Canadian Realtor System
 

OK, perhaps I'm just feeling pissed of with the realtor selling our house, but it sems to me that the whole system of using realtors for buying and selling a house in Canada is of little use to the seller other than for the legal paperwork that they do.

In the UK, if you are lucky, the seller's estate agent shows the prospective purchasers around the home hopefully pointing out all the features that should make them want to buy it. Well, perhaps I'm being optimistic, but you get the idea.

In Canada the house is shown by the realtor acting for the prospective purchaser. Now perhaps I've got this all wrong, but I get the impression that this really is the wrong person to show a house that is for sale. Surely the realtor acting for the purchaser has not real interest in pushing a particular home since they know that in probability they will sell the purchaser some home or other.

I've also heard rumours that when showing multiple properties in a day, the one that they are trying to push onto the buyer is the last one that they show. Is there any foundation in this? Perhaps we're just fed up with "house tourists", but having to be out of the house at 9 in the morning on a Saturday for a showing that comes to nothing is a rain pain in the !@#$

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

6 of one, half a dozen of the other I think.


The sellers realtor controls the marketing, should be offering suggestions of what to fix up to increase appeal / reduce obvious negatives. If they are experienced in the area they may well have a list of prospective clients they can call and try and sell it to.

The buyer is going to want their agent to point out the defects and talk up the positives. Obviously the selling agent is not going to point out the negatives, so why would a propspective buyer want to be shown around by them?

Ultimately a house will sell if the price is right and its marketed and shown well...thats where the right realtor might be worth their corn. If the selling agent is not doing the showing, they should at least be setting the house up so it shows as well as possible. If they are not helping with suggestions, or marketing it creatively, then i would have some questions of them. Its a slow market though isnt it, so they cant work miracles.

The cynic in me thinks that the buyers agent is likely to want to push whatever is the most expensive home...they get a larger commision for the same amount of work that way.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

That's the conclusion that we have come to. We've had people around "looking" at our house early in the day who have then gone and bought one of the much, much more expensive houses in the development. It was obvious that our house was never in contention. It's very frustrating to think that you have been ordered out of your house for a few hours for what was never going to be a sale anyway. At least if your own realtor was doing the showing they would be able to at least try and promote your house rather than the seller's realtor using your house a levergae by pointing out the extra 400k worth of value in the house that they actually ended up buying. Sigh!!!

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

Doesnt that indicate that the marketing isnt hitting the required group who want to be in that development but dont think they can afford the more upmarket properties there?

Also demonstrates that a fool and their money are still easily separated, so you just need to find the right kind of fool:unsure:

Good luck anyway. I recall it took my parents nearly 3 years to sell our (relatively cheap) house in an upmarket area of the Wirral in the mid 80s recession... I dont really know how much influence the realtor really has, ultimately it comes down to the house and the price asked, and the overall state of the market.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

We've not been helped by a dispute with the water company over the rather high water rates that we pay which could have been putting off some potential buyers of our entry level homes. But just as we were on the point of coming to a negotiated settlement some lawyers moved in and started mentioning multi million dollar law suites against the water company so we are back to square one. The old joke about what you call 20 lawyers encased in concrete at the bottom of San Fansisco Bay being "A Good Start" comes to mind.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

The buyers realtor is supposed tp act in the best interests of the buyer, ultimately the buyer decides what he wants his realtor to show him. Buyers will always comparison shop, remember too realtors really don't want to be showing 100's of houses they want to get the right house for the client and move on to the next sale

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

I know the frustration, but I think you are both being far too cynical.

As a buyer, I want to work with a realtor who is going to let me know that this street might be peaceful now, but at 7.00am it is a rat race to the freeway, or that several of the houses this builder finished last year have mold problems, or that other houses in the area at the same price are bigger/in better condition and so on. The last thing I want is someone giving me the hard sell. I would walk right out the door.

The selling realtor is motivated to sell a house, not any particular house. (S)he is also highly motivated to get a referral so the few extra dollars in commission for selling someone a house they can't afford or is not suitable is not worth the negative word of mouth it will generate.

Also, I don't think many realtors will waste their, and their client's, time showing them properties significantly above or below their client's price range. The only circumstances I can think of is if a client wants to live in a particular area and has seen prices of, say $300,000 and says why should I pay more? The realtor could then show a $300,000 house before a $500,000 house to see if the extra $200,000 is worth spending.

In this case it sucks to have to get your house cleaned up for a speculative showing, but you just have to remember that when you are buying you want to see all your options to make the best choice.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

In my experience, when acting as the buyers agent:-

Its the clients that choose's the homes they want to see, not the Realtor.

Speaking for my self, I arrange multiple viewings to best suit the route between them.

I deal with all sorts of buyers, some with budgets of $50,000 some with budgets of $500,000, I don't ever try to sell them a house, my job is to help them buy the house they choose. My job is to point out the Good and BAD aspects of a house, and then help to negotiate the best deal possible for my buyers. I want my buyers to be happy, and refer me to their friends and use me again in the future.

80% of buyers in Canada are now represented by a Buyers Agent. Its a system that works.

The sellers agents job is to market the house to as many people as possible, the more people go around a house the better the chance of a sale. If you are getting showings the Realtor is doing their job. Eventually your house will sell, it just takes longer in a Buyers market, as they have much more choice, and they are much more fussy, and they want a "bargain".

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

Its not just the prospective buyer seeing your home, its also their Realtor, once they have seen your home, it may suite one of their other clients, who for whatever reason, have dismissed it or not picked it for a showing. I have been in this position several times. So don't be quite so disappointed about a "non-productive" showing.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

I know what you mean. However, having been through the system here (for buying), I think it's not too bad. Once a price is agreed, then at least the purchaser has some security knowing they won't be gazumped. However, like most things in Canada, the bureaucracy is OTT and the cost (for the seller) stupendous. Main thing is to find yourself a decent realtor.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

OK, I'll concede this one :)

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

It's a system that appears to work only for the purchaser. The market may be a problem at the moment but to be quite blunt we're getting really pissed of by the entire concept of us as the seller paying the commision of the purchasers realtor when they are doing absolutely nothing for us rather than open the front door for them to let them in. From the feed back that we have had on our property is is quite clear that the realtors who have shown our house have just about managed "And here we have another house" when describing the features to their clients. Perhaps the result of too much Albertan inbreeding!!!!!!!

Take the following example. Last week we had a viewing. I was out walking the dog and talking to our most talkative neighbour. The realtor and his clients also stopped to go into another house and "Mr. talkative" our neighbour couldn't help himself but engage them in conversation even actively promoting my house while I kept quiet. He asked them if they had a dog and when they said that the did have a dog he then pointed out how wonderful our huge back yard would be for their dog. The scumbag of realtor then countered that our yard would be too much work for them to mow. If the house had been shown by our realtor then he would have emphasised the beauty of the yard and pointed out that it can me maintained easily with a lawn tractor.

And to cap it all, this weekend we had several viewings. Half the time the purchasers realtors don't even have the common courtessy to turn up with their clients, after you have gone to the trouble of making the house look like a show home then evacuating it for an hour or so. I would expect them to at least attempt to make contact via our realtor if for any reason they can't make it. or perhaps their webbed fingers make it too hard to use the phone!!!!!

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

I seem to recall that when we bought our house, nearly all the time the selliing agent was on hand as well as our guy Fred....

Isnt that the norm?

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

If that was the case I wouldn't have so much of a problem but at least in our case it has only been the buyers realtor who has been present.

Re: Canadian Realtor System
 

No smilies? Can you un-Karma someone?