Filed under: Buying, Judita Makos, Market Conditions, Selling, Uncategorized | Tags: CMHC, HST, Interest rates, KW Listings, market update, Seller's Market
INTEREST RATES
The Bank of Canada took its first steps this week toward returning the country to more normal interest rate levels by signalling a more hawkish tone on inflation and acknowledging the economy is performing better than expected on “vigorous” consumer demand.
The messages were conveyed in the Bank of Canada’s latest interest-rate statement, which kept its record-low benchmark rate of 0.25% as is and pledged to keep it there until July.
The rate statement emerged a day after economic data indicated the Canadian economy grew at a robust 5% annualized pace in the final three months of 2009, blowing past market expectations for a 4% gain and the central bank’s original 3.3% forecast. Economists say the fourth-quarter performance has set the stage for another robust gain, of perhaps 4% or more, for the first three months of 2010.
Meanwhile, recent data indicate that both the headline and core inflation rates have moved much closer to the 2% level than the central bank had expected. Under the bank’s forecast, the 2% level would not be reached until the third-quarter of next year.
In the statement, the central bank acknowledged economic activity has been “slightly higher” than its own projections, with the 5% gain in the fourth quarter powered by “vigorous domestic demand” and a recovery in exports.
Low interest rates are doing their job in stimulating demand — perhaps, increasingly, too well.”
The consensus remains that the central bank will wait until July to begin raising rates. There are two more scheduled rate decisions between now and then, with one April 20 and then June 1.
Economists believes rate increases will begin in the third quarter, but the odds have increased that the first hike will be in July as opposed to September.
How much, and how rapidly, the central bank raises rates beginning in July is up for debate, with economists estimating increases of 100 to 150 basis points in the second half of 2010.Financial Post
HOUSING ACTIVITY IN 2010
According to CMHC housing starts rebounded in the second half of 2009 and will strengthen in 2010.
Following a total of 149,081 units in 2009, housing starts are expected to be in the range of 152,000 to 189,300 units in 2010, with a point forecast of 171,250 units.
In 2011, housing starts will be in the range of 156,400 to 205,600 units, with a point forecast of 175,150 units.
“Canadian housing markets will benefit from improving economic conditions and low mortgage rates,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. “As well, measures recently announced by the Government of Canada to support the long-term stability of Canada’s housing market will help moderate housing activity as some potential buyers will have to save a larger down payment or consider a less expensive home.”
Mr. Dugan also noted that the existing home market has shifted from a buyers’ market, at the beginning of 2009, to a sellers’ market. The relative lack of new listings for existing homes has pushed some of the demand into the new home market, which helps explain the forecast for higher housing starts activity in 2010.
The strong pace of MLS®1 sales seen in the second to fourth quarters of 2009 reflects, in part, activity that was delayed in the previous two quarters. The pace is not likely to be sustained as pent-up demand is exhausted and financing costs increase with anticipated higher interest rates later in 2010. As a result, existing home sales will be in the range of 455,350 to 509,900 units in 2010, with a point forecast of 486,700 units, and then move slightly lower in 2011 to be in the range of 426,300 to 494,600 units, with a point forecast of 469,950 units.
With an improved balance between demand and supply, the average MLS® price is expected to remain close to the average in the last quarter of 2009, for most of 2010, and then rise modestly in 2011. CHMC
KITCHENER- WATERLOO MARKET UPDATE – KWREB OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
KITCHENER‐WATERLOO, ON (March 3, 2010) – While Canada’s athletes were racing for Olympic Gold;Waterloo region’s homebuyers were racing to buy real estate. There were 553 homes traded in February through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®) for a total value of $153,120,645, marking a 31.7 percent increase over January’s results.
“This is the most residential sales we’ve seen in the month of February in over two decades.” said, Ted Scharf, President of the Kitchener‐Waterloo Real Estate Board. “It has been an exceptionally busy start to the year.”
February’s sales included 350 detached homes (up 43.4 percent from 2009), 99 condominium units (up percent from 2009), 52 semis (up 73.3 percent from 2009) and 49 townhouses (up 63.3 percent from 2009).
There were a total of 75 properties sold in the $300,000 to $350,000 price range‐‐ the second most popular category last month—a 150 percent increase on a year‐over‐year basis.
The most active price range continued to be homes selling between $225,000 and $250,000, with 93 sales, up 50 percent over last year.
