This is from the Auditor General’s Report: RECOMMENDATION 14 “To increase transparency and enhance consumer protection in real estate transactions involving offers from multiple prospective buyers, we recommend that the …
Leased Heating Equipment: Chattel or Fixture?
The Ontario Court of Appeal quoted with approval a decision of the House of Lords (Melluish). In this case, a company leased plant and machinery (including central heating equipment) to …
Clarity Clauses, Agreements and Documents (Part 2)
The Clarity Document In Part 1, we looked at the requirement under RECO for the production of a legible document. A custom had developed among certain real estate agents to …
RECO Discipline: The Elusive Guaranteed Sale
The Real Estate Council of Ontario through its Discipline Committee recently had to consider the case of a guaranteed sale. Briefly, Mr. Smith a real estate agent with 14 years …
Toronto and GTA Markets in August 2022
Prices down 20% since February but the same as August 2021 This is the recently released report of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board concerning the August 2022 results: “September …
Cost Plus Arrangements Allowed for Real Estate Deals
One of the issues of concern to the real estate profession has been the restriction to charge either a fixed amount or a percentage of the sale price. The difficulty …
The Legal Definition of “Acceptance”
communication Since the art of negotiating is very much part of every real estate deal, and it is the offer and the acceptance of that offer that creates the binding …
Merger of Executory Contracts
Doctrine of Merger Let’s say you are about to buy a farm! It doesn’t all happen at once. First, you submit an Offer; that results in an Agreement. Second, the …
Reasons For Buyers to Deal Directly with the Listing Agent
They aren’t all crazy! The conventional wisdom is that the buyer needs to be properly protected in a real estate deal and have their own agent on their side. Anything …
Problems with Alignment During Construction
Question: Client loves a home that is under construction. The home is vacant and half finished. During our due diligence it turns out that the addition on the back of …