A property in the neighborhood you want to move to has just been added to Centris. Quickly, you leap to the phone. The broker who sells it must be contacted immediately so that you are the first on the list to visit it.
A property newly put up for sale immediately arouses interest and curiosity. While those that pile up in the last pages of Centris are reminiscent of those wilted vegetables at the back of a supermarket shelf that no one wants to buy.
All the information you’ve engulfed before you start shopping, whether from brokers, relatives, or the internet, comes to the same conclusion: a property lying around on the market is suspect. Surely she has some serious issues… Structural, maybe… Who knows, growing cannabis? In the jargon of real estate, we will say that it is burned.
No seller or broker wants a property with such a label. Three months on the market and the property becomes “like a bachelor at 3 a.m. in a bar who hasn’t found a soul mate yet,” says one broker.
Real estate brokers have found a simple way to solve this problem, without it appearing: the property is removed from Centris, the brokerage contract is canceled, a new one is made and the house magically appears as new on Centris legally.
A white lie, one would have said in another era. Easy to claim that there is “a lot of activity” when it comes to a property. Child’s play to go so far as to specify that there have already been 10 visits even if no potential buyer has crossed the doorstep. To give you an impression of excitement, you can also be wedged between two other pairs of buyers, because, supposedly, that was the only time available on the schedule.
If some remain insensitive to this type of tactics, others, easily influenced, will be anxious at the idea of losing a property once again.
In general, each visit is entered in the calendar of the selling broker with the time and the address of the property. Your broker does not have access to it, but there are no regulations prohibiting him from requesting a copy. Yes, a fake visit can be scheduled on the calendar, it has happened before. However, this stratagem takes time and brokers do not work with an hourly rate.
Does the reason a buyer opted out matter to you? If you’re a do-it-yourselfer ready to take on anything, chances are you’ll be shielded from a non-compliant garage, a cannabis crop, or mold.
As an inexperienced first-time buyer, your imagination can quickly run wild when thinking of the possible facts revealed during the inspection. A vague memory of the film The Money Pit with Tom Hanks may then arise in your mind, in which a young couple buys a house at a reasonable price where the work turns into a nightmare.
The apprehension of potential problems will make your stomach churn.
The seller may claim that he does not know the reason for the withdrawal, just like your buyer’s broker. Now, selling brokers know this: if a buyer withdraws because of the inspection, they must mention it to the next buyers and give them the inspection report.
Imagine that you are the only ones to make a promise to purchase on a house. Although feverish and excited by the hope of finally making your project a reality, you will feel comfortable offering the right price in your eyes. Even negotiate down in some cases.
Now imagine being told there are six… The pressure is sure to mount! With six offers on the table, you will be convinced that it is urgent to open your portfolio once again and improve your promise to purchase.
The selling broker can bluff and so can the broker shopping with you… especially if you have already visited around thirty houses with him.
If you have made a promise to purchase and you are quickly told that there is a second one, it is possible that this promise to purchase was made to create an artificial overbid.
False information can influence your decision making.
In the office of the same real estate agency (for example RE/MAX Signature, Sutton Actuel, Royal LePage Tradition), brokers who sell properties and brokers who represent buyers rub shoulders every day.
Yes, brokers follow the Real Estate Brokerage Act to the letter and do not disclose to their colleagues the amount of promises to purchase received on the properties they sell.
A buying broker could thus be made aware of offers already received by a fellow seller, which has been prohibited by law since 1994.
It all depends on the system put in place by the director of the real estate agency, explains to La Presse the former president and head of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) Robert Nadeau.
“It depends on whether the brokers have access to the file or not,” he says.
“It’s a big debate at the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and not yet at the OACIQ,” he continues. For example, does the manager of the real estate agency have the opportunity to give all brokers in the agency access to all transactions? Or should it be fair to the broker involved in the transaction?, argues Robert Nadeau. There is no management element yet. »
Robert Nadeau indicates that each real estate agency has its own mode of operation.
This topic is hotly debated among faculty, he says. “Between the reality of life, the rules of the OACIQ and how the organization applies them, there are great discussions. »