The average sale price of all residential sales increased 12.2 percent to $276,891 compared with February 2009. Single detached homes sold for an average price of $324,631, an increase of 15.8 percent compared to last year.
In the condominium market the average sale price in February was$173,726, an increase of 8.3 percent from one year.
“The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) which takes effect on July 1 is likely contributing somewhat to the increased sales we are seeing, “says Scharf. But the biggest factor influencing strong sales during this traditionally slower time of year according to Scharf, is the historically low-interest rates. “Consumersare taking advantage of current interest rates now before they are predicted to rise this summer.”
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent, Selling | Tags: average sale price, Kitchener, Market Conditions, real estate market, units sold, Waterloo
The market remains steady with sales starting to close in on last year’s totals. As Karen Shartun of the K-W Real Estate Board explains, “After the first quarter of 2009 sales were down on a year-to-date basis by 25% compared to last year, by the end of the second quarter that gap decreased to 10% below, now after the third quarter the decrease is only 4.2%. The recession appears to have had its greatest effect during the first part of the year and now the market has returned to near normal levels.
There was a total of $108,337,581 in real estate sales in Kitchener-Waterloo region in September 2009. $62,476,342 of that was in single family detached homes, and $32,069,126 of that was in other single family dwellings. There was $8,075,800 in sales in multi-family units, $242,000 in land and $5,474,313 in commercial sales in September.
The average sales price for a single family detached home in September was $289,242, a 1.6% decline from the numbers this time last year. The average sales price for a semi-detached home was $204,428. The average price of a freehold townhouse unit was $247,326. The average price for a condo unit was $185,447. The average price for a co-operative unit was $136,000. The average price for a link home was $219,000. The average price for a mobile home was $68,000.
There were 408 unit sales last month in the Kitchener-Waterloo region; with 216 single family detached homes sold, 29 semi-detached homes sold, 38 freehold townhomes sold, 89 condominium units sold, 1 cooperative home sold, 1 link home sold, 1 mobile home sold, 14 multi-family dwellings sold, 1 land property sold, and 18 commercial properties sold.
Of the 375 residential sales, 342 were resale homes and 33 were new construction homes. The majority of these residential sales (177 or 342 sales) were in the $200,000 to $299,999 price range. There were 10 residential sales under $100,000; 81 residential sales in the $100,000-$199,999 price range; 69 residential sales in the $300,000-$399,999 price range; 19 residential sales in the $400,000-$499,999 price range; and 10 residential sales in the $500,000-$749,999 price range. There were no residential sales above $1,000,000 in September.
The majority of residential sales (155 units) happened in Kitchener West of King Street. 80 units were sold in Waterloo West of King Street, 72 units were sold in Kitchener East of King Street, and 68 units were sold in Waterloo East of King Street.
There were a total of 691 new listings processed in September, with 1,666 listings still on the market. This means there are still plenty of homes for you to choose from to find the home of your dreams and expectations that the value will still steadily increase over time. Sellers are getting still high values for their homes and are still selling fairly rapidly. The market will likely start to slow over the winter, as it normally does, picking up again in the early spring.
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent, Selling | Tags: average sale price, Kitchener, Market Conditions, real estate market, units sold, Waterloo
There were 520 unit sales in the month of August in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, a 19.3% increase from August of the previous year, with an average sales price of $255,311 for residential properties. Of the 482 residential properties sold, 278 were single family detached homes, 46 were semi-detached, 33 were freehold townhomes, 122 were condos, 1 cooperative home, 1 link home and 1 mobile home sold during this period.
The incentives for first time home buyers appear to be affecting the market as both condominium and semi-detached home sales were significantly up from last year with a 62.7% increase and 31.4% increase respectively.
Of the 482 residential properties, 454 were resale homes and 28 were newly constructed homes.
The volume of sales was highest in the $200K-$300K price bracket, which constituted nearly 49% of all sales (235 units). There were 9 sales in the under $100K price bracket, 131 sales in the $100K-$200K price bracket, 69 sales in the $300K-$400K price bracket, 23 sales in the $400K-$500K bracket, and 12 sales over $500K. There were no sales over $1 million this month.
Kitchener west of King Street topped the sales again this month with 208 units sold in August. Waterloo west of King Street followed this with 102 sales during this time period. Waterloo east of King Street had 79 sales, while Kitchener east of King Street had 93 sales. Kitchener east properties seem to moving more quickly as sales volumes were up 78.8% from last year’s numbers and nearly 20% from last month’s.
