Considering the hash the federal government is making of customer relations with the military these days, our serving members and veterans deserve a huge show of support on November 11. Wear a poppy from now until that Monday and attend your local celebration. The cenotaph ceremonies are always moving and serve as a reminder to all Canadians of how fortunate we are that others made sacrifices so we could live in a great country. After voting day, in my opinion, Remembrance Day is the best way to recognize and reflect on our citizenship.
Changing gears. My July 2013 column about disclosure – the French edition – produced an inquiry from a recent home buyer in Quebec.
“If you could help clarify if a seller and agent is required to divulge a problematic neighbour (taken to court for harassment by previous owner)?”
Stunned by the fact that the column en français begins “oh la la” – who knew that was the translation for “Yikes!” – I was also surprised a “civilian” was reading an industry publication. (And yes, I was surprised to see my words in our second language. And no I don’t do the translation, that’s left to the brilliance of REM’s publishing and editorial staff.)
It was a timely refresher for the ongoing issue of “stigmatized properties” and the necessity of disclosure – or not. My advice to licensees is pretty simple. If you have to ask if you should disclose, if your tummy gets a little knot just thinking about it – you should disclose. After discussing it with your client, of course.
“Is the fox loose in the hen house?” exclaimed one of my senior salespeople – in age and experience – and I wondered what had gone wrong with one of his deals. The question is fairly posed. In these days of bending over backwards to save the buyer from “caveat emptor” and to indemnify themselves against claims, the myriad of professional inspectors descending on an unsuspecting house sale are sometimes, to use a technical phrase, “screwing up the deal” by offering their opinion. “It might contain asbestos. The roof might leak. There could be mould. The hot water tank could blow any second. You’d be crazy to buy this house!”
Well, maybe that’s a little extreme. People seem to forget most of the time they are buying a USED house. If it’s 10- to 15-years-old, the hot water tank is suspect. More than 20 – prepare for a costly roof replacement. Forty-years-old and the perimeter drain could be collapsing. “Age unknown” and you may find knob-and-tube wiring and a very innovative septic tank made from a car body and a couple of oil drums. Such is the market in which we deal.
However, the market for used housing is what sets the price of new housing, so this old house is “the boss of me.” Only in a buyers’ market can you hope to re-open the contract after a building inspector points to the deficiencies. “It has single-pane windows.” So what does the market say? Other homes with single-pane windows are selling and that’s how we arrived at the listing price. Don’t like it? Walk away.
You can’t blame the buyer for trying to get a new hot water tank or roof but there is no entitlement to reduce the price built into normal inspection clauses, so barring mutual agreement – very tricky in any market, and impossible in a competitive one – the buyer has a simple choice involving getting off the pot.
As their agents, we will serve buyers better if we train them first. We’ve been there done that, got the t-shirt. Bring value to your marketplace. Richard Robbins reminds us of a Jim Rohn principle: “People who deliver the most value are paid the most money.”
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Have you heard the name Ozzie Jurock? If you are a Saturday listener to the Corus Radio Network, Ozzie is a regular contributor to Michael Campbell’s Money Talks program. If you Google his name, up will pop the Oz’s smiling face and his website www.jurock.com. There’s a lot of great content but my favourite material he creates is a subscriber piece called Jurock’s Facts by Email. (It’s been around awhile – used to be called Facts by Fax!) For less than a latte a week you can receive a 10 + page weekly review covering a broad range of topics related to all real estate from a Western Canadian perspective.
Consider the highlights of Issue #38 in 2013. Angela Merkel’s election win in Germany and the impact on the Euro. Buyers under 55 are leading the demand for luxury housing. Who is buying in Detroit? (You’ll be surprised!) Or Las Vegas. Or Kitimat. Cash crops on farmland in Canada’s west. Demolitions rather than renovations in tony neighbourhoods. Excited accountants – really Ozzie? Could you find a better oxymoron than “excited accountants”? Perhaps “talkative mimes”? And in every weekly issue of Facts by Email there are “Plots of the Week” and “Deals of the Week” with opportunities for investors in this issue ranging from a 24-unit rental in Campbell River to a 637-acre farm in Grenfell.
Issue #39 reflects on U.S. housing sales, the largest landowners in the U.S., Greater Vancouver housing stats, commercial real estate and the threat of bankers reporting rental investors to Canada Revenue. Ozzie lives and plays in the west but covers North America in his data collection and subsequent opinions. His leadership out of the crash and subsequent recovery of specific U.S. housing markets has been notable. Check it out. If nothing else you’ll have material for your own newsletter – or column – giving proper credit of course.
Contact Marty Douglas by email at [email protected] . Follow or connect with Marty on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is a managing broker for Re/Max Ocean Pacific Realty in Comox and Courtenay, B.C. He is a past chair of the Real Estate Errors and Omissions Insurance Corporation of B.C., the Real Estate Council of B.C., the B.C. Real Estate Association and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board.
Photo: twobee/freedigitalphotos.net
