For those of you who have not YELPED before…Yelp  is a website that is a repository of peer reviews, mashed with GPS . It uses the GPS to find you, allows you to search under numerous categories for whatever service you are looking for and once you start narrowing down your search offers up peer reviews to help you make your decisions.

That night we ended up only a few blocks from the Hotel we were staying at, ate in a very non-descript inexpensive Restaurant and had one of the best meals of the trip. We based our choice on the peer reviews and on leaving could have added our own views on the experience to the Yelp  web site with photos.

Now I am a confirmed Yelper. I have downloaded the Yelp app to my Blackberry and have a profile that you can visit, become my friend or leave a review of my work as a REALTOR. Check it out in your area and write some reviews to help build the content that will make it a more valuable tool as time goes by. Get out there and start YELPING !!

The man with the biggest TV wins….has been the marketing chant for Home Entertainment Systems…but at the same time…

Technology never slows and keeping up is a full time and expensive job.

A year ago I was given an Amazon Kindle  for Xmas and have loved being able to access my own library from the Amazon Bookstore  on a moments notice. Then came the Sony Reader  and other E-books…Recently, Apple announced it’s latest product the IPad .

I believe that the IPad  will be very successful… small screen format is the way of the future and these new tools are tools that provide content through Apps allow the owner to be more mobile…

The point of all this is that we are in the process of mobilizing my websites. The mobile version of www.RichardSilver.com  is already launched with Torontoism.com  and DowntownTorontoNews.com  to follow soon.

If you search www.RichardSilver.com  on your Blackberry  or IPhone  it will automatically recognize that you are using a smartphone  and will show you the small screen format. I would like to give a shout out to the team at MobilizeMe.com who have done such an excellent job with the participation of the webmaster of all three site.

Check out www.RichardSilver.com on your smartphone  and let me know your thoughts… Here is a sample…

TORONTO, March 3, 2010 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77 per cent increase over February 2009. The average price for these transactions was up 19 per cent year-over-year to $431,509. Sales and average price increases represent both increased demand for ownership housing and the base year effect, which involves a comparison of economic recovery this year to a period of economic decline last year.

“Increases in existing home sales and average price were noted across the GTA in low-rise and high-rise home types. Similar rates of growth were experienced in the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said TREB President Tom Lebour. “This suggests that first time, move-up and down sizing buyers are all active in the existing home marketplace.”

New listings also increased in February, climbing 24 per cent compared to the same month last year.

“Annual growth in new listings is expected to continue. New listings growth will start to outstrip sales growth as we move through 2010,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “As the market becomes better supplied, we will see more sustainable single-digit rates of price growth.”

We will be having a big weekend of Open Houses in Cabbagetown this weekend. Toronto’s Village within a the City!

Click here to view the embedded video.

According to the Canadian Red Cross , Greater Toronto REALTORS’® individual donations to relief efforts in Haiti reached $12,085.

This amount will be doubled by the federal government, which pledged to match all individual Canadians’ contributions up to February 12th.

On behalf of Greater Toronto REATORS® TREB also donated $50,000 to Canadian Red Cross initiatives in Haiti.

With the federal government’s matching funds deadline now elapsed, TREB extends its thanks to all those who contributed. Through their donations, Greater Toronto REALTORS® have demonstrated their genuine concern for communities, which extends from here at home to around the globe.

The federal government’s Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)  reported that as of February 8th, individual Canadians had made more than $113 million in eligible donations to be matched by theHaiti Earthquake Relief Fund .

When the earthquake struck, CIDA sent $85 million in urgent humanitarian assistance to Haiti, in addition to supporting a Red Cross field hospital and issuing emergency supplies. CIDA’s matching funds will also be allocated to Canadian and international humanitarian and development organizations.

From the Toronto Real Estate Board.  To make a donation contact The Canadian Red Cross .

“Home ownership demand remains strong in the GTA, as households remain confident that economic recovery is at hand and that ownership housing will continue to be a quality long-term investment,” said Toronto Real Estate Board  President Tom Lebour .

The average price for February mid-month transactions was $429,997 – an 18 per cent increase over 2009. New Listings within the Toronto Real Estate Board  boundaries were up 15 per cent to 6,212.

“Double-digit price increases will persist through the first quarter of the year,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “However, as new listings continue to increase creating a better supplied market, we will see the annual rate of price growth moderate into the single digits.”

