Marianne Bournes Ottawa REALTOR
Never think that Emerge is the same throughout the province! David and I found out this year when we attended both the Emerge in Ottawa and the Emerge in Peterborough that the questions and dialogues between presenters and Realtors vary depending on the needs of the trading area. That was especially evident with the consumer panel, a welcome addition to the Emerge day.
The Ottawa panel was mostly buyers and sellers of newer homes & condos. They acted confident and felt they were well educated in the process and in the same breath they expressed that they had not known about the roles or timelines for a Realtor to represent them in the “new condos/homes sales process”. The panel was very frank with their opinions and responses to the memberships questions.
In Peterborough the dynamics of the panel were surprisingly different. Again they were very frank with their comments and responses to questions. These consumers were not buying or selling the same types of properties and the main thing that came out of the discussions was the issue of “trust”. There were many questions relating to what it takes to earn the trust required for consumers to be in a client relationship. We felt these discussions indicated it was easier to achieve the trust of a seller than a buyer.
There were two main take-aways for David and I:
- We as Realtors need to find ways to improve the educational process for consumers so they are introduced to us before they fall into the developers’ nets.
- We need to be aware that buyers may be less trusting than sellers when it comes to relationships with representation of a Realtor, and help mitigate this concern. I think the phrase “no skin in the game” might be the reason a buyer tries so hard to maintain control of their future rather than ‘trust’ a realtor. There is actually no monetary risk for a buyer who tries to find his own house, but there are definitely costs involved for a seller.
David & I encourage all OREA members to attend EMERGE. If it’s not something you’ve done in the past, make 2016 your year to start. Get a different perspective on things and go to an EMERGE away from home!
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