(613) 434-1521
Below you'll find a list of commonly asked questions related to our selling services. Can't find an answer to your question? Feel free to contact us.
We are often asked whether we are a For Sale By Owner service. Equity One offers many of the benefits of For Sale By Owner, but with the added benefit of being able to access, and post properties to the MLS® System. We also offer many of the services of traditional realty, making us the best of both worlds.
Yes. And like Royal Lepage® or Coldwell Banker®, we have access to the Multiple Listing Service®, operated by your local real estate board. We have access to the same tools and databases as the large national brokerages, and our MLS® listings appear on REALTOR.ca (formerly mls.ca).
Services like Grapevine® are not licensed real estate brokerages, and merely post listings on their respective websites. Some For Sale By Owner services offer access to MLS® through a licensed third-party brokerage, subject to additional fees - forcing sellers to pay twice. Equity One lists on the MLS® System all for less that what private sale websites charge through their affiliated partner.
• We can access and post to the MLS® System.
• We are a licensed real estate brokerage, insured and bonded.
• While listed with Equity One, listing agents cannot solicit your business.
• Our sellers may use a key lock box to facilitate showings by licensed REALTORS®, who may have a buyer for your home.
• We can access archived neighborhood sales history.
• You can list for free at equityone.ca, and upgrade to a listing on the MLS® System at any time.
• You can make unlimited changes to your listing, for FREE.
• Get negotiation assistance and have offers reviewed by licensed members of our staff *.
• We are more partner, and less agent.
• You can save thousands in real estate commissions.
• Our business model is designed to be fully transparent.
• You retain full control of the sale, and can sell privately - penalty free.
• Our advice is impartial and unbiased.
• You will never be pressured into making a decision at the expense of a commission.
We are often asked about our success rate. There are a myriad of factors which dictate your chance of selling your property, and Equity One puts you in control of them (asking price, condition of home, motivation to sell), and doesn’t control the rest (market conditions, property location, etc.). But we do our part by, among other things, by promoting your home on the number one “go-to” marketing tool in Canada: the Multiple Listing Service®.
Our clients who establish a fair price and offer a competitive commission to buyers agents do very well. Our list-to-final-sale price is approximately 99%, with an average commission savings of at least 2.5% over prevailing commission rates.
The Multiple Listing Service® is a cooperative system used by REALTOR® members of Canada's real estate boards to share listing information amongst each other. Each real estate board operates their own MLS® system, which feeds a limited version of the property listing to REALTOR.ca (formerly MLS.ca), allowing the public to browse properties for sale nationwide. IOn other words, REALTORS access a system called MLXchange, often referred to as MLS, whereas the public accesses REALTOR.ca, which is the public website.
In one word, exposure. By listing your property on the MLS® System, your property will be exposed to a national audience of qualified buyers. It is also the tool used exclusively by buyer agents when finding properties for their clients. It is estimated that close to 90% of all residential sales in Canada are sold through the MLS® System.
As a general rule, you can be listed on the MLS® System in less than 24 hours - depending on the services selected, and the time of year.
No. You need not offer commission to list on the MLS® System.
Most brokerages will have you sign away the right to sell privately as one of the terms of your contract. The ability to enter into a private sale is based on the listing brokerages’ policy, and not any specific MLS® rule. Equity One permits our sellers to enter into a private sale agreement.
Yes, we encourage sellers offer 2.5% to the selling brokerage (the brokerage representing the buyer). Doing so removes any distinction between an Equity One listing and that of a national brokerage. Ultimately however, the listing belongs to you. You choose whether to offer remuneration to a brokerage representing a buyer.
Some of our listing packages include a list of recent neighborhood sales pulled from the MLS® system, which in most cases is sufficient to set an attractive asking price. Where pricing becomes a bit more challenging, we simply refer you to one of our appraisal partners, who are able to perform an independent and unbiased opinion of value for a small fee. MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) also provides property owners with recent sales information on their property and similar properties through the AboutMyProperty™ service - free of charge. Visit the MPAC website at www.mpac.ca for more information.
While your contact information will be included in the salesperson remarks of your MLS® listing, real estate board rules prevent us from publishing your contact information in the public remarks on REALTOR.ca. As a result, we have developed an innovative telephone routing system, which prompts buyers to enter the MLS® ID of your listing. Doing so forwards the call to a number of your choosing, to connect you to potential buyers. We can also redirect buyers back to your listing at equityone.ca, where your contact information is also published.
