent can help with concealing the fact and will likely know a lawyer who can reduce the risk of being sued. I listened with interest to two agents in the pub a week ago, they were chatting about concealing leaks in basements; leaky basements being a feature around our way. Did you know that agents release spiders into the basement before open houses ? An obvious trick, I suppose, but not one I would have thought of.

iaink

There is an apocryphal story about a coach who was hired by a school, they rented a house for him.

It was only in the spring when the snow finally melted that he found the place had a whole extra story


$600 for 15 acres!!!....gotta be the exception to the rule. We live with well/ septic, and are paying about $1700 on less than an acre (~1.4% x assessed value) Your tax rate must be extraordinarily low, less than 0.5% or is property out there really that cheap?