Monday, March 8, 2010

The MLS® Debate Continues.....

Further to my post of Friday February 19th entitled: MLS® - What's at Fault, The System or The People? people are beginning to weight in on this hotly discussed topic. The following will link you with an audio broadcast featured on The Real Estate Investment Network™ dealing with the Competition Bureau's allegations that the MLS® system which is owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is anti-competitive.
Listen in at:

http://www.reincanada.com/Video/TabId/74/VideoId/115/Competition-Bureau-Challenges-MLS-Rules.aspx?type=audio

The party featured in this broadcast (Don Campbell) is not a REALTOR® but a real estate investor. He is obviously an ardent user of CREA's consumer MLS® website www.realtor.ca wherein consumers can search for properties all across Canada. Further he feels that www.realtor.ca is ultimately the victim of it's own success resulting in others outside the traditional real estate community wanting to list properties there. His claim certainly has some merit as www.realtor.ca is the most visited real estate website in Canada, typically drawing in excess of 3 million consumer visitors monthly.
One of the more commonly cited concerns of CREA pertains to the integrity of the property information contained in MLS® listings. As REALTORS® we are required to verify virtually every detail of a property listing from room sizes, to the taxes and any other fact that could materially affect a buyer's decision to purchase a particular property. As real estate practitioners we are in fact required to carry errors and omissions insurance in this regard. Too often, property details are not accurately provided and this is not a fault of MLS® but that of those that practice in the profession without exercising due diligence when listing a property for sale.

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