When you offer services that are very different than the traditional or normal services, many questions are asked. The public may not understand and therefore be afraid of a new concept. Competitors may inadvertently make wrong or misleading comments about a new concept. So we have created the following Frequently Asked Questions and Answers flyer to help you make informed decisions about selling your home.
Q. Why charge less than 5%?
We charge less because we know that the public are demanding change, and the traditional real estate model could not continue. We asked ourselves, "What is the lowest rate we can charge and still make a living?" We believe that we offer a great, inexpensive alternative option for home sellers, and we made the bold decision to lead the change rather than follow later.
Q. Do you follow the same rules and regulations as other real estate companies?
We do follow the same rules and regulations as all other real estate companies. All real estate companies and REALTORS are governed by the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, as well as the Real Estate Council of Ontario's (RECO) code of ethics. We are members of the Ontario Real Estate Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association. We have trust accounts like all other real estate companies which are reviewed by RECO periodically. Although the way we are compensated for selling homes may be slightly different, we do follow all the rules and regulations that govern all REALTORS.
Q. Are your Listings on a local board's Multiple Listing Service (MLS ) system?
YES! All the homes we list for sale go on the local board unless otherwise instructed by the homeowner. The local board's Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) system is the strongest tool any REALTOR has to sell your home.
Q. Do the homes you have listed go on REALTOR.ca?
YES! The homes we have for sale are also uploaded to the public web site REALTOR.ca by the local real estate boards. MLS.ca has become a valuable tool for promoting homes for sale. So many households have access to the Internet now and a larger percentage of people are looking to this medium to start or facilitate the search for their next home.
Q. Do you advertise your listings in the papers?
YES! When the timing is correct, we do advertise, however most homes today are sold because they are listed on the MLS.
Q. Do you do Open Houses?
YES! We will hold public open houses to assist in the promotion of your home.
Q. How can you provide your services so much cheaper than other REALTORS?
This is a very important question, as many people may feel that we must cut corners in order to reduce our fees. This is just not true, in fact, what we cut was wasted overhead and passed the savings onto our clients.
Q. Why do other REALTORS not offer their services at lower fees?
As the last answer indicated, the majority of the other REALTORS cannot or will not offer the same services for the fees that we charge because their overheads are so much higher than ours. They must pay large fees to their Brokerages in order to work there. They are all Independent REALTORS. But, the main reason they do not provide the services for the lower fees is their companies have office policies that dictate what they are going to charge for their services, which allows them all to compete against one another on a level playing field. None of the above helps to sell your home!
Q. Do you pay other REALTORS the same commission?
Yes! We strongly believe that the fee offered be equivalent to the standard in your area.
Q. Do other REALTORS show your listings?
Absolutely! We could not sell the number of homes we sell without the other REALTORS showing our listings. In this day of computers and the Internet the public are much more informed than ever. They often tell their REALTOR what homes they want to see because they have seen them on MLS.ca. If their REALTOR tells them they do not want to show them a home not only would that be against the REALTORS ethics, but the public would no longer want to deal with that REALTOR.
Q. What’s the catch?
We actually do get asked this all the time, and there truly is no catch to our real estate services! Certain conditions do not have to occur to take advantage of our savings. You do not have to commit to buying another home with us. You do not have to hope the same Realtor that listed your home finds the buyer, to save money.
Your home just has to sell and you save money.
Re/Max Realty One Inc., Brokerage
Direct 519-941-2255
Office 1-866-279-6638
Not intended to solicit those currently under contract
