06/11/2021
RECO is the Real Estate Council of Ontario that regulates real estate professionals and protects the public interest.
We have heard about the unfair and also unethical practices of realtors. Today I have added my 2 or 3 cents to RECO, the governing body for realtors, as it is asking for input.
1. Listing price was way underpriced to create a competing bidding war. The sellers are now asking for this tactic so that they can get a bidding frenzy going and get their "desired" price The listing price does not reflect market price and it is to draw the attention of buyers to the house as the house seems "affordable" - a very enticing and deceptive entry price point for buyers;
2. Open bid competing offers. It has been a competing offer nightmare for buyers for the past few months. There has been bidding wars with 10-20 offers on the table with the lowest offered price started over the listing price; homes with no inspection reports which means no consumer protections, bully offers which throws everything out of the window, way out market valuations which can put financing at risk, 30 min buying viewing or virtual viewings that does not allow detail viewing of the property and so on... Open bid competing offers will allow buyers to take stock of buying situation and able to make an informed decision with the process; and
3. this one is for realtors only: There should be a permission for realtors to upload previous mls photos onto their current mls listing from previous realtor who had done their jobs professionally and had spent money and time on their advertisement. The photos should reflect current property state and not previous property conditions which the sellers had paid for staging and getting it ready for the market.
