Recently the Globe and Mail published a story describing the tentative agreement reached between the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the Competition Bureau regarding the MLS listings site. ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/real-estate-group-reaches-tentative-agreement-on-mls-listings/article1736411/ )
The article seems to confirm the fact that the residential real estate industry is going to become more crowded and competitive, and that this change will be long term. The article states that once the new agreement is "ratified, the new rules will take effect immediately and be in effect for 10 years."
These forthcoming changes only solidify the need for Realtors to add as much value throughout the buying/listing experience as possible in order to remain competitive.
Another section of the article predicts that "consumers are going to have the ability to choose what services they want from a real estate agent, and pay only for those services." This prophecy, paired with the already evident rise in popularity of discount brokerages, indicate that in any event agents at all firms will see commission fees squeezed while realtor's profit margins decrease.
Icon can help you address these changes in the industry for a number of reasons. Firstly, our advertisements create extra value to the customer not only because the ads are loaded with information and look nice, but also because our ads use current technologies and trends regarding the Internet in the most efficient and effective ways possible.
Secondly, Icon's services can help with your profit margins, since you only pay a low one time fee for each ad. Print media and more expensive forms of advertising are not only less effective and contain less information, but they also cost more in relation to the product Icon provides.
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