Do you have kids?<\/p>\n
I do.\u00a0 Two of \u2019em.<\/p>\n
The regular readers know this, and the long-time readers can recall a time when I\u00a0wasn\u2019t<\/em> a hokey, 40-something dad.<\/p>\n Older folks love to say, \u201cI was young too, once<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n I remember rolling my eyes at those folks, just as many people would do the same to me now.\u00a0 Just ask Matthew and Tara, who have the pleasure of working with me on the TRG team, just how\u00a0amazing<\/em> it\u2019s been to experience countless stories of mine that begin with, \u201cWhen I was your age\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n But having said that, I want to introduce today\u2019s topic by providing you with an analogy.<\/p>\n This analogy, of course, will really hit close to home with those who have children\u2026<\/p>\n Have you ever found your child, abnormally quiet, unusually polite, offering a forced smile, saying, \u201cEverything\u2019s fine!\u00a0 Nothing to see here!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n You know where this is going, right?<\/p>\n Consider this another example of, \u201cMe think thou doth protest too much,\u201d that only those with children fully understand.<\/p>\n Something is clearly\u00a0wrong<\/em>.\u00a0 But in their attempt to convince you otherwise, they arouse even more suspicion than there would have been if everything were okay.<\/p>\n Children do that.\u00a0 They think they can outsmart us, and it\u2019s really, really cute.<\/p>\n Dogs do that too.<\/p>\n For the best example of this, let me search the archives for my favourite photo of my dog.<\/p>\n Favourite.<\/em><\/p>\n Ever!<\/p>\n We got her in 2012 and I\u2019m sure we have\u00a0thousands<\/em> of photos of her, but this one so very much my favourite that I turned it into a meme:<\/p>\n Look at that face!<\/p>\n She\u2019s\u00a0literally\u00a0<\/em>saying, \u201cHey, how\u2019s it going?\u00a0 What?\u00a0 What mess?\u00a0\u00a0This<\/em>?\u00a0 Oh, geez, I hardly noticed.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t\u00a0me<\/em> if that\u2019s what you\u2019re thinking!\u00a0 Why would you think that?\u201d<\/p>\n But what if you came home after work and your dog, or child, or spouse was standing in front of the front door of your home, saying, \u201cDon\u2019t go inside.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing wrong inside, but just don\u2019t go in there.\u201d<\/p>\n Would your spidey-sense begin to tingle a little?<\/p>\n Mine certainly would\u2026<\/p>\n Last fall, I sold a home a young couple who we\u2019ll call Michael and Cindy.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to play favourites, but Michael and Cindy\u2019s purchase was one of my favourite from 2024 because they secured such an incredible deal on the home.<\/p>\n You know those houses that are listed for sale five times, by three agents, over fourteen months?<\/p>\n They bought one of\u00a0those<\/em>.<\/p>\n And by the time we went to purchase the property, let\u2019s just say that\u00a0leverage<\/em> was on our side!<\/p>\n First listed for sale for a whopping $2,495,000, the price was all the way down to $1,999,999 by the time we decided to make our offer.<\/p>\n The negotiation process is a whole other blog post, and it was great.\u00a0 We left, came back, left again, and eventually the seller accepted a price that he \u201cnever\u201d would have accepted at the onset, says the listing agent.<\/p>\n Michael and Cindy paid $1,820,000 for the house in the end and were very happy!<\/p>\n It was a great house!\u00a0 The renovation was top-notch and the quality of workmanship was surprisingly A+ all the way.<\/p>\n The house was also\u00a0vacant<\/em>, on account of being a \u201cflip,\u201d and thus we didn\u2019t have to worry about any wear and tear on the home between the time of purchase and the closing date, which was a rather lengthy four months.<\/p>\n Two weeks after we purchased the home, we went back to the property to view the house with Michael and Cindy\u2019s parents, and this counted as one of our \u201cbuyer visits\u201d per the Agreement of Purchase & Sale.<\/p>\n For those who have never translated in real estate before, this is a standard clause to include in Schedule A of any Agreement of Purchase & Sale:<\/p>\n Seller agrees to allow the Buyer visitations to the property on three (3) occasions at mutually convenient times before closing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We call this the \u201cbuyer visit clause\u201d and it\u2019s quite standard.\u00a0 There are variations, but it\u2019s widely understood that the buyers will want to visit the home that the purchased at some point, or several points, before closing.<\/p>\n One week after we scheduled our first \u201cbuyer visit,\u201d we scheduled our second one to visit the home with a tradesperson who was going to measure for window coverings.<\/p>\n And one week after that, we used our third \u201cbuyer visit\u201d to return to the home to get a quote for painting.<\/p>\n That was that.<\/p>\n Legally speaking, we had used all three of our \u201cbuyer visits\u201d to the property, per the clause in our Agreement.<\/p>\n But what if we wanted to go back again?<\/p>\n Common sense would dictate that the house is vacant so there\u2019s no problem with that.<\/p>\n Common courtesy would also dictate that the request wouldn\u2019t be unreasonably denied.<\/p>\n In fact, through over twenty years in this business, I have never experienced a situation where a seller or listing agent denied a request for a\u00a0fourth<\/em> buyer visit, even though it would be their legal right.<\/p>\n In any event, three months passed and the closing date was approaching.<\/p>\n I emailed the listing and said, \u201cI know the house has been vacant and it\u2019s now winter, so have you been in the house to check that everything is okay?\u00a0 No pipes bursting, no water in the basement, no surprises on closing?\u201d<\/p>\n I also asked if the garage had been cleaned out, since it was full of construction debris, and we had already asked about this\u00a0twice<\/em>.