When you are acting for a Seller and there are several competing Offers, you are under an obligation to disclose the number and certain other matters concerning those Offers. If there are three or four, then, it’s not that difficult, however what happens if there are suddenly 18 competing Offers. Each time you receive a new Offer, you have to contact all the others and let them know. So, when Offer 17 arrives, you have 16 calls or emails to make, and when the 18th Offer arrives, you have 17 people to notify. It can get confusing.
Perhaps you have an assistant on your Team, or administration at the Brokerage which will handle this for you, or Broker Bay will send out an updated email. This communication project is going to take a lot of time away from your role for your client. You are supposed to be providing advice to your Seller, and here you are spending time with 17 people who will have an unsuccessful bid.
Let’s consider a very simple, straightforward and easy system to use.
Put together a Website or Blog. You could easily have a Website for 123 Main Street, or you could have a real estate website yourself which permits Blog posts.
Here’s an example:
Website Format
123 Main Street- Offers 8:00 pm Tuesday, xx February 202x
Number of Offers Received
Count
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4 Offer, Listing Brokerage, no collateral agreement
- 5
- 6
- 7 Self-represented, co-op % assumed by Listing Agent
- 8 Offer, Listing Agent, Co-op % reduced by 0.5%
- 9
- 10 withdrawn
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14 expired
- 15
- 16 Listing agent receives, 25% referral fee (of co-op %) from Buyer Agent
- 17
- 18
Numbers 10 and 14 have withdrawn or expired
Current Number: 16 Time: 19:27
Each update takes about 30 seconds to complete. So, 18 entries will take you 9 minutes. Sometimes, there is nothing to say other than to type a two digit number!
Everyone who is a potential Buyer or Buyer’s agent can check your website once every half hour and when the time gets close, every 5 minutes or so.
The involvement of the time associated with this “communication project” has now been transferred to the Buyers.
TRESA Rules
This arrangement worked well under REBBA, 2002, but the new TRESA rules carry this disclosure one step further.
- Disclose
- Acknowledgement by Recipient
- Provide Recipient with a Copy
The Difficulties
Getting the other side to acknowledge, sign and get them a copy is the tough part. This is what the section says:
“23.(5) The registrant shall make best efforts to obtain a written acknowledgement from each person receiving the disclosure under subsection (4) indicating that the disclosure has been received and, if a person makes the acknowledgement, provide them with a copy of it.”
We are going to have to work with this. Place a schedule on the Listing and possibly a note in Broker’s Remarks to explain your process:
“Please check the following website for updated disclosures concerning competing Offers www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com.
Prior to Offer submission and Prior to Offer expiration, please confirm that you have viewed the site and made copies as required.”
Note: Naturally, the precise link would work.
Will that qualify as best efforts? It should. It will confirm that they attended at the site at least twice and are aware. Their email is your Acknowledgement and also confirmation that they have a copy.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker