Wow. My industry colleagues might not enjoy this blog post…
But what am I supposed to do? Ignore Garry Marr’s column from last weekend’s Financial Post, as well as the follow-up column in the Huffington Post?
These articles are trending on Facebook and Twitter, and I’ve been asked about them a dozen times.
And you may (or may not…) be surprised to know that I agree with a LOT of the content of these articles.
Let’s take a look…
Last Friday, Garry Marr from the Financial Post wrote an article called, “Canada’s next housing bubble: real estate agents.”
Here’s an excerpt I want to take a look at:
The housing boom has not only resulted in record real estate prices, it has spawned an unprecedented number of realtors.
The number of people selling real estate reached 108,706 during the first quarter of the year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. To put it another way, that’s one realtor for every 245 Canadians over the age of 19.
No where is the bubble in agents more apparent than Toronto, perhaps the hottest market in the country for property. The Toronto Real Estate Board wouldn’t provide an exact number for its members but TREB’s boiler plate statement this month said it had reached more than 39,000 — or about one for every 140 people in the Greater Toronto Area.
Just over a year ago in December, 2012, that number was 35,000. That number grew from 31,000 a year earlier. TREB had about 20,000 members a decade ago.
We have almost as many people selling houses as making them. Statistics Canada said in its labour force survey for the year 2013, there were 131,000 carpenters. There are only 202,200 cooks in Canada.
I’ve been saying this for years.
Although to be fair, I’m sure that there were long-time, seasoned Realtors saying this when I got into the business in 2004.
But according to the numbers provided by TREB in Garry Marr’s article, there were approximately 20,000 Realtors a decade ago, and now there are almost 40,000.
Show me one other industry where the number of “jobs” has DOUBLED in ten years.
I put “jobs” in quotations because this isn’t really a job.
When Tim Hudak talks about “cutting 100,000 jobs,” he’s talking about actual employment positions, with salaries, benefits, and contracts.
Having a real estate license does not mean you have a “job.”
In fact, it’s quite far from it.
I’ve been quite open with my opinions on both the real estate industry, and real estate agents over the last few years. Notably the idea that there are too many agents, too few barriers to entry, and inexperienced and lazy agents are ruining the business.
Look no further than that 72-offer mess on Glencairn Avenue last month as evidence.
As I wrote in my blog post HERE, I think that of the 72 offers on the severely under-priced property, probably 50 of them had no business being presented. These offers were likely presented by buyer-agents who have no clue what they’re doing, no idea how to evaluate a property, and who don’t possess enough presence and confidence to advise their clients effectively.
Sadly, a lot of today’s new Realtors are people that have flamed out of other industries, or who can’t get a job out of university or college.
There are zero barriers to entry in organized real estate in Ontario (you just need to be 18-years-old, a resident of Ontario, and have enough money to take the courses), and thus most of the people taking their real estate courses are doing so for all the wrong reasons.
It’s no surprise that as a result, the number of licensed Realtors in Toronto has ballooned to almost 40,000, and I’d expect that number to continue to climb.
With every new version of “Million Dollar Listing” that debuts on HGTV, another wave of 20-somethings watch as these unrealistic characters drive around in their luxury cars, make phone calls in upscale restaurants, and cash gigantic commission cheques, and they think, “Hey, I can do that! I’d love to drive a Mercedes! I love big houses! I love talking on my phone!” And thus, more people head to OREA’s website…
I got two phone calls this week – one from CBC Radio, and one from the Star, about the column Garry Marr wrote, and what I thought about it.
I told them flat-out that: I agree with almost all of it.
The one point I don’t agree on is this:
“You’ve got some nice person making $30,000 or $40,000 as a receptionist. This is the American dream. You do two deals and you make $50,000,” says Lawrence Dale, a long-time thorn in the side of both CREA and TREB having sued both.
You can make numbers say anything you want, and Mr. Dale here is simply making things up.
Sure, if you sold two properties at $1,000,000 each, and got a 2.5% commission on each, you would make $50,000…….gross, not net.
But as I’ve written before on my blog many times, $50,000 for a rookie agent puts about $10,000 in their pocket.
And rookie agents don’t typically do million-dollar deals, let alone two of them.
