Sellers can now take control of the property-selling experience with Canada’s leading online real estate platform.
EDMONTON, AB, Nov. 21, 2023 /CNW/ – HonestDoor, a leading proptech platform, is thrilled to announce the nationwide launch of its groundbreaking brokerage service, providing Canadian homeowners with an affordable and transparent way to list their properties on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for just $500. With this new service, HonestDoor continues to redefine the real estate industry by offering a unique opportunity for homeowners to take control of their property listings.
HonestDoor’s brokerage service has already completed dozens of successful transactions. Homeowners can now list their properties on the MLS network across Canada, with listings that also appear on Realtor.ca, one of the nation’s leading real estate platforms, within as little as 24 hours. In addition, these listings are featured on HonestDoor.com, a website that receives over 500,000 monthly visits and is steadily growing in popularity.
“Our brokerage service offers a compelling alternative to traditional real estate listings,” said Daniel Belostotsky, co-founder and CEO of HonestDoor. “We manage the listing and placement on Realtor.ca, allowing homeowners to set the commission they wish to pay a buyer’s agent. If an unrepresented buyer contacts the seller, the savings can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the value of the property.”
Seamless, cost-effective and empowering
At that point, both parties can speak directly and agree on a price. They can then reach out to many of HonestDoor’s recommended real estate lawyers or use their own lawyer to ensure everything is legitimate. So far, 20 per cent of HonestDoor’s listings sold without representation from either side, resulting in significant savings.
For example, an owner with a property valued at around $500,000 could save approximately $20,000 in after-tax dollars. HonestDoor’s automated valuation models, which boast a 91 per cent accuracy rate, can assist in identifying the price of a home, making the HonestDoor platform a one-stop service for buying and selling Canadian properties.
The platform is not competing against excellent real estate agents but is offering an alternative for owners who want to steer the selling process, said Belostotsky.
HonestDoor’s brokerage service has been used for a wide range of properties, including residential (condos, houses) as well as rural, recreational and commercial properties. Listings remain active for a full year, and homeowners have the flexibility to edit, remove and relist their properties as often as they like throughout the year.
The platform’s commitment to transparency and customer empowerment extends to its offer to refund the $500 listing fee if, at any point, a homeowner decides to work with one of their preferred real estate agents.
HonestDoor’s future plans include expanding to the consumer’s buy-side, enhancing services, and providing valuable data for business clients. With its significant data resources and growing website traffic, HonestDoor is poised to become a prominent player in the online real estate portal industry. The company aims to complete thousands of listings in 2024 – a fraction of the approximately one million listings completed nationally each year – and grow from there.
About HonestDoor
HonestDoor is an online real estate platform that empowers Canadian real estate buyers, sellers, investors and lenders with property valuations and innovative brokerage services. The company’s mission is to provide consumers with transparent, up-to-date and cost-effective solutions for all their real estate needs. For more information, visit HonestDoor.com.
HonestDoor is transforming the real estate landscape, offering homeowners a new way to take control of their property listings and save money, all while providing transparency and flexibility.
SOURCE HonestDoor
For further information: Media Contact: Dan Belostotsky, Honestdoor co-founder and CEO, Cell: (780) 970-3269, Email: [email protected]
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
