Much has been reported in the media about the Canadian Competition Bureau wanting to change the rules that the MLS system must operate under. The Competition Bureau alleges that the Multiple Listing Service provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has an anti-competitive or unfair advantage in the market place. The Bureau seems to think that the only thing that the Multiple Listing System offers is the MLS.ca or realtor.ca web site. The Multiple listing system is owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association, and has a membership of over 98,000 strong in Canada. As members we all pay membership dues each year and must operate within the ethical guidelines of the organization, as well as the local Associations and the Provincial Real Estate Commissions across the country.
We compete on a daily basis in the different communities across the country. They do not set the fees we charge or how we run our businesses. The media seems to think that the Competition Bureau is going to lower real estate fees charged by the brokerages across the country. If MLS.ca, or realtor.ca was only a web site that may be possible, but it is much more. We as licensed associates and brokers are responsible for the clients we represent in their real estate transactions. We are bound by CREA as well as the provincial commissions to represent and protect our clients interests in these transactions. The consumers have a choice in who they use. The brokers decide how much they will charge for these services. There are fixed rate brokerages throughout the country. The problem the discount brokerages have is the same as all businesses. If you don't charge enough you cannot offer any service, or have competent people to serve the clients.
The cooperation that takes place in organized real estate is what creates the power behind the MLS system. the member to member cooperation ensures ethical conduct and a set of rules which ensures that all the clients get a standard of service and expertise that makes this system run so well and serve the public as it does. If the Competition Bureau succeeds in weakening this system, the loser will be the public in the long run.
If you want to buy cheap service you can obtain that now. There must be a good reason the public has not chosen to go that route en-mass. To receive sound expert service and expertise it costs more, but in the end you are always better off the pay for an expert in a transaction as large as selling or buying an home.
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