The association (CREA) had signalled this week that its Multiple Listings System (MLS) may need to be thrown open to competitors to satisfy the bureau – giving consumers more choices on how to buy and sell homes and lowering costs as discount real estate brokers emerge and cut agents out of the process.

One of the things that concerned the bureau was that sellers could not post a listing on the online service without going through a real estate agent, and paying the associated fees. Access to MLS is essential for would-be sellers, because it accounts for 90 per cent of residential property sales in Canada each year.

In a statement yesterday, however, the association said reports that “a proposed resolution between CREA and the Competition Bureau would result in members of the public being able to access the MLS System to list their homes for sale without involvement of a Realtor member of CREA … is incorrect. The MLS system is a system for Realtor members of CREA.”

The association did not say how it would address the bureau’s concerns about the service – which also include clauses that prohibit anyone but an agent from handling transactions that are associated with an MLS listing – but did say it hoped to see a resolution before its December meeting. The bureau can impose changes if it feels its concerns weren’t adequately addressed.

MLS was developed in the 1960s, long before computer networks made information sharing simple and efficient. It allows agents from different real estate agencies to co-operate on deals, and ensures that each property is well-exposed to potential buyers.

Last year, sales hit $132-billion, according to CREA, generating about $6.6-billion for real estate agents assuming a typical 5-per-cent commission.

But the Competition Bureau has signalled that MLS data should be shared with outside companies, which could open the way to discount providers – companies that would help seal a real estate deal for a flat fee, rather than the typical commission structure.

Source: Globe & Mail

CREA Youngs

CREA’s Young Members Task Force, from the top left to right: Greg Kelford, Re/Max Metro-City Realty, Ottawa; Sergio Tassone, HomeLife Benchmark Realty, Langley, B.C.; Tanya Rocca, Royal LePage Burloak, Burlington, Ont.; Katie Burkard, Blu Realty, Vancouver; Adam Hennigar, Sutton Group Professional Realty, Halifax; Jessica Fink, Exit Realty Fusion, Regina; Nadia Habib, Century 21 First Canadian, London, Ont.; Beth Crosbie, Coldwell Banker Proco, St. John’s (chair); Christan Bosley, Bosley Real Estate, Toronto; and Lynn St-Germain, CREA staff liaison. Stephen Gammer, Macdonald Commercial, Fraser Valley, B.C. was not present when the photo was taken.

Time and technology are changing the real estate industry, and to be sure the new generation of Realtors gets the information and services they need, CREA has formed a Young Members Task Force to help lead the association into the future.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the curve to provide what the next generation of Realtors needs to do business,” says task force chair Beth Crosbie. “There are generational differences and different thought processes. We put together a task force to find out what we’re doing right, what we’re weak in and where to make changes.”

The task force was selected from nominations made by CREA directors and members of local associations. “The youngest is 23; the oldest is a 40-year-old commercial Realtor with good insight. One Realtor has been in the business only nine months,” Crosbie says.

“Our mandate is to advise the Board of Directors about where the real estate industry is going,” says 31-year-old Tanya Rocca, a member of Royal LePage’s President’s Club, which honours the top one per cent of sales reps. “It was felt my volume of business is an asset,” she says.
“Personally I have observed the business for a long time and have worked in the business for three years. Things have been stagnant and my intention is to freshen up the industry.”

Rocca is one of several members with a family history in real estate. Her family has been in the industry for more than 30 years. Her brother Patrick Rocca, an agent with Bosley Real Estate, has been in the business for 20 years.

Fellow task force member Christan Bosley is daughter of former Toronto Real Estate Board and CREA president Tom Bosley, and Ann Bosley, who has served as a TREB director and CREA president.

Task force members have family real estate background, work in management or have inherited a business, says Rocca. “It’s a solid group of people.”

The task force met for the first time in Ottawa January 12, discussing everything from how to strengthen the lines of communication to technology. “It was ideal to bring to light expectations of younger members and where this generation is going next,” Rocca says. “It was a good opportunity to network (and) to throw out ideas.”

She says that group discussions brought out concerns that were on the top of everyone’s minds, including the importance of technology.

Being part of the task force is a great opportunity, she says. “We got to sit down with the people who devised the MLS system and talk about its short-comings.”

Often, she says, members have suggestions or criticisms but don’t know how to make their concerns known. “It’s advantageous to speak to people who can do something,” Rocca says.
The task force also met with CREA’s technology council, on a fact-finding mission to create a strategic plan.

Rocca, who works with sister Cathy as the Rocca Sisters, says print ads are being used more for branding. The green aspect of technology is attractive to the younger generation. She says there’s a dramatic difference in the number of Internet leads from just three years ago when she became a Realtor.

CREA is not alone in forming a young members task force. Some provincial associations are realizing the importance of tapping this source of information and are doing the same thing, she says.
The second meeting of CREA’s task force will coincide with the association’s annual meeting in Ottawa this April.

“This group is excited,” says Crosbie, CREA’s Atlantic director for a year and a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Proco in St. John’s for 11 years. The task force is a wonderful opportunity to have a say in the association’s direction for the next 10 to 15 years, she says. “I’m really enjoying working with this group.”

At the first meeting, talk turned to creating an online forum. Crosbie said she explained why that couldn’t be done. A member asked her to stop telling them what couldn’t be done. “I didn’t mean to come across negative and say, ‘No we can’t do it.’ We do need to look at other ways to approach problems. It was a good lesson. We need to take a new approach to figure out ways to do things.”

Source: REM Online