Editor:
The heated Vancouver market certainly appears to have spread to the Sunshine Coast over recent months. It isn’t infrequent to hear of houses selling over list price in record time. In an effort to be competitive, many purchase offers are being presented without important due diligence conditions such as financing, home inspections, etc. Others are being presented with time frames that are so tight that it is virtually impossible to meet the conditions without sacrificing attention to detail. Some sellers are refusing to grant time extensions to allow purchasers or service providers to thoroughly research important aspects of the property or financing. Often, through no fault of their own, purchasers are losing out on opportunities to purchase their dream homes. We cannot control when a market becomes heated, but there are certain things that we can control:
As sellers, we can insist on allowing prospective purchasers reasonable amounts of time to obtain their financing, conduct home inspections, pest inspections, appraisals and gather home insurance, etc.
By rushing or missing out on these important “due diligence” pieces of the home purchase process, we are risking future disappointments and potential lawsuits as things come to light after completion that should have been discovered during the conditional offer period. By not allowing purchasers sufficient time to fully explore the prospective property or financing options, we are also not allowing service providers (realtors, mortgage brokers, lenders, home inspectors, lawyers and notaries) to provide their best services. In an ideal world, service providers would be given MORE time to fulfill their services during a busy market, not LESS! After all, we are talking about homes, not cars or the latest electronic devices. No one should be forced into rushing the purchase of their future home.
Kim Darwin, Sechelt