There is a lot of discussion going on led by the Competition Bureau  and forces that want to “open up” the MLS  and the Real Estate industry. Along with that discussion comes a lot of vitriol and misinformation about what it is that REALTORS do. We seem to have become the target for some who are not being totally clear about their agenda and who jump on sound bite after sound bite. If there is to be a discussion then it should be an honest one.

The sound bites tell you that CREA  has had a hand in stopping Competition. There are a variety of models out there at present, have been for many years and they offer lots of choice to the consumer. Organized Real Estate has never restricted consumer’s options to MLS as long as these use a licensed REALTOR. The reality is that some of those models were not attractive to the consumer and it is the consumer that did not adopt them. That happens in any marketplace…sometimes the best widget does not sell because the marketplace is not ready or there is no perceived need.

The sound bites tell you it is all about bringing down commission but the Competition Bureau’s findings did not touch the rules dealing with commission, they only talk about CREA rules around “representation”.  In other words, the Bureau wants unrepresented listings to be able to be put on the MLS system. Listings where the Buyer will have to satisfy himself that the information is correct and not misrepresented. At present and with all the due diligence that the listing agent is to do there are still properties that slip through the cracks….wouldn’t this only make it worse. Is the lawyer led Competition Bureau really concerned about the consumer or looking to move the transaction to the Lawyer’s office rather than the Realtor’s office?

The sound bites tell you about the massive amounts of money that REALTORS make so easily. We only get paid on the closing of the transaction yet there is an outlay (for myself) of anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 of costs before the property comes to the market, and sometimes those properties do not sell because it is the Seller who pays if the offer is acceptable to them. Numerous listings come to the market overpriced, sit while agents try every option out there to market the house, get moved to another Company and finally sell or come off the market. How come we are not hearing from those sellers? How come we are not hearing from the Buyers who ask for information, have us show them multiple properties and buy from a friend with not even a thank you? How come we are not hearing from those Buyers?

We are told of Multiple Offers however in the best of markets they have been the exception and not the rule. Sellers and REALTORS not involved in multiple offers don’t have the war stories that generate the media and news hype. There are no records of  Multiple Offers but I would think they have occurred in less than 20% of the transactions over the last few years.

In all sales there seems to be an 80-20 rule and there are a lot of Realtors who are not able to pay their bills because they do not make enough money. I am one of two people left  from a class of over 60 that began when I did. Every year more people get licensed and every year many leave the business disheartened. 

What they thought would be an easy job, turns out is not. There is no security, there is no retirement plan, there is a general rule that one third of your gross income will go to expenses, one third will go to taxes and you will have one third to live on. That is made up, not from the 5% or 6 % that is quoted all the time, but MLS is a cooperative that gives half to the cooperating agent and then splits that balance between you and your Broker. However the sound bites tell you of the agent who made $30,000 on a sale…which becomes $15,000 with the co-operating agent, which becomes $7500 with the Broker and at the end of the day becomes $2500 in the Realtors pocket (once expenses and the Government have their share). However, that does not make the same sound bite does it? 

Choosing to be a REALTOR means that you will not have a 40 hour week, not have privacy in your community (people think nothing of stopping you and asking your advice with no intention of ever paying you for it), and will only be as successful as your last transaction. We live by the rule that if you do something nice for someone, chances are they will tell no one, however, should you do something they consider bad, they will tell everyone. Reputation is everything and God forbid if you become too successful at what you do…

All Realtors are mandated to have continuing Education Courses and cannot be re-licensed without 24 credits every two year period, 6 credits deal with updates from the Provincial Regulator. This is not even required of our teachers in the Province of Ontario. What will we require of education for unrepresented Sellers?

MLS  has been something like a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval”. It means that there has been due diligence in bringing the property into the system and that there is a third party who not only warrants the quality of the listing but if there are issues, there is a party that has errors and omissions insurance as mandated by the Provincial Regulator. What potential landmines will we face under this new direction? Will money saved inREALTORS  fees be paid to Lawyers instead? Please note that Lawyers get paid whether the transaction is successful or not, unlike REALTORS.

I am someone who is all ready for a discussion and to embrace change but let’s see if we can get some honest discussion happening and deal with the real issues instead of the vitriol and hidden agendas of those saying that they are out to help the consumer.