Designated Agency – A NEW form of agency – Test Driving in Victoria now
This is probably one of the biggest changes to the Victoria real estate industry in a long time, and it’s come in with barely a whimper… The change is: The Victoria Real Estate Board is testing-driving a new form of agency. Your agent will represent only you through what is called Designated Agency, unless they are also the agent for the buyer or seller of the property.
“Designated Agency will become the industry standard in British Columbia on June 1, 2012…and on January 1, 2012 Victoria REALTORS® will begin an important three month pilot project with this new agency model. Victoria will be the first Board to get designated agency training from Brian Taylor, and the only Board to have early access to the new designated agency forms. Your early experiences and feedback on using a designated agency model seven years in the making will lead the way in the rollout to the rest of the province next spring. BCREA is indebted to the Victoria Real Estate Board for its enthusiasm and support in this initiative, and we look forward to working with its members in the months ahead!” BCREA, http://web.bcrea.bc.ca/da/
So, what exactly does this mean to you as a buyer or seller?
In the past, when you’ve signed a listing or buyer agency agreement, you’ve technically signed the brokerage as your agent not the individual agent. Previously, this led to issues when your agent sold you a home represented by the same company that s/he represented: i.e. a Pemberton Holmes REALTOR® sold another Pemberton Holmes REALTOR’s® listing. This was called limited dual agency and we were not to advise you on price or motivation of the seller or buyer. Many agents felt conflicted in these cases as often we did not know the seller or buyer anyway. And, in Victoria, where there are several large companies, it meant that the agent was not able to advise you on price on many of the properties you were visiting that were represented by their own company.
Now, your agent is representing you… They can advise you on price and motivation of any seller except in the case where they also represent the seller or buyer personally, or have in the past.
What we’ve heard from buyers and sellers is that they felt this was the case anyway. So, the BCREA is testing this theory and observing if this type of agency will work, in reality. The Victoria Real Estate Board, which is a highly proactive and professional real estate board, has been chosen to test this new form of agency to see if it works. Over the next few months, we’ll be using new forms and explaining agency in a new way… in a way that consumers understand.
Ask about it! Designated Agency.
Comments
There are no comments for this item yet.
Post a Comment
* denotes a required field. We will keep your email address private.