I have been selling real estate for 20 years at a very busy pace in the Halifax/Dartmouth area of Nova Scotia. I felt it was a huge mistake to create the mls.ca site for many reasons.

There is less and less personal contact so it makes it harder to garner loyalty and build relationships with people. I don’t think the issue is just about “listing agents” as I am a fairly big lister here. Listing agents have always had the advantage of people calling them from the sign, but now you don’t get the sign calls as much. It is a lot of wasted time answering emails with no one to talk to.

I feel it is wrong to give consumers easy access to the site. They take it and Realtors for granted.

I think it is a very good idea to charge the consumer for access to the site — perhaps it will lead them back to needing us. Money that comes in should be used to try and reduce our fees.

Roz Prince

Sutton Group Professional Realty

Dartmouth, N.S.