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Housing crisis in Canada

tfox72

Star Member
Feb 20, 2022
80
35
Again I am not an agent lol no sure how to make you understand that.

It just seems that you have troubles selling your house without an agent because buyers go through agents to purchase their homes, hence you want to "ban" an entire profession. It seems pretty extreme.
Whats extreme about not wanting to throw away 50,000 dollars for no reason?

OTOH...you seem very passionate about defending a useless and immoral profession of which you claim to be not a part of....thats just weird.
 

mattjp1

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2017
549
152
Whats extreme about not wanting to throw away 50,000 dollars for no reason?

OTOH...you seem very passionate about defending a useless and immoral profession of which you claim to be not a part of....thats just weird.
Buddy if noone wants to buy without an agent, it's their right. This is not USSR lol people do what they want you can't force them to go without agent. You're so angry that you want to ban a profession. Come on you have to admit this is silly.
 

tfox72

Star Member
Feb 20, 2022
80
35
Buddy if noone wants to buy without an agent, it's their right. This is not USSR lol people do what they want you can't force them to go without agent. You're so angry that you want to ban a profession. Come on you have to admit this is silly.
Its not true that no one wants to buy without an agent. Its that selling agents wont allow them to buy without one. I know, because I tried. This is the USSR because agents lobbied the government to reduce transparency in the market. I should be able to buy and sell property without a middleman like any other transaction in a free market.

Banning is the least the govt should do. Ideally, it should investigate all the fraud phantom bidding that has happened and agents should be prosecuted to get that money back.
 

YVR123

VIP Member
Jul 27, 2017
6,567
2,508
Whats extreme about not wanting to throw away 50,000 dollars for no reason?

OTOH...you seem very passionate about defending a useless and immoral profession of which you claim to be not a part of....thats just weird.
sorry on what you experienced. There is NO regulation to only allow sell or buy with an agent.

We sold our place without one. (Also the buyer didn't use one) because it's an unqiue situation and we got our previous place sold with our own paperwork done. (with the help of a friend whose an agent with no charge)

We would likely get a higher price for the house if we sold it via an agent but we didn't want to show our place to the public (stressful for the pets).

So.. it's up to you...with a good agent, you could sell for a better price with the agent's marketing and help.
But I guess if you don't think agents actually have to work... then well... I guess you don't want to pay the cost.
 
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tfox72

Star Member
Feb 20, 2022
80
35
sorry on what you experienced. There is NO regulation to only allow sell or buy with an agent.

We sold our place without one. (Also the buyer didn't use one) because it's an unqiue situation and we got our previous place sold with our own paperwork done. (with the help of a friend whose an agent with no charge)

We would likely get a higher price for the house if we sold it via an agent but we didn't want to show our place to the public (stressful for the pets).

So.. it's up to you...with a good agent, you could sell for a better price with the agent's marketing and help.
But I guess if you don't think agents actually have to work... then well... I guess you don't want to pay the cost.
Good for you. But you yourself admit that yours was a unique situation. Thats my point. It should not be so unique.

Agents can sell for 'better price' using tricks like phantom bidding - but is that better for buyers? And after selling, you have to buy another place to live somewhere right? So you will be paying a 'better price' to buy too!
 

YVR123

VIP Member
Jul 27, 2017
6,567
2,508
Good for you. But you yourself admit that yours was a unique situation. Thats my point. It should not be so unique.

Agents can sell for 'better price' using tricks like phantom bidding - but is that better for buyers? And after selling, you have to buy another place to live somewhere right? So you will be paying a 'better price' to buy too!
We used an agent to find our new place first. And she worked for it. We looked at houses for over a year before we found this new place for us.

They have contacts and they know their market. They could know other agents who can give heads up to the buyers looking for this type of properties. Agents also know how to stage your place to show. And be there to greet viewers (which I would hate to do).

Your theory of ALL agents using "phantom bidding" is not true. There are real paperwork trace for offers and bidder. And I've seen agents being removed of their licenses if they were reported and found with voilation of their work code. But it's hard to convince you on this...
 

tfox72

Star Member
Feb 20, 2022
80
35
We used an agent to find our new place first. And she worked for it. We looked at houses for over a year before we found this new place for us.

