QUICK HITS
- The Realtor Cooperation Policy aims to limit agents’ use of ‘exclusive listing’ and ‘coming soon’ listing tactics.
- As of Jan. 1, 2023, CREA’s new policy will require listings be added to MLS within three days of public marketing.
- Boards/associations will have six months to enforce the policy.
The Canadian Real Estate Association is moving to end abuses in the industry by putting stricter rules on realtors’ ability to list a property as ‘coming soon’ or ‘exclusive listing.’
The Realtor Cooperation Policy, which comes into effect Jan. 1, 2023, will require realtors to place their listings on their board/association Multiple Listing Service system for cooperation with other realtors within three days of public marketing.
President and CEO of the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), Alan Tennant, was part of the CREA working group that recommended this policy.
“It’s a tell. It’s not an ask. We have to be clear about that . . . It’s new, and there are some that think it’s exactly what’s been needed for a long time, and there are others that are quite unhappy about it. Change is not easy.”
According to CREA, the policy defines public marketing as the representation or marketing of a listing to the public or any realtor not directly affiliated with the listing brokerage/office in a business capacity. It includes any representation regarding the sale of the property (flyers, yard signs, digital marketing on public-facing websites, brokerage website displays, social media posts, etc.)
“There are some exclusions to this policy because there are some legitimate reasons why somebody wouldn’t want their property in the MLS system. But they’re very rare exceptions,” says Cliff Stevenson, immediate past chair of CREA, who led the consultation with the realtor association community across the country.
“What we’ve come up with in our conversations is the difference between one-to-one marketing and one-to-many . . . As soon as you move to a definition of one-to-many, you’re talking about a public marketing initiative, and it’s really anything that would be outward public marketing.”
Recently, CREA released the results of an independent research study which reinforced the value and effectiveness of MLS for realtors across the country. The report noted the systems create substantial value for Canadian home sellers as well as buyers.
This value is created, in large part, from an economic phenomenon known as “network effects.” Network effects create more value when there is more use or participation, said the white paper commissioned by CREA.
Stevenson says this new policy helps reinforce the power and benefits of the network effects of the MLS system to the consumers.
“When somebody says ‘coming soon,’ they mean it’s coming soon to the MLS system, it’s coming soon to Realtor.ca. The challenge in these last two years of this heated market was the number of properties that never came to the MLS system or never came to Realtor.ca because they were sold out,” Stevenson added.
“We saw this as a problem and we saw a need for us to recommit to cooperation in our industry which is one of the pillars of our industry.”
Stevenson says there has been a rise in the abuse of these systems. Some people have marketed this way with integrity, and some properties did come to Realtor.ca and MLS. But a lot of them didn’t.
“And we heard from consumers loud and clear,” he says.
CREA said the new policy seeks to reinforce cooperation among realtors, which better serve the needs of consumers, strengthen its trademarks and increase professionalism.
Boards and associations operating MLS systems will have six months to adopt and enforce the new or equivalent policy in their MLS system rules.
CREB’s Alan Tennant says the policy defines what ‘coming soon’ and ‘exclusive’ listings are.
“The realtors have some time to adjust. Let’s face it. Some business models, franchise groups, brokerages, and some agents, invested significant money in exercising an option that was not really governed, and now CREA has introduced a policy (that) takes effect Jan. 1, and the board and associations have six months to adopt the rules, because we all have different processes, and commence enforcement.
Tennant said there are examples in every market of ‘coming soon’ listings that have been up for months and months.
Sandra Kirkland, Toronto-area broker and realtor, said she understands why many are concerned, and perhaps shocked, by the new policy.
“A couple of reasons that might be is we’re seeing an increase in realtors who are listing exclusively . . . (There are) only a very few numbers of reasons why one would want to do that and purposefully choose not to advertise their listing on MLS and sadly, in my opinion, the majority of them are for nefarious reasons,” Kirkland says. “There are a couple of valid reasons I think why a seller would not want to go on MLS. First and foremost, they don’t want to adhere to board rules, for example, allowing showings every day if it doesn’t fit within the dynamics of the homeowner or the residents for any reason. Secondarily, an increasing number of sellers don’t want their sale price posted on the internet.”
