REAL ESTATE: THE NEW FACE OF SALES

In recent news, the Ontario government is set to initiate a different approach regarding real estate regulations. These new regulations would give home sellers the option of who are sharing bids on a property to divulge the details of contending offers. This new sales system forms part of a regulatory change to the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA) effective April 1, 2023. With the current system, offers or bids on homes are made without the knowledge of how much the contenders are bidding on the property or how much farther above the asking price they are willing to pay. This new system allows sellers to create an open offer process. With this new system in place, sellers will not be strictly limited to selling their property with the current closed system. However, it remains unclear what sellers will disclose according to the regulation and how many sellers would be interested in participating in the new system. A new code of ethics for real estate agents, simpler standardized forms, and more powers for the real estate council of Ontario (RECO) include the new changes that should accompany the new sales system. Furthermore, this gives the opportunity to make provisions for consequences to anyone who seeks to deceive others while simultaneously giving options to those who are home sellers which should palliate buyers and offer other means to solve the problem of affordability. People who have given their thoughts on the matter have agreed that it strikes the right balance between adding more transparency to the offer and protecting the rights of home sellers. Although some have said that it should vary between an open and closed bidding system, most have kicked against the idea on the basis that if home sellers are able to pick when the bidding is open and when it is closed, it defeats the purpose of ending the blind bidding which tries to protect the interest of the seller.