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Navigating the Canadian Real Estate Market With an Agent
Navigating the real estate market can be a scary and overwhelming endeavour, whether you are buying, selling, or renting a property. Though you may be able to make progress towards your goal on your own to a certain extent without any professional help, working with someone who knows the local neighbourhoods and is an expert in the market will always take you a step further and be beneficial to you in ways you may not expect. A licensed real estate agent can help you simplify your buying, selling, or investing journey into manageable steps while ensuring you make informed decisions along the way.
Before you can choose the right agent for you, you need to understand all there is to know about who real estate agents are, what their role is, why you should hire one, and where you can find a reliable agent.
What You'll Learn...
- Who Are Real Estate Agents?
- The Differences Between a Real Estate Agent, a Broker, and a Realtor
- What are Platinum Agents?
- What Does a Real Estate Agent Do?
- Representation Agreements & Multiple Representation
- Communicating with Your Agent
- The Risks of Not Having a Real Estate Agent
- Find a Reliable Real Estate Agent at GTA-Homes
Who Are Real Estate Agents?
Real estate agents are highly trained, licensed professionals who know the real estate industry inside and out. Their job is to assist their clients in buying, selling, leasing or managing their properties (residential, commercial, or even agricultural) while serving as the middleman between parties involved in the process, such as the seller and potential buyer, and handling the real estate transactions.
Every real estate agent in Canada must be employed under a brokerage and registered under a board that follows regulations set by their province or territory. This is so real estate agents adhere to legal and ethical practices when trading real estate. In Ontario, all agents must be licensed and regulated by the non-profit corporation Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO). Though not required, many of Ontario agents are also members of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), Canada’s largest real estate board with over 73,000 licensed brokers and salespersons in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
There are also many associations across Canada, one of which is the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). This alliance of over 160,000 real estate brokers, salespeople, and agents, works with 72 real estate boards and associations across the country. Agents who are members of CREA are called REALTOR®s.
The Differences Between a Sales Representative (Real Estate Agent), a Broker, and a Realtor
When researching the real estate market, you may have encountered the terms "sales representative", “real estate agent”, “broker”, and “realtor”. They are all licensed and part of a regulated provincial board to help you buy and sell real estate, so they are often used interchangeably, but their professional roles have distinct differences.
Sales Representative (Real Estate Agent)
An agent must work for a brokerage in order to represent a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction. They are paid a commission fee, usually 4% - 6% of the property’s sale price.
Real Estate Broker
A broker must obtain a higher level of training and licensing requirements than an agent. This allows them to work independently or start their own real estate business and hire other agents to work under them. They are also paid on commission from their own clients as well as from the agents they employ.
Realtor
A REALTOR® signifies a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and they can be either agents or brokers. The United States equivalent to CREA is the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A REALTOR® is a title that signifies that the real estate professional displays honest communication and practices a specific code of ethics set by the association.
What are Platinum Agents?
Another term you may have come across is “Platinum Agent.” Platinum Agents are real estate agents who specialize in the pre-construction side of the real estate market. They utilize their strong connections to various developers in order to receive detailed information regarding any future developments.
GTA-Homes has an excellent team of Platinum Agents who are ready to offer Platinum Access to their clients, including priority access to pre-construction projects and VIP pricing.
What Does a Real Estate Agent Do?
Now that you know how real estate agents assist and guide clients, let’s discuss how they can guide you through your buying or selling journey. Their roles will differ depending on whether you are buying or selling a home.
The Role of a Real Estate Agent When Buying a Home:
If you are looking to buy a home in Canada, your real estate agent can help you before you even look into which homes and neighbourhoods are currently available in the market. Your agent can start assisting you from when you are determining your financial readiness and exploring your financing options. They can assist in your mortgage pre-approval process, any calculations you may need to be done to weigh your options, and provide information on any government assistance programs you may be eligible for, including tax exemptions.
After the initial steps in buying a home, your agent will help you identify any listings in the neighbourhoods that meet your criteria. They will also provide insights regarding the pros and cons of each neighbourhood, the details of the property, such as the zoning and permitted property use, and the current trends of the real estate market.
When you have found the home you wish to purchase, the agent will then assist in providing their expertise to drafting a competitive offer while advising you on how to protect the information of your offer. This includes advising you on an appropriate offer price so that sellers are more likely to accept or counter your offer, and how to set offer conditions that are in your best interest.
If your offer is countered, your agent will step in to aid in the negotiations to get you the best purchase price and conditions and guide you through the closing process, which includes overseeing all the required paperwork and coordinating with your lawyer, mortgage broker, home inspector, and other professionals that ensure a smooth transaction.
