I Got a Promotion…and Other Changes to Real Estate Law in Quebec

I got a promotion but I swear I’m not bragging because it has everything to do with changes to real estate law in Quebec and nothing to do with anything I did to deserve the promotion.  But I got it just the same, as did all real estate agents in Quebec.

What happened?  On May 1, 2010, the new Real Estate Brokerage Act came into effect in Quebec.  As part of this, I got a promotion from real estate AGENT to real estate BROKER, as did all real estate agents in Quebec.  Other changes will be implemented over the next 18 months.

Legal gavelHere are some of them:

  • It used to be that real estate agents worked for real estate brokers.  Now, real estate brokers work for real estate agencies.  Agents turned into brokers overnight, and brokers turned into agencies.

 

  • We now must disclose to our clients, in writing, the commission we intend to share with a buyer’s broker (called a collaborating broker).  The disclosure states that an unreasonable sharing commission or remuneration could reduce a collaborating broker’s interest in proposing this property to their buyers.  

 

  • The conflict of interest rules are more stringent.  A real estate broker can no longer represent a seller if the broker intends to purchase that seller’s property.  And a real estate broker can no longer represent the buyer in the sale of the broker’s own property.

 

  • When a real estate broker decides to change agencies, the client who is already in a contract with that broker now has three choices: 1.  to follow the broker to the new agency; 2. to stay with the current agency, without the broker in question; or 3. to terminate the contract.  Previously, the client could not request to follow the broker to the new agency without first terminating their contract.  (The principle was that the client’s contract was with the agency, not the broker.  The broker merely represented the agency.)

 

  • We are now required to check the identity and legal capacity of the parties to a real estate transaction.  Previously, this was simply good practice.  Now it is a requirement.

 

  • We are now required to recommend to someone proposing to buy a property that they have it inspected by a building inspector or other professional.  Again, previously this was simply good practice.

 

  • The rules have been relaxed regarding the minimum amount of information that must go on advertising or any other representation by a broker or agency.  (Hooray!)

 

  • chalkboard with word "exam" written on itThe exam to obtain a real estate brokerage license or mortgage broker license has changed significantly.  Previously the exam was a multiple-choice format with a minimum passing grade for the exam as a whole.  Now, it is competency based, with minimum-pass requirements for each subject area, and apparently it is much more difficult.

 

  • The forms we use will continue to be used for the next 18 months, at which point new forms will come into effect.

 

  • Higher fees for real estate brokers!!  With all of these changes come increased annual dues, of course, and a requirement that license holders like me pay our professional liability insurance ourselves.  (My broker agency used to pay for it.)

Nota bene: I am NOT a lawyer, and the above information is not intended as legal advice.  This is my interpretation of the changes that have come, or are coming, into effect based on the information provided to date by our governing organization, the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ).

I will be formally trained in the new Real Estate Brokerage Act on July 13.  If I learn more about the changes then, I’ll of course share them here.

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Tanya Nouwens, June 29th 2010 | Posted in Real Estate, Uncategorized

Only in Quebec

Every summer when I was a kid, my parents would pack all 4 of us kids into the car and make the sweaty, stifling 18-hour trip from the east coast where we lived to London, Ontario, where we were born and our extended family lived. 

My parents somehow handled the sweating, and complaining, and boredom and unending roads extremely well. (Except for the time they forgot my brother at a rest stop, but after hours of therapy, we’re ready to let that one go.)

The only time they truly got frantic was when we passed through Montreal.  “Jean, watch the signs. WATCH THE SIGNS!  Oh for the love of God don’t let us get lost here… Jean!  Jean!  Was that the sign for the tunnel we just passed?  WAS THAT THE SIGN FOR THE TUNNEL!  Kids, shush I can’t think.  KIDS!  SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI!!!!  Oh Lord.  Not again.”

Getting lost in Montreal in the summer is not hard to do.  Because of our intense winters, road construction and repair can only take place from April to November.  So construction projects are jammed one atop another and the whole city is under siege in the spring and summer. 

Detour signs are aplenty…or there are none at all. 