In total there was $131,995,819 in sales in real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo region for August, up nearly 15% from last year. Residential sales accounted for the majority of these sales, with $119,428,287 of sales recorded ($80,282,630 in single family detached homes and $39,145,657 in other single family dwellings). Multi-family unit sales were worth $4,529,500, vacant land sales were worth $1,356,000, and commercial sales at $6,682,032.
The average sales price for a single family detached home last month was valued at $289,829, down about 3.4% from this time last year. The average sales price for all other single family dwellings was valued at $193,790, up about 2% from last year. The average semi-detached home sold for $210,510, while the average townhome sold for $224,399. The average condo unit sold for $180,968, the average cooperative unit for $132,900 and the average link home for $229,900. The average mobile home sold for $21,500.
There were a total of 599 new listings processed in the Kitchener-Waterloo region in August, 327 new single family detached homes, 182 other single family homes, 26 multi-family units, 6 vacant land properties, and 58 commercial properties. There are 1,665 active listings still available to search from, with 710 single family detached properties, 421 other single family properties, 78 multi-family units, 53 vacant land properties, and 403 commercial proeprties still on the market.
If you have any questions about any of these statistics or require further information– please be sure to ask me at rebecca.sargent@century21.ca.
Filed under: Buying, Rebecca Sargent | Tags: $160K to $175K, 11 Reinhardt Street, 2 bathroom, 2 bedroom, Buying, downtown, for sale, Kitchener
THIS HOME HAS NOW SOLD!
Are you a first time buyer looking for that perfect starter home at a great price? Look no further!
11 Reinhardt Street, Kitchener
asking $164,000
The last home on quiet street with only 5 properties, this unique starter home is right in the downtown Kitchener core. You can walk within minutes to King Street, shopping, schools, parks and many other amenities; the #18 bus comes just out the end of the street on Weber.
The home has had many upgrades including 100 AMP service, plumbing, and potential in-law suite with separate walk-out entrance in the basement.
The kitchen, in soft taupe, has beautiful laminate (faux wood) floors and all newer stainless steel appliances (electric stove and fridge).
Some original glass hardware on the door give a touch of character.
The kitchen-adjacent dining room features an original built in cabinet with frosted glass panels.
The living room features newer laminate (faux wood) floors and soft colours.
Main floor bathroom directly off the living room with full shower/tub.
Bedroom 1 upstairs
Bedroom 2 upstairs
Laundry area down the stairs from the kitchen. Features front loading washer and dryer.
Downstairs rec room features double sink cabinet and walk-out entrance to the side of the home. Possibility of converting to in-law suite or bar area.
Downstairs bathroom has stall-shower and closet space.
Downstairs bedroom/office is approximately 14′ X 10′.
Why don’t you come see it for yourself?
Please call me today for an appointment at 519-591-4299.
Schools in the area:
Public Schools:
Grades JA-06 King Edward Public School; 709 King Street West; 519-578-0220
Grades 07-08 Margaret Avenue Public School; 325 Louisa Street; 519-578-1910
Grades 09-12 Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate; 787 King Street West; 519-745-6851
Catholic Schools:
Grades JA—08 St. Teresa Grades; 270 Edwin Street; 519-743-2131
Grades 09-12 St. David Catholic Secondary School; 4 High Street; 519-885-1340
French Schools:
Grades JK-06 Mere Elisabeth Bruyere; 280 Glenridge Drive; 519-880-9859
Grades 07-12 Pere Renee De Galinee; 450 Maple Grove Road; 519-650-9444
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent, Selling | Tags: average sale price, Kitchener, Market Conditions, real estate market, units sold, Waterloo
The market is going strong, with the unit sales and average sale price for homes sold in July 2009 being the second highest ever recorded for the Kitchener-Waterloo region. The 2008 housing peak, broken by recession fears, appears to be normalizing on an higher slope than the pre-2008 levels.
There were 522 unit sales last month in the K-W, with an average sale price of $274,895. A total of 486 residential units sold in July; 314 of which were single family detached homes. The average sale price for single family detached homes was $316,436. Of the other residential properties sold, there were 38 semi-detached properties (average sale price $210,050), 33 freehold properties (average sale price $227,324), 97 condo units (average sale price $178,773), 1 co-operative unit (sale price $62,000), and 3 link homes (average sale price $202,500). 12 multi family units were sold, 1 non-residential land unit sold, and 23 commercial properties sold.