The Role of a Real Estate Agent When Selling Your Home:
A real estate agent can be a great guide in helping you navigate through the complexities of selling your home. Much like purchasing a home, an agent can assist you starting from the early steps of selling your home. They can even help you determine a realistic timeline for the closing date of your home before they conduct a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine the appropriate listing price for your home. A CMA is when your agent will provide you with an estimate of the price of your home compared to similar homes that have been sold in your neighbourhood.
Your agent will then proceed to walk through the property of your home with you to assist in identifying ways to increase the value of your home in order for you to receive a higher profit. They will emphasize the visual appeal of your home and create comprehensive marketing strategies, including professional photographs, videos, and virtual tours to enhance the presence of your online listing and attract a wider audience of potential buyers for your home. They can even provide connections to a home inspector, lawyers, and a professional home staging company, which will be a great benefit when the agent arranges an open house and showings of your home.
Not only will they assist you in setting the right pricing of your home to receive the best offer you can, when the offers arrive, your agent will organize them and present them to you while explaining the terms and conditions of each offer. If you need any advice on how to handle any competing offers, your agent is your lighthouse through the storm of navigating all aspects of the offers and transactions, making any counter offers, and negotiating with potential buyers to secure the best possible offer for your home on your behalf. They will also ensure that the potential buyer has their finances in order so the deal can close smoothly.
Much like purchasing a home, your agent will manage the closing process after you have accepted the price and terms of an offer. They will handle all necessary legal documents, making sure they are prepared and signed by the correct parties involved, and go through the conditional phase with you.
Looking for Expert Guidance in Real Estate? Partner with our dedicated agents to ensure success in buying, selling, and investing.
Understanding Representation Agreements
& Multiple Representation
Whether you are looking to hire a real estate agent as a buyer or a seller, you must sign a representation agreement with the brokerage your agent is working for. Depending on the representation needed, this agreement can be a buyer representation agreement or a seller representation agreement, also known as a listing agreement.
A written agreement is required to define your agent’s commission structure and fees and clearly specify the scope of their services until an agreed-upon termination date. In addition to the termination date, the agreement may have certain conditions where the agreement can be terminated, such as if multiple representations should occur.
As real estate agents and brokerages work with multiple clients at any given time, it is possible for multiple representations to occur. Multiple representation is when an agent or brokerage represents more than one client in a single transaction, evoking a conflict of interest. This does not always mean they represent both the buyer and the seller; they can also represent two or more clients competing to purchase the same property.
In Ontario, multiple representation:
- Must be agreed upon by all parties, with the brokerage providing a written disclosure
- Must have all clients involved treated objectively and impartially
- Must be regulated under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA)
It is necessary to understand the risks before entering a multiple representation transaction and that you have the right to refuse one.
Communicating with Your Agent
When working with a real estate agent in any agreement, the essence of a successful transaction is to have clear communication from start to finish. Establishing how you will communicate with your agent and how often is essential to smoothly progress through the steps in each process. Discuss each step in detail as much as possible. Outline your goals, timelines, expectations, and any concerns you may have with your real estate agent as early as possible, and always ask your agent any questions you may have along the way.
It is your responsibility to provide as much viable information as you can about what you would want or not want in buying or selling a home so that your real estate agent can get you perfect results. Never hesitate to provide feedback at any step of the process or let your agent know if you have changed your mind about listing. Every client is different, so the method of communication and how to approach certain steps may also differ and a good agent should be flexible to better approach your needs.
The Risks of Not Having a Real Estate Agent
Although there are many benefits of hiring a real estate agent to represent you, should you ever enter a real estate transaction as a self-representative party, you must know the significant risks involved.
The process of buying and selling a home will not only be much more time-consuming as you try to navigate the process and transactions on your own, but you will also have fewer resources and connections than you would have received from an agent. Tedious steps that require meticulous details would have to be done on your own, such as home inspections, preparing required legal documents and researching all aspects of the property, including permitted property use and zoning regulations.
A lack of experience and knowledge of the current market will affect the pricing you determine towards the buying and selling of a home and it is up to you to handle all negotiations that will most likely have an experienced and skilled real estate agent representing the opposite party of your transaction.
Find a Reliable Real Estate Agent at GTA-Homes
Now that you understand the roles of a real estate agent and how they can benefit you when looking to buy or sell a home, you will need to know how to find the perfect agent. At GTA-Homes, we have a team of experienced real estate agents, including Platinum Agents, ready and eager to assist and easily guide you through buying or selling a home. Our agents will communicate with you every step of the way, from the beginning to the end, and will answer all your questions on the current real estate market trends, developing neighbourhoods, and much more!
Register today to get started on your home journey.
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