Can I List My House On The MLS?

First let's be clear; the MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is not open.  It is wholly owned and operated by the Canadian Real Estate Association in Canada.  The changes to allow Private Sellers "access" to MLS was not what most people think it was.  Yes you can do what is called a "Mere Posting", but it needs to be done by a licensed Realtor, as they are the only ones who can post houses for sale on the MLS.

Where most people are confused is that it is not the MLS they are looking to have their house appear on, it is Realtor.ca, the public facing site where the Multiple Listing Service properties are showcased for you to search.  Go ahead, go to your internet browser and go to MLS.ca and look what happens.  There is no MLS.ca, it ports you over to Realtor.ca.

Each local board has their own listing service and they, inturn, upload those listings onto Realtor.ca.  You will note that if you go onto any of the local Realtor association websites ( KW, Guelph, Cambridge) you can't just look at their listings.  Any searches of listings they point you to Realtor.ca

If a realtor comes a knocking on your door, or calls you on the phone, to tell you you have to be on the local board, tell them to take a hike.  I am sure they will say something like "If you are not on the local board then local agents won't find you."  To which I would respond "Are you a local agent?"

Tied Selling in Real Estate

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  Are your hands being tied as a house buyer?

  
  

  So you think you have found the perfect house. From what you have seen online it is the "forever house" the two of you have always talked about.  After contacting the real estate agent that has it listed and going to see it you know it's right.  You sit down to crunch some serious numbers. It will be tight over the next few years but doable.  After running all the numbers and budgeting your costs to sell, including $1,500 for your PropertyGuys.com listing you decide that you will make the leap.  
  
  You contact the agent to tell them your intentions to put in an offer conditional upon sale of your home.  This is when the house of cards comes tumbling down.  You are told that not only do you have to list the home with an agent but that it also has to be within this agent`s office.

  
  

  As you go through a range of emotions from anger to panic to fear you wonder is this even legal?
  Here is what the Competition Act has to say about Tied Selling:

  “tied selling” means(a) any practice whereby a supplier of a product, as a condition of supplying the product (the "tying" product) to a customer, requires that customer to(i) acquire any other product from the supplier or the supplier’s nominee...

   Why would the competition act be the place where this is addressed? Great question!  You see when someone ties you to a specific product what they are in turn doing is limiting your options in the market and forcing you to pay their price.  This snuffs out the opportunity for another company to offer you a newer or cheaper or more efficient or ground breaking product or service.  The act of tied selling costs you, the buyer.
  
  If you come across this situation as you are searching for houses in the market make sure that the real estate agent you are dealing with knows that they cannot force this type of condition on you and that you would be interested in knowing why this type of Tied Selling is even in the agreement.  No doubt you will hear some mumbo jumbo about how they need to know you are serious about selling your home and that you have to do everything in your power to sell it blah blah blah.
  
  The quick and easy response to this is to plainly say that by adding $15,000 to your selling price works against not only his client's best interest but also the laws of economics.
  
  Have a story where you were pushed into this type of situation?  Please, share some details with us.
  
  M

Real Estate and the Death of Agency

Reading Seth Godin's blog entitled Industrialism and the Death of Agency today I could not help but replace the word "Industrial" with "Real Estate".

Go ahead try it.

M