Categories for Representation & Consumer Guidance

Understanding the RECO Information Guide and Your Representation Options

The RECO Information Guide is designed to help Ontario buyers and sellers understand how real estate representation works before they receive services or assistance from an agent. Whether you are buying a home, selling an investment property, leasing commercial space or considering another real estate transaction, one of the first ...

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Professional Representation Has Real Value

Real estate compensation is often viewed through the final transaction. A property sells, a purchase closes or a lease is completed, and the professional fee becomes visible at the end of the process. That can create the impression that the fee is principally payment for the closing itself. In practice, ...

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Ethics, Transparency and Informed Decision-Making in Ontario Real Estate

Real estate transactions frequently require people to make significant decisions with incomplete information, limited time and competing priorities. A buyer may be deciding whether to waive a condition. A seller may be comparing offers that differ in price, certainty and compensation arrangements. A landlord may be evaluating an applicant whose ...

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Flexible Real Estate Representation: More Than One Way to Work With a REALTOR®

Many consumers still assume that working with a REALTOR® means choosing between two extremes: full traditional representation or handling the transaction entirely on their own. That assumption no longer reflects the way many clients want to work. Some buyers are comfortable finding properties independently but want help evaluating value, structuring ...

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How Real Estate Buyers Are Represented — And Why Fee Structure Matters More Than Ever

Most buyers understand that a REALTOR® can represent them when purchasing real estate, but many are less familiar with the fact that there are several ways that representation can be structured. The traditional full-service model remains common, but buyers today may also encounter cash-back or rebate programs, reduced-service models, self-directed ...

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Additional Costs When Buying a Home

When buyers begin thinking about affordability, the purchase price is usually the number that receives the most attention. That makes sense, because it determines the size of the mortgage, the down payment and much of the monthly carrying cost. The difficulty is that the purchase price does not tell the ...

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The Buyer Representation Agreement

The search for your dream home is an exciting, albeit frenzied, endeavor. It is filled with endless possibilities; do you want to live in the city or suburbs? Will you live in a condominium, townhouse or a detached home? This is essentially the fun part of home buying before you ...

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What Duties Does a REALTOR® Owe You in Ontario?

Understanding the Professional Obligations Behind Real Estate Representation When you hire a real estate professional in Ontario, you are not simply paying someone to find a property, market a home or prepare an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Registered real estate professionals operate within a regulated framework that establishes important ...

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Your REALTOR® is Asking Questions Because…it’s the Law

Federal money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules require real estate agents and brokers to collect personal identification information from buyers and sellers. It is the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) that requires financial institutions and real estate agents, among other professionals and services covered ...

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Buying or Selling in Another Province

Buying or selling real estate in another province can seem more complicated than completing a transaction close to home, but in most cases the challenge is not the transaction itself. It is the additional coordination required when the property, the client and the professionals involved are located in different jurisdictions. ...

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