Soliciting business by email
RAHB has lately been hearing from members that their sellers have been receiving random emails from other members offering their services.

Please remember that under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), you may not solicit business by sending emails to people who are not your clients if you do not have a previous relationship with them or do not have their consent to communicate with them.

Learn more about CASL guidelines in CREA’s flow chart at http://bit.ly/2m30YuP (via REALTOR Link®)

You can also find more detailed information about the CASL on CREA’s REALTOR Link® page – just go to REALTOR Link® > CREA > Resources and Compliance > Compliance Resources > Anti-Spam (CASL).

Offers in a hot market
It’s a hot market right now – with relatively few listings and high demand, members are reporting multiple offers in the double digits and prices being driven up as a result.

We have received a number of calls from frustrated RAHB members and buyers who report they have been in situations where the listing salesperson has either suggested a price for an offer – usually well above the listed price – or indicated their offer should be, for example, $10,000 higher than their original offer in order to be successful.

While it may appear the listing salesperson is being helpful, they are in fact disclosing information about offers already received for the property. To suggest an increase or a figure that should be offered discloses that there is already an offer that would be unsuccessful if the suggested amount was offered.

You are reminded that RAHB’s Rules and Regulations specifically state that members may not disclose any terms of any offer to anyone:

Section 12 – Trading Procedures, Sub-section 12.03
Under no circumstances may the terms of an Offer be disclosed to anyone other than the parties to the Offer or their authorized representatives. The Brokerage must not disclose these terms to its own salespeople, other Brokerages, or other prospects. An Offer is confidential document and must be treated as such.

Offering “helpful” advice about how much an offer needs to be to be successful is clearly contrary to the RAHB Rules and Regulations, and is unfair to the buyers whose offers should not be used as bargaining tools.