Real estate brokers and salespeople are not the same. Only those registrants who are members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) can be properly called Realtors, which gives them a boost in serving commercial clients. Realtors are required to follow a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a high level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) members are members of CREA.
“A Realtor is a brand that says you have a code of conduct beyond the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act that you adhere to,” says Ralph Shaw, real estate broker at Century 21 Explorer and past-president of OREB. “It raises the bar. And once you’re a member, there are rules of engagement that require you to cooperate and participate in a high level of moral and ethical functionality.”
To help clients buy and sell property, Realtors use the MLS System, which in Ottawa can only be accessed by OREB members.
The MLS System holds complete historical and current data on thousands of residential and commercial real estate transactions dating back to the 1990s. Last year, OREB commercial Realtors sold more than $246 million of commercial real estate in Ottawa.
“The amount of information that is being shared amongst commercial Realtors is immense,” says Chris Tremblay, sales representative at Royal LePage Team Realty. He adds that the data is growing every day. “How else could you access data from more than 3,000 real estate brokers and salespeople in one place?”
The marketing reach of REALTOR.CA
Portions of all MLS Listings are uploaded to the global marketing site REALTOR.ca. Visits to REALTOR.ca on desktop and mobile web over the past six months totalled more than 9.9 million views.
“If a national or international buyer wants to expand their business venture to Ottawa, they can easily find a member of OREB’s Commercial Services Network on REALTOR.ca because of their affiliation with CREA,” says Geoff Godding, vice-president and sales representative at Decathlon Commercial Realty and chair of the Commercial Services Network.
To find a commercial Realtor, search the commercial services network at oreb.ca. You can search by their area of concentration, which includes business brokerage, industrial, investment, leasing, office, retail and multi-family properties with more than five units.
Aside from access to the MLS System and REALTOR.ca, what are other benefits of working with a member of OREB’s Commercial Services Network?
Ottawa’s commercial Realtors are part of one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade Association and are represented locally, provincially and at the national level.
- CREA represents the interests of its members to the federal government and its agencies on existing or proposed legislation that will affect those members, and/or impact property ownership.
- CREA assists its Realtor members to better serve their clients by providing quality technology products through Data Distribution Facility, the program that distributes a real estate listing across multiple channels including the MLS System and real estate advertising websites.
- CREA enhances member professionalism and ethics by providing national standards, including establishment of symbols of quality associated with using CREA brands and trademarks.
- CREA produces accurate, up-to-date information and analysis on economic issues.
CREA’s efforts also allow Realtor members to better serve their clients. The economic statistics and analysis CREA provides enhances its members’ knowledge. This in turn can improve the quality of advice given to clients.