But as for the rest of the article, I do agree that there are far too many Realtors in Canada, and specifically, Toronto.
Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage, refers to “the speculative agent,” who makes up a good portion of new registrants.
I’ve encountered this many times – people thinking, “If I can just do one deal per year, I can put $10,000 in my pocket to subsidize my day-job!” The problem with that thinking is that nobody wants to hire you if you’re a full-time day-labourer, who does real estate “on the side.”
Who does anything on the side these days?
As I told the reporter from CBC on Wednesday, “Would you go to the hospital for triple-bypass surgery, or would you go to your friend the landscaper, who does surgery on the side?”
I know there’s holes in that logic, but you get the point.
There are a lot of speculative agents who get their licenses. Take the retired teacher who says, “I know so many people who need to sell their houses! If only 1-2 of them use me, that’s fine! I can make money doing this!”
But these people don’t do any deals, and they make up a small percentage of the 39,000 Realtors with their license in Toronto.
I compare what’s going on in Toronto’s real estate profession these days with the “gold rush” in mid-1800’s California, where people flocked out west in droves in search of rumoured riches. Today, every newspaper features at least one article on the “red hot” Toronto real estate market, every specialty TV channel features a real estate agent making money, and many folks with no better prospects figure, “Why can’t I sell real estate?”
It looks pretty damn sexy on TV!
The Huffington Post ran a follow-up article to the National Post column, where they referred to the boom in Canadian real estate agents as, “…a sign of a deep-seated economic problem.”
Is it fair to use the word “problem?” Perhaps.
I see two “problems” with the reasons that many new agents get into the business, and I honestly don’t know which one is more alarming:
1) They think it’s easy.
2) They have no better options.
If you’re a recent university graduate, and you finish four years of sleeping-in, skipping classes, assuming you get to pass class simply for showing up, and writing essays with “ur” instead of “you’re,” well, ur going to have a real wake-up call when you get out into the “real world,” which up until now, was simply a cliché.
After months of unemployment, and with few options out there, you might just decide that………(wait for it)………(drumroll)……….real estate is for YOU!
This is how a LOT of folks get into the business, and I see them out there every day. And I wish I could say these were university graduates; many of them have no formal education, since as we know, you don’t need to finish high school to become a licensed Realtor. You just need to be 18…
As for the first problem on my list – that people think it’s easy, well I think I’ve covered that. Many people think that real estate is a get-rich-quick scheme, and these are the agents out there selling pre-construction condos for 6% commission. The buyers they sucker end up calling a real professional down the line, but that’s a topic we’ve covered many times…
I’m not upset in the slightest with Garry Marr’s article. In fact, I think it’s going to do the industry a lot of good.
Maybe this will serve as a reality check for some people who think they should join the ranks of Mercedes-driving, Starbucks-drinking, Pilates-doing, iPhone-talking, restaurant-dining, cheque-cashing Realtors who make $500,000 on each deal, that takes only 40 minutes of their day.
Maybe this will help the general public to evaluate exactly who they want representing them in the biggest purchase and/or sale of their life, and what criteria (other than commission, of course…) they need to focus on.
Oh, if only Tim Hudak could come in and make job cuts in this industry as well!
Perhaps that begs the question: who are we voting for on June 12th?
Anybody wanna spearhead that debate?
Have a great long weekend, everybody! 🙂
GinaTO
at 8:02 am
Did you see the (3-minute) feature on CBC news a few days ago? They were talking about hairdressers (and others) that are also part-time real estate agents and are “very successful”. I really thought of you when I heard that.
As for elections… I know I would never vote Hudak even under the threat of bodily harm. Past that, I’m not too inspired.
joel
at 8:08 am
Great article David. I would think that it is not the HGTV real estate shows that make people think that real estate is an easy job, but that the majority or SFH in Toronto sell on their offer date, which is usually within a week. I understand the allure of getting into the business, as many houses sell with no, or terrible pictures on MLS. The problem comes when the new agents try to get the listings and their ‘friend’ already knows five other agents.
I think that many are missing out on the hard work it takes to buy in this environment and long timeframes and that is where most are going to get their start. Like all businesses money is a lot easier to make when you’re on the top.
