Businessman wonders if seller even saw his offer
Joey Thompson
Province
Langley businessman Kip Webster couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted a “Just Listed” sign on an ideal piece of property not far from where he lived.
He had been searching years for a home like the one on 200th Street in the Brookswood area of town for his personal and business needs.
He called his Re/Max realtor and said he wanted to submit a bid of $11,000 over the $469,000 listed price to clinch the deal.
Webster, owner of a restaurant equipment repair and cleaning service, checked out the house, property and storage shed, signed the contract of purchase and plunked down a $20,000 deposit, confident his prompt bid would be a go.
He even removed the subjects, except for a brief spell to set up financing.
But after hemming and hawing a few days, his realtor called to say another buyer had snapped it up.
Selling price: $466,000.
Yuh? What gives?
Not only did it sell for $14,000 less than his bid, it went for $3,000 less than the home owner’s asking price.
Webster was told the seller accepted the lower deal because the realtor waived the sales commission. Still vexed, he dug a little deeper and discovered his successful opponent was a realtor who worked alongside his own Re/Max agent.
The intrepid entrepreneur called the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, one of 12 member boards of the B.C. Real Estate Association representing 18,000 realtors.
An official assured him “everything was above board.”
He was willing to admit defeat when, to his surprise, his realtor called a week or so later to say the house was back on the market. The realtor/new owner’s price: $495,000. Did he want to make offer?
“Something felt funny to me,” the self-employed operator said.
“They knew I was willing to pay top dollar, that I wanted it a lot.”
I got in touch with the Fraser Valley realtor who grabbed the sale from under Webster’s nose and told her even if the transaction was legal, the optics sure didn’t look good.
After all, the potential for B.C. realtors to benefit from inside info not yet released to the public is huge, especially when some Lower Mainland properties are drawing multiple offers, forcing wannabe buyers to pay well above asking.
B.C. realtors, considering they closed an estimated $37.8 billion in sales in 2006, must take measures to ensure every transaction is squeaky clean.
The Langley agent said she didn’t pocket much after shelling out B.C.’s property transfer tax, realtor’s commission and closing costs.
“I didn’t even want to sell,” she said.
“I was planning on renting it out, but [Webster’s] realtor kept bugging me and bugging me. He said his client really wanted it.
“I’m nothing like the guys who flip for hundreds of thousands, scooping up houses from old ladies.”
Real Estate Council of B.C. director Larry Buttress said realtors can snap up as many properties as they want but they must disclose their occupation to the seller.
But it still leaves Webster questioning who the realtors were really working for: “If anyone deserves to make more, it was the owner. I can’t help but wonder if he even saw my offer.”
© The Vancouver Province 2008