By Warren McNeil

From  time-to-time clients say to us that they didn’t know that we provided certain services or they didn’t understand how realtors work. This post is to provide an overview of some of the things that you might not know about what a realtor does or how we work.

 1. Realtors are independent contractors. They may represent RE/MAX or another real estate company but they work independently of each other. They are agents of the broker of record.  In most cases you will never even meet the broker of record. You will only work with the realtor. Realtors are their own CEO, president and owner of their own business.

2.Realtors pay for their own expenses including the marketing of your home. This could cost hundreds to thousands depending on how long it takes to sell your house.

3. Realtors must be licenced in the province of Ontario.

4. Realtors must continually update their education in order to stay licenced.

5. Realtors don’t get paid until they sell your house and all their costs are upfront.

6. When you hire a realtor, they may already have a buyer. Realtors are constantly meeting new buyer clients who are looking for homes and your home could be the one they were looking for. They might meet buyers on the internet, at open houses or walk-ins at the office

7. A realtor can sell any house that is on the MLS. This is considered buyer agency and differs from seller agency. A buyers agent represents the best interests of a buyer and not the seller. For more information see your buyer team and their roles

8. There are no costs to you if your houses doesn’t sell.

9. Realtors sell houses everyday so they become very skilled at negotiations, marketing, customer service, local market information and they know the good or bad areas

10. Realtors must carry Errors and Omissions insurance. Due to the complexities  of real estate transactions, the need for this type of insurances is necessary.

Thanks for reading!

Warren & Melanie McNeil | Sales Representatives, Team McNeil
Re/Max Twin City Realty, Brokerage ( 519.579.4110 
8 www.TeamMcneil.com, www.LoftStyle.ca, www.ClickThatHouse.com  
P.S. Looking for a condo or loft, check out our brand new website at www.LoftStyle.ca!