Of the 486 units sold, 452 were resale homes and 34 were new homes.
The majority of home sold in July were in the $200,000 to $299,999 range (233 out of the 486 sales). There were 96 sales in the $100,000 to $199,999 price range and 12 homes in the under $99,999 price range. 89 (of 486) homes sold in the $300,000 to $399,999 price range. 35 homes sold in the $400,000 to $499,999 price range. 17 homes sold in the $500,000 to $749,999 price range. 3 homes sold in the $750,000 to $999,999 price range, with one home over a $1 million sold.
Kitchener west of King Street once again had the highest number of sales with 203 units sold, followed by Waterloo west of King Street with 131 units sold. Waterloo east of King Street had 73 sales and Kitchener east of King Street had 79 sales.
The total volume of sales in Kitchener-Waterloo region in July was worth $143,495,025, the majority of that ($133,095,923) in residential sales.
There were 789 new listing processed in July, 667 of those in residential units and 91 commercial units. A total of 1,862 units remain active in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and are just awaiting the proper buyer. Now’s your chance to find the perfect property for you! Ask me if you’d like to start viewing some properties today (rebecca.sargent@century21.ca or Direct at 519-591-4299!)
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent, Selling | Tags: Cambridge, Kitchener, Market Conditions, real estate, Waterloo
May was a strong month for real estate in Kitchener-Waterloo region, as the number of residential sales saw a nearly 10% increase over May 2008.
Home ownership incentives introduced in the new budget such as the changes to the RRSP savings program, the First-Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit, the temporary Home Renovation Tax Credit, and the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, seem to be encouraging more home ownership.
The average residential sale price for properties sold in May has seen a 24% increase in value over the past five years, now resting at $295,968 for single detached homes, $207,682 for semi-detached, $229,724 for freehold townhomes, and $166,814 for condo units. It appears overall values are remaining relatively steady. Single family detached homes are moving the fastest with 358 unit sales in May, up 15.1% from this time last year. There were 28 semi-detached homes, 41 freehold townhouse , and 98 condo units sold in May.
Homes in the $225,000 to $249,999 price range sold in the highest volume, with nearly 18% of all sales in this range. 71% of all sales occurred in homes priced between $200,000 to $400,000. 8% of sales were priced higher than $400,000.
Kitchener west of King Street had the most sales for the Kitchener-Waterloo region with 216 units sold in May in this area. West Waterloo had the next highest sales volume with 122 sales in May, followed by Kitchener East with 104 unit sales, and Waterloo East with 85 unit sales. Hespeler had the most sales for Cambridge with 18 units sold, followed by Preston and North Galt with 4 unit sales each, and Galt East and West with 3 unit sales each.
There are plenty of stock available for those looking to buy with 677 new residential property listings processed in May and nearly 1,500 active residential listings to choose from.
Historically low interest rates won’t last much longer.Now’s the time to buy!
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent, Selling | Tags: Cambridge, Kitchener, Market Conditions, Waterloo
Despite the current economic conditions, the Kitchener-Waterloo market is still fairly healthy. Last month’s sales volume was the fifth highest ever recorded for an April in the region, with overall property values still remaining high. The Average sales price for a residential properties has dropped by about 1.8% since last year’s record breaking year, but when put into perspective, this year’s average sale price is still up 4.2% since 2007, and has increased more than 42% since 1999. Values remain relatively high overall. The average sale price for single family detached home is currently sitting at about $289,838 and the average sale price for a semi-detached property is $196,429. Freehold townhouse units are sitting at $241,298 and condominium unit’s average sale price is about $161,138.
There were 632 homes sold in the K-W in April, a 27.4% increase from March of this year. Almost 10% of these sales were new home sales, with the other 90% in resale homes. The majority of buyers were purchasing properties priced between $225,000 and $249,999. Some highlights this month were seen in the number of units sold in the $400,000 to $500,000 price range, which increased by a significant 31.6% since this time last year, and the average sale price for freehold townhouses jumping by over 16.7% since March as new homebuyers are taking advantage of historically low interest rates. Most lenders in Canada have slashed their 5 year interest rates to below 3.95% for qualified clients, meaning the costs of carrying a mortgage have dropped significantly.
