Hi all - has anybody used any independent company (ie. non Realty) to view properties for sale in Canada before emigrating, investing there?

I'm thinking of incorporating this service into my company and would appreciate any feedback - usefullness, etc.

Thanks!

Why wouldnt you use a realtor...their service is effectively free to the buyer and its what they do best?

If I remember there was another thread on this subject somewhere, and I believe the general concensus was why? As Iaink has said.

We would only ever use a realtor - we had some experience of a relocation agent when we first moved here. I would definitely not use one again and would advise anyone else to do the same.

There are plenty of FSBO companies, but you are dealing with seller direct. surely you would be better off sounding out good realtors per location.
I know some good realtors all over Van & Lower Mainland, most of whom have their own websites and incorporate virtual viewing on line.
Realtors seem to have done a good job stone walling out competition. Some will even avoid dealing with 1% if they can help it.
So the options seem a bit limited.

Exactly.

Given that realtors are licenced in each province and effectively provide a "free" service to look at any listed property, I'm not sure how much "added value" can be provided by a relocation service for the house buying aspect of the move.

I don't get what you mean - a trip to Canada to view properties for sale, before emigrating? I think the wait is 4yrs-ish now for some people... when would your trips be happening in the process? Would you be just giving them an overview of available styles? - nothing would still be for sale by the time they got to Canada.

If I was going to buy a condo in Mexico or Spain in a huge development where everything looked the same and there were multiple units for sale and that was likely to remain so until I'd finalised my purchase, I would do a property viewing trip. But not to Canada to buy a family home.

Wouldn't you have to be licenced to be able to write offers, etc? And if you can't write the offer, then you would need a realtor as well??

How do most people feel about dealing direct with owners when it is a FSBO
advert? I, myself would not have a problem with it. I feel I can negotiate
as well as, or better than some Real Estate agents. It's agreeing a price
and you can still engage a building inspector if you want. There are, no doubt other factors, but how do you all see it?

Thanks for all your replies --- Let me explain it better (your responses may still be the same though!). I am based in Vancouver and my company provides a listing service for Realtors.

As a Brit, I know the differences between property transactions in the UK and Canada. Of course a Realtor can explain these to you too. What I am proposing is that for people emigrating to say, Vancouver, they know whether they need a family house for a couple, 3 children and a dog, or, a condo for a single person. The choice out there for both sets of scenarios is huge and the choice of Realtors even bigger (over 18,000 in BC). How would you know which Realtor to go with?

If there was a service that took all your requirements - eg. 3 bed house within 10km of downtown, 1km of transit, south facing yard, near french immersion school, for < $750,000 - sourced Realtors who were listing houses that met those criteria and then set up a couple of days worth of appointments, would that be helpful?

Alternatively, real estate is booming in Canada at the moment and is set to continue. Buying off-plan is a savvy alternative. On average, apartment block developments are taking 2-3 years to complete and you can get great deals from Developers in the initially pre-sale selling phases as they need to have sold a percentage of the units before banks will finance them. So whilst you're waiting for your visa, your home is being built. If you change your mind, you can assign it (sell the contract on) before it's completed or sell it post-completion.

There are so many up and coming communities around Vancouver itself that are not well known. Do most of you intend (or perhaps you have already done so) to arrive and then rent whilst you look around or do you come out for a property reccy first?

Thanks again for your replies - it's all helpful.

I recently went some way along with such a deal. I found a lawyer who specialises in local property sales and used him to get a list of conditions around which to negotiate. I thought this arrangement better than dealing with real estate agents.

Well, if I was trying to find a realtor to do exactly the same thing as you propose, I would just ask around on places like this and get recommendations, then I would deal with the realtor directly. I am more than happy doing a deal myself if I have to but if a realtor is happy to show me about, then why would I need a further middleman?

The other guy on here who does relocations takes a cut if he gets a referral so it's no different to having a realtor and I think a licenced realtor is better placed to help.

There are several people on here (in one location) who have used the same realtor with great success and they are happy to provide his details so it is easy to get recommendations.

I've specified my requirements and my realtor has offered to take me around any houses I'm interested in when I next visit. In the meantime, he sends me details - no problems.

That service already exists though...thats what realtors do. I dont see why you would choose a middleman rather than chose a realtor direclty, either way you are relying on instinct or a referal to choose a service provider, and someone on either side of the deal would have to pay a percentage for the additional layer of "service".

You would/should still use a realtor when dealing with a developer. No saving in doing it direct, in 99.9% of the new projects in the lower mainland. Evidently your company has a contract with a realtor and real estate company here that specialises in relocations, so use the service provided, they have the experience you need.

All your comments are interesting, so thank you, but here are a couple of addtional points to bear in mind ......

We are an independent company and do not have an affiliation to any specific Realtor or brokerage company. There would be no point as in order to show a prospective purchaser a range of properties matching their strict criteria we would be setting appointments with many different Realtors.

The market in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto is so hot right now that you need every advantage that you can get in order to get a decent property.

If you want to purchase one of the properties that we have sourced for you, you will probably sign on with that particular selling Realtor (who will have shown you around the property). I would always advise using a Realtor to purchase property in Canada - it can get complicated doing it privately unless you are very experienced.

The difference now is that when the seller themselves is presented with 10 offers (one of which is yours) from 9 buyer's agents and one from their own Realtor who is also representing you, the buyer, ... guess which one they will go with as often commission can be negotiated down if the selling Realtor is also the buyer's agent.

How we would make money is not from charging you, but from the selling Realtor.