How to choose a real estate agent in Orillia and lake country

Choose a real estate agent in Orillia the way you would choose any professional you are about to trust with a large sum of money: verify them, then compare them. Look the agent up on the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) public register, interview at least three, and decide on evidence. The evidence that matters is recent work on your kind of property in your part of lake country, a price opinion they can back up with sales, straight answers on fees and contract terms, and a clear account of who does the work.

What matters much less than people assume: the size of the billboard, the number of five-star reviews, and where the agent appears on a "best agents" list.

This guide is written by a working REALTOR®, so read it with that in mind. It is meant to be useful whoever you end up hiring.

How do I check that an agent is registered?

Every real estate agent and brokerage working in Ontario must be registered with RECO, the provincial regulator. Registration requires completing the required education and carrying consumer deposit insurance and professional liability insurance.

RECO is required by the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 (TRESA) to keep a public register, and anyone can search it for free at registrantsearch.reco.on.ca. According to RECO, a search shows:

• the agent's or brokerage's name and registration number
• registration status (you want to see "registered") and the expiry date
• for an agent, the brokerage they work for; for a brokerage, the broker of record and ownership information
• business contact information
• enforcement activity within the past five years

That last item is the one most people do not know about. RECO says the register includes referrals to discipline hearings and the related decisions, charges and convictions under the legislation, registrar's proposals to refuse, revoke, suspend or put conditions on a registration, and Licence Appeal Tribunal decisions. The search tool describes the window as the last 60 months. Older decisions are published separately on RECO's website.

It takes two minutes. Do it for every agent on your shortlist, including one a friend recommended.

Salesperson, broker, brokerage, REALTOR®: what do the titles mean?

The titles on a business card are less of a ranking than they look.

Term	What it means	Why it matters to you
Salesperson	An individual registered with RECO to trade in real estate, working for a brokerage	Most agents you meet are salespersons
Broker	A registered individual who has completed RECO's additional broker education, which prepares agents to own, manage or operate a brokerage	More education; not proof of more local or recent experience
Broker of record	The person at a brokerage responsible for making sure it complies with the law	The person to contact if you have a problem you cannot resolve with your agent
Brokerage	The registered company the agent works for	Your representation agreement is a contract with the brokerage
REALTOR®	A trademark identifying members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)	A membership, not a licence

RECO's own Information Guide uses "real estate agent" to mean either a salesperson or a broker, and so does this page.

Registrant versus REALTOR®

These are two different things. Registration with RECO is the legal requirement. REALTOR® is a trademark: CREA says it identifies only those real estate professionals who are members of CREA, and that members of a local real estate board are also CREA members. Members agree to follow the REALTOR® Code of Ethics on top of the provincial rules.

The practical difference for a seller is exposure. CREA states that only a real estate professional who is also a REALTOR® can list properties on their board's MLS® System. It is fair to ask an agent whether they are both.

What actually matters when you compare agents?

Recent activity in your area and property type

"Local" is too loose a test. Orillia and the surrounding townships cover very different kinds of property: in-town homes on municipal services, condos, waterfront on Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, cottages on the Severn River and Sparrow Lake, and acreage and farms in Oro-Medonte, Severn and Ramara. An agent who is excellent with in-town bungalows may have handled very little waterfront, and the reverse.

RECO's advice is the same: ask about the agent's experience in the particular neighbourhood and with your type of property, and ask about their recent trading activity. So ask for specifics. What have you sold or helped someone buy in the past year or two that is like mine, and where? An agent with real experience answers with addresses and details. If you are buying or selling a cottage, read why a local agent matters for a cottage.

The reason this matters is that the hard parts of a deal are property-specific. A waterfront sale turns on things like shore road allowances, septic systems and Parks Canada permits. A condo sale turns on the status certificate. A rural one turns on the well, the zoning and the road. You want someone who has dealt with your version of the problem recently.

Who does the work

Ask this directly, especially with a team. The person who makes the presentation at your kitchen table is not always the person who writes the listing, answers buyer calls, hosts showings or negotiates the offer. Teams can be a real advantage, because more people means more availability. They can also mean you rarely speak to the person you thought you hired.

A related point: Ontario now has two kinds of representation agreement. Under brokerage representation, the brokerage and all its agents represent you. Under designated representation, one or more named agents represent you, and RECO says the agreement must name them. Ask which kind the brokerage offers, and who will be named. The details are in representation agreements explained.

Communication

Agree on this before you sign, not after you are frustrated. How often will you hear from them, by what method, and who covers when they are away? For sellers: will you get feedback after showings, and how quickly? For buyers: how fast can they get you into a new listing?

The way an agent handles your first inquiry is a fair preview.

Pricing evidence

For sellers, this is the centre of the decision. Every agent will give you a number. What you are judging is the reasoning. A sound price opinion shows you the recent comparable sales, explains why each is or is not like your home, adjusts for the differences, and gives you a range with the trade-offs at each end.

