Real Talk!

Caveat Venditor! We don’t often hear that one, but it is Latin for “Seller Beware”! Yes, even Sellers can be taken advantage of, in the Real Estate Market.

Constantly revising and reviewing adherence to regulations, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) is responsible for regulating the trading of Real Estate and sustaining public trust in the marketplace. RECO works with the government, consumers and registered Real Estate practitioners to create a solid foundation for the industry.

One of the key words, today, is DISCLOSURE. The regulations regarding disclosure are stringent! Among other things, Real Estate professionals are required (by law) to disclose their role to all parties of the transaction. This must take place at the earliest opportunity and be done in writing. Real Estate professionals also have to disclose how they will benefit from the transaction- essentially: who is paying them and why.

Sellers must disclose any known defects of the property, even though it is the Buyer or the Buyer’s Agent’s responsibility to be diligent in discovering defects in the property. Deliberate avoidance of providing pertinent information may be considered fraud and could result in prosecution.

Being a Seller is difficult. Usually there is some personal reason that prompts the sale of a home. Perhaps there has been a transfer through employment, children have grown up and moved on, the family is growing, a lottery was won, a job has been lost… there are too many reasons to list… trust me, there is usually some kind of emotional, personal link.

I ask Sellers to try to disconnect their emotional attachment and try to think of it as selling a marketable item of great value… to think of it as more of a house, than their home. In this way, they can step back and evaluate it from a more objective perspective.
The Ontario Real Estate Association provides Realtors with a “Seller Property Information Statement”, a form that assists Sellers to be sure that Buyers are given accurate information about their property. While this provides a super outline, it is not a warranty and it is still up to the Buyers to make their own inquiries.

Real Estate “listing forms” contain a lot of information about disclosures. A good Realtor will go over every clause in the listing agreement and the Seller signs it, below the pre-printed phrase “THIS AGREEMENT HAS BEEN READ AND FULLY UNDERSTOOD BY ME….”

There are forms titled “Confirmation of Co-Operation and Representation” that put in writing, the nature of the roles of the parties in a transaction and provides an opportunity for any further disclosures. Here, a Realtor may disclose their own interest or relationship to the parties or any knowledge that they may have and wish to disclose.

Three key words have often been attributed to real estate: “location, location, location” and now we can add “disclose, disclose, disclose”.