Our listings are identical to those of franchised, national brokerages. There are no differences whatsoever.
Yes, you can cancel your listing at any time, penalty free. Keep in mind however that if the property doesn't sell while listed with Equity One, history has shown it won't sell with another real estate brokerage without a price reduction.
Our focus is on providing flat fee services to sellers, and we feel it would be disingenuous to try to up-sell our clients to a commission based service - so we do not provide full service. However, we have partnered with a number of full service REALTORS® who have been pre-screened in large part by their interaction with our brokerage, and based on feedback received from our sellers. So while we focus on providing flat fee and low cost commission listing services, we can put you in touch with a great full service agent. We can even offer you a 15% commission rebate on their services. Contact us to find out more.
Not a nickel. You will know in advance how much Equity One charges for its listing services. There are no hidden fees whatsoever. We do offer optional services, including the reviewing of offers. But none of our listing services are commission-based.
We make it easy to modify your listing. Simply login to your account, and browse to My Properties. Locate your property and choose Manage. Make changes to your listing, and click save. It's as easy as that.
No, provided your changes are completed online. Equity One invests considerable resources to develop and maintain a self-service portal that allows our sellers to manage their listing online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some changes do require an amendment be signed and returned to us(price, closing date, inclusions/exclusions - to name a few). In the event an amendment is needed, one is automatically emailed to you, complete with your requested changes. Simply sign and fax/scan it back to us.
You can make as many edits as you require - there are no limits.
It generally takes a few hours, provided that the changes are made during regular business hours. All changes made outside of our normal business hours are completed the following business day.
You will receive a confirmation email advising you that the changes have been made, as we review all changes to ensure they comply with real estate board rules. Once approved, the changes are immediate at equityone.ca, though it can take up to 24 hours for the changes to be posted to REALTOR.ca. We have no control over this delay.
The MLS® System supports up to 10, while the Equity One website supports up to 25. You can also specify a URL that we can add to your MLS listing to redirect buyers to additional photos.
Yes, in fact we encourage it. Your photos should be 'in season' - meaning they should accurately reflect the current season while your listing is active.
Yes, you can flag and label which images to use for your MLS® listing.
Simple. Login to your account and change the listing status for your property from 'Active' to 'Conditional Sale'.
Congratulations on your sale! To finalize the sale with Equity One, login to your account and change the status to 'Sold'.
That depends. If a buyer agent is showing your home to their client, we recommend that you vacate the property during the showing. Doing so allows the prospective buyer to speak frankly with the agent. While it is recommended you vacate, you are under no obligation to do so. If a private party wishes to view your property, you would be conducting the home tour.
No. Our sellers choose to list with us to maintain the right to sell privately. We don't intercept buyers who inquire about your property. On the contrary, we provide facilities to simplify connecting buyers with sellers.
Yes, and we offer open house signage to direct traffic to your property.
Yes. But ensure you add your open house at least 5 days prior to the scheduled open house date.
We do offer a call answering service should you want Equity One to book showing requests on your behalf *.
Yes. Using a key lock box will facilitate showings. Contact us for more information on using a lock box.
Out of courtesy, we recommend you contact the party that made the request with as much advance notice as possible. Be accommodating in rescheduling the showing appointment.
Yes, you are actually encouraged to continue to show the property. In the event your conditional sale falls through, you should contact anyone who has expressed interest from showings. But be forthcoming, and advise anyone wishing to see your property of its conditional sale status. Some may simply elect to move on.
If you wish to engage Equity One to review offers on your behalf, then all offers will be sent directly to us. In the event you wish to receive offers yourself, we would simply add these instructions to the salesperson remarks of the listing.
Unless you are familiar with contract law, we do not recommend that you draft and review offers yourself. Instead, we provide a negotiation worksheet that captures essential information to allow the lawyer for the buyer to draft a legally binding agreement of purchase and sale. The worksheet is a risk-free way to negotiate the sale of real estate.
Yes, and while we review the offer to ensure it favors our clients, we also provide sound countering strategies to ensure you get the most money for your property. This may also include pulling comparable properties to make a case for a higher selling price when presenting your counter. You not only benefit from having the offer reviewed, but you get the experience of a licensed real estate professional who reviews offers for a living *.
Yes, Equity One can negotiate on your behalf *.
* Subject to additional fees.
Selling Real Estate