Vital Statistics
The DIY Option
In August, ComFree Commission-Free Realty released a survey indicating that Alberta homeowners are increasingly confident selling their properties through for-sale-by-owner websites. Seventy-five per cent of respondents cited high commission costs as a deterrent to working with agents. “The commissions can actually raise the value of property and so for-sale-by-owner… essentially we’re taking that out,” says ComFree’s Travis Holowach, vice-president of marketing, Western Canada. He says direct sales make the market more competitive and limit commission-built-in pricing. Consumers are also leaning toward more flexible sale processes. “We’re in a world of technology where people are used to having information at their fingertips that they can access 24 hours a day, and the agent system doesn’t work that way.”
Sources: Alberta Real Estate Association, Avison Young, CB Richard Ellis, Colliers International, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Statistics Canada |
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