Actual detour routes are only half marked…or not at all.

Lane changes are marked approximately 3.2 feet before the change MUST take place or your life is in jeopardy.  

And rather than remove detour signs from the road when the detour is no longer in effect, construction crews just sort of push them to the side.  We’re left to wonder, “Is that really a detour?  Is it sort of a detour?  Did it used to be a detour but it’s not anymore?” 

It’s like Quebec construction crews have taken a universal oath to mess with us to see how long it takes for the mice to lose their minds, find alternate 3-hour routes, or give up completely in a heaping, sobbing, cursing mess.

Two detour signs on street in Montreal West IslandHere’s a prime example of what I mean, seen in Montreal West Island.

Only in Quebec, my dears.

Strangely, it’s part of what I love about this crazy province.  Quirkiness is one of my favourite qualities…in people and places.

Welcome to summer : )

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Tanya Nouwens, June 27th 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Kirkland Quebec Happenings, Musings, Uncategorized

I sure love this guy.

When I was pregnant with our first child, I told my husband that I hoped the baby was a girl.  Not because I had always hoped to have a girl.  Quite the contrary.  As a child, I was always more comfortable building with Lego than having a tea party.  I was climbing trees while other girls were playing with Barbies.  I could relate more to boys than to girls in a lot of ways.

I hoped our first child would be a girl because my husband was so reserved emotionally.  I mean, the guy had never in his life EVER hugged one his guy friends.  It was knuckle crashing or nothing for him.  And he knew nothing about children or babies at all.  And I mean, NOT AT ALL.  I’m not sure he had ever held a baby in his life.  Or wanted to.

So I thought he’d find it easier to be the kind of hands-on, affectionate and loving father I had always dreamed of my children having if his first child was a baby girl.

I needn’t have worried.

When our first son, Tyler, was born, out of my husband’s soul came a dad who was fun, loving, sweet, gentle, kind, affectionate, caring, protective and did-I-mention?…FUN.  Tyler was followed by Zachary, who recently aptly put it: “Daddy is fun and cool, and Mommy is comfy-cozy.”

Man holding his two sonsHe was always meant to be a father.  And I guess we both knew it.  And both of his sons, and their mom, are fuller human beings because of it.

Richard, my love, what would we do without you?  You are our rock, and our rock band leader : )  You are the big bear hug every family needs.  You are a shining example of the type of strong yet gentle, kind yet purposeful, devoted yet fun-loving man of integrity, passion and principle that every boy should have for a father…and every woman should be lucky enough to call her husband.

I’m so glad I married you.

I’m even gladder I had babies with you. 

Happy Father’s Day, my love.

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, June 20th 2010 | Tags:
Posted in Musings

Adding Some Life to a Home: Montreal Home Staging Before and After Pictures

I’ve got some Montreal home staging before and after pictures for you here.  These come from a Montreal West Island home staging project we recently did.  The home sold after 6 weeks on the market, which was great considering it was in the $500,000+ range where homes generally take longer to sell. 

It was another real estate agent’s listing, but I was happy to stage it because the homeowner was the mother of my very first client as a Montreal home stager. 

The home was essentially vacant, as the homeowner spent very little time there.  It needed a bit of PERSONALITY and LIFE.

I like to give each bedroom in a home a personality of its own.  I think it helps potential buyers remember them: “Remember the one with the funky green art on the wall?”  

With the inundation of information in everyone’s life, anything we can do to help potential buyers differentiate our listing/home from everything else they see has gotta help, no? 

More to come later on the main living spaces…

In the meantime, feel free to visit my web-site for some more home staging Montreal before and after pictures.

Bed and window

Hello? Anyone home?

Master Bedroom

A little more panache.

Ensuite bathroom

Completely renovated but...

Ensuite bathroom

A few finishing touches and voila!

Bedroom with bed and window

A little bland...

Bedroom with bed and window

Still soft but pulled together.

Bedroom with bed and window

Big room with little personality.

Bedroom with bed and window

A bit of colour brings this room to life.

