A few months ago, I reported here that I had two clients who called me asking for advice about their parent's Florida condos. I hooked them up with local Realtors and the news on both counts is sort of good.
One condo has been rented and will stay in the family for the time being.
The second condo was recently sold. The sale price was half the original asking price. My client reported that her agent
"Gail specializes in short sales and he's very busy with that. Gail estimated that the real estate will not improve for another 5 years in the U.S.A. What surprised me the most is how lax real estate transactions are. The buyer and her agent and Gail and I sat around a table with a title agent and signed all the documents together. The buyer handed over her cheque and that title agent went over the transactions and then handed me my cheque. I then gave her the keys. No real estate lawyer or verification of the buyer's cheque, etc. We all sat around the table and chatted. I asked Gail if this is usually how transactions occur and he said yes. He was surprised when I told him the process Canadians go through when buying and selling real estate, i.e. real estate lawyers, courier the keys, usually never meeting the buyer, etc. IN fact, the buyer was in my condo before the deal was closed, without my permission, and I couldn't find Gail that day and decided to not make a fuss about it. Strange stuff! Definitely an experience I don't want to repeat."
I often hear from other Realtors at conferences I attend that the industry is loosy goosy in many jurisdictions. This may help explain the problems they're having right now.
It makes me appreciate the British influence here in Canada. We may be a bit too bureaucratic for some but it has served us well for generations.
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