I consider myself a person who has a lot of patience but, with almost 57 years living on this planet and 11 as a Realtor, I think that it’s time to stop being polite and speak clearly about something that will affect thousands of Realtors across Canada.

The last straw was when I received the “Map for the Future” written by the board of directors of CREA. After reading it, several questions popped up into my mind: Who are these guys who created this “map”? Are they currently working as Realtors? When was the last time that they got a listing or a Buyer Representation Agreement? When was the last time that they were sitting in front of a potential client answering objections about commission or pricing? Do they know how the REAL world for Realtors is?

I’m pretty sure they have good intentions but the roads of their map are telling me that they seem to be somehow disconnected from the reality that Realtors deal with every day.

Although CREA (CAREB in the 1940s) was founded before I was born, it’s my understanding that it was created BY Realtors FOR Realtors and, as far as I know, that mandate did not change. We pay for their resources to work for us (the Realtors) and make this industry (and our image) better every day by improving their member’s job conditions, education and technology. But it seems to me they are a little bit confused about their job description.

I’m not a mechanical engineer but I read somewhere that a car wastes at least 25 per cent of its energy fighting against friction. This is what CREA is doing to us: using our time and energy fighting against some “nonsense” ideas created by others.

Please, stop wasting your resources and our money creating an even more complicated world for us. Use those resources to stop the vicious attack of the Competition Bureau once and for all. Use them to create effective marketing campaigns and not the kind of ad with no message that we saw on television. Use them to improve and defend the MLS because it’s OUR tool and not the public’s tool (we pay for that, not them). Use them to create a better map for the future but, this time, based exclusively on your members’ needs. And by the way, I’d suggest adding a new road to your map, called “Shutdown Realtor.ca”.

It’s very nice of you to care about the consumers but I think that you are missing the point: The consumers are OUR clients, NOT yours. WE are your clients. You should work FOR US, NOT against us.

Please, for the benefit of our industry, stop being the “friction” of this process. You should be the oil that makes the engine and the rest of the parts run smoothly.

Please… Do mORE for us and mORE than 100,000 Realtors will be grateful.

Jorge Branca

Accredited Buyer Representative

Sales Representative

Century 21 Leading Edge Realty

Scarborough, Ont.