Want to find out what your neighbour’s house sold for without asking a realtor? Now you can!
Following the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the appeal from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), sold prices can now be made available online to the general public through a Virtual Office Website (VOW).
I have no idea what you are talking about!
Up until now, while the general public could access list prices for properties, if you wanted to find out what a property sold for, that information could only be made available from your Realtor. In Toronto, where properties routinely sell for 10%, 20% or even 30% over asking, the list price is less important than knowing what comparable properties have sold for.
Perhaps not surprisingly, TREB, the organization that represents Toronto Real Estate Agents, has tried to keep that information in the hands of realtors and out of the hands of the public.
The battle to keep sold prices under wraps has been raging on and off since 2003, but in 2016, the Competition Tribunal ruled that TREB was restricting competition and innovation by preventing its members from openly sharing home sales data. TREB appealed that ruling all the way to the Supreme Court but in August this year, the Supreme Court refused to hear TREB’s appeal and gave them 60 days to comply with the initial Competition Tribunal ruling.
Tough luck realtors – you had a good run!
As one of the top real estate teams in the west end, you would think that the Red Square Team would be a little miffed that all this knowledge and power has been taken from us and handed over to the masses. Well, it’s complicated so we put together this simple table:
The harsh reality is that as a realtor, if the only value you have been providing is access to sold homes data, you really haven’t been providing much value at all. If that means we lose a few realtors whose only value was as a gatekeeper to the data, that leaves more room for realtors who add real value to the most important transaction most people will ever make.
The Red Square Team Formula
Whether you are buying or selling, our formula for success includes expert analysis of all the relevant data to your transaction, including “sold data”. To reiterate, the most important part is not the data itself, but the analysis of the data. Two houses are rarely the same – two similar looking homes may have been in very different conditions even if they looked superficially similar. They could be in different school catchments and there may be any number of other factors that are not immediately evident. As well as studying the data, chances are that one of our team has actually been through these houses so when we look at comparables, we are looking at actual homes not just numbers.
In any case, this data was always available if you knew where to look through the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) or by asking a realtor! The bottom line is that if we, as realtors, can’t provide you with additional value, we don’t deserve your business.
So, how do I access this data?
As you’ve probably gathered by now, TREB is not that keen on releasing the data. The crux of their opposition has always been privacy. As such, while the data is available, it cannot be used for advertising purposes and can only be made available via a Virtual Office Website (VOW). A VOW is really just a fancy name for a password protected website and luckily, we have one and will provide as much relevant sold data as we can. Of course, if there is any other information you need, just let us know and we will be happy to help you.
All you need to do is:
1. Go to redsquareteam.com
2. Sign up to create an account
3. Search for properties and get the data you want on current listings, historical sales and pending sales (sales that have not closed, but have no conditions)
To show you that we really do want you to access the data (and that we’re not just saying it because the TREB’s appeal got rejected and we’re making the best of it), everyone who creates an account before October 31st will be entered into a draw for a $200 gift certificate for the Gin Mill– a great addition to the dining scene in Bloor West Village.
And of course once you’ve had a good browse, we are always here to answer any questions you may have and to provide you with any help you might need.
Until next time,
Alex Porritt
Sales Representative, Red Square Team
Editor’s Note: There may be further changes to how TREB releases the “Sold Homes Data”. For the latest updates, please visit www.redsquareteam.com