“But primarily, one of the reasons why realtors are choosing to list exclusively and not advertise on MLS is specifically because they want to double-end the listing.”
And some sellers may be onside with that because that could reduce the overall commission they have to pay.
“I can understand the frustration that a seller should be allowed to choose, a listing agent should be allowed to choose . . . But all of these listing agents who have been misusing exclusive listings, taking a listing, marketing it drastically across the board, and refusing to put it on MLS solely because they want to reduce exposure to buyers that are represented by their own realtor, and for that reason, I think that it is progressively damaging to the integrity and the value of MLS and I think it diminishes the value of a realtor as well,” said Kirkland.
“So, at the end of the day, I’m in favour of this rule, but I can understand why people are concerned and frustrated and upset by it also. The concerns that I’ve heard from agents and brokers is, ‘well now a seller is not going to want to hire a realtor to list their property. If they’re going to be forced to go on MLS, then a seller is not going to want to hire a realtor.'” Kirkland adds, “And I don’t think that’s going to be the case at all.”
Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.
This is another cockamamie scheme brought to the industry by life-long directors who flit from one real estate organization to another. It reminds me of the last cockamamie scheme CREA had which was to create, if memory serves, an IT corporation not owned by the members. TRREB then stepped up to the plate and squashed that, where were they on this one?
Where is a seller’s right to determine their level of privacy considering that they can now look forward to CREA and tens of thousands of sites publishing their sale price, or their common law right to manage the process?
i expect to see some legal backlash. Particularly by the fsbo brokerages who offer exclusive listings as well.
I agree, what has happened to the Seller’s right??
CREA should ban blind bidding misadventure, which spikes the house prices to unaffordable levels.
This step alone would reset the prices to actual value and would ensure customers ‘ interest, for which CREA is mandated.
CREA has ZERO authority to ban anything.
Ok, and when you sell your property make sure you don’t get top dollar for the benefit of the buyer that will then have a short memory when it comes time for them to re-sell.
It’s about time this is the best policy for the industry
It will put more money in the sellers pockets with full exposure on MLS
Anyone that doesn’t like this is just thinking of themselves not the clients
There have been multiple statistics that show open bidding ramps prices up as much or more than blind bidding. Blind bidding is not what spiked house prices and banning it would not reset anything. Take a look – blind bidding is still here and prices are going down. In a blind bid the buyer offers what they are willing to pay for a property without knowing the other offers and quite often aren’t even able to increase their bid.
I agree with this. We were bullied to keep our listing exclusive during the real estate peak last year. We reported to RECO who sided with us but didn’t make our complaint public. We wrote a Google review to protect the public. Our realtor threatened us with his lawyer to take the review down. We sent the legal letter to RECO because our realtor outright admitted he did nothing wrong. RECO said the case is closed. The benefits of this new policy out way the cost. It will put realtor bullies in their spot.
Agree this is meddling on an epic level. What about a seller that doesn’t want his employees to know the property is for sale and has authorized the agents to only market it based on an NDA or to specific clients . Furthermore , 3 days is such a random number – it should be 30 days or 20 buisness days to allow the seller and agents to go to a specific target market . Or in fact double end – nothing wrong with that as long as there is a time limit reasonable . Seller must just have to sign off on the reason for an exclusive that specifically spells out the limitations of this process as well as the benefits .
As a Realtor, I definitely agree with this new ruling. 99% of agents who list the property “exclusively” are doing it for nefarious reasons as stated in your article. This is not fair to the general public, but most of all it does not adhere to RECO ethics to do what is best for the client, in this case the seller. The Seller could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table by reducing their exposure to the general public.
What is your 99% stat based on?
