Is Realtor.ca compromising its integrity?

In the rush to spin out the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)’s Realtor.ca as a taxable entity capable of generating revenues, I can’t help but wonder if we’re eliminating the very reason for its continued success.

Why have Canadians made Realtor.ca the leading real estate advertising platform in the country?

Spoiler alert, it’s not the technology. According to CREA, the three primary reasons Realtor.ca has held strong as the leading real estate platform for consumers across the country are trust, transparency, and complete lack of bias in how information on the platform is presented.

There is trust that Realtor.ca presents a complete picture, or as complete a picture as possible, of the real estate market across the country.

There is a belief that the information provided is done so in a transparent manner with more information, such as sold data, coming online as consumers demand it — without the requirement to set up an account or to provide any user information.

There is a belief that the information is unbiased and represents the source of truth for Canadian real estate markets.

I believe that the nature of Realtor.ca — owned by CREA and part of a not-for-profit, advertising-free and account requirement-free entity — is the very thing that has created a bond of trust with Canadian consumers. Realtor.ca is not revenue-driven or revenue-motivated. I believe this is what makes it very different from every other platform out there, and ultimately what makes it important to Canadians.

Revenue generation: Comes at a cost to the existing strong consumer relationship

Changing the nature of Realtor.ca to mirror that of every other for-profit, revenue-driven platform out there could be a fatal mistake. It’s all well and good that members might save a few bucks if it can be spun out and made to generate its own revenue, but at what cost to the relationship Realtor.ca has built with the consumer over the last many years?

The introduction of advertising, both direct and indirect for the purpose of generating ancillary referral revenue and selling user data, will fundamentally change the user experience that Canadians seek from Realtor.ca. Consumers will not only see but feel this change, and the touchstones of market differentiation that Realtor.ca currently owes for its success could dissipate.

There are other issues with spinning out Realtor.ca. These will be debated, hopefully, at the upcoming CREA SGM, but they are largely mechanical and logistical in nature. My concern is more existential.

Just to be clear — what’s created a bond of trust with our consumers, and the literal foundation of our success, is that Realtor.ca is not revenue-driven and that there’s no motivation to create revenue from the consumer.

In spinning out Realtor.ca as a taxable entity, are we risking transforming our iconic site into just another platform driven by self-interest?