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Tanya Nouwens, June 17th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging

I’m Listening…

I love it when I hear a non-salesy, common-sensical approach to gaining business.  ‘Cause I’m not salesy at all.  Never have been, never will be.  I tried to be salesy once, working in a clothing store to help put myself through university.  I ended up stalking the client who said she didn’t want my help throughout the store, pretending to be fixing the clothes on the racks near her.  She knew what I was doing…and ran away.  Then I ran away too.

I’m now a Montreal real estate broker and Montreal home stager, but I’m still not salesy.  And I have no intention of ever being that way.  To me, buying and selling a home is just too much of a life-altering event to be “sold” to.

In my quest to continually learn how to be a better Montreal real estate broker, though, I went to ActiveRain University yesterday and listened to Jared James, a real estate coach, talk about listing presentations.  In real estate school, we were told that listing presentations generally happen this way:

1.  Consumer calls you and says they’re thinking about selling their home. You ask them questions about their property and make an appointment to come by and give your listing presentation, including your assessment of the value of the property.

2.  In the meantime, you do research on comparables that have sold in the area, and active listings on the market right now, and prepare your comparative market analysis (CMA).

3. You show up at their home at the scheduled time, wow them with your listing presentation (how you will sell their house and what sets you apart from all the rest), and then go through the CMA with them, concluding with your estimate of the market value of their home.

This has never made sense to me.  How can you do an adequate CMA when you haven’t even seen the inside of the home?

Dog with big ears extendedYou don’t have to.  And you shouldn’t.  And it’s not just because you won’t have all of the information you need to do a really good CMA.

When you show up to do a listing presentation, the homeowner inevitably takes you through the house, describing the updates that were done, the planned updates they didn’t get a chance to do, the gorgeous Corian they installed in the kitchen, the basement wall with the hockey puck scars, the gorgeous wood floors they installed themselves, the garden planted with love 5 years ago, how nice it is to have coffee in the morning on the deck, etc.

And if you let them do this, and then sit down at the table with them with your CMA already completed, you’re telling them that all of the things they have just told you do not make one iota of difference to you.  That what they say doesn’t matter because all you have to do is pull numbers off of a computer.

This is one of the reasons why, as a Montreal real estate broker and Montreal home stager, I’ve never sat down with a fully completed CMA on the first visit with a homeowner. 

And it’s nice to hear that the way I’m doing it makes sense, even if it’s not the way I was taught in school.  Thank you, Jared James.

6 Comments

Tanya Nouwens, June 8th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate

Imperfection

There’s beauty in imperfection.

And art.

Whimsy and surprise.

Character.

The imprint of a life that’s LIVED.

2 Comments

Tanya Nouwens, June 6th 2010 | Tags: ,
Posted in Musings

The Difference Between Montreal Home Staging and Interior Decorating

What is the difference between Montreal home staging and interior decorating?

As a Montreal home stager and Montreal real estate broker, where home staging is still a relatively new concept, I’m often asked, “What’s the difference between home staging and interior decorating?”

There are many, not the least of which is the fact that interior decorating caters to the tastes and preferences of one home owner/family, while home staging caters to the tastes of a whole pool of potential buyers for a home.

But it goes beyond that too. Here’s a picture of a room that we were presented with at one of our Montreal home staging projects. 

Before shot of the home office 

Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a good clean-up of the room would work wonders.  And as an interior decorator, I could quickly come up with some window coverings, a nice desk lamp and other touches to pull the room together into a pretty nice office.

But as a professional Montreal home stager, my job is to think about the target market for this home.  According to the Montreal real estate agent (this wasn’t my listing), the most likely buyer for this home, in this neighbourhood and in this price range, would be a young family. 

Aha!  Young family = about two children.  The office was taking up one of the three bedrooms in the home.  Clearly, to attract as many potential buyers as possible, this room had to be converted from an office to a bedroom to clearly show that there were three bedrooms in the home. You never want to make a potential buyer “work” to picture a home working for them or to picture themselves living there.  

So, this is what we did.

After shot of how a home office turns into a bedroom 

The home sold within a week of the staging, with offers coming in at the first open house.

And THAT is the difference between interior decorating and Montreal home staging.

