The new business cards arrived today:
http://pierrelebel.com/pics/canada/BusinessCard.jpg
My eBay store will be closing next week. 
"having one experienced realtor representing you"
Once again I do not disagree with you. However, we made the decision not to use ONE realtor exclusively in this market.
@pierrelebel wrote:
We are not "against" realtors. In fact, we are working with several of them in a very small market where a house typically takes longer than two months to sell. Many have been on the market for over a year! They generally come on this small urban market overpriced and it takes quite some time for owners to realize they will not get what "they think their house is worth".
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Well, of course you have to feel comfortable with your decisions, but my best advice would still be to do some vetting amongst the several realtors you have already contacted and choose one only (for the reasons I mentioned above). Personally, from the experience I have with the legal side of real estate transactions, that would always be my choice, as much as I detest the whole idea of real estate commissions!
By the way, have you considered Picton? It's such a pretty place, has all the basic services, but quieter than Belleville (my mother's family was originally from that area).
I had to smile when you mentioned time on the market. Here in SW Nova Scotia, houses are quite often on the market for 2 or 3 years before they sell. Many owners simply take them off the MLS completely for the winter. So far, developers haven't figured out that we're in one of the loveliest corners of Canada, with ocean views around every bend, and the second warmest climate in the country, so we remain "undiscovered" ---- shhhhhhh.
"By the way, have you considered Picton?"
Picton is not for us.
Our relocation is based on long term estate planning considering we are no longer spring chicken. On the long term Mary wants to live in town (not rural) and be closer to her sisters - so our new location is based on that specific need.
I do not know what the rules are in NS or BC when it comes to realtors. In Ontario, I took the time to study the legal differences between being a "customer" and a "client". And I agree with you, a buyer must go into a home purchase decision with two eyes well open.
Prior to retirement, I had been a stamp dealer since 1987 doing business mostly by mail. In the early 1990's I had a showroom open to the public on Danforth Avenue in Toronto, prior to moving to Belleville in 1993 to own and manage an adult computer training school.
I kept the philatelic mail order business going on a part-time basis until I sold the school and went back to being a full-time dealer in 1997. A year later I went online, set up my website and joined eBay, Yahoo, Amazon, and a few other specialized online sites.
It is not a secret that over the years I have used eBay (and others) to build my list of worldwide customers. Hundreds have become regular buyers from my website.
"retirement tour going on longer than Derek Jeter's "
Not quite,
It is more like Frank Sinatra who first announced his "retirement" in 1971, twenty-seven years before the end!
http://www.datesandevents.org/people-timelines/24-frank-sinatra-timeline.htm
Together with everyone else, I want to thank you so much Pierre for all your help since I joined ebay. I learned so much and came to rely on you, probably too much.
I wish you and Mary all the very best - you will be missed 
To follow up on this old thread, yes we have purchased a house and will be moving in the Spring:
http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Canada-Town-Square/We-are-moving/m-p/287352#U287352