Tremmy
at 1:22 am
Real Estate really depends on the market. If it takes a day to sell a property then it probably takes 3-6 months to purchase a property. If the market was reversed, working with buyers would take less time and working with sellers would take time and expertise.
I have seen a bit of both markets working in Calgary, mostly it has been good for sellers, however with oil prices dropping I anticipate a buyers market. Which means as a Realtor our focus will shift from buyers to sellers. Our expertise and experience will now benefit our sellers more than our buyers.
In a balanced market, where it takes 2 months to sell a property and 2 months to purchase a property on average, experienced and competent Realtors will offer the best service to both sides of the equation. Trying to sell your home on your own or purchasing with an inexperienced Realtor will end up being more of a headache than you’re probably will to take on.
And, Great article David!
Mardig
at 5:01 am
There is some truth to this article but a few points need a be pointed out . On the jobs point . A job by definition is doing a task for money . So being a realtor is a job in the sense the real estate agent gets paid commision to act as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. A real estate agent has a job , but is not an employee but an independent contractor. In fact a lot of people in the economy are independent contractors. So the terms of “job” and “employee” should not be used interchangeably. Second , many employees dont get “benefits” frankly speaking many employees struggle to make ends meet . Also frankly speaking the minute these benefits get expensive for the employers , the salary and benefit cuts will follow. Third on the point “who does anything on the side ?” The answer a lot of people in Canada. For starters Canada is a very expensive country to live in. Many need a side skill , a side job to make extra income (upwork,fiverr, taskrabbit, uber ). Real estate may be one avenue ,however other ideas are preferable. Many of my Millenials peer are slowly moving forward in what is a frankly speaking a harsh economic environment. Finally if more experienced real estate agencies or agents complain about part timers , change the business model. Why dont they do that ? Because hiring realtors as employees will cost too much money . Inevitably real estate becomes a part time thing . Even paying a paltry 20K a year base with some commision will cost too much for an agency. So some people in the industry need to look in the mirror. Because running an agency is expensive so they need as many agents to pay the fees . So people who are benefiting from this are also complaining about this . Funny how that works .
Long Time Realtor
at 9:12 am
Everything old is new again it appears.
I got my real estate licence on Nov. 17, 1986. Back then the market was heating up and everyone seemed to be getting in to the biz, or heading out west to work in Alberta. Sound familiar?
I was told two things by my broker at the time: (1)You have to list to last and (2) 10% of the agent’s do 90% of the business. He was right then and he was right now.
Agents who concentrate on securing saleable listings have always been in the driver’s seat, and never moreso than today. No matter how many multiple offer situations arise, the listing agent always makes money.
Newbie agents are notoriously guilty of running around with not-so-serious buyers for months chasing a deal that never materializes.
Soon many realize that it’s costing more money to keep their licence, liabilty insurance, Board membership, etc., than it’s worth and either quit or become part-time.
As for barriers to entry, I’m not so sure the solution is that simple. Real estate is an entrepreneurial business not a highly intellectual one. Some of the most successful agents I’ve known have no post secondary education and spoke english as a second language. But they are honest, hard-working, determined and persistent. As many of us know, those are the qualities that matter most for success.
Joe Q.
at 9:56 am
I was told two things by my broker at the time: (1)You have to list to last and (2) 10% of the agent’s do 90% of the business. He was right then and he was right now.
David did a post that addressed your point (2) here, a year or so ago. He provided some detailed information on how “deals” are distributed among Realtors in Toronto, and it’s pretty much as you say. Maybe he can post a link.
Chroscklh
at 10:38 am
This comment should be printed and attached to every real estate license application. Spot on. I have a brother and sister who became agents 1 year ago – sister falls into cateogry a) concentrate on securing saleable listings – in a very hot market; brother is flame-out of other industry, literally cateogory b) chasing down deals with not-so-serious buyers. He lives in terribly small/slow rural market. 1 year in – not one sale or even a signed listing. He go back to industry he hates. Sister has closed 5-6 deals since starting, still – what will she do if/when market slows? She is no 10 yr veteran.
D
at 7:59 am
Hi There,
I’m looking for a realtor serving GTA and you seem to have the mindset I’d prefer. If you met me know how I can contact you directly I’d like to set up an introductory conversation.
