Comments on: Competition Bureau Update

By: observer

observer — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:09:15 +0000

What about some combination of mortgage lender/realtor/lawyer/CMHC/bank/developer/city of vancouver millenium?

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:50:22 +0000

observer:

Lawyers can already offer the services. I doubt it pays as well as actual lawyer work.

What other kind of services (aside from a hybrid lawyer/realtor model) could be offered by removing the minimum standards that the CB wants changed (I’ve listed them in the orginal post if you want to reference them).

Jesse:
“if MLS is deemed to be in a situation where the marketplace it facilitates is not fair and accessible, the portion of MLS that violates those terms needs to be opened up. That need not necessarily mean that ALL of MLS should opened up, only the part that is restricting access, so as to promote an open and efficient market”.

I think you’re right on the point. Is accessibility restricted by requiring a minimum level of service to third parties wanting to charge the public for access to the MLS? (|That’s the current scrap, which I’m sure you recognize).

You can currently get access to past sales prices either by buying the information from the govenrment or asking a realtor, in which case you can get it for free or by paying for it.

If you restrict the complaint to the fact that a non-realtor can’t access the MLS then the only problem becomes agency. You have a licensed individual dealing with a non-licensed individual- the licensee is an agent of the buyer. Who represents the seller? What stops the seller from claiming, after the fact, that the buyer agent engaged in dual representation, and thereby suing for damages? (I’ve seen it happen).

By: observer

observer — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:03:09 +0000

Just follow the money. And in any case, with so many foreclosures to come, why bother using a realtor, go straight to the MLS.

By: Híppos Purrós

Híppos Purrós — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:20:26 +0000

Observer/62… You’re on the right track… but it isn’t the Bar who’ll inherit the RE industry… ask yourself this, which sector/oligopoly already has a stake in the game, the IT infrastructure in place and the political connections, ‘main street’ presence, deep pockets and motivation to dominate… ???

By: observer

observer — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:53:31 +0000

At the end of the day, it is the lawyers who take care of actual transaction based on the contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if hybrid lawyer/realtor services start popping up where the realtor service part is minimal but there is still close attention paid to contract details.
The more I think about, the more I think the bureau is really on the ball here in trying to allow more diversity in the kinds of services which can benefit the market. Once this diversity is introduced, there will be a more efficient pricing of real estate services.
As for more open access to market data, maybe one day, especially the US has made some steps towards this.

By: jesse

jesse — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:47:20 +0000

One more point is that from a competition point of view it doesn’t matter what else MLS offers. The argument is that MLS is a market place but also many other things. However if MLS is deemed to be in a situation where the marketplace it facilitates is not fair and accessible, the portion of MLS that violates those terms needs to be opened up. That need not necessarily mean that ALL of MLS should opened up, only the part that is restricting access, so as to promote an open and efficient market.

For example is restriction to previous sale prices anti-competitive? In the US the answer was yes and anyone can now find out previous sale prices for free. How about restrictions to listing services?

Personally I could care less about previous sales prices because I would buy based upon income generation and building/neighbourhood quality, not what someone else was willing to pay. Others find the info useful for gauging a fair price. An interesting note is that during the US market crash between 06 and 09, previous sales prices meant almost nothing to the actual sales price.

By: jesse

jesse — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:27:45 +0000

Rob: “What is it doing that is wrong, and what is it doing that is bad? Who does its success harm? I ask those questions seriously, and invite you to answer them”

There is nothing inherently wrong with the service and I applaud MLS’s success. However equal access is blocked unless a citizen uses an agent. This is no big deal if it can be shown that MLS is not used as the primary marketplace. But there are, IMO, convincing arguments why MLS has become the primary marketplace and needs to be opened up. A look into MLS and other services in the US may shed some light on how things could eventually turn out.

This need not be a bad thing for the CREA. If it is forced to open up it will make money off a la carte non-agent listings. I know of relatively few who have the balls to list without an agent and since a piece of RE is traded so infrequently there will always be demand for agency. I expect opening up MLS will have a limited, if not a positive, impact on good Realtors.

By: Híppos Purrós

Híppos Purrós — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:13:02 +0000

Afterthought to my #54 – and a glaringly obvious oversight on my part – as regards great ‘campaigns’ achieving the amazing/seemingly impossible… 2 years ago would anyone have thought it even remotely likely that a 40 something black dude with an Arabic moniker could ascend to the commanding heights of his nation’s polity…

I’ll leave you all with an admittedly anachronous clip from Jackson Browne’s repertoire – which is nevertheless oddly apropos to ‘our times’….

http://tinyurl.com/ya4pafb

By: Híppos Purrós

Híppos Purrós — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:28:35 +0000

Turkey/57… ‘takes an entire culture’… Agreed! ….

And speaking of zombie culture – or to be more precixse, the political economy of hegemonic decline… here are today’s best reads; courtesy the LA & NY Times, respectively…

http://tinyurl.com/ykq658a

http://tinyurl.com/ylxy9zq

By: Turkey

Turkey — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:17:23 +0000

Disbelief/55,

Look, we’re all laypersons in another expert’s field. Are you a RE expert? Am I? No. Does that make us sheeple? No. The same goes for your visits to the dentist: you don’t floss properly? That doesn’t make you an idiot. I think the term “sheeple” needs to go, unless you’re going through your Nietzsche phase.

I think I overstated my case in my previous post (thanks for keeping me honest, HP)… marketing is effective, but it doesn’t turn people into zombies. It takes an entire culture to do that.