They have contacts and they know their market. They could know other agents who can give heads up to the buyers looking for this type of properties. Agents also know how to stage your place to show. And be there to greet viewers (which I would hate to do).

You theory of ALL agents using "phantom bidding" is not true. There are real paperwork trace for offers and bidder. And I've seen agents being removed of their license if they were reported and found with voilation of their work code. But it's hard to convince you on this...
Yes you wont convince me. I found my own place on MLS, its not hard. There is this thing called the 'internet', which you can use. Maybe you bought your place when agents had ensured that all listings are hidden and can only be seen by agents.

Not when I bought. I found the place myself. But listing agent wouldnt talk to me. She said - get an agent or get lost. So I was forced to get one. I knew the recently sold prices for the exact unit 1 floor up and down. I knew much more than my agent - who was clueless. When I asked her basic questions about the building, she had no answers. When I asked her - whats her motivation to get me a low price if her commission is linked to purchase price - she said no one ever asked her that. Wow - people just love throwing away money and not asking any questions in the biggest purchase of their lives.

And this was supposedly a reputed agent with hundreds of positive reviews. She just forwarded some emails and collected 2.5% of the purchase price. For what? For opening the lockbox?
 

YVR123

VIP Member
Jul 27, 2017
6,567
2,508
Yes you wont convince me. I found my own place on MLS, its not hard. There is this thing called the 'internet', which you can use. Maybe you bought your place when agents had ensured that all listings are hidden and can only be seen by agents.

Not when I bought. I found the place myself. But listing agent wouldnt talk to me. She said - get an agent or get lost. So I was forced to get one. I knew the recently sold prices for the exact unit 1 floor up and down. I knew much more than my agent - who was clueless. When I asked her basic questions about the building, she had no answers. When I asked her - whats her motivation to get me a low price if her commission is linked to purchase price - she said no one ever asked her that. Wow - people just love throwing away money and not asking any questions in the biggest purchase of their lives.

And this was supposedly a reputed agent with hundreds of positive reviews. She just forwarded some emails and collected 2.5% of the purchase price. For what? For opening the lockbox?
You found a very bad agent.

For us, we did found many properties online and she sent us weekly new listings as well (some were not yet listed publicly). She arranged all the viewings (including those that we found) in the same area so we can view a few or so on the day. And she reminded us on things we need to watch out for in the specific property. (e.g. some has smaller rebuild area because of new city proporty line on main road) I consider that service.
 
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mattjp1

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2017
549
152
I was when I tried to buy a property I wanted. The listing agent point blank refused to sell the property to me unless I hired a buying agent. What part of that is not 'forced'?
It's his choice. As it's your choice not to want broker when you sell your home. I'm sorry that you can't have it one way only.
 

tfox72

Star Member
Feb 20, 2022
80
35
Absolutely agree, the problem will be difficult to resolve. Singapore has a system that I find great, you have two main type of accommodations, the HDBs (very basic buildings but the new ones are really decent) and the Condos (more luxurious, with gym/pool etc...). The HDBs are only accessible for purchase to residents and the supply is controlled, while the Condos is a "free market" that foreigners can enter and buy/sell. While the system is far from perfect, there is a desire to house the residents. I don't have anything against luxury condos and I am happy that some people can afford them, but I don't think this is what most people are after in a market that much in crisis. On a side note, watching J. Trudeau talking so much about how he is going to make housing affordable now, is frankly hilarious.
Lol....this you complaining about housing prices? Like you love to say - no one forced you to move to Canada. When something affects you, you want politicians to step in and control supply like in Singapore. But god forbid if someone criticizes your beloved agents.
 

mattjp1

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2017
549
152
Lol....this you complaining about housing prices? Like you love to say - no one forced you to move to Canada. When something affects you, you want politicians to step in and control supply like in Singapore. But god forbid if someone criticizes your beloved agents.
I'm not sure if you are trolling or not. A 100% noone forced me to come to Canada, I couldn't agree more. Noone is forcing to employ an agent either. There is a difference between wanting a change, and saying we are "forced" to do something. You are never forced buddy.

Yes I think housing is expensive in Canada. How is that related to the fact that I find your idea of banning an entire profession just because you can't find a buyer/seller that doesn't agree with you, unacceptable?