Joe Q.
at 10:01 am
It would be interesting to quantitatively compare the CREA membership data graphed in the Financial Post article with some other housing metric (average Canadian home price or price-to-income ratio, etc.) Perhaps it clusters around a long-term average?
Long Time Realtor
at 7:56 pm
You seem abnormally obsessed with irrelevant data dude.
Here’s some real info for you to chew on over the long weekend.
http://torontorealestateboard.com/market_news/release_market_updates/news2014/nr_mid_month_0514.htm
Not one single “bear” has squat to say on social media or elsewhere today.
Wonder why??
Paully
at 8:01 pm
In the mid-May 2012 release, TREB reported 5142 sales in the GTA. One year later, that number had been revised down to 4955, and the new 2013 number was much lower at 4476 sales. One more year later, the 4476 reported sales from 2013 has been revised down to 4336 sales and TREB is reporting current 2014 sales of 5185.
The TREB release trumpets the “fact” that sales are up 19.6% vs. the same first-two-weeks-of-May period last year. Unfortunately, TREB consistently compares this year’s reported sales to last years actual sales. Looking over the past press releases shows that somewhere in the area of 3% of reported sales fail to close every month. The reported year-over-year gain is thus over-reported by a similar percentage each and every month.
If you compare the unadjusted numbers, as-reported at the time, the gain over last year is a still quite-impressive 15.8% gain. However, if you compare 2014 to two years ago, then the gain is a mere 0.8%.
TREB picks and chooses the numbers that suit them best, as I guess that we should fully expect them to do. Prices and sales are still rising, just not at the levels that TREB chooses to report. I find it disappointing that they feel the need to massage the numbers even when the unadjusted numbers are still positive.
Long Time Realtor
at 9:29 am
@ Paully: Like most “bears” and real estate detractors, I note that the focus has shifted from “the impending crash in prices” to parsing the statistical nuances regarding the number of sales vs. historical data.
You state that “Prices and sales are rising, just not at the level that Treb chooses to report.” I accept your argument to some degree regarding sales, however, do you care to clarify how prices are being misreported?
Joe Q.
at 10:57 am
It would be interesting to see how the YOY price increase data changes when the deals that did not close are taken out of the previous year’s stats. Do you have access to this data, LTR? Are the 140 deals from May 2013 that “fell through” representative, price-wise, of all the sales from that month — or do they skew toward a particular price range, or sector (detached vs. condos, etc.)?
Joe Q.
at 10:54 am
Why the negativity, Long Time Realtor, and how can you conclude that the data I mention is irrelevant, without actually seeing it?
David’s post was about the number of Realtors in Canada / the GTA, and how this number has grown substantially in recent years. I think most would agree that it would be interesting to see how well correlated this number is with housing prices. How much is the size of the Realtor community driven by house values?
One would think this would be an interesting discussion to have, especially for active Realtors concerned about the health of the profession.
Mike James
at 12:47 pm
The truth is that part time realtors such as a hairstylist / realtor, have proven how stupid first time buyers are for using them…
Especially in Toronto, the capital of part time realtors and leased BMW 323i’s with basic option packages…..
Darren
at 1:59 pm
My girlfriend knows someone – a live at home with mummy type – that’s currently taking a real estate course. They are becoming an agent because “I don’t want to live on a small salary like $80,000 a year”. The guy also has visible neck tattoos and several facial piercings. Sorry for those that have similar, but I know I wouldn’t hire someone that looked like that. I’m dying to know how it works out for him.
Alex
at 3:47 pm
In Canada, or just in Toronto and Vancouver? Seems like there would only be an over-supply in the super-hot markets. It sucks for those that fail, but hopefully they learn from it and choose their next career more carefully. It’s a terrible job market out there for those with generic skills so if you’re good with people and willing to put the work in I could see real estate being a really good option for some people. For those that fail at it, well, they can just go into politics. Looks like you don’t any skills whatsoever to do that, or even half a brain.
I went into this election thinking I couldn’t possibly vote for the Liberals, they’d just become too corrupt again (they were almost at Conservative levels of corruption and money-wasting!) and they needed to be replaced by hopefully a minority NDP government. Then the NDP decided since the Cons had become the Reform party, they could become the new Con party, and now I may actually have to vote Liberal. I guess I prefer a slow decline to a complete implosion, but it sucks having to choose between the two.
