When I attend open houses,
why do I get asked if I'm
working with an agent?
An alternative to www.reco.on.ca/ask-joe-question/when-i-attend-open-houses-why-do-i-get-asked-if-im-working-with-an-agent/
Preface: Any case law referenced in an Ask Ross response can be verified and requested directly from your lawyer for unbiased substantiation.
December 28th, 2023
First it is important to know that all "Agents" in Ontario are just simple real estate Salespeople and that it is has only been less in than a year that RECO has allowed them to hide this from the public by calling themselves Agents or REALTORs. Organized real estate has lobbied aggressively for over 30 years to remove "Salesperson" from signs and advertisements and Ontario is the first jurisdiction in North America were the REALTOR trademark was allowed to replace Salesperson and indirectly mislead the public.
Now to your Question:
REALTORs (now a legal designation approved by RECO) asks this question to better understand if they can legally acquire you as "their buyer" as early in their interactions with you as possible. REALTORs go to great lengths to learn techniques and approaches to convert Open House visitors into new clients and as a new source of commission income. The Brokerages where the REALTORs work commonly hold courses and seminars in how to manipulate your behaviour as Open House visitors into a "consensual" relationship where you the Buyer can become legally bound to pay the REALTOR and their Brokerage commission on any home you buy, even if the REALTOR and their Brokerage is not involved in the negotiation process. (Ask your lawyer for Case Law on this issue and how to protect yourself).
If you are considering buying a home you have probably already been directed to working with a REALTOR and will be encouraged to sign the paperwork created by the Ontario Real Estate Association for the benefit of their members. This paperwork has continually evolved and been refined over the last 20 years to strategically put more and more onus on you the Buyer without ever expressly explaining to you the risk you are removing from the REALTOR and Brokerage who are asking you to sign the paperwork.
The paperwork you will be asked to sign will come through a strategic process and with a limited explanation that is designed to get you to sign on the dotted line, or digitally, with as little effort as possible by the Agent. I cannot express the magnitude of effort brokerages spend training their Agents in signup strategy and manipulative techniques.
Why not get commissions off your top of mind as early as possible when beginning to work with an Agent? Getting it done as early as possible and commonly before you begin looking at homes with an Agent is the path of least resistance and future unawareness as you will almost never see the commissions and GST you are paying disclosed at any time again and any paperwork you sign including the offer itself.
First it is important to know that all "Agents" in Ontario are just simple real estate Salespeople and that it is has only been less in than a year that RECO has allowed them to hide this from the public by calling themselves Agents or REALTORs. Organized real estate has lobbied aggressively for over 30 years to remove "Salesperson" from signs and advertisements and Ontario is the first jurisdiction in North America were the REALTOR trademark was allowed to replace Salesperson and indirectly mislead the public.
Now to your Question:
REALTORs (now a legal designation approved by RECO) asks this question to better understand if they can legally acquire you as "their buyer" as early in their interactions with you as possible. REALTORs go to great lengths to learn techniques and approaches to convert Open House visitors into new clients and as a new source of commission income. The Brokerages where the REALTORs work commonly hold courses and seminars in how to manipulate your behaviour as Open House visitors into a "consensual" relationship where you the Buyer can become legally bound to pay the REALTOR and their Brokerage commission on any home you buy, even if the REALTOR and their Brokerage is not involved in the negotiation process. (Ask your lawyer for Case Law on this issue and how to protect yourself).
If you are considering buying a home you have probably already been directed to working with a REALTOR and will be encouraged to sign the paperwork created by the Ontario Real Estate Association for the benefit of their members. This paperwork has continually evolved and been refined over the last 20 years to strategically put more and more onus on you the Buyer without ever expressly explaining to you the risk you are removing from the REALTOR and Brokerage who are asking you to sign the paperwork.
The paperwork you will be asked to sign will come through a strategic process and with a limited explanation that is designed to get you to sign on the dotted line, or digitally, with as little effort as possible by the Agent. I cannot express the magnitude of effort brokerages spend training their Agents in signup strategy and manipulative techniques.
Why not get commissions off your top of mind as early as possible when beginning to work with an Agent? Getting it done as early as possible and commonly before you begin looking at homes with an Agent is the path of least resistance and future unawareness as you will almost never see the commissions and GST you are paying disclosed at any time again and any paperwork you sign including the offer itself.
My name is Joe and as you can see on my business cards and open house signs, I am a Real Estate Agent and no longer have to disclose to the public I am a salesman. I am also a REALTOR and that is why you won't see Real Estate Agent on my cards or signs either because OREA convinced RECO to allow me to hide my actual job even better.
When you walk into my Open House you should know I am not actually there to sell the home but rather to meet people who I will attempt to convince to sign paperwork that will allow me to take a commission from any home they may eventually purchase including homes I actually never showed them or even helped them negotiate to buy. I will be relying on decades of case law and carefully designed forms that were created to keep you in the dark about what, why and who those forms were created to benefit.
In order to access the potential of the forms created for my benefit like "working with a realtor", "buyer representation agreements" and all other OREA standard forms, I ask you to sign in to my Open House and ask you if you have signed any forms with another Agent or REALTOR anywhere in Ontario. My access to the forms and to the MLS system I use daily requires me to ask this question as a rule of membership that was created to allow all Agents and REALTORs to use the exact same forms daily. Of course
When you walk into my Open House you should know I am not actually there to sell the home but rather to meet people who I will attempt to convince to sign paperwork that will allow me to take a commission from any home they may eventually purchase including homes I actually never showed them or even helped them negotiate to buy. I will be relying on decades of case law and carefully designed forms that were created to keep you in the dark about what, why and who those forms were created to benefit.
In order to access the potential of the forms created for my benefit like "working with a realtor", "buyer representation agreements" and all other OREA standard forms, I ask you to sign in to my Open House and ask you if you have signed any forms with another Agent or REALTOR anywhere in Ontario. My access to the forms and to the MLS system I use daily requires me to ask this question as a rule of membership that was created to allow all Agents and REALTORs to use the exact same forms daily. Of course
This column is for open and critical review by your lawyer and government bodies and is meant as unbiased advice on real estate transactional practices.
Ross Kay is a former 3rd generation real estate salesperson and member of organized real estate with over 5000 transactions experience to rely upon.
Ross and three other family members initiated the court case that resulted in Ontario Home Buyer Deposit Insurance, Ontario Brokerage Commission Trust Accounts, Ontario Brokerage Mandatory Errors and Omissions Insurance as a result of having a brokerage charged with theft of their commissions.
Ross wrote the first Buyer Agency Agreement ever legally signed in Ontario and negotiated the only transaction in Canada where the Buyer Brokerage was paid a cash bonus for negotiating a lower purchase price for their Buyer Client, a feat subsequently outlawed as it was deemed to be against the best interests of organized real estate.
Ross Kay is a former 3rd generation real estate salesperson and member of organized real estate with over 5000 transactions experience to rely upon.
Ross and three other family members initiated the court case that resulted in Ontario Home Buyer Deposit Insurance, Ontario Brokerage Commission Trust Accounts, Ontario Brokerage Mandatory Errors and Omissions Insurance as a result of having a brokerage charged with theft of their commissions.
Ross wrote the first Buyer Agency Agreement ever legally signed in Ontario and negotiated the only transaction in Canada where the Buyer Brokerage was paid a cash bonus for negotiating a lower purchase price for their Buyer Client, a feat subsequently outlawed as it was deemed to be against the best interests of organized real estate.
