Editor:
Count me as another voice in opposition to the BC NDP’s planned cooling-off period that aims to give people who are trying to buy a home time to back out of a deal without a fear of getting your butt sued off.
I have read the negative reaction of the British Columbia Real Estate Association, which says this has been tried in other jurisdictions and doesn’t work.
This is from an article in the NOW: "While attractive at first blush, in a market characterized by low supply, such as ours, we believe that a cooling-off period will cause more problems than it solves," said the association's chief executive, Darlene Hyde, at a press conference. "We are concerned that not enough attention was paid to the possible unintended consequences, such as the uncertainty for sellers who may be involved in another transaction, worsening affordability, an increase in frivolous offers, and numerous other factors."
The “frivolous offers” bit is what I’m most worried about. As we’ve seen with other measures put into place to deal with housing, speculators will find a loophole and play games with this new system.
I could easily see them putting in 10 bids on 10 different properties and then yanking them away. It would actually end up heating up the market as multiple offer madness took offer, continuing to push up prices.
Nobody wants that.
Please listen to the ideas of former Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Phil Moore, who recommended the government do this:
- Commit to undertaking fulsome consultation with real estate professionals and the public prior to announcements of any intention to implement policy
- Ensure each proposed policy has a corresponding problem statement, objectives, goals and metrics to evaluate its effectiveness, making those available to the public
- Provide public timeframes for monitoring and evaluating new policies
- Ensure that any new rules are harmonized with existing rules and other regulatory requirements
- Consider the specific impacts of potential policies on B.C.'s diverse regional markets, especially in rural, northern and remote communities
- Ensure that a policy does not lead to an increase in unrepresented buyers or sellers
- Consider the impacts of potential policies on commercial real estate
- Consider the impacts to all parties in the transaction, balancing differing priorities and needs
- Consider the impacts on a seller's market compared to a buyer's market
- Ensure that measures don't negatively impact affordability
- Consider how these policies would interact with each other if multiple measures were adopted
- Provide adequate notice for consumers and real estate professionals. Resources, education and adequate time to adjust practices and develop new standard forms for brokerages will help with compliance
- Provide adequate information about data requested from brokerages, including its uses and how it would be reported to licensees, as well as the frequency and complexity of the reporting required by brokerages. This will ensure licensees understand what is expected of them, how they would benefit and how consumers would benefit
These are industry professionals who know what they are talking about. It’s time we listened to them before things get any worse.
T. Buckley, Burnaby
