What is a REALTOR® and how do they work?

Real Estate Brokers and Sales persons are licensed and regulated in Ontario by the Real Estate Council of Ontario and maintain their license and a level of professionalism through mandatory continuing education. Brokers and Sales people have the option to join Organized Real Estate Associations. In order to have access to an MLS® service, being a member of an organized real estate association is essential. Local Boards and associations operate and maintain MLS® systems.

A REALTOR®, by definition, is a member of Organized Real Estate guided by a code of ethics and standard of business practice implemented by the Associations. Such standards and codes are designed to protect the consumer and maintain a standard conduct in the profession.

Therefore, one could be a licensed Broker or Sales Person, but NOT be a REALTOR®.

If a Brokerage is a member of an association, then so must all their Brokers and Sales Representatives.

It is up to the individual professional to seek out how they want to run their business, what Brokerage they want to work for (i.e. RE/Max Hallmark Chay Realty is a Brokerage), and how they maintain their professional development beyond the minimum requirements.

Real Estate is an industry paid on contingency… commission. If we sell property, we get paid. Brokers and Sales Representatives costs for running their business comes out of their pocket…not the Brokerages. Therefore, Brokers/Sales persons run a high risk, high reward business. That’s the nature of the contingency fee arrangement. The industry has seen many changes recently, due to consumer demand and technology and business models are changing too to reflect these changes.