I can hear you now: “Kim’s finally lost his stuff. He’s quoting Lenin in his column.”

Hey, it’s an apt quotation for our times, so why not get a little mileage out of it? I’m no fan of Lenin, but he did hit the nail on the head when he said that things stay the same for ages and then, in the blink of any eye, everything changes at once.

If you’re an optimist, you probably view change as an opportunity. If you’re a pessimist, not so much. Regardless, we’re passing through a time of great change in our business. Governments and regulators of all stripes are closely monitoring what we do and how we help buyers and sellers trade properties.

Finding a place to live here is still a priority for most people. There is significant cost and stress associated with trading spaces or just finding a space to live in, and governments see this as something they should fix. Some of us like the idea of the government fixing everything. Others fear government fixes can make things worse. Choose your poison, as they say. One thing on which we all agree: the status quo is untenable. And because we’re front and centre in most real estate transactions, it shouldn’t be surprising that governments have turned their attention to us.

Have we given them sufficient reasons? I’d suggest that many may think we have, based on our public approval numbers that hover around 50 per cent. This is pretty tepid support from those we serve. We know this.

But I’m encouraged by members’ commitment to improved professionalism. We’ve made a lot of changes for the better over the years. Remember, it was we who convinced the BC government to establish a real estate regulator way back in 1959. It was we who led the charge to change the way we disclose agency relationships and how we represent our clients.

Remember the little blue brochure, Working with a REALTOR®? It pre-dated the BC Financial Services Authority DORTS form by years. Some of us will also remember being sub-agents of sellers’ agents, with buyers having no representation at all. We led the charge to get that changed, moving from sub-agency to assumed buyer agency, and later, to designated agency. 

These big changes were initiated and promoted by the profession and supported by the regulators. We established and built the MLS® system, bringing order to what would otherwise be a chaotic marketplace. Sure, MLS® benefits us, but it’s also a great public good.

We also established the first continuing professional education (CPE) regime, now called the Professional Development Program (PDP) long before the regulator established its Re-Licensing Education Program (REP).

These accomplishments are praiseworthy. But there’s still work to do to get our numbers up. We have, for years, said that we want to raise the bar. Some of the work has already been done, but, we need to go further and do better, and our professionalism project will help get us there.

Getting us to this happy place requires that we all commit to a collective vision as to what “better” looks like. Once we’ve established that, we must get everyone’s buy-in on the price we’ll pay to get there. It’s not going to be easy. Old habits die hard.

We should all ask ourselves what we’re prepared to do differently to produce a better polling result. Higher public approval numbers would give us far more traction with government, so there’s good reason for us to stay focused on moving that needle higher. We’d all feel a lot better about ourselves if we could accomplish this.

Honestly, the many changes heading our way are daunting. We have a lot of reading and learning to do. Our business practices and the way we deal with others is probably going to change. For a start, BCREA’s 2023 standard forms launch and regulatory changes document, which will be coming to you soon, is over 300 pages long. (Sigh. I know. But read it. Numerous changes have been made to the forms. They’re highlighted in green to make things easier.)

I know we’re up to the task. Every year my affection for you and our business increases. You’re a knowledgeable, caring group of dedicated professionals. I know what you go through, pretty much what you think, and what your aspirations are. I know the dark corners where your frustrations live, and I know the sunlit areas where your aspirations thrive. We can leave those dark corners and come out into sunnier places if we really want to. I absolutely know we can get there together. 

I wish you all the best for a very happy holiday and a bright, shiny new year filled with success and hope.

Question: My seller has instructed that buyer agents cannot attend offer presentations. We used an IDRPO form and filed it as an associated document. Now my seller has decided to delay offers. How do I do that? Isn’t the IDRPO form irrevocable?

Answer: IDRPO instructions are irrevocable. The form also says it “may not be altered or amended in any way. There are to be no additional clauses added, nor any strike out.”

In this scenario, the seller has not yet instructed that offers are to be delayed. So, there’s nothing to undo. This means the seller can delay offer presentations using an additional IDRPO form if they choose. In this case there would be two irrevocable instructions on two different forms: no buyer agents at presentations on the first one and no offer presentations until a particular date on the second one. Don’t forget to file the additional (new) IDRPO form as an associated document as well as making a notation in REALTOR® Remarks that offer presentations are being delayed, and stating the specific date and time.

Question: My seller has signed an IDRPO. If an early offer comes in, do I have to tell them?

Answer: Ask your seller what their wishes are. This conversation should take place when the IDRPO is signed, so you know their wishes in advance. The IDRPO instruction does not say that you can’t tell your seller about the existence of an early offer. It does say that you can’t present the early offer or reveal what’s in it until the presentation date specified on the form. From a risk management perspective, if your seller tells you not to advise them about even the existence of an early offer, you should get that seller instruction in writing as well.