Happy staging everyone.

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, June 3rd 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Real Estate

1986 Called: They Want Their Shoulder Pads Back

There’s a home in my Montreal West Island neighbourhood that’s been for sale for a long time, and I think I know why.  It’s the same problem that kept another home in the area from selling for more than a year.  And the problem relates to the unfortunate decision that some homeowners make to not update their home as time goes by. 

Or maybe it’s not even a conscious decision to not update their home.  It’s probably more of a mindset that they like their home the way it is, so it never really occurs to them to change any of the finishes or renovate the kitchen or bathrooms.

This alone is not unusual.  We’ve all seen lots of homes that haven’t been updated.  As a Montreal West Island real estate agent, I see this all the time.

The problem comes when the home is REALLY BIG.

Then, the task of updating also becomes REALLY BIG — an enormous, all-consuming task that can turn many potential buyers off.

In a smaller home, a buyer can usually fathom having to update a bathroom at some point.  But in a home with three complete baths that haven’t seen anything more recent than 1986?  That poses a HUGE psychological block.

If you’re the owner of one of these larger homes, do yourself a favour and commit to gradually updating over time, from time to time.  Then, when it comes time to sell, even if the whole house has not been updated, the job of doing that won’t seem so daunting to a prospective buyer.

And if you’re one of those people who hasn’t kept up with the times in your home’s flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, windows, etc., then please price your property accordingly. 

And when you feel like saying to your Montreal real estate agent, “But our home is so much BIGGER than the other homes on the street,” please understand why that may not carry as much weight as you would like it to. 

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, May 25th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate

Wordless Wednesday: I Miss You, Dad.

Man standing at water's edge

John C. Nouwens

May 20, 1939 – May 12, 1999

We sure do miss you, Dad.

But after 11 years, we finally figured out how to make your BBQ pork chops!

Love, love and more love,

Tanya

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Comments

Tanya Nouwens, May 12th 2010 | Tags:
Posted in Musings

Location is No Place to Compromise.

I used to live on the water. It was a beautiful property in Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile-Perrot, Quebec, with a deck on the edge of Lac St. Louis. The house was gorgeous too – hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, multi-level deck, fireplace in the master bedroom.  It was my dream home…or so I thought.

But within a year of buying the place, I couldn’t wait to move.

When we originally bought the home, my husband and I were both working full-time. The long commute helped us unwind. Its remoteness was an escape from the city.

Then we had a baby, and I stayed home to raise him. I quickly realized that virtually everyone in our neighbourhood was retired, which meant no kids for our son to play with, no moms for me to hang out with.  We were lonely. 

The location was all wrong.

You can change most anything about a home.  But short of monumental efforts, it’s really hard to change where it is. 

Woman trying to choose which way to goSo when you’re looking for a place to call home, never compromise on location.  These 4 steps might help:

1. Think about what brings you peace…and angst.

Does traffic make you crazy? Or is a longer commute relaxing? Do you like having people and action around you? Or does it make you want to run away? 

2. Project your life out about 5 – 6 years.

Are you planning a family? Do dreams of your children playing street hockey dance in your head?

Or are your kids getting ready to fly and you now crave peace and quiet?

3. Test drive the location.

Pretend you already live there and test drive the commute to and from work.  Park yourself in the area to see traffic during rush hour.

Visit the neighbourhood during the weekend to get a feel for the area. Are neighbours outside talking to each other? If so, do you like that or do you prefer anonymity?

Are there kids playing outside and are they about the same age as yours?

4. Work with a real estate agent who knows the area.

She can tell you such things as whether a particular street is known for traffic and what schools you would be zoned for.  Or who the main builder in the area is and what types of homes he built.  Or the best access to the highway and shortcuts to get there.  Or where you can get great pizza on Friday nights and flowers on the way home from work.

A real estate agent who knows the area you’re looking in can help you choose your ideal location. 

And a good one will never rush you into making that decision.

*This article is based on an article I wrote for the January 2010 Montreal edition of Luxury Report Magazine.

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Tanya Nouwens, May 11th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate
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