West Kitchener had the most sales in April with 231 residential sales. East Kitchener had 73 sales, West Waterloo had 110 sales and East Waterloo had 78 sales. Cambridge sales are up significantly from this time last year (by more than 50%), with the majority of sales happening in Hespeler. There is a great stock for buyers to choose from, with more than 861 new listings processed last month, and over 2,000 residential properties on the market.
A properly marketed and prepared home will sell in this market and receive a competitive price. Buyers currently have lots of options on the market, and great interest rates for their mortgages that are only probably going to climb higher and higher in the upcoming months. Now is a definitely a great time to buy or sell!
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent | Tags: Buying, Cambridge, Galt, Hespeler, housing market, Kitchener, Kitchener-Waterloo region, market condition, Preston, real estate, Waterloo
Kitchener-Waterloo has been feeling the effects of the economy. There have been layoffs, or talks of layoffs in several industries, and many people are feeling very anxious. This anxiety has impacted the real estate, housing and building industries; slowing housing starts (the construction of new buildings) to slightly lower levels and decreasing housing unit sales. Buyers are finding a wide range of units to choose from and increased bargaining ability as the market remains in their favor. Sellers are finding their home is sitting slightly longer than usual on the market before being sold. Overall, conditions are still relatively comfortable, though perhaps not entirely optimistic for the next couple of years.
There were 269 units sold in Kitchener-Waterloo region in February. The number of single family-detached homes sold in February was 27.5% lower than February of last year. The number of all residential units sold in February was down 27.2% from February of last year. Even with this lower number of sales from last year, the total number of sales was up nearly 26.7% from January 2009 and up 28% from December 2008; with the warming weather likely to only bring increasing sales. There were 53% fewer multi-family units sold in February from last year, up from January 33% and up 60% from December. Farmland and vacant land sales increased across the board.
Year to date sales are down for all units by 28.6% from 779 units sold by the end of February in 2008 to only 556 units sold so far in 2009. 91% of unit sales were in resale homes, with 9% in new home sales. The majority of these sales happened in single family detached residential units.
30% of these residential sales were priced under $200,000, and 78% of all the residential sales were priced under $300,000. There have been no sales over $750,000 so far this year. The average sale price for residential properties was $244,419, down slightly from last year’s average of $254,564.
West Kitchener had the highest volume of sales last month with 130 sales, followed by West Waterloo with 73 sales. Waterloo East had the lowest number of sales with only 41 sales. In Cambridge, properties are moving the most in Hespeler, and least in North Galt.
Now is a great time for buyers. Interest rates are relatively low and as homes stay longer on the market, more bargaining becomes possible. Property values are still likely to increase over the long term (ie. More than 5 years).
If you are a (first time) home buyer, now’s the time to talk to a mortgage broker or banker to see if you can qualify for a mortgage and to take advantage of favorable interest rates.
Filed under: Buying, Market Conditions, Rebecca Sargent | Tags: buyers, Cambridge, Kitchener, real estate, Waterloo
Does the news scare you? Are you looking for solid answer on whether you should buy a home in K-W right now?
Unfortunately, there is no solid answer. No one can predict the future. That being said, we can take into account the entire situation and try to reason what the best options are. Most tend to agree we are in currently in a buyer’s market, where there are more buyers than sellers. This means that buyers have more selection and more room to negotiate. When there is more competition to buy, the prices tend to increase. Waiting until the market swings into a seller’s market to buy will mean that the prices will probably increase, resulting in you having to pay more overall for your purchase than you would pay today.
The economy is currently in chaos, but as it begins to repair itself, inflation rates will most likely go higher. This will make the interest rates increase, making it more expensive to carry a mortgage. In fact, the average 5 year interest rate offered by mortgage brokers has come down from 5.80% to 4.49%, making the actual cost of carrying a mortgage decrease considerably from past years.
Yes, certain areas did experience a noticable decrease in average sale price in Ontario in the last little while. Does this mean that prices have actually dropped? No. The decrease may very well be because higher priced homes are not selling, while lower priced ones are– bringing down the overall average. In January 2009, the number of residential properties sold actually increased 23.3% from the previous month in K-W. January is typically a slower time of year for real estate in Canada, so considering the current economic climate– this is actually quite promising.
Realtors have been lobbying to increase the amount of RRSP contributions for first-time home buyers to $25,000 per person and have finally been responded to favorably. This should reflect positively for first-time homebuyers over the next couple of months. Predictions are that there will be a decrease in sales in 2009, but from an historical view, the current number of sales is only slightly off from those 10 years ago. In fact, the current average sale price is only slightly lower than last year, but considerably higher (more than $60K higher) than 10 years ago.
