{"id":11793,"date":"2017-04-27T10:27:53","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T14:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/?p=11793"},"modified":"2017-04-27T10:27:53","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T14:27:53","slug":"is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Real Estate Agent Double-Ending Your Deal?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Affordable housing is an issue that affects every Ontarian \u2013 and when Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled last week&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/ontario-to-get-foreign-buyer-tax-as-fair-housing-plan-revealed\/\">16-part whammy to cool the province\u2019s market<\/a>, everyone, from renters to big-name developers, was impacted in some way. Among the changes for foreign buyers, speculators and landlords, though, was a comment that has riled the real estate industry: that the provincial government would crack down on unethical realtor practices.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the surrounding media, Wynne called for the modernization of agent-client representation rules, to improve offer transparency, and to scrutinize practices such as double-ended deals and fake bidding.<\/p>\n<h2>What are Double-Ended Deals?<\/h2>\n<p>These are\u00a0real estate transactions where <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/lauren-haw\/double-ending-real-estate-ethics_b_12841768.html\" target=\"_blank\">one agent represents both the buyer and seller<\/a> and collects commission from each when the sale is made. They aren\u2019t illegal, as long as all parties agree to it in writing, and they\u2019re fairly commonplace. However, argues Zoocasa CEO Lauren Haw, even above-board instances of double-ending are a disservice to the seller, who would almost always benefit from higher offers in the hot open market. She says the province needs to go all-in on cracking down on the practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgents \u2013 including those that are on the same team \u2013 who have any monetary connection to the sale whatsoever should not be able to represent both the buyer and seller of a property, ever. Anything less than a blanket restriction on multiple representation is not enough,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe moral issue is that the practice is in the worst interest of the seller\u2026 anyone working in the best interest of their sellers would put the home on the open market.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Keeping Up with the Competition<\/h2>\n<p>While the perception may be that agents are looking to cash in on rising Toronto real estate prices, Haw says double-ending is actually the result of an overcrowded workforce, pointing to the active 52,000 realtors\u00a0in the GTA \u2013 that\u2019s more than doubled over a decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese issues have grown more prevalent mainly due to the number of agents, not price points. There is a supply and demand issue among agents \u2013 as a result, they\u2019re trying to make more per home since there are less sales per agent,\u201d she says. \u201cThe agent coaxes the seller into going with their buyer without fully marketing the property to other agents, or by cooling demand to ensure their buyers\u2019 offer is the highest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citynews.ca\/2017\/04\/10\/creative-extremes-gta-realtors-will-use-get-business\/\" target=\"_blank\">recent <em>CityNews <\/em>article<\/a> reveals some agents are so desperate for business they make elaborate promises to win buyer business \u2013 think a night out on the town, a cut of the commission, or even a trip to Disney World.<\/p>\n<h2>When Agents Don\u2019t Disclose Double-Ending<\/h2>\n<p>However, in some instances, unscrupulous agents may not disclose that they\u2019re representing all sides of the deal \u2013 and that\u2019s a breach of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reco.on.ca\/about\/resources\/rebba-2002-regulations-code-conduct\/\" target=\"_blank\">REBBA 2002<\/a>, the Real Estate Council of Ontario\u2019s legislative code of ethics binding all real estate professionals.<\/p>\n<p>Such dubious methods came to public light last November, when undercover journalists working for CBC\u2019s <em>Marketplace<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/business\/real-estate-agents-caught-breaking-the-rules-on-marketplace-s-hidden-camera-1.3825841\" target=\"_blank\">caught six agents in the act<\/a>. Hidden camera footage taken at various open houses reveal the agents promising the use of \u201cinsider information\u201d to control offers. In some cases the reporters, who were posing as prospective buyers, were guaranteed the purchase of the home in exchange for signing on as buyer clients.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Is Your Real Estate Agent Double Ending Your Deal?<\/h2>\n<p>Haw says there are a few tell-tale signs sellers should heed that may signal their agent is attempting to double-end the deal without their knowledge:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Poor photography:<\/strong> Having bad or non-existent photos on the home\u2019s MLS listing limits viewing bookings and online traffic, making open house walk-ins the only way to market the home. Less interest garnered up front makes it easier for an agent to position a buyer client of their choice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lack of communication with other agents:<\/strong> A listing agent should always be openly collaborative and forthcoming with buyer agents, and willing to provide them with whatever information they need to formulate an offer. An agent who doesn\u2019t return phone calls or is hesitant to provide info may be trying to dissuade growing interest in the property.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Limiting multiple rounds on offer night:<\/strong> Encouraging multiple rounds of offers, and giving buyers the opportunity to improve theirs, is always of benefit to the seller. Be wary of an agent who pushes for \u201cone-and-one\u201d without giving prospective buyers a chance counter, and who waits until the very end of offer night to produce an offer based on \u201cperfect information\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not revealing their involvement to other agents<\/strong>: When there are multiple interested buyers most agents will put forth a competitive offer \u2013 but they\u2019re less inclined to do so if they think they\u2019re the only ones in the game. Keeping their stake a secret gives the double agent the chance to make an offer without engaging the other in competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Affordable housing is an issue that affects every Ontarian \u2013 and when Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled last week&#8217;s\u00a016-part whammy to cool the province\u2019s market, everyone, from renters to big-name developers, was impacted in some way. Among the changes for foreign buyers, speculators and landlords, though, was a comment that has riled the real estate industry: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":11795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-a-home","category-real-estate-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Your Real Estate Agent Double-Ending Your Deal? | Zoocasa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ontario government has vowed to crack down on multiple representation in real estate. 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Is your real estate agent double-ending your deal?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zoocasa Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoocasa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-27T14:27:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-real.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"509\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"339\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Penelope Graham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Zoocasa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Zoocasa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Penelope Graham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Penelope Graham\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9a2554dc39c550f5ef3339b25aa1f09c\"},\"headline\":\"Is Your Real Estate Agent Double-Ending Your Deal?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-27T14:27:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-27T14:27:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/\"},\"wordCount\":818,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Buying a Home\",\"Real Estate News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/is-your-real-estate-agent-double-ending-your-deal\/\",\"name\":\"Is Your Real Estate Agent Double-Ending Your Deal? | Zoocasa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-27T14:27:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-27T14:27:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Ontario government has vowed to crack down on multiple representation in real estate. 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