Re/Max starts campaign against part-time agents

Garry Marr, Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Aaron Lynett / National Post The real-estate industry is no longer only battling with the Competition Bureau. It is now fighting amongst itself, with one of the country’s largest firms starting a campaign against part-time ...
The real-estate industry is no longer only battling with the Competition Bureau. It is now fighting amongst itself, with one of the country's largest firms starting a campaign against part-time agents.

Michael Polzler, head of Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada, launched a new offensive this week with an advertising blitz in the greater Toronto area that says: "Warning! Don't use a part-time agent."

The campaign follows a letter Mr. Polzler paid to have printed in The Real Estate Magazine, an industry publication. In the letter, he declares it's time to "take back the industry" and calls for the creation of new requirements for agents such as increased education, a one-year apprenticeship program and a referral program that would allow inactive realtors to transfer clientele to full-time professionals for a fee.

"I don't believe part-time agents can do the job," he said in an interview. "Many consumers use part-time agents without ever knowing it. If an agent doesn't do at least one deal per quarter, they are not active in the business, excluding the obvious people like managers.

"Someone who has a non-real-estate, full-time job should not be allowed to handle the largest financial transaction most people make in their lifetime. You have taxi drivers with real-estate licences and that's not cool," Mr. Polzler said.

Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada's campaign for more professionalism in the industry comes as the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) continues a legal battle with the Competition Bureau.

The government watchdog has launched a complaint with the Competition Tribunal over what it says are anti-competitive practices. The case revolves around the Multiple Listing Service system owned by CREA and responsible for about 90% of the transactions in Canada.

Last week, CREA passed new rules that will allow consumers to decide how much they use an agent on a deal and allow them to conduct parts of a transaction -- including listing on MLS -- without using an agent at all. But the case is still proceeding because the bureau maintains the new MLS rules can be changed by the local boards or CREA itself



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