This is my 3rd provincial election I can vote in, and I don’t remember the options ever being this bad before. Is this how Harris got elected? The other options were just so terrible it was preferable to simply destroy the province?
JP
at 11:48 am
I’m convinced that part of the reason CREA and/or OREA will give just about anyone with a pulse that manages to pass their courses is because it’s quite the money making machine for them. Especially after them upping the license renewal fee by not $25 or $50… but by $100.
Every time I go to take an in-class course, I’m shocked at the level of stupid and/or ethically challenged questions from “professionals” that in some cases, have been in the business longer than I have – or even worse, less time than I have. They should know better.
crazyegg
at 11:24 pm
Agreed. There are too many agents but like you said, its a cash cow for OREA.
They should offer a mandatory Phase 4 Personality course for all agents. 😉
Regards,
ed…
Nilesh
at 8:43 am
If we look last 10 years average sold homes is approx. 85ooo per year, i.e. approx. 2.17home per every agent during one year time. And number of home sold every year is not much increased since last 10years but agents become double. For common people is difficult to find which agent really working or not.Why not TREB/CREA can make to qualify every agent by doing 3 transaction every year while renewing their license ? Means industry is more professional by service and respect and clients get best service in return of their money.
Fred Jones
at 1:40 pm
Real estate agents are just high school drop outs or rejects from the professions (usually those who have been convicted of crimes or misconduct and expelled) A successful real estate agent finds saleable homes that are priced to sell and actually serious buyers and then sits back and does very little except wait for the cheque to come in. I’d be ashamed to call myself a “real estate agent” in Ontario. I know that I won’t offend them with this post because most of them can’t read
Fred Jones
at 2:11 pm
No matter how tricky and smooth a real estate agent is understand this, they just want a sale. They don’t care if the buyer pays too much or the seller sells for too little. They really don’t care what the price is as long as the process is fast and they get their cheque. They will bring you to it when they checked the wind direction so you wont smell the adjacent slaughter plant. It is quite comical to hear some high school drop out explaining to his client what his obligation is to them. Remember these are high school drop outs that couldn’t define “ethics”. They will lie, hide material facts, do anything to make a deal happen. The only person they care about in the transaction is themselves. I was trying to buy a house a few several years ago and the listing agent had a buyer so she was going to double end it (get all the commissions) so she didn’t want me to buy it because my agent would get half the commission . So when she saw my price she went to her buyer and got him to pay a little more than me took her buyers bid to the seller and then called me and told me there was a higher bid and I didn’t get the house. This is the kind of thing that they will be doing behind your back. Oh and be very wary of the “offers night” or whatever these scum bags will call it. They present it as some fair competitive auction process but its not open like an auction where all potential buyers can see what’s going on, but they will try to make you think it is!
Tremmy
at 1:41 am
Fred,
You are painting all Realtor’s with the same wide brush. Fortunately, myself and thousands of other Realtor’s in the business are not like this at all. The Realtor you are talking about probably fits in with the article.
I have dealt with Realtor’s like this, and it is obvious what their goal is. They won’t fight for their clients and are only looking for the path of least resistance. These people give the rest of us a bad name and they should be reported to their respective boards.
Personally, I have cut my commission, lost deals, spent 2 years with one buyer, directed my clients to a cheaper home so they wouldn’t be maxed out, refused to work with people who are purchasing above their means etc. And I know there are many Realtor’s who do the same.
Just because you had a bad experience with your situation doesn’t mean there aren’t good Realtor’s out there.
