The Concept of Real Estate

A crash course in Real Estate law & the definition of a Realtor® 

The “Do-it-yourself” era, supported by the odd bad experience and a huge lack of information, has publicly questioned the necessity of licensed Realtors®. 

The two key pieces of information the consumer needs to know is that we are not self-proclaimed and that we are independent contractors. 

A crash-course in Canadian Real Estate will help you understand why we exist. 

In Canada, all land is owned by the Crown (Federal and Provincial Governments).  When you “buy a house” you are not purchasing property at all… you are purchasing a Fee Simple interest in the Land Title.  An interest is a certain bundle of rights or control over the usage of the property determined by the type of interest and restricted by the Crown’s building codes and zoning.  Multiple parties may have various types of interests in any given title; for example a city right of way, a bank mortgage, a neighbour’s driveway easement, or a tenant’s lease agreement; some will be added and removed at the discretion of the owner and other’s at the discretion of the interest holder. 

This is the foundation of a Realtor’s® education.  Once we are experts on Canadian Real Estate, we study Agency and Contract Law to represent non-experts; the same way a doctor studies medicine in order to treat patients.  A required education via the University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business with high grade requirements grants the pre-requisite for a Trading Services License.  The License is what makes the Realtor® and must be registered with a Licensed Brokerage (Firm) and kept up to date with the Real Estate Council through continued educational updates.  

Realtors® are independent contractors.  We hire our Brokerage and we operate our trade within our own personal attitudes, philosophies, tastes, ideas, and principles.  As a consumer you will have very different experiences from Realtor® to Realtor®.