A number with no sales behind it is a guess. See pricing your home for how a price opinion should be built, or start with a home value request.

Buyers should apply the same test. Before you offer, a good buyer's agent shows you what similar properties sold for and tells you plainly if they think a home is overpriced.

How should I read online reviews and "best agent" lists?

With some scepticism, and that includes the reviews on this site.

Canada's Competition Bureau has published guidance on spotting unreliable reviews. Its warning signs include a business with only five-star reviews, a sudden spike of very positive reviews, reviewers with brand-new profiles, gushing praise with no specifics, and the same phrases repeated across reviews. Its advice is to check several independent sources, look at reviews over a long period, read the middle-of-the-road ones, and ask people you trust or ask the business for references.

Applied to agents:

• Read for detail, not stars. A review that says what the property was, what went wrong and how the agent handled it is worth ten that say "amazing service".
• Check the dates and the type of client. Reviews spread over years from both buyers and sellers tell you more than a cluster from one month.
• Ask how rankings and directory lists are compiled. Find out what the criteria are and whether agents pay to appear. If the site does not say, treat the list as advertising.
• Hold advertising claims to the regulator's standard. RECO requires that statements in an agent's advertising be accurate and verifiable, and that any comparative claim be truthful and supported by verifiable facts. If an ad says an agent outsells others, you are entitled to ask what that is based on.
• Call references. RECO suggests asking each agent for references from past clients and then actually contacting them.

What are the red flags?

A price promise that wins the listing. Be wary of an agent who suggests the highest price so you sign, then asks for reductions once the home sits. If one agent's number is well above the others, ask to see the sales that support it. No agent can guarantee a price.

Pressure to sign today. There is no legitimate reason you cannot take a representation agreement away, read it, and sign tomorrow. RECO advises reviewing the contract carefully before signing and consulting a lawyer if you are unsure about anything.

Vague answers on fees. RECO is clear that you and the brokerage decide what you will pay, and that the amount is not fixed or approved by RECO, any government authority, or any real estate board or association. The agreement can set a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of the sale price, or a combination. An agent should be able to tell you exactly what you would pay, what it covers, and how it could change. See commission in Ontario.

Skipping the RECO Information Guide. Agents in Ontario are required to give you this guide and walk you through it before providing services or assistance. An agent who skips it is skipping a legal step in the first meeting.

Glossing over the contract terms. The expiry date, the holdover clause and the termination provisions are where disputes come from. RECO notes that holdover clauses often give rise to consumer complaints. If an agent will not explain them, that tells you something.

Eagerness to represent both sides. If the agent or brokerage also represents the other party, that is multiple representation. It is not permitted unless every client involved agrees in writing after written disclosure, and RECO warns that an agent in that position cannot advise you on the price to offer or accept. You can say no.

Is choosing a listing agent different from choosing a buyer's agent?

Yes. The registration check and the interviews are the same, but you are testing for different things.

	Listing agent (selling)	Buyer's agent (buying)
Core skill to test	Pricing, preparation, marketing, handling offers	Finding and assessing property, due diligence, negotiating
Evidence to ask for	Comparable sales behind their price; a written marketing plan; recent listings like yours	Recent purchases like yours; how they research a property before you offer
Scope of the agreement	Identifies your specific property	Can be a property, an area, a property type or other requirements, so read it carefully
Fee question	What you pay your brokerage, and what, if anything, you agree to pay toward the buyer's brokerage	What you owe your brokerage, and what happens if the seller does not cover it
Local knowledge that counts	Who the likely buyers are and what they pay for	Problems specific to the area: septic, wells, shoreline, zoning, roads

Two points for buyers come straight from RECO's Information Guide. First, a seller might not offer anything toward your brokerage's fees, which could affect what you can afford to offer. Ask about this before you sign. Second, you can define the scope of a buyer agreement narrowly. RECO's own example is someone looking for a house in a city and a cottage near a lake who wants different agents with local and property-type expertise for each. Just make sure each agreement's scope is clear so there is no dispute about who is owed a fee.

More on the buying side in first-time buyers and how offers work. For sellers, start with selling in Orillia.

How many agents should I interview?

RECO recommends interviewing at least three, for buyers and sellers alike. That is enough to see real differences in pricing, approach and fees without turning it into a second job.

If something goes wrong after you hire someone, RECO's advice is to raise it with the brokerage first (the broker of record is listed on the register) and then with RECO, at 416-207-4800 or toll-free 1-800-245-6910.

How Jordan can help

Jordan Rossman is a REALTOR® with Real Broker Ontario Ltd., Brokerage, and has worked in Orillia real estate since November 2014. You can look him up on RECO's public register like any other agent, and read more about him here. If you are comparing agents, he is glad to be one of the three. Ask him for the comparable sales behind his price opinion, his fees and agreement terms in writing, and who does what. Call 705-345-0797.