REALTOR.ca Frequently asked questions

Yes - please see our Dealing With Buyer's Agents page for more information.

When your property sells, you don't owe us anything. You've already paid For Sale By Owner Inc. a flat fee for facilitating the posting of your property on REALTOR.ca.

Approximately half of our customers sell directly to the buyer, meaning that the buyer who contacted them was not represented by an agent. The two parties (buyer & seller) completed the deal without any assistance, other than their respective lawyers, who handled the paperwork for closing the sale.

The only time you'd have an additional fee is if an agent brings you a buyer and you've negotiated an amount acceptable to you, as payment for the commission to the agent when the deal closes.

There are NO other fees or gimmicks.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

According to an agreement between the Competition Bureau and the Canadian Real Estate Association, a listing agent/brokerage must act as an agent for the seller to post, amend and remove a property listing on a Board's MLS^® System. However, the nature of any additional services to be provided by the listing agent/brokerage to the seller is determined by an agreement between the listing agent/brokerage and the seller.

This allows individual sellers to utilize a flat fee mere posting service like the For Sale By Owner Inc. Under a Mere Posting (also unofficially referred to as a "mere listing"), you simply use our service to get your property listed on REALTOR.ca, through our established agreements with select real estate brokers who are members of the Canadian Real Estate Association.

We do not offer any other services that real estate agents would typically provide to a full service client, and we do not represent your interests in dealing with any prospective buyers, agents, or in any transaction(s) that results from your posting on a Board's MLS^® System or from your ForSaleByOwner.ca listing.

With the mere posting service, the buyers contact you directly to arrange showings, submit offers, to ask questions, and for all other matters dealing with the sale of your property. If an agent contacts you with a buyer, you control the commissions you are willing to pay, if any, and you remain in control of the sale. For more information on being better prepared for buyers, please visit our Successful Seller's Guide.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

You can show 40+ photos of your property on REALTOR.ca, depending on the rules of the local real estate board in your area.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Your REALTOR.ca posting has no time limit! It will last until it sells or is cancelled. (Cancellation is free.)

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

You have the freedom to cancel at any time without the typical cancellation "processing fees" that many other brokerages charge.

If you change your mind about using our services, you are not locked in or obligated to keep your posting with ForSaleByOwner.ca, or with the brokerage service.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Your listing on ForSaleByOwner.ca will be activated immediately, unless you choose to put your listing on hold, and then we'll require basic identification documents from you so that our Paperwork Pro can fill out the MLS^® System documents for you. You can learn more about this enhanced service by visiting our MLS^® System Paperwork Assistance page.

The goal of the brokerage is to ensure that your property is posted on the REALTOR.ca website quickly and professionally, so you can focus on the sale of your property.

When your property posting is live on REALTOR.ca, you will receive an email confirmation from the brokerage.

We typically post most properties within one business day of receiving the completed listing information we require from each seller.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Your property will appear on the REALTOR.ca website usually within one business day of receiving the completed listing information.

Once your property is posted, you take over control of the sale of your home. We also recommend that each seller employ other marketing avenues as stated in our Steps for a Successful Sale guide.

If a buyer's agent (a real estate agent with a buyer) brings you an offer, you negotiate directly with them.

Other individual buyers that come to you from REALTOR.ca and ForSaleByOwner.ca deal directly with you, and there are absolutely no additional fees paid to anyone if your home sells without a buyer's agent involvement.

In the public section of the industry websites, visitors can find more information about your property just like they could if it was posted by a full service real estate agent. They will click on a link that goes to a special listing page on the For Sale By Owner Inc. website, where they can view the full details about your property.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

When a mere listing is uploaded on the industry websites, buyers and real estate agents will usually contact the seller directly to book appointments, view the property, present offers, and for all other inquiries. Each seller agrees to respond to appointment requests, and agrees to schedule appointments at their own convenience. Being well prepared will present you with your best option for attracting a qualified buyer.

From time to time, an agent or a buyer may contact the For Sale By Owner Inc. brokerage service directly. In those occasions, the brokerage staff will provide them with the information on how to contact you, the seller, directly.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

We complete most property postings within one business day of receiving your documents. Visit the "What Documents Are Needed?" page to learn more.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

When Buyers find your FSBO listing on the REALTOR.ca webpage, we link them to a special, user-friendly interactive version of your listing that resides on our servers. Under the Consent Agreement with the Competition Bureau, the current Mere Posting Rules prohibit posting any internet links or email links in the Property Description, or in the Virtual Tour (View Multimedia) of the posting. Instead, we encourage buyers to follow the link on the listing that says "CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION". This link goes directly to your enriched listing on the ForSaleByOwner.ca website - connecting you directly with the buyers. View detailed screenshots of how this works on the "How FSBO & REALTOR.ca are Linked Together" page.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

As a private seller on REALTOR.ca, your property posting's main purpose is to drive as many buyers to your FSBO listing as possible - and for that reason, we limit the amount of information on your listing to encourage buyers to follow the link on the listing that says "CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION". This link goes directly to your enriched listing on the ForSaleByOwner.ca website - connecting you directly with the buyers. View detailed screenshots of how this works on the "How FSBO & REALTOR.ca are Linked Together" page.

