No idea - we didn't get round to your lot...

I totally get that I am in a business that is not well liked by many. There's not a lot I can do on an individual basis to change the views of folk like yourself and those in your network, or that population of people who share your views. That doesn't stop me trying to do the best for my clients, who, in my experience, do seem to value what I, personally, do. My guess is that a high percentage of them would, even if the market changes, choose to work with me again or mention me in a positive way, to others.

Eamonn.

All in all, given how easy it is, how little work you have to do, and how much money you make, it is surprising that anyone chooses to do any other job.

Maybe most people don't have the sheer brass neck required for it.

Clearly.

Actually, taking the one example of where I have used the services of a Lawyer personally, since moving to Canada, he was a disgrace.

But the several other lawyers that I have worked with (or more accurately, I and my clients have worked with,) on various real estate trades, have seemed to offer a valuable service. With the one I recommend most highly, as well as executing very well, the various tasks they do routinely in a trade, if there is something I am a little unsure of, I know I can pick up the phone and talk an issue through with them and they will be there with sound advice to help eradicate or mitigate a risk in a deal.

Again, lawyers get a bad name but most, I think, are serious about their role and their commitment to representing their clients.

Eamonn.

Very true.

There are definitely folk I look at in this trade and I think "how do you make a success of it...you ARE the foot in the door salesperson that I have always hated". But again, not ever Realtor is like that.

Eamonn.

These guys have an interesting business model. You pay them $3k as sellers agent, get full mls listing etc and then get to choose how much to bribe the buying agent.
http://www.team3000realty.com/

I've said it before, but access to MLS is only part of the problem. Its the god darn buyers agent that really do **** all for a huge amount of cash. If the buyer was directly paying the buying agents then this problem would quickly go away.

I'm sure you work hard; but you don't add the value you extract. I'm surprised anyone thinks you even come close to doing so - especially in a market like Vancouver.

I don't care what anyone says about this is Canada it's the way it works etc; the way it should be is that using a realtor should be a personal choice, and a proper one, not the piss-pot one it is now. In fact this was the biggest complaint I heard from my cradle colleagues (not at my prompting I might add).

That is how it should work and it should be a choice.

You should - I am sure they only have good things to say

Exactly - that way you can decide whether or not you're getting value for money. I would not pay $15k for someone to send me a couple of emails, make appointments, drive me round properties & negotiate for me.

I'd be prepared to pay something for this service, more so if I was new to area and needed advice. But the current system gives you no choice....

Well next time I'll try to bring it up.

JonboyE should be pleased by the fact that accountants were discussed at a recent pub lunch (it being tax return season) and they weren't universally despised, some were actually pleased with the service they had received and even made recommendations.

Sure. It was just an example that amused me. That one does seem fairly represented by the picture, if not the description. I suppose I've been in 10 listed houses recently. Two had major structural flaws not mentioned on mls.
The others were reasonably well represented but, of those, two were described as needing "gut renovation" or similar. I don't have a larger sample as yet as one must visit the house to be able to rate the listing.

I accept that the opinions expressed relate to small houses listed at around $400,000 in central Toronto or the east end. Not necessarily to any other sector of the Canadian property market. It may be that Winnipeg, and indeed, Miami, is another world.

One always hopes to be able to generate a capital gain from gentle renovation. And that's an area I know well, booze cans tend not to advertise.