SANGITA BHATT
at 7:09 pm
In this business 90 % agents are just fraud. They don’t care about buyer or seller they care about themselves. i had my personal experience with it. The problem is that still you need them. secong thing they are not paying tax. I ahve seen agent earning 300k and put expenses of 270,000. then paying tax on 30000. i don’t know how CRA assess it. if your income is 30000 how you can afford a big house, bmw car. I thing CRA should crack down on all real estate agent and shold check their last 10 year of tax return. by that way CRA at least will get 2 to 3 billion on tax.
megaman
at 10:42 pm
All my agents were sleazy , now i just deal either directly with landlord, or through my lawyer
steve
at 1:38 pm
I was a realtor in the greater Vancouver area for 5 years. It was my only job and it was illegal to have another unless you had a different license (Brokers). I made it into the MLS club – top 10%. It was a 7 day a week job, and my expenses were 50% of my income. I drove a $8K car nt a new BMW. Most of my income, in retrospect, came from referrals from clients who thought I did a fantastic job. That = dedication and having good business sense. NOT being a sleezball. Then vancouver became overrun with asians (I adopted 2 asian children – not predjudiced) and they inturn brought over their social moors which were not the same as ours in place for many years- and then we eneded up with backstabbing, etc….let’s just say the quality of realtors slid down…far too low. But the good realtors are still there and the crud are gone. It has never recovered to the old way of service and dedication because they have allowed Hairdressers to sell real estate also in BC – which was a huge mistake – You need to be dedicated – and so what if 90% drop off after 1 yr….let them – we 10% do most of the work anyway….and not because we are deceiving out clients – the opposite is true. We have integrity.
Something lacking in 50% of the realtors everywhere. Fast money? Ha…..try 6 months no income if you do it right. Then you build from there.
Cath
at 10:29 am
I’m nervous to write this but here goes … I’d actually like a bit of advice. I’m one of those retiring teachers – I can read and write and calculate ! lol. I’ve always been interested in this career and would like to participate in it. But … about 3/4 time. I’m a very hard worker. And I’m honest and would like to be helpful to people. I’d like to focus (naively?) on people of my age group moving to change living situations. I understand I’d be doing lots of cold calling, etc etc. But reading all of your comments, I’m wondering if I should go ahead and take the courses – too late for me?? I’m certainly far from lazy, and very dedicated to anything I decide to do, but also not a go out to kill it! I certainly understand the requirement of putting in time to build professionalism, build client base etc. Thoughts ???
Mark
at 11:15 pm
Stay in your existing job please!
SueTO
at 1:57 pm
In agreement with the comment that there are far too many Realtors licensed in Ontario especially Toronto
Where 1000 agents per average neighbourhood is way more coverage than is needed
The one agent per 245 people in Canada paints the real picture.
We don’t have that many nurses teachers lawyers etc
Agents also pay exorbitant fees for education, board
fees, brokerage fees etc
I believe that the articling phase of courses should be eliminated at OREA and that brokerages should hire Realtors and train them in house with mandatory mentoring and a minimum set transaction completions assisting experienced agents before they are let loose and expected to sweat out complicated scenarios essentially paying to train themselves.
This more selective hiring of agents would require the brokerages to cover minimum living expenses while they earn the bulk of these first transactions
Brokerage should also have in-house lawyers or visiting lawyers to look over thus paperwork to protect all parties
In-house marketing assistance etc also makes sense
A realtor is thrown into a field and expected to train themselves on the most part while the brokerages, OREA and TREB make a lot of money on them
Today’s Realtors are not the used car salesman types of the past
The education is harder, the costs are exorbitant and I personally have met many hardworking intelligent people out there trying to make a living at this
There ate too many licensed Realtors and that us a fact
I do not think there are 1000 lawyers covering an area
We are not even allowed to take a bit of time after completing licensing to plan a course of actionbwfire the fee gouging starts
As a seasoned sales professional in a related field
With a degree from a Canadian University I say this with sincerity
There are a lot of people vendors realty organizations etc making money off Realtors
The provincial fees are realistic and fair however
The other fees gouge realtors however
Supply and demand also create desperation in some Realtors and hence the reputation tarnished
Way too many Realtors licensed soliciting people with advertising etc
The public thinks we are a dime a dozen now.
James Allen
at 3:39 am
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Reid
at 9:19 pm
Who gives a shit what education level you have getting licensed? And the barriers of entry are low cause this profession takes integrity and hustle, no brains. Sorry if you’ve convinced yourself it’s rocket science. Hell, i’ve got an MBA and I recognize it. No market in the world has too many agents. If you think it does, then you’re the nail. And I’ve hammer down a lot of you. Grow some ball, quit bitching and get to work.