With a new President in the White House and budget packages looming to help bail out the economy, the possibility of an economic upturn in the not-so-distant future is promising.
Should you be scared to buy? No. Not necessarily. If you have a steady job, you are still in good position to buy right now. So take advantage!
Filed under: Buying, Rebecca Sargent, Selling, Uncategorized | Tags: realtor duties
People are often concerned about what Realtors are actually supposed to do for them.
In Canada, Realtors are licensed and regulated by the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) and governed under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act (REBBA), which carries certain liabilities and expectations of service. These structures are in place to protect both you (the buyer or seller) and the Realtor.
Let’s say you walk into an open house, and you ask the Realtor at the property some questions? What can they tell, what can’t they tell you, and how should they act? Do they have to tell you the truth? In this situation, regardless of whether you are in a contract or not, the Realtor owes you honesty, fairness and due care in answering questions. As skilled and licensed professionals, Realtors are expected to provide sound real estate advice that a person can rely on. They are not allowed to willfully or negligently misrepresent information, or assert themselves as experts in an area that they are not familiar with. They may not be able to provide you with all the information they have on a transaction unless you are in an agency relationship, as a protection to their clients, but they are NOT permitted to provide you with faulty information.You should not tell the Realtor in this situation anything you do not want them to directly reveal to the other party. The Realtor’s primary obligation lies with their contracted clients.
If you decide to sign an agency contract with a Realtor, they owe you added duties, including accountability, confidentiality, competence, good faith/full disclosure, loyalty and obedience. Accounting means the agent must keep accurate records of all funds they receive and that all transactions must comply with provincial regulations. Canada’s FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) requires all Realtors to check your identification for all financial transactions. They are also required to report any suspicious activity (which includes any large cash transactions) to federal authorities by law. Confidentiality requires that the Realtor should not disclose any information relating to your transactions to anyone else without your consent. This means they can’t tell the other party that you are motivated to move, your financial situation, or any other detail about you without your consent. This does not apply to any known material facts of your property (including defects), which a Realtor is obligated to disclose under the general honesty regulation owed to all people.
Competence means that your Realtor must have sufficient knowledge and skill to carry out the transaction. Realtors are obligated to discover certain facts about the property that a reasonable Realtor should be able to ascertain, and have been given training to do this. They are instructed to refer their clients to a third party if they are unable to adequately answer a question. A licence in real estate does not mean the Realtor is licenced to do home inspections, appraisals, or answer legal questions. All homes should be inspected by a licenced inspector for your protection, and a Realtor should not advise you otherwise.
Good faith/full disclosure means that the Realtor must disclose all information they have that relates to the transaction. This means they must tell you everything they know about the property, including any profits they may gain for the transaction from referrals or other reasons. Dual agency, when a Realtor represents both the Buyer and the Seller, is a slightly different situation, as the Realtor must protect the interests of both parties. In this situation, the Realtor should explain the situation to you and get your permission in writing. The Realtor may not tell the Buyer or Seller the price the other party is willing to accept, the motivation of either party, the price the Buyer should offer, or the price the Seller should accept.
Loyalty means that the Realtor should place the interests of their clients above all else except the law. They must act in the best interest of their clients at all times. Obedience means that in a client relationship, the Realtor must follow their client’s lawful instructions whether they agree with them or not.
What is the best way to ensure you are receiving the care and treatment you deserve from a Realtor? Inform yourself of what to expect, and interview a couple of Realtors before you hire one. Ask them what services they are willing to provide you with for their services and get it in writing. Keep copies of all your communication or documents. You always have the option to fire the Realtor if they do not meet the contract. Be aware that most agency contracts have holdover periods which may obligate you to pay commission to them for certain services. If you don’t know, ask. There is no such thing as a stupid question, and your Realtor should make an effort to answer you- that is what you pay them for.
If you feel that a Realtor has not performed their prescribed duties under their licencing, you should contact CREA or the provincial governing body. The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) handles all complaints in Ontario (ccd@reco.on.ca).
A good Realtor is worth their commission, unfortunately a small handful give the rest a bad name. It is in your best interest to protect yourself by knowing what to expect in the process!
Sustainable housing and real estate in Kitchener-Waterloo Region 