You can either argue Agents have value or they have no value. Maybe as a Realtor the only value you’re providing is putting a listing up on the MLS but that is not the case for full time Agents.
There are many reasons why a property does not go on the MLS and those properties account for maybe 5-10% of the overall real estate market. The agents who have such listings have a much harder time marketing and selling those listings. If you’re in Ontario, these properties are now being listed on BrokerPocket because it’s an agent only platform and the public don’t have access. The same agents you are accusing of nefarious activities are providing more value to other agents.
In this market, do you really think agents don’t want to post on the MLS?
CREA should ban blind bidding misadventure, which spikes the house prices to unaffordable levels.
This step alone would reset the prices to actual value and would ensure customers ‘ interest, for which CREA is mandated.
I agree 👍
Yes because thousands of dollars is more important to John Tavares or Drake than making sure the members of the public aren’t walking through their homes like a museum not to mention the security risks that poses.
You agree so much you are afraid to publish your name?
I do not understand why you need to put on MLS within 3 days, a lot of things can happen in 3 days, i think is silly, if you going to change the rules then change them not play with them.
i guess our team is the 1%
I would expect legal repercussions from the Competition Bureau.
This limits the public’s right of freedom of choice.
CREA has nothing better to do? While I may agree with some points concerning ‘coming soon ‘ , I find it outrageous that CREA would propose Big Brother laws eliminating the use of exclusive listings. Perhaps CREA should remind all its members ALL listings are exclusive to the Brokerage. It’s up to the client and the Brokerage to decide whether it becomes an MLS listing or not. How dare CREA treat its membership like its scolding little children. It’s time CREA realized it’s there to support the membership who pay the fees to keep that organization around.
This is the most important part about this. CREA is not setting guidelines on how Realtors should conduct business but actually dictating how Sellers/public should live their lives.
Someone in CREA trying to justify their job, nothing more. This ruling is just as useless as pockets on your underwear.
Both CREA and OREA are starting to step outside the boundaries of what they are supposed to be doing, which is supporting it’s members. OREA has already started commercializing it’s membership which is bad enough, and now CREA thinks it’s in the provincial legislative business now? Maybe it’s time CREA and OREA disappeared.
I kind of agree with parts of this, but think the 3 days for coming soon is a little too short. We typically use coming soon for a week while photos and marketing are being prepared and to build a bit of anticipation for the property which serves the seller well. I would be more in favor of a week, and maybe it can’t be shown until on the MLS.
I totally agree! The coming soon, if done right serves both the seller and buyers … it gives exposure for the sellers and allows enough buyer eyes before it comes to market … win/win. Perhaps no offers are allowed for a certain period?? But not considered to be an IDRPO??
REALTORS: Our industry needs to be cleaned up.
CREA: Agreed. Let’s take a step to clean it up.
REALTORS: My double-ends!! Kill CREA!
Do you really think that this move is the thing that will fix everything wrong with our industry?
Just so you know, if an agent wanted to double end a deal they would still do it regardless of a property being on the MLS or not. I’ve seen it happen where an agent is unresponsive and then comes back to to say “oops sorry it’s gone”.
This a self-serving move on behalf of CREA to control the data and ensure agents don’t have too much power
Our industry needs cleaning up. So, lets lower the bar and take away a service that threatens the existence of CREA.
Exclusive does not mean double end and exclusive does not mean not offering cooperating commission. Every single exclusive home we have sold had a cooperating agent.
In our province publishing a sales price anywhere other than on mls is not allowed unless the seller gives permission. I’m definitely in favour of giving a short time for properties to be listed on mls. There is nothing more frustrating than realtors who put up signs or market a property weeks before it’s actually on market. Some don’t even have the list price established when they start marketing a property. So when your client sees the sign and calls you on it you can’t even give them proper info. Now that’s extremely unprofessional from the listing realtor and shows they are not acting in the best interest of their vendor.
Where is the responsibility in your editing? Headline screams exclusive listings are “outlawed. They are not. Going forward “I would hope your journalistic standard would be improved rather than have cheap attention-grabbing misleading headlines.
