THIS ISSUE: New Awards Program / Adjustments / MLS Cancellations ARCHIVES: www.privatelist.com/newsletter.htm NEW AWARDS PROGRAM We've just extended our $25 finder's fee from personal referrals to poster referrals - giving you more ways to profit from helping us introduce buyers and sellers to Canada's most useful by-owner web-site! It's simple! At your request, we'll send you a half-dozen attractive posters promoting www.privatelist.com. You place the posters for us, private buyers and sellers check us out, and every new enrollment which results earns you $25. Interested? Then call 1-800-747-4054 right away to request your free posters and register an exclusive area in which to display them. ADJUSTMENTS The standard offer to purchase usually includes a clause referring to the adjusting, apportioning or prorating of rents, taxes, local improvement charges and so on. Proration is simply a way of calculating compensation when a bill of some kind has been, or will be, paid by one party, but some of the benefits paid for will be enjoyed by someone else. Your lawyer looks at the issue when he calculates the final proceeds from your sale (see our previous article on closing costs). If, for example, you just filled your home's oil tank a month before it's new owners take possession, it's only fair that they reimburse you for the oil remaining in the tank when they move in. Same thing with pre-paid utility bills and taxes. (On the other hand, if the new owners will be paying a two-month power bill a month after they move in, you'll owe them something for the last month you were in the house.) In some cases, the payment is prorated by looking at the proportions of a physical good (heating-oil, for example) enjoyed by each party; in others (eg. pre-paid taxes), it's how a period of time is split (usually by the adjustment or closing date specified in the purchase agreement) that determines who gets what. MLS CANCELLATIONS Recently I heard from a would-be private seller who'd been enticed to list with a realtor with the assurance that she could cancel her MLS contract at any point - only to find, after several months of unreturned phone calls and few showings, that she was locked in. It was an honest misunderstanding as it turned out, but it illustrates the dictum: Caveat emptor! Any suggestion that you can cancel an MLS listing agreement unilaterally had better be in writing, because the standard CONTRACT usually says something like this: . . . I hereby give you full and exclusive authority, irrevocable until the expiration hereof, to offer for sale my said property . . . . . . I further agree to pay you said commission if within ___ days (180 will be assumed unless otherwise indicated) of the expiry of this listing agreement, the property is sold, exchanged or leased by me . . . to any person introduced by you . . . . . . I further agree to immediately advise you of all inquiries from any source whatsoever prior to the expiry of this Listing Agreement and additionally agree to advise all prospective buyers to contact you. All offers submitted to me shall immediately be brought to your attention before acceptance or rejection.* *Nova Scotia approved version as of December 1999, my emphasis In other words, you cannot cancel the agreement without the realtor's consent, you may still be liable for the commission on a sale occurring months after the listing's expiry, and you are legally obliged to pass on to the realtor any enquiries during the term of the listing. None of these clauses is necessarily unfair - so long as you understand what you're signing. But they do beg the question: Why use a realtor at all? Our testimonials page is evidence that with the right tools (see the links below) you can do the job yourself and save a lot of money (see our Oct 21/99 issue). If for some reason you do become involved in a longer term arrangement with a realtor, remember that, industry-wide, realtors take almost twice as many listings as they sell. So protect yourself from being stuck with a non-performer. Make the listing short-term: 60 days during the active spring and summer markets, and less for the agent who promises a quick sale. As for the realtor who insists that he/she has a buyer NOW for your property - see our third Timely Tips essay. FRIENDLY REMINDERS . . . It's important to maintain an active marketing focus until your property is sold. Just an hour every week-end, spent reviewing progress to date and mapping out a response, can pay real dividends. Therefore, each e-mail version of PrivateList PROACTIVE ends with a series of reminders, and links to tips and tools for your on-going campaign. To access these resources, press here.
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