WebImmo – Building inspection and real estate brokerage: partial recovery of activities.

The Radio-Immo broadcast of Tuesday, April 21 brings us great news regarding the real estate news of the week: building inspectors and real estate brokers would be able to partially resume their activities as of now.

Why this turnaround? What are the conditions in place? Here is our weekly update. 

12,000 households needing to be re-housed

Faced with the unprecedented situation we are experiencing, current events have become very fast-changing. We previously told you that home inspectors would resume their activities on May 4. But in order to face the housing crisis that worries the Government, building inspections can already resume only for those who have priority: those who need to be rehoused before 31 July 2020. 

Indeed, according to a survey by the APCIQ (Association Professionnelle des Courtiers Immobiliers du Québec), 12,000 households are concerned by this deadline. To help them, all those who had an accepted promise to purchase will be able to call in their building inspector. However, they will have to respect very specific instructions to carry out their inspection while limiting the risks. 

Everyone is concerned

The real estate brokerage world’s habits are currently being turned upside down: sellers, buyers and brokers are asking themselves many questions. An OACIQ press release published on Monday, April 20, aims to clarify the situation: transactions deemed to be priority transactions can also be processed by brokers. However, we are counting on the good faith of people to come forward only if they have given their notice of departure as tenants or have to relocate by this date. Unfortunately, this flexibility comes with a contradiction: on the same day, the OACIQ (Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec) announced the prohibition of all brokerage contracts. Thus, the stock on the market is at its lowest point when people must be relocated as quickly as possible. However, it is hoped that this contradiction will soon be corrected by new directives. It is important to be patient and to accept that the proposed solutions are being developed and improved. 

Selling with or without a broker? 

Some people may be tempted to take matters into their own hands by selling their property on their own. It is important to know that such a decision is illegal since all of Quebec is in a period of containment. Moreover, brokers have received very clear instructions in terms of health. We have to be careful and think about cleaning door handles. For now, the wearing of masks and gloves is not stipulated, but everything suggests that this could change. The instructions given for the moment imply :

• to give priority to virtual visits in the first instance;
• to respect the 2 m distance during the visits;
• to ask the occupants to stay outside during the visit;
• to do the visit with one person at a time;
• prohibit children and people over 70 years of age from being there.

In addition, before visiting someone, we have an obligation to have health declarations signed by those visiting the properties as well as the occupants. Not to visit whoever you want: Only clients who are in a priority situation can do so. Clients must also provide a priority transaction certificate. This declaration indicates that their relocation is a priority, otherwise they cannot visit. We rely on the good faith of real estate brokers and their clients to enforce these important rules to protect themselves and others. 

We meet with you on Tuesdays and Fridays at 3:00 p.m. to keep you up to date on the evolution of the situation. 

Do not hesitate to contact your broker if you have any concerns or questions.We can’t meet with you, but we’re just a phone call away… 514.597.2121