More benefits for the public and agents when commercial listings join REALTOR.ca

As a consumer, there’s nothing better than to go shopping and have key stores and services at your fingertips, all under one roof.

The same concept applies to real estate. For years, WinnipegREALTORS® has offered residential real estate listings in one central location at REALTOR.ca. With that shopping tool in hand, prospective home buyers could search for their next home without having to bounce around from website to website.

Until recently, those looking to acquire commercial real estate, unfortunately, have had to hop back and forth between two websites — ICX.ca and REALTOR.ca, to go through listings. That annoying routine will come to an end this October, when commercial listings currently displayed on ICX.ca will transfer over to REALTOR.ca.

Two industry leaders are leading the way in the move to REALTOR.ca: Cushman/Wakefield, who recently merged with DTZ Winnipeg Leasing Ltd., and newly-created Capital Commercial Real Estate Services.

Now, as members of the commercial division of WinnipegREALTORS®, their listings (along with CBRE Winnipeg’s newly-created office) will be available on REALTOR.ca for consumers and REALTORS® to peruse, said Stephen Sherlock, chair  of the commercial division, who’s also a sales and leasing associate at DTZ.

“I think the move of commercial listings from ICX.ca to REALTOR.ca is great news for all of us,” he said.

“The merger between Cushman/ Wakefield and DTZ gives us a strong, well-rounded portfolio (industrial, retail, property management) in which every gap has been filled. We now have the ability to service clients whatever their needs may be.”

Those services will now be that much easier to access, he added.

“It’s exciting. Previously, the general public experienced difficulty in accessing commercial listings. Having all the listings on REALTOR.ca is going to provide them with a greater outlet to find what they’re looking for. It’s going to make things so much easier to know that you can simply go to one site to find listings.”

Likewise, having listings consolidated in one central spot is going to make things easier on REALTORS®.

“Having everything on REALTOR.ca is going to make it easier to market our listings, and will also help with peer communications,” said Sherlock. “We already have a cooperative group that works closely in the smaller commercial market, but having all the listings on one website is going to make it that much easier to know what everyone has. I think it’s going to be all-around great for all of us.”

Ryan Behie, managing director for CBRE Winnipeg’s new office, agreed.

“We’ve viewed presentations and have seen what joining WinnipegREALTORS®’ (commercial division) has to offer. That’s prompted us to become members — the value it offers to the Winnipeg marketplace and the brokerage community,” he said.

There will be a host of benefits associated with adding commercial listings to REALTOR.ca, said Peter Squire, the WinnipegREALTORS® director of public affairs.

“First of all, come October, visitors accessing the ICX.ca site will automatically be re-directed to the commercial section of REALTOR.ca, and bookmarked links from ICX.ca will also link to REALTOR.ca’s commercial section. There shouldn’t be any service disruptions on the day listings switch over, so there shouldn’t be any need for people to change their viewing habits.”

He added that the next benefit is a very significant one.

“Both the public and REALTORS® alike can expect that there will be more up-to-date content,” he said. “The REALTOR.ca website is updated as many as four times each day, which means that commercial listings, like residential listings, will be able to benefit from more frequent updates. Listings will also feature more comprehensive information. And for REALTORS®, there will be features such as keyword searches that allow them to position their listings, and also collect enhanced analytics for commercial content.”

Commercial REALTORS® can look for more on the roll-out of the listings at a national conference — the 2015 Canadian Commercial Conference, from September 30 to October 22, at Delta Hotel Winnnipeg

The conference is being hosted by the commercial division of WinnipegREALTORS®.