Precisely.
Hi Lou,
Thank you for your feedback, you sparked a thoughtful discussion on our end. REM has chosen to amend its headline.
-Jordana
jordana@realestatemagazine.ca
CREA has ZERO AUTHORITY to move to do anything. Only provincial legislatures can pass or amend laws with respect to Listing contracts.
ridiculous – CREA has forgotten who works for who. Hopefully they come to their senses or lose embarrassingly at the competition bureau. Perhaps it is time to re-consider if CREA needs to exist
Agree 100% all CREA does is help breed licenses for member dues so they can exist. That is the problem that needs tending to.
I share the concern on CREA decision to limit the public ability to work with a Realtor and their ability to use an Exclusive listing. If our office is any indication – Exclusives are a small part of the business out there and I suspect ours is a pretty common example. I support MLS, I support the notion that complete market exposure brings the greater likelihood of the best price – I can’t accept the notion that we should remove the client options or at least I have yet to have that AHHA moment where I get it. To be clear; saying a Realtor has to place listing on MLS if any form of public advertising is akin to removing a Seller option. From where I stand it appear self serving. I could support a reminder on the Exclusive Listing that promotes the benefit of MLS over Exclusive; but I personally am confident that members are having that discussion anyhow.
1). Sandra Kirkland’s “opinion” is not pertinent to anything other than her opinion and please use that as part of your listing presentation. 2). CREA is not our governing body and should mind its own business and stop trying to make themselves relevant by interfering with client choice. 3). The value I add, and many other professionals add is not dependent on the MLS system and maybe that is the real problem. Is CREA feeling threatened with a little disruption in their ability to compete? I think it is time to decide if we really need CREA. I don’t think so. That is the change we need that will be hard for CREA to take.
Here comes the Competition Bureau ! LOL! Restriction of trade ?
Where do I sign up? I’m all in on this. This isn’t about client care; this is about CREA trying to justify their existence. The internet has disrupted a lot of industries including real estate. CREA is behaving like they are our governing body which they are not. Individual members are offering an exclusive concierge service to clients, and it is growing in leaps and bounds, and it doesn’t require an MLS service. CREA should be nurturing this along and help raise the bar. Instead, this is CREA trying to maintain their existence at the expense of client options with “restriction of trade”. While a sharing service such as MLS will always play a role, it shouldn’t be the only option and CREA isn’t needed to provide this option. It should be done on a provincial level. We are licenced in Ontario without the ability to trade in all of Ontario because of excess restriction such as CREA and TRREB as well. OREA, you are missing the boat, when are you going to speak up.
This is another poorly thought out attempt to reinforce a trade associations supposed value and disguise it as being better for the consumer or for their protection.
All CREA is doing is taking a legitimate, and often better marketing option away from property sellers by imposing sanctions on realtors.
This is not a ” one size fits all” business.
The good news is. there will still be legal, ethical and very effective marketing strategies that can be implemented to help the seller that doesn’t want to use the MLS system.
CREA hasn’t thought this through properly but that’s a common problem when inmates are given authority to run the asylum.
This policy monopolizes the industry to specific boards and associations. It removes consumer choice and is clearly an attempt to remove future competitors from the marketplace.
There is a check box at the top of the listing form Exclusive.. MLS.. the option is Between the seller and the Brokerage ( as we know that owns the listing not CREA). For CREA to tell a Brokerage they have to list everything MLS. Is in my opinion against the Competition Act. CREA is just there to provide a service for Brokerages to share their listings with other Brokerages…if they wish to.
Stop publishing Anon comments – sheesh
Hello competition bureau! MLS monopoly saying u have to use their mls monopoly? Yikes! Heads will roll.
This makes me question the role of local boards. Clearly CREA is driving the bus when it comes to administration of the MLS. Maybe we need to rethink what aspects governing entities manage:
– CREA: MLS, co-operation rules, listing access management, showing systems. Technology in general, where leverage, standardization and numbers are beneficial.
