subject: What is a Mere Posting in Calgary Real Estate? [print this page] What is a Mere Posting in Calgary Real Estate?
The term described above is now commonly referred to in Canadian real estate as a "MerePosting".
Is this just more Mumbo Jumbo or is it something that you should be educated about? I feel it is important andwill do my best to explain it further.
I wrote on the subject of theA La Carte Business model after the new rule changes came into effect in Canada however I didn't really drill down and explain what some of this terminology means and what the implications are for the Canadian home seller.
So a quick recap on what happened with the mere posting debate
The major change that was put into place now allows the public to post their home ontoRealtor.ca with the use of aREALTOR but with limited services provided by the brokerage and by the selling Agent.
Now I have argued that we have always had a type of mereposting in the form of Seller's Rights Reserved where thehome seller has the opportunity to sell their home on their own while it is listed on the MLS.
Where they differ now is in the representative capacity of not only the brokerage but of the REALTOR and the choice of the home seller in how they want to be represented.
Here are the Brokerages obligations as outlined in a mere posting Contract:
Post the Seller's property for Sale on the MLSsystem
Verify the accuracy of the data related to the property
Maintain and(or) amend the info on the MLSsystem
Report the date of sale, selling price and possession date to the MLS
Exercise Reasonable Care and Skill
Comply with the provisions of the Real Estate Act
Not knowingly providing the Seller with false or misleading information
That is it. Seven obligations to you as a Seller. How does it differ from a normal AREA listing contract with aFull Service Agent? Well I am not going to list them all here(because frankly there are too many to list) but in a Full Service listing contract there are18 obligations referred to as theBrokerages Mandate in section 6.1.
There are another 6 where you have the option of choosing a yes or know answer in how you want the property marketed. I would argue further that section 6.2(g) would allow you to further state representative capacity, or other services that you would like your REALTORto provide you.
At the end of the day a Mere Posting will allow you to have access to the MLSsystemthrough a licensed REALTOR. Assuming that the Agent providing this business model is not doing anything else for you as a seller you will be responsible for the following:
Marketing the home including providing a sign with your number and contact info
Taking calls for all showings on the property
Letting the Agents into your home(does that mean that you have to run home everytime an Agent wants to show? Maybe. It could also mean you are renting a lockbox off the Agent)
Negotiating the sale of your home
Negotiating the commission you will pay the Buyer's Agent
Finding yourself a lawyer to handle all the paperwork and deposits
Coming up with a Listing Price without access to the MLSdata history(difficult to do when basing on what is for sale)
So just a few of the things that you would be responsible for. If you are comfortable handling all the aspects of selling your home on your own then go for ittry the mere posting route, I did before I was a REALTOR. I should also mention that I wound up listing my houselike most For Sale by Owners do.
I will leave you with a couple of things to considerThe wash out rate for REALTORSin Alberta is about 3 years, this means most Agents will not make it in the business past the three year mark.
If selling your home was aneasy proposition where you can make a"Ton of Money" with little or NO effort requiredthen I would think that the majority of the home owners in Calgary would be licensed Real Estate Agents. In my opinion mere posting is an option for the selleris it a viable one? I will let you make that decision