Victoria D.
at 12:17 am
Hi Dave! I just saw this topic and wanted to chime in. (Sorry if it’s too late to comment.) I’m personally not concerned in the least that there’re so many registrants in the business of selling real estate, as the vast majority of them are realtors only on paper, selling 1-3 properties per year and dropping out faster than you can count them. What I’m more disturbed with is the following fact – I’ve recently discovered (myself being 4 years in business, quite successful for a newbie) that many, many realtors grossly exaggerate (read: lie) about their actual business volume and success, and this is both to their clients and to their fellow realtors. I’ve come across this too many times to ignore this, coming from both new and established realtors (we’re talking about 200%, 300% exaggeration, claims of doing 150 deals per year, when the actual volume is barely 20-30) and I’m just wondering – is it perhaps time to invent a tool that will verify each realtor’s actual volume of business to anyone interested? What do you think?
George
at 1:30 pm
Now that would be a wonderful feature. A real time report showing the number of sales made by each agent over the last 12 months running. But as neither TREB or CREA are really there to do anything beneficial for homeowners.. the chance of this report being made available is close to zero… It would be the best fact checker on the internet after the TRUMP fact checker. But then this digression has just made me realize that fact checking shows that TRUMP the real estate magnate lies 90% of the time he speaks (NY Times 2016), so its probably fair to extrapolate this to real estate agents in general as they too are in the same business of RE. That is why one cant trust anything an agent tells you about a home or a deal or what a sales person in a woman’s dress store tells you (dress looks fabulous… funny how nothing in the store is unsuitable on you)
Shanon
at 5:52 pm
What i find funny is the guy that wrote this artical says theres no money to be made but yet he remains in the buisness of selling homes. I think you get what you put into it.
Shanon
at 6:00 pm
What i find funny is the guy that wrote this artical says theres no money to be made but yet he remains in the buisness of selling homes. I think you get what you put into it. Most people in this buisness know absolutly nothing about building a home or diddly about any of the trades that put one together and i think thats the biggest mistake in getting into Real Estate therefore without that type of knowledge places are either over priced or under priced and that can be the biggest number one mistake for both the realitor and home owner. It will either sit on the market or both lose money from the sale.
Mimi
at 12:59 pm
Real Estate Agents are one of the most money hungry, uneducated, unprofessional people I’ve known.
As long as you’re 18 with no proper education and a lazy human being – welcome to real estate world! What a joke!
Shawn
at 6:59 am
You want the most ruthless money hungry evil people in the world try Lawyers or Doctors. Think a 3 percent commission is high try 33 percent as a lawyer. Doctors make an average of 100000 a year not including bonus and free trips from pharmaceutical companies shilling whatever there latest poison cure all drug is. After ten years and 4 lawyers and 3 law firms and 3 car accidents might I add none my fault and all on the job I have ZERO to show for it other then a PERMANENT disability for the rest of my life Fibromyalgia. Guess what a lot of people who grew up in the 80s or 90s like myself fell for the scam of go to school get an education you will get a good job and you know what Most of the are working at 711 or Tim Horton now trying to pay off 50 to 100k in debt. All you Stubborn baby boomers need to Shut Up Things are Way harder now then they ever where in your day. There’s Way more People and not enough Middle Class Jobs to Go around. The Days of Working At the Mill for 25hr or down and the Docks right out of High School are long gone. Your Generation took all those jobs and left nothing for us. Mismanaged the Economy and Banking and let the Government Screw everything up and did nothing. So who what Kind of Hypocrite are YOU to complain about hard working younger Canadians deciding to make a career change and not wanting to go to School for 4 years and go into 50k in debt to do so, The poster of the Article clearly has an ulterior motive to this there’s to many real estate agents competing for HIS commission. Young and Middle aged Canadians are waking up to the fact that we have been sold on a debt slave lifestyle right from birth. Go to school pick up 10 years in Debt buy a house pick up 30 more get a nice car grab 5 years more. In Debt from the Cradle to the Grave and who gets rich no us. Well those days are over we are Fed up with it and were taking our future back by earning Commissions selling you Baby Boomers your Retirement homes its all we have left. Dont like it Deal with it.
