Kingston Real Estate news - CREA's New Deal

The following is a letter from RE/MAX Ontario Atlantic's Vice-President in response to the recent ratification of a deal between the Competition bureau and the Canadian Real Estate Association:


October 26th, 2010


CREA ratification of Competition Consent Agreement

Despite all the media hoopla associated with Sunday's vote by CREA members to ratify the Competition Consent Agreement, it will be business as usual for real estate professionals across the country.

The public will continue to access listings on the MLS system or Realtor.ca, but any posts to the system remain firmly in the hands of local realtors. Under the terms of the new, 10-year agreement, CREA and the Boards cannot prevent or discriminate against 'mere postings' and members who offer 'mere postings.' CREA does not believe that such rules exist today-but if they do-they must be repealed or Boards will lose their license to operate under the MLS trademark.

So all in all, it's business as usual. Sure, consumers have more choices, but then again, they always have. Discount brokers have been around for years. There is a reason why the MLS system is responsible for 90 per cent of resale housing transactions in the country. Canadians rely on the full-service approach provided by the country's 100,000 real estate professionals. Regardless of alternatives, most people require the services of an experienced agent to sell their home.

All we need to do is look south of the border-where the process is similar-for confirmation of that fact. According to the National Post, "the U.S. Department of Justice negotiated an anti-trust settlement with the National Association of Realtors allowing internet brokers and other agents offering discounted commissions to access the MLS in 2008. Two years later, traditional full-service brokers still control between 70 and 80 per cent of the U.S. housing market, and the average commission has increased to 5.3 per cent of the sale price from five per cent in 2008."

In fact, NAR statistics provided by the National Post show 80 per cent of sellers use a full-service broker, managing most of a transaction from listing to closing. Another nine per cent choose limited services that include discount brokerage and 11 per cent opt for the bare minimum of just listing on MLS.

There's a story to be told here. Consumers place value on the services we provide as realtors and that's not about to change. Why? We have the knowledge and expertise to generate results. Few are willing to take chances with their most valuable asset. As Canada's leading real estate organization, we will continue to do what we do best-assisting buyers and sellers with the biggest financial decision of their lifetime.

Take a moment to look at our new marketing campaign on the critical role of a RE/MAX agent. It is easily found on www.FitToSell.ca. This timely campaign demonstrates the value of using a professional RE/MAX agent. It should help offset some of the negative press, until things settle.

As I said, business as usual.

Sincerely,

Michael Polzler
Executive Vice President, Regional Director
RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada Inc.

Sign me up for this!! http://ping.fm/bkHHt

's just reflecting that the real estate market here in Kingston has cooled somewhat just as the temperatures have gotten really hot.

just signed on to "ping.fm"

Southside Shuffle 2008 - revised

Well, another very successful day in partially-sunny Port Credit, down by the lake in Mississauga! The day started with a nice lunch with my friend Brock, then off to a bar for some beers, then down to the "Shuffle", where we met up with my buddy Doug and brother-in-law Emeric to catch some of the street scene along the Lakeshore, which was as usual closed off to traffic from 3-7 p.m. Some quite decent amateurs playing very enthusiastically all along the street, incuding the Dave Murphy band, who we all enjoyed. At six-ish we were joined by my other brother-in-law Brian and watched a bit more of the street bands before he "tricked us" (except Emeric, who had to leave us for the evening at this juncture) into popping into a bar right there on the Lakeshore called "Spice" for some beers on their very nice back patio in the (finally!) sunshine. Then the four of us went over to the main stage/shopping area beside the Credit River to buy our wrist-bands for the big shows that were coming up later in the evening - great value: $20 for the two very good acts that we saw! Then we walked back east along the Lakeshore, as the street portion of the festival was winding down just at seven o'clock, to a block east of Hurontario Street to get to our dinner destination for the second year in a row: the Thai Signature Restaurant, where we just stuffed ourselves with their excellent food and Singha beer, and enjoyed again their very friendly service. Back over to the main event at the park by the river, Charlie Musslewhite and his band went on at 8:30 and did a great set, including "Church is Out", a very good tune that puts me in mind of "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits, only way cooler. The Funk brothers, shown here in my favourite Chaka Khan "What's Goin' On" Marvin Gaye song clip from the classic (well, it's a classic to me anyway!)"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" movie, went on at 10:00 p.m. and played right through to almost 11:30!! They had most of the people, young and old, in the big crowd swaying and dancing to the impossible-to-stand-still-to Motown classic hits from the Four Tops, Temptations, Smoky Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Rare Earth, Martha Reeves, etc. *Full disclosure/embarrassing personal moment: Just to sort of round out the day, I managed to keep the guys entertained even after the show by tripping over a concrete bench just beside the sidewalk in front of a bar on our walk back along the street towards home...I went down pretty fast and pretty hard, but escaped without any major damage. Brock and Brian were kind enough to reserve most of their laughter for about four minutes after the incident, for which I am quite thankful! We're all looking forward to next year's Shuffle, and are absolutely not an exclusive group, so we'd be delighted to have some more guys join us in 2009...**note for more info, click on "Charlie Musslewhite" in the above text, as well as on "Thai Signature", then on the word "here" right after the Funk Brothers, to get the Chaka Khan clip.

My Favourite Albums

Just thinking of all the great music I've bought and enjoyed over the years, and decided to put some of my very favourite albums on this blog...here they are (in no particular order and likely with some omissions) : Etta James "Greatest Hits" (best tracks; At Last and Tell Mama). Santana "Abraxas" (best tracks; Black Magic Woman and Samba Pa Ti). Stevie Ray Vaughan "In Step" (best track Riviera Sunrise). Todd Rundgren Greatest Hits (Hello It's Me and We Gotta Get you a Woman). Amy Winehouse "Back To Black" (all tracks; best album of the last decade in my opinion). The Beatles are my all-time favourite group and their best work for me is "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul", but it's really way-too-difficult to pick any bad ones! Steely Dan "Aja" album with "Peg" and "Deacon Blues" as stand-out tracks. Aja was a real sort of turning point for me musically, as it turned me on to jazz and blues in a small way, so I started to kind of "look backwards" to find other "real" jazz and blues music which has been a great source of pleasure to me since that Aja album came out in around 1976. I only then figured out that most of the rock music I was loving as a kid came directly out of the blues and jazz greats of the past. Van Morrison "Astral Weeks", "Moondance" and "Too Long in Exile" (also full of great tracks including "Moondance" itself. America "America". Beck "Guero". Radiohead "OK Computer". Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", Dave Brubeck "Time Out". John Coltrane "Love Supreme". Joni Mitchell "Court and Spark" Robbie Robertson's "Underworld" cd featuring a very haunting track called the Sound is Fading".....hmmmm....now it's getting difficult to stop! I've also been listening to lots of "World Music" by people like the "Buena Vista Social Club" from Cuba and the "Orchestra Baobab" from Senegal (Click here for Baobab live in Poland). What are your favourite albums?

Best Red Wine under $10

This is my new favourite red wine, called Misterio, an Argentinian Malbec. Fantastic, full-bodied wine at only $7.95 per bottle! I've been buying it by the case lately. Decant it for an hour or so and then do a blind taste test against more expensive Shiraz's and/or Cabernet Sauvignons and see how it fares... My opinion is that it tastes more "expensive" than it is.