What to Expect From Your Realtor©

Buying or selling a home is the biggest and most significant financial transaction most of us will ever make. It is also a complex business deal and it is advisable to proceed with the support of a knowledgeable and experienced Real Estate professional, an agent to work on your behalf.

Most Real Estate professionals in Ontario are members of the Ontario Real Estate Association and only members of the Association can call themselves Realtors© - a trademark of the Canadian Real Estate Association and the National Association of Realtors in the United States. With a Realtor©, you can count on a commitment to both all applicable local laws and an established Code of Ethics. This assures you of the highest level of service and integrity.

An experienced Realtor© will get to know you, to understand not only your needs and desires, but to understand the people behind the choices you have made. He or she will examine your means and circumstances with you in order to best provide exclusive representation of these needs.

Your agent will also work with you to explain each element of the transaction from his or her position of knowledge and experience, providing you with the information you need to proceed confidently, knowing what to expect. You will be treated like a person, not just a transaction or a deal.


Selling a Home

The seller’s agent, or listing agent, is the role we are most familiar with, thanks to the immense marketing clout of the Multiple Listing Service over the past 40 years. The seller retains a Realtor© to position the property to its best advantage on the market, attract qualified buyers and effect a sale at the highest price.

One of the first things your Realtor© should do if you are selling your home is provide you with a comprehensive comparative market analysis of your house to ensure it sells for as much as the market will bear. Helping you arrive at a fair and accurate estimate of the value of your home is one of your agent’s primary responsibilities, assuring you of a price that reflects the true market value of your home under current conditions.

Based on this information, your agent will then develop and implement a marketing plan. This will include effectively advertising your home through lawn signs, newspaper ads, internet promotion, direct or e-mail flyers or any number of proven promotional methods. In this information age, it is highly recommended that you seek out a Realtor© who embraces new technologies and enhanced communications to create cutting edge marketing materials to maximize exposure and efficiency.

Your Realtor© may also wish to hold an Open House to showcase your home. This may be open to all potential buyers or exclusively for other agents looking to evaluate your home against the needs and desires of their clients. He or she will arrange and execute the Open House and represents you to whoever attends.

Your Realtor© may also be able to provide you with tips and hints on how to make your home show well to prospective buyers. Sometimes added touches, such as fresh paint, flowers or rearranged furniture, can improve the marketability of your home. A good first impression can significantly impact how long your home stays on the market and what it ultimately sells for.
Once your Realtor© has found a qualified buyer prepared to make a formal offer on your home, he or she will act as your representative in negotiating the terms of the transaction. With experience in arranging financing and closing deals, he or she will make these final arrangements and draw up a legally binding contract.

A Realtor© is normally paid by the person selling the house. Their fee will be a percentage of the final selling price, which is deducted from proceeds of the sale.


Buying a Home

A buyer can benefit from the representation of a Realtor© as well. The buyer's agent uses his knowledge of the community and the market to source all of the properties that fit the buyer's budget, needs and wants. He or she promotes the buyer's interest in purchase negotiations to effect a sale at the lowest possible price.

When buying a home, your agent will help you identify what you want in your new residence. He or she will compare your needs, wants and your means to what is available on the market in order to be able to make recommendations. A Realtor© will have exclusive access to a number of valuable information tools – such as the Multiple Listing Service – which provide a comprehensive overview of properties that are available. This alone can save you a tremendous amount of time and work.

Your Realtor© will view qualified homes – those suitable to your requirements – with you in order to provide you the expert advice you need to make your decision. Once you have found the home you are looking for, your Realtor© can also inform you about your financing options, helping you to obtain a mortgage at the most attractive prevailing rates and with terms that accurately reflect your interests and means.