– OREA: Education, licensing, enforcement… only because the government set it up this way.
– Local boards: Community engagement at a local level, membership events etc.
Bottom line: get local boards out of the business of administrating an MLS. The fragmentation is a hassle in my opinion.
Exclusive listings have always been an “option”. I would think that somebody is attempting to solve the “Coming Soon” problems that we see & experience, and to eliminate the important “Exclusive” category as a solution doesn’t seem to make sense IMHO.
One might solve the problem by continuing the “Option” to “Exclusive Listings” and create another box for “Coming Soon” with clear rules to enforce. Coming Soon – IMHO doesn’t fit within the paramaters of “Exclusive Listings” and seems to have been slipped into that category for lack of a better one.
This is all about protectionism.
I wonder what the competition board will have to say about it….maybe nothing, but this certainly isn’t about “protecting” the sellers.
Has anyone actually read the policy?
Correct CREA’s policy does not outlawed exclusives or even restricted them IF it is a commercial listing, IF it is a for rent listing, IF it is a new build home listing, or IF your listing of any other kind IS ONLY marketed one on one to clients of another registrant in your brokerage.
But the minute you place the listing into any form other than an intra-brokerage communication and a one on one dialogue with the client/customer of your own brokerage (whether yours or another REALTOR® of it) it must be placed on the MLS®.
And then think about the advantages of that policy if accepted by all us registrants, say in Ontario…..the larger brokerages gain a significant advantage in service to clients interested in the exclusive listing over the others. And gee willy’s, the area of the greatest number of exclusive listings pre-policy implementation – commercial and new residential, wow those are exempt…do not the clients of those registrants deserve the same level of service the mere residential one off sellers deserve?
This policy is ill advised. One could say, in striving to better, one often mars what is well…., one could also say, ignoring what really needs to be better, one mars the progress to greatness. There are more pressing issues for the profession than trying to be paternalistic in managing your members.
Another foolish rule that is unenforceable. CREA should rethink treading into the lawful instructions of the client. The Code already addresses this situation.
I have heard through the grapevine that this is being pushed by agents such as Justin H in Calgary who own sites like comingsoon.ca and are trying to push their broker who may be mentioned in the article for changes like this so they can leverage their systems and platforms better, just look at his marketing, it’s geared to make individual agents seem ‘inferior’ to him – feels pretty grimey that you have big agents like this in the same office of people affecting change to the industry across the country.
This is absolutely ridiculous, what happened to the sellers rights??! I’ve had many sellers only looking to list off market due to privacy reasons. BC real estate is starting to be one of the worst places in North America to do business. Us realtors have new rules shoved up our assess daily with one of the lowest commissions standards in all of canada and the US but also one of the highest places when it comes to our real estate fees from the board. Real estate in BC is just a bing money grab from the board. They do not take care of their agents nor really care about agents clients. End of the day this is some bullshit boys club that made some new fucked up rules. Look at the rest of the world and how smoothly real estate transactions go, but BC we have rule after rule after rule and fee after fee after fee. Im a top producer and someone needs to be held accountable here. Realtors need to speak up and challenge the board/ CREA
As a buyer, I never liked the exclusive listings. There is one agency in our area that does a lot of exclusive listings and coming soon signs. Just the other day, we saw a house that we liked with the coming soon sign by the same agency. Before it officially came on the market, it got sold. Now…..if the sellers asked for exclusive listings or coming soon signs with intent to sell early, understanding the potential for getting less than what they may have gotten, then I think it is fine. However, if the agency pushes for it as maximizing profit, I am not so sure that is completely honest. I personally think exclusive listings and coming soon signs where the sale happens before it goes on the market benefits the agency more than the sellers, especially if like the article says, the agency works as dual agents………And btw….we rarely see exclusive listings with any of the other agencies, but this agency has probably 30% of their listings as exclusive.