<\/p>\n The response that I received was somewhat troubling:<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t heard from the seller.\u00a0 The lawyers can deal with any issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Alright.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not exactly a vote of confidence, and honestly, all this woman had to do was say, \u201cHey, David!\u00a0 Everything is fine, looking forward to a smooth final closing!\u201d<\/p>\n But she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n I emailed back and said, \u201cCan you go check it out before closing?\u201d<\/p>\n She did not reply.<\/p>\n So I went and booked a buyer visit on the home and figured that I\u2019d head over with Michael and Cindy, but guess what?<\/p>\n The buyer visit was denied.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Before you suggest, \u201cTwo wrongs don\u2019t make a right,\u201d there is an exception to the\u00a0buyer visit<\/em> rule.<\/p>\n Several exceptions, in fact.<\/p>\n The first would be common sense.<\/p>\n The second would be common courtesy.<\/p>\n The third would be mitigation and proactivity, specifically getting out ahead of issues before they arise.<\/p>\n But the fourth and most important is one that I\u2019ll discuss in a moment, just hang on for a sec\u2026<\/p>\n I called the listing agent and she didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n I left her a voicemail and she texted me later that day:<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve already been through the house three times.\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to go back.\u00a0 You\u2019re not allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n I tried calling her but she didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n I told her, \u201cNobody has been in the house for\u00a0three months<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n After all, don\u2019t we all subscribe to this idiom:<\/p>\n Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Nowadays, there are more issues upon closing than ever before.\u00a0 Countless\u00a0rental items<\/em> associated with houses that weren\u2019t known or weren\u2019t disclosed, chattels removed from the home that were in the Agreement of Purchase & Sale, and debris left behind that requires junk removal \u2013 just to name a few.<\/p>\n I believe in being as proactive as possible.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the listing agent did not.<\/p>\n Responding to my comment about the house being empty for three months, she said, \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Seller won\u2019t allow you access.\u201d<\/p>\n That<\/em> was yet another red flag.<\/p>\n Simply put:\u00a0why not<\/em>?<\/p>\n Was the seller just being a jerk?\u00a0 Or was he hiding something?<\/p>\n I told the listing agent, \u201cThis house is empty.\u00a0 There\u2019s nobody to disturb.\u00a0 We need exactly two minutes to walk through, ensure the property is being delivered in the same condition in which it was purchased, and satisfy ourselves.\u00a0 To deny this request is to be unreasonable, by definition, and it will simply raise more questions.\u201d<\/p>\n The agent wrote back, \u201cYou have used your three buyer visits.\u00a0 That\u2019s it.\u00a0 It\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n The more she protested, the more concerned I became.<\/p>\n Common sense, common courtesy, mitigation, and proactivity were not playing a factor in her decision, or that of her seller\u2019s.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing:<\/p>\n Outside of a \u201cbuyer visit\u201d included in the APS, the buyer\u00a0does<\/em> have the right to a final inspection.<\/p>\n There is a very old (if you\u2019re my age\u2026) Ontario Superior Court decision called\u00a0Harkness vs. Cooney\u00a0<\/em>that lawyers reference all the time in situations like this.<\/p>\n The case determined that the purchaser has a right to a \u201cfinal inspection\u201d to ensure that the property is being delivered in the same condition in which it was purchased.<\/p>\n More importantly, the case concluded that there is\u00a0no<\/em><\/span>\u00a0need for a special clause to this effect in the agreement.<\/p>\n From the court decision:<\/p>\n \u201cI raised the matter of executory and executed contracts.\u00a0 It seems ridiculous that the purchaser should have to move from his rights under the executory contract to the fewer rights he would have under the executed contract without having the right to inspect the premises while he was still in possession of such rights as the law gives him in an executory contract.\u00a0 It also seems ridiculous that he should have to complete the transaction and pay over his money before ascertaining whether or not he had been entitled to terminate the contract prior to completing it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The court determined that this was \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, many sellers and listing agents out there today don\u2019t have any.<\/p>\n The root of the court\u2019s determination in 1979 came from other sections of the standard Agreement of Purchase & Sale, notably:<\/p>\n 1) The property remained under control of, and at the risk of the seller from the time the APS is signed through the date of closing. The decision also noted that the buyer would\u00a0only\u00a0<\/em>be able to object to any deficiencies, defects, or deviations from the original Agreement of Purchase & Sale\u00a0after<\/em> the completion of the transaction, by which point the buyer loses significant rights.<\/p>\n Again, it seemed as though the court was basing its decision on \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n If this case isn\u2019t enough to deem that the right to a final inspection is \u201cimplicit,\u201d then I would offer a second court case:<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torontorealtyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BellaMeme.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
2) The property remained insured\u00a0by<\/em> the seller, to the benefit of the buyer, through the date of closing.<\/p>\n