Your special FSBO webpage updates information live and you have full control and direct access to unlimited changes and revisions via your profile on our site.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Our goal is to keep each of our postings on REALTOR.ca relatively simple, with an invitation for the buyers to visit your special, personalized FSBO listing for more information. We do not include detailed property descriptions, and we also limit the photographs in the posting.

We do it this way because you want buyers to see that your posting is a private FSBO listing, so they will contact you directly for more information. For this reason, the listing description is kept relatively generic and always contain the phrase "CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION". This link goes directly to your enriched listing on the ForSaleByOwner.ca website - connecting you directly with the buyers. View detailed screenshots of how this works on the "How FSBO & REALTOR.ca are Linked Together" page.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

You bet! Please view our Open Houses on REALTOR.ca info page for more details.

For most provinces, yes, in the back end system that only real estate agents can see. Please view our Stating Commission to Agents info page for more details and to see if your province is eligible for this service.

We do not charge any additional fees for changes or updates to your posting. You can make changes by sending the brokerage an email. Price changes require a completed Listing Amendment form, which will be emailed to you by the brokerage at your request.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Under the current mere posting Rules, only the posting brokerage can access the listings to make any changes. Some changes such as a listing price and other minor changes must be submitted using a Listing Amendment form, which the brokerage will email to you upon request. Other changes such as photographs or updated property tax information etc., can be emailed to the brokerage. All changes will be processed usually within one business day.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

YES! You must be willing to report to the brokerage, all details of the sale of the property by sending in a copy of the contract of purchase and sale and all addendums. The information in the MLS^® System is often used for calculating property values province-wide and it is important that accurate and complete data be fed into the system. If for any reason you are unwilling to provide that information then, at the brokerage, we will not be able to post your property for you.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Reporting the sale of your property is an important part of the posting and sale process. The brokerage must be advised when a sale takes place. The information comes from consumers, real estate agents and other brokerages. If a sale has taken place and there has been no report received by the brokerage, they will make an attempt to obtain the contract and all addendums. If you are unable or unwilling to provide the information about the sale, the brokerage will not be able to post the property for you.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Property owners have a legal and ethical duty to disclose to potential buyers all material facts affecting the value of the property. The list of these facts is long, and it includes information related to potential environmental hazards such as UFFI, structural defects, unlawful use of the property such as unauthorized basement apartments, building code violations, underground septic systems and oil tanks, and "Stigmatized Properties". Some examples of stigmatized properties include those with history of the manufacture and/or growth of illegal substances (marijuana grow-ops & meth labs etc.), a history of serious or violent crimes or incidents, such as murder, arson, suicide, and reoccurring burglary. As well, stigmatized properties also include those that are believed to be "haunted" even if the seller denies, has not witnessed, or does not support the existence of paranormal activities.

In order to ensure compliance, all sellers are required to complete and sign a Property Disclosure Statement supplied by the brokerage.

Please keep in mind that these rules apply to all listing services and listing agents who are adding listings to a board's MLS^® System.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Under the rules and under the provincial laws, it is real estate agents who must take responsibility for the accuracy of information that they post on a board's MLS^® System. Agents must make reasonable inquiries to discover and disclose material facts affecting the value of the property. However, this does not mean that they have to provide an iron-clad warranty for the accuracy of the information in all circumstances. The rules do not relieve any seller from their legal and contractual obligations to make true statements and to provide honest disclosures.

To ensure compliance with these provisions, the standard listing agreement which we use, requires all sellers to provide certain documents to support their marketing claims about the property and to personally certify and guarantee the truthfulness of all information and any disclosures. Our company policy is to make reasonable inquiries with each customer to verify the pertinent information on a listing, but we also rely 100% on the seller to make true statements and honest disclosures.

These rules apply to all listing services and listing agents who are adding listings to a board's MLS^® System.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate properties in all Canadian provinces at this time, but are working on expanding our services. We apologize for the inconvenience but are aiming to include them as soon as possible. To see if your province is currently eligible, please check our pricing.

Please visit our Flat Fee Pricing page to choose your package and get started with the listing process.

In Ontario and Nova Scotia, yes - for both residential and commercial. For other provinces, only commercial leases are currently eligible. However, the MLS^® System will be gradually allowing residential rental properties in other areas over time.

Yes they are.

Yes. To see the most recent listings, please visit our Latest Postings on REALTOR.ca.