TREB members’ dues have decreased in seven of the last 13 years.
By Neil Sharma
Paul Etherington has just finished overseeing his first summer as president of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), and while this seasoned veteran has been serving on the board since 1999, he’s as cautiously optimistic as ever about the future of the real estate industry.
Etherington speaks glowingly of the many changes that have swept through TREB during the last 15 years. Chief among them is ordaining fiscal responsibility as its unflagging policy, keeping its 40,000 members’ fees reasonably low in the process. One of the ways in which TREB membership fees have actually decreased seven times in 13 years was by trimming a staff of more than 200 employees to a more cost-friendly 113 that’s still, according to Etherington, every bit as efficient.
“The dues at TREB are among the cheapest of any real estate board in Ontario, partly because we have the buying power of 40,000 members,” says Etherington. “But we have a great MLS service that has not been down in 10 years. It does everything we need and we keep adding functions to it. We lobby the government and we’ve cut our dues seven times in the last 13 years because we really do practice fiscal responsibility and we try to cut where we can with regards to expenses.”
As for some of the difficulties facing Toronto Realtors, Etherington says that the industry is among the most competitive in the world and that the market will dictate who sinks and who swims. Among those one might expect to sink are part-time Realtors, frequent targets by some within the industry who regard anything less than categorical devotion with contempt.
“As long as people are competent and follow the rules, everyone has a place,” says Etherington. “That’s what makes this a great industry; everyone can choose to do what they wish.”
TREB is currently in litigation with the Competition Bureau over what the latter charges are discriminatory policies that stifle some real estate companies’ attempts to share certain MLS information online. While Etherington said he couldn’t openly discuss the matter in detail because it’s before the Competition Tribunal, he says TREB remains confident that it will be exonerated.
“We believe that we don’t discriminate; we’re very much in favour of any and all business models,” says Etherington. “I believe real estate is extremely competitive and when this all plays out in front of the courts, we’ll be vindicated.”
Paul Etherington
Etherington says 2015 will see the board increase its lobbying efforts, introduce more technological interaction between the board and its members, and start new initiatives to foster stronger bonds between its Realtors and the community they serve.
“This coming year I want to promote, as much as I can, investing in real estate and homeownership as a good thing,” he says. “We’ve got historical trends, prices going up; so, buying houses and buying real estate benefits the public, the community and the individual.
“At the same time, we have new initiatives like our TREB Fact Sheet and enhanced market data for members. We also want more of a sense of community this year, which we will build with different functions and more promotion to get people out and get better press on it. We’re also going to use technology to engage members to get them more involved.”
Etherington says TREB is busy lobbying the government on behalf of consumers, too, which will in turn encourage more activity in the market.
“There’s the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan. We’ve lobbied to have that increased,” he says. “We’d like to see some capital gains rollover exemption, there’s the new Condo Act that we’re giving input on. We’re providing input on a lot of things.”
Another hot topic Etherington addressed is the city’s controversial Land Transfer Tax, which he unequivocally opposes. Not surprisingly, considering his fiscal conservatism and the fruits such policy has yielded for TREB and its members, Etherington is concerned that the tax will dissuade real estate activity in Toronto, which can have ramifications that percolate throughout the economy.
“Real estate is one of the economic engines that drives this country,” he says. “Every time a house sells, people get new carpets or hardwood floors, they paint, they buy appliances. In addition to the costs associated with the house, lawyers are involved, mortgage brokers are involved, banks are involved. Every time a house is sold, there’s a lot of economic activity generated by that one house, and anybody who puts a barrier, whether it’s an extra tax or whatever it is, they’re not smart enough to figure out they’re hurting the economy.”
Etherington’s comments on the Land Transfer Tax come at a pertinent time because of the looming mayoral election. Doug Ford, now running in lieu of his brother Rob, who’s been felled by illness, has pledged to cut the tax by 60 per cent over his four-year term if elected, while other mayoral frontrunners John Tory and Olivia Chow have countered that it cannot be done. Etherington is careful not to endorse any one candidate, but he didn’t mince words with regards to one candidate’s policies.
“The Land Transfer Tax is a detriment in Toronto, and now you have Olivia Chow coming out and saying she wants to increase it even more,” he says. “That’s a barrier to home ownership, and a barrier to home ownership is a bad thing in this country. I think Ford and Tory get that; I don’t think Olivia Chow does.”
Candidates will have an opportunity to explain their visions for the future of real estate in the city at the Oct. 21 mayoral debate being hosted by TREB at its Annual General Meeting.
Asked if TREB has any plans to implement an online agent rating system, as has been put in place in Saskatchewan, Etherington says, “We are involved in a lot of things right now and we are not considering a Rate Your Realtor. There’s one that recently failed in the U.S. and TREB is not considering that activity at this time. We’ve had discussions on it in the past and the overwhelming majority of our members don’t seem to want it, so we’re not planning on going down that road.”
