February 2007 - Posts
The Toronto Real Estate Board has published the Market Watch issue for January 2007. Claiming that the year has started with a boom. Over the all of the districts for the Toronto MLS® system there were more sales than in any other recorded January, with a total 5,173 homes sold. This is an increase of 12.8% over last years January. The North districts had an increase of over all sales but there were a few surprises when looking at individual areas.
On a positive note,
Richmond Hill home sales saw an increase in sales volume and in the N03 district the average home sale price surged forward 17.7%, over Jan 2006, to $426,800. On the other hand
Aurora, Ontario, home sales volumes stayed almost the same and the average sale price decreased by 12.8% from Jan 2006.
But wait, Don't PANIC. These are both examples of why statistics are dangerous. Although it is true that the average sale price in Aurora, Ontario, was down by a whopping 12.8% that does not mean that the average home has lost 12.8% of its value. It only means that the home buyers that were active enough to purchase homes, in January 2007, were looking for homes that were (on average) 12.8% lower in price than those looking in 2006. So more homes in lower price ranges sold and fewer of the higher priced homes sold. In February we may see far more of the $600,000 plus homes sell and the average sale price could jump to $500,000 or more. All because the home buyers in that price range may be chaffing at not having found the right home in January and so those sales may tip the scale in the opposite direction. Either way the value of the average home is not nearly as volatile as the average home sale price.
"Lies, damn lies and statistics" I can never remember which famous person said it but it is still true. I will keep providing them because everyone always wants to know, that and I need to analyse them for myself and my clients anyways, but one always has to keep in mind that although the statistics do not lie, the perspective that one uses the statistic may not always reveal the truth.
If you have questions about the
Richmond Hill, Aurora or York Region real estate markets please feel free to ask me. I would love to help you with all of your real estate experiences.
Andrew Hodge
Home sales in Richmond Hill, Ontario, had strong sales volume and increases in average sale price. Over all of the Toronto Real Estate Board's MLS® system there were 5,173 sales recorded which is up 12.8% from Jan 2006, 4,587 homes sold, and represents
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To the person who visited this site from Google with the term "Toronto terminating REALTOR customer service agreement"- In order to terminate a "customer service agreement" you need to do nothing. A customer service agreement is a disclosure form that formalizes and clarifies that the REALTOR®, that you are using, is NOT working for you. Instead they are providing customer service which includes fair and honest treatment, factual information about the property that is not visibly evident (latent defects) and answers that have properly thought about before responding to them (they have to answer any questions about the condition of the property, as you ask them).
With a customer service agreement you are "unrepresented" and in a "buyer beware" situation. If you walk into an open house and want to buy that house using the listing agent then this is the relationship that the REALTOR® should be working towards unless you request representation and the seller agrees to allowing their agent to enter into a dual representation situation (or you get representation from another REALTOR® at a different brokerage).
Buyer Representation Agreements on the other hand state that the REALTOR® is working for you and that you are bound to that REALTOR® for the term of the agreement with a holdover period. In this case you receive fiduciary duties, from the REALTOR® and all of the agents at the brokerage that they work for, that protects your information and interests. Unless you have an agreement from the REALTOR® that you may terminate your agreement then you are bound to the terms of the agreement until the agreements term has passed. If you do not like the agent you are using you can ask to terminate the agreement or to have it transferred to another REALTOR®, but there is no obligation on the REALTOR® to do so unless they have not followed the terms of the contract.
Both of these "agreements" are designed with the purpose of protecting and informing the purchaser of their rights and obligations. Part of protecting you, for a REALTOR®, is protecting your personal information which can only be done if you are not giving that information to other REALTORS® and sellers in the area. With the representation agreement there is usually a guaranteed minimum commission for the agent stated so that the agent will be compensated for the work they do, if you decide to buy a home in the term of the agreement. However, there is nothing in the Buyer Representation Agreement that states that you have to buy anything. It only states that if you buy a home that you will use this particular brokerage and that they will be compensated for the service provided.
So please remember a "customer service agreement" means "Buyer Beware".
Have questions call me, post your question as a comment in any of my blogs postings (I will answer it with a new post) or you can contact me through any of my websites including
www.AndrewHodgeREALTOR.comHappy House Hunting
Andrew Hodge
