I learn something new every time I sell a home.

This business is hectic, fast-paced, and constantly evolving. The old saying, "If you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards" is an understatement. Working in residential real estate is like being on a treadmill set at high speed. If you can't keep up with the pace - you're falling off the track!

Over the past two weeks I learned a new lesson the hard way which has resulted in me having to sell the same property twice. 

In this case, I had a mandate to sell a home in Beaconsfield as part of an estate sale. The house is in a premium location, close to the waterfront, but is in need of considerable renovations and repairs. The sale was being made "as is" without legal warranty of quality at the buyer's risk and peril. The Seller’s Declarations were also very limited because they could only be made by the liquidator of the estate, someone who has never lived in the home and therefore could not make accurate declarations about the history or condition of the property.

Our team always recommends that a seller do a pre-listing building inspection so they are aware of any potential issues their home may have, prior to listing. In this case, despite our recommendation the seller decided not to do a pre-inspection.

When my team and I first listed the house on the market, there was an overwhelming response from potential buyers. We had dozens of visits within the first few days and ended up with four offers on the table.

The most attractive offer, and the one that was accepted, came in at full asking price with NO condition for a building inspection. The Buyer acknowledged and accepted the fact that the property was being sold with no legal warranty at their own risk. The only condition was the proof of mortgage approval within a 14-day time delay, and the offer came with a strong letter of pre-approval from the bank. This was almost a sure thing...

ALMOST.

Sure enough, we received the mortgage approval letter from the buyer within the specified deadline, and at that point we had a firm and binding sale free of any conditions. 

But sometime shortly after the financing condition was met - the buyer was made aware of an obscure article that was published by the OACIQ in August of 2019. In this article, it states that Beaconsfield is considered to be a "High Risk Zone" for pyrite. It also states that real estate brokers are supposed to be aware of this designation, and are required to disclose it to potential buyers.

Here is a link to the article in question.

https://www.oaciq.com/en/articles/high-risk-areas-for-pyrite-broker-responsibilities

Important to note as well is that not only Beaconsfield falls under this category – but so does just about every West Island municipality including Lachine, Dorval, Pointe-Claire, Kirkland, Dollard, and Pierrefonds!

My team and I had never seen or heard of this article before, nor had any other West Island brokers that we spoke to, including our agency director at Royal LePage, even though we were all very aware that many homes in Beaconsfield and the West Island can and do have pyrite.

Unfortunately, ignorance of the law excuses no one... and in this situation, the buyer was able to use this article to base a claim that they should have been made aware that this home was located in an area designated as "High Risk" for pyrite - and that had they known this at the time they made their offer - they would have added a condition to do a pyrite test. 

For this reason, we had to then allow the buyer to perform their due diligence in light of this newly discovered information regarding pyrite in Beaconsfield. 

The Buyer conducted a pyrite test at their own expense, and then a few days later submitted the results of the test along with a notice of cancellation of their offer.
Talk about the height of frustration!

We immediately put the property back on the market at the exact same price - this time adding a disclosure about the pyrite test results and made the results available to any potential buyer.

Within a few days, we had another round of multiple offers and another offer was accepted on Tuesday. The offer had no conditions, a proof of cash letter was included - which meant we had a firm and final sale immediately following the acceptance of the offer. 

I realize this is a bit of a long story... but one that I feel is very important to share.

My team and I are committed to protecting our clients at every possible turn, and we make it a priority to be well informed about the laws, policies, and articles that can impact our local market.

This was a painful, yet valuable learning experience - and if anything, it will allow us to better protect our clients in the future.

If you have any questions about pyrite, or if you're interested to hear more details about this case - please don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to talk about it!

Capt'n  Mark