Editor:
An open letter to B.C. Minister of Finance Selina Robinson:
I want you to know that I have a huge amount of respect for you, and appreciate what you do for all of us in B.C.
Your job can be very thankless and is not an easy one.
I am writing you this letter as a B.C. constituent and as a licensed Realtor, wanting you to know that I have a concern about a quote from you that appeared in the press regarding Realtors: “The real estate association, as a commission-driven industry, has a vested interest in the market being hot, but the government’s work is to make sure people are protected.”
As a very hardworking Realtor (one of over 25,000 Realtors in the province), I hope you don’t honestly equate “commission-based Realtors,” as the cause or encouraging of a “market being hot,”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Realtors are not the cause of - nor do they have the ability to cause - home prices to go up or down.
Prices are affected by “supply and demand.”
Every Realtor that “lists” a house and ultimately “sells” it has to deal with the same “hot” market when the person that just “sold” their home, has the same pressure to now find and purchase a new home (the recent seller, who has just become a buyer) in the same “hot” market. It is a huge challenge for all Realtors and not an easy one.
I’m sure you didn’t mean it when you say that receiving suggestions from the CEO of our provincial association, (BCREA) is from an industry that has a vested interest in a “hot” market.
Our industry wants to help the government find a solution.
There are many potential solutions to dealing with the housing shortage that is causing the “hot” market.
Speeding up the process of the red tape at the municipal level that builders and developers have to deal with, or providing incentives to developers to provide “affordable” housing, are two ideas - but there are many more solutions.
A word of caution - “markets change.” This “hot” market is showing signs of changing in the Fraser Valley, as more listings are coming on the market.
Realtors are people who live in, serve, and give back to help their communities. Realtors care about their clients and are in the industry for the long run.
I urge you to listen to all the voices out there, and before making a final decision, please give Darlene Hyde (BCREA CEO) and other Realtor industry leaders, a chance to contribute to the narrative - to help you make your final decision. I (and all Realtors) have empathy, concern, and most of all - we have a fiduciary duty, to do the very best for our clients.
Keith Liedtke
