Battle to Unlock Housing Market - RE Agents Watch Out

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by BrianLaarvs


firstly don't take anything I say seriously because I don't know WTF I'm talking about.

I'm just talking about criminals turning proceeds of crime into legit money. buying a house is a good method of doing so. It could happen/may be an issue. Is joe blow going to look out for this?

You are correct sir

We are mandated to record where the money is coming from,.. If it's cash, I won't accept it,.... ever!

Anyways, had a good chat with jordan earlier about stuff.


Do you guys all realize, what the competition bureau is doing is in essence creating strong monopoly for the mls.

With forcing unethical changes through our associations, and making it easier for everyone to use the mls for lower fees,.... do they realize they will KILL all other forms of media to buy and sell homes?

ie: we-list and other companies that make probably a million a year by their own listing services and search engines.

Who would list with we-list for $200 when for $400 someone can go through the mls un-represented and uncontrolled?

All that will be left is the mls = gross monopoly.

Think about it guys,.. the competition bureau didn't think this through enough and is doing the exact opposite the bureau was created for.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Fivewayradio
Am I to understand you're suggesting that they shouldn't open up MLS because it will support terrorism?

Are you serious?

Originally posted by BrianLaarvs


firstly don't take anything I say seriously because I don't know WTF I'm talking about.

I'm just talking about criminals turning proceeds of crime into legit money. buying a house is a good method of doing so. It could happen/may be an issue. Is joe blow going to look out for this?

he is right, real estate is a great way to launder money, that COULD eventually support terrorism.

This was a big deal in Edmonton not long ago where gangs and some sort of Mafia types were buying and flipping houses to launder large volumes of money. There was a article about this 4 or 5 years ago that basically laid out the whole processes and stuff. was a good read. I will see if I can track the article down.

[spikerS]

not the exact article I am lookin for, but still interesting.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...002/story.html

snip

According to a seizure order filed recently, Kanho is alleged to have used Constructions Mondi Inc. to launder his drug money. The company specializes in building single-family units and constructed several in

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by spikers


This was a big deal in Edmonton not long ago where gangs and some sort of Mafia types were buying and flipping houses to launder large volumes of money. There was a article about this 4 or 5 years ago that basically laid out the whole processes and stuff. was a good read. I will see if I can track the article down.

So basically under the current monopoly run by CREA, criminals were able to launder money through real estate.

How exactly is changing the rules going to change this?

[spikerS]

it was with the current rules that they were able to CATCH it.

[broken_legs]

http://www.csd.bg/fileSrc.php?id=560

[Fivewayradio]

Broken Legs - no idea what your link is to, but whatever it is, I'm not downloading it.

Here's the Competition Bureau's response to the CREA.

It's interesting because this appears to be a RE insider news site and the reader comments are generally slanted towards entitlement and protectionism. It's certainly interesting to hear how RE agents talk to each other about this issue.

I'm still not convinced that realtors are looking out for customers as much as they're looking out for themselves and comments like some of these don't help change my point of view.

[Cos]

Update:

Real estate listing deal opens door for sellers

A deal worked out by the federal Competition Bureau and Canada's real estate industry could mean big changes to the way Canadians sell their homes.

If the agreement is accepted by the members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), consumers will have a wider choice in the services they purchase.

For instance, if home sellers want to list a house on the online Multiple Listing Service, that is all they would have to pay for. As the rules currently stand, home sellers have to pay for several services, even if they don't want them all.

Roughly 90,000 CREA members are due to vote on the deal at a meeting in St. John's on Oct. 24.

The issue has been a topic of negotiation between the competition watchdog and CREA for three years.

However, the heat got turned up in February, when the Competition Bureau filed an application with the Competition Tribunal that would have forced the association to change its rules.

In March, CREA members approved some rules changes, but the Competition Bureau rejected those amendments.

Ian Bailey, the founder of One Percent Realty Ltd. in Vancouver, said the changes mean hiring a real estate agent would come down to more than just finding someone you like.

"Now there's another option, [they] don't just phone the guy who's been sending calendars," he said. "It's like if you paint your house — you get two or three quotes. You might not take the cheapest guy, but price is one your decision things."

Bailey said some full service companies might be nervous about the changes, because now they'll have to prove they deserve the commission they charge for selling a home.

CREA president Georges Pahud said his organization and the Competition Bureau had extensive negotiations on the issue.

“Both sides gained a better understanding of their respective concerns through our discussions," Pahud said. "We are pleased that a resolution has been reached, subject to member approval.”

In a statement issued Thursday, CREA said it has always believed that the MLS system did not "in any way prevent or restrict a broad range of business models."

"In CREA’s view, the consent agreement reflects this reality and would avoid unnecessary and expensive litigation proceedings," the group said.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/1...#ixzz117J2jWDp

[Phenix]

Thanks for the update!

[speedog]

National Post story.

Globe and Mail story.

CTV Edmonton story.

Kind of glad that we're not in the market to buy or sell for probably at least another 10 years if not longer - will be interesting to how this all shakes out.

[JordanLotoski]

It appears that the media is getting a bit ahead of times OR they know something that is not yet being disclosed to the real estate boards by CREA about a settlement. I have pasted below an excerpt from this week’s CREB Talk and I have spoken to CREB as well about this and this is what is available at this time, regardless of what the media are saying.

COMPETITION BUREAU UPDATE: CREA REACHES TENTATIVE SETTLEMENT SUBJECT TO SUPPORT BY REAL ESTATE BOARDS AND ASSOCIATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

On September 30, the CREA board of directors unanimously approved a resolution of the Competition Tribunal case brought by the Commissioner of Competition against CREA. The settlement is subject to ratification by CREA members at a special general meeting on October 24, 2010 in St. John’s, NL. The agreement will be held in escrow pending ratification by CREA members.



The details of this agreement have not been made public or communicated to boards at this time. This is due to the fact that, in CREA’s opinion, disclosure of such information to the media or other external sources could adversely affect future legal proceedings, should the terms of the settlement not be ratified at the CREA special general meeting.



CREB® is working closely with CREA to schedule an information session as soon as possible to further explain the details of this issue and to outline the details of the agreement prior to the October 24, 2010 special general meeting. We are committed to keeping CREB® members up to date on this issue and we will communicate more information as soon as it is available.


This is an email i got from my broker yesterday.

[speedog]

The media may be getting a bit ahead of times or possibly there has been an anonymous media leak. Of course, that's not to say that several media people might not have gotten together on a phone call and decided to spice things up on a slow news week or that real estate discounters haven't gotten together to surmise what could be and have leaked that to the media.

Never the less, lots of speculation in the news stories that seems to support something the OP is pining for.

[thetransporter]

well many people great luck selling on kijiji/craigslist/calgaryfinder if its priced right.

well a neat thing about calgary finder is that they are like a mls, they even give a mls style print out. and a shit load of free features.