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How the property search works?

How to find the property as easy as possible.

With the internet widely used by all of us, it is very attempting to find the property by yourself. I would like to explain here how actually all works and help you to choose the right way for you.
 

You can see hundreds of websites where you can fill out your information and you will be expecting to receive all properties for sale according to your criteria. I hope I will not confuse you but I will try to explain how it all works as good as possible. How to search for the property in Ontario, Canada.

REALTOR.ca

Realtor.ca is very popular website for homes and land for sale. But the search itself is limited and has it’s pros and cons.

CONS

First of all, you cannot have the search too specific. You can choose the price, number of bedrooms, bathrooms,
waterfront…If you are looking for a waterfront property you will have all of them and you need to sort them out personally if it is riverfront or lakefront. Another disadvantage is that you cannot specify the access to the property. You can see nice priced properties but they might be 3 season only or accessed by the water only. Here again, you have to find out by yourself to call the listing agent for each property and receive the information from him/her.


It is time-consuming to find more details about each property you might be interested in.


You as a client don’t know if the property is sold conditionally or sold but not closed deal. (Most sellers don’t want to show the property if it is sold conditionally.) All properties on Realtor.ca look as active listings even though they might be sold conditionally for weeks. You will have to find out again calling the agent and become frustrated by a lot of work you have to out in.

PROS

If you have time and you want to be in charge than it can be the way you would like to go.
Other than properties for sale by the owner you can see the listings from all real estate boards. (This one has to be explained and will be done soon.) Here is a small exception. You will find properties for sale by owner if the seller has an agreement with ComFree, Property Guys or other similar companies.

What are real estate boards?

Within Ontario, we have dozens of real estate boards. Each agent if he/she wants to have access to MLS for professionals has to be part of the real estate board where he/she wants to work and agents have to pay fees to that board. So, for example, we have Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Barrie real estate board and much more. Each agent can be a member of the board depending on the membership of the brokerage he works for.

If the brokerage is a member of Toronto board but no other one than the agent can have the access to Toronto listings only. If the brokerage is the member of let’s say Toronto, Barrie, Lakelands (Muskoka, Haliburton… area) than the agent can be part of one of these or all of them but has to pay dues to the board he wants to be a member. So you will find hardly that the agent is a member of dozens of these boards as it is very expensive and also unprofessional thinking that the agent can provide a professional service in all areas.

Searching the properties with a real estate agent.

Asking a real estate agent to set an automatic search for you will cost you zero dollars and you will receive the property immediately when it is listed. Make sure that the agent is a member of the board where you want to buy a property. Living for example in Toronto and asking your friend real estate agent from Toronto to find the property and represent you in Barrie will not be very professional. As the agent might not know the area and trends as good as the local agent.

Here is one of the real estate myths: People think that different brokerages have the access to different listings. That’s not true. Brokerages (agents) who are members of the real estate board in the area have the access to the same listings from all brokerages so it does’t matter if it is big or small brokerage. The difference is in service provided to you by the agent.


The real estate agent can set the search for you according the criteria you will request. He/she can sort the properties in regards to the access, type of the heating, size of the lot, type of the water supply and more. Not all requirements can be applied for the search though. Once I had a client requesting big sunny family room. First of all the listing agent is inserting all information about the listing and not always specifies if the rooms are sunny… The only way to find if the room is sunny would be personally visiting the property. Pictures from the property can be misleading.


Clients have sometimes wrong expectations and they think that agents will see all the properties on the market. It is just not possible. With a busy schedule what agents have like showing the properties, writing the agreements, representing their client, marketing themselves there is no time to see all homes listed in the area.

The right agent will help you to set the right criteria for you and after finding the property you like, he/she will prepare for you all necessary information so you can make fully educated decision buy or not to buy.
I know many people are afraid to sign the agreement with the real estate agent when buying a property. What they don’t know is that the agreement actually serves them not the agent. Read more about the buyer’s agreement.

Recommendations:

 

  • Meet your agent personally to set a plan and find more how he/she can help you feel about the service and the experience of the agent.

  • You don’t need to sign the agreement but you will get a better with the basic criteria like price, location, number of bedrooms…

  • Request the search for the property you would like to buy agent how to narrow the search.

  • If you will be receiving too many listings discuss with the change the area, price range or other requirements.In case that you are receiving few or even no listings you might

  • Go to see some properties with the agent. You will get know each other and see if you would like to work together.

Don’t assume that the agents know right away what are you looking for. We all have different taste and preferences. Viewing properties will give the agent better feel about your dream home and will help you to find the right house.

START YOUR SEARCH HERE
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