Sushant
at 3:31 pm
Seriously? Lawyers or Doctors? Ever cared to see how much they have to strive hard, mentally, financially to get that level?
jOSE
at 10:56 pm
The severity of the bullshit in the comments is insane. Anyone can sell their own home, most homeowners are idiots, criminals, low lifes, can’t speak , read, or write, but they can sell their own homes and conduct private deals with others, and get screwed, therefore licensed agents create the contract and show homes- that is the sole role- agents are trained to create a legal binding protective contract which a homeowner has no training in, that is all. They are backed up by appraisers who know construction, can have a sales and marketing team, and the buyer or seller has a real estate lawyer to further protect the transaction. The agent is an AGENT, for the contract deal to protect the buyer and seller. Regardless of how a home is priced, it will only sell for market value, what people are willing to pay. No slum or handyman special ever sells at DEMAND prices. Yes, tons of engineers and other losers who could not be employed despite their intellect due to Canada’s fabulous economy and opportunities are real estate agents, because they studied the wrong thing. Like a majority of people anywhere in the world, who do not study the labour market before wasting their time and money on post secondary education in arts or engineering. Only healthcare and government jobs pay. Every employer will rip you off in Canada if you are in the corporate world and not an executive, or if you are an immigrant, visible minority , or woman, so people flock to a self employed trade where 1 sale can pay the bills, or is nearly equivalent to minimun, because that is WISE, if not ingenious, to make one sale while someone slaves in assembly lines, warehouses, and burger joints, to make the same thing. Therefore the number of agents represent the number of AWAKENDED individuals, people who GET IT, that there is no money to be made in Canada unless you have a government job, an I.T. diploma or a healthcare diploma. OREA requires a good level of english and reading and writing ability to pass the requirements of WRITING A CONTRACT. The entire job is about writing a contract. No agent actually sells a home. Once they agent lists the home on MLS, every other agent will show that home, it is extemely rare for that same agent to sell that home. If a home requires extensive sales pitches and marketing, it means no one wans that home, that is not an ideal home, BUT EVERY home sells at the RIGHT price, so a greedy seller is usually the one whose home is not selling. EVERY home sells at the right price. If no one is willing to pay the right price, that is how many people do not want your home or home type or your neighbourhood, or your city, or your province. Why are their articles insulting the number of minimum wagers in Canada? Why are educated people allowed to work for less than the rate of poverty with no goddamn complaint in site?
jOSE
at 11:01 pm
typo – Why are THERE NO articles insulting the number of minimum wagers in Canada? Why are educated people allowed to work for less than the rate of poverty with no goddamn complaint in SIGHT. And I forgot to mention, thousands of highly intelligent grads are rejected from medical school and law. Law is a sales job, there are many starving lawyers, it is also a role where the submissive, female, and immigrant cannot succeed in litigation, they are forced to resort to working for the corporate world. READ about it.
ariel Furman
at 1:50 am
there is no unsleezy way to sell. Sales is a reflection of the dying system of capitalism
Priscilla Smith-Roberson
at 4:51 pm
I’m interested in becoming a realtor in the area please send me info on company good to with…
Marcus
at 5:28 am
Reali-station – on every corner!
Skylife Markham
at 2:40 am
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Anna
at 5:05 pm
They are unnecessary middle men ….! I bought and sold my house without any interference … thanks!
Sushant
at 3:37 pm
Hey Anna, do you mind connecting with me? I’m based out of Toronto. Me & my spouse have been putting tremendous efforts in trying to understand how do i buy a home without using agents on both sides & there’re so little options available. I’ve also been searching FSBO but to no avail. we have a decent bugdet ~700k. But I dont want these sleezy douchebag agents to pocket my hard earned income. Thank you
Daria
at 5:45 pm
Great article.
I struggled for three months trying to find a decent honourable agent in Toronto, I thought it was near impossible. Everyone I spoke to seemed flaky , just wanting the pay out.
I came across Ryan Young , he was extremely reputable for anyone who is struggling with a sincere agent I would recommend him. He’s a family guy but devotes 95% of his time to his clients. He answered my calls EVERY SINGLE TIME. He was REALLY patient with me too.
He’s been in the game even before the boom and becoming a staple in the industry.
https://torontorealestateagent.estate/
Cosmetologist Put
at 9:19 pm
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