My husband and I put an offer in on a home in Victoria, built in 1920, at an asking price of $639,000, subject to a building inspection only. Our offer was clean and simple; the average price of houses sold in this area, over the past 60 days, was $590,000.
We wished to purchase this home to raise our family. Our offer was submitted 15 minutes before the deadline of “delayed offers.” There were five offers in total, and some of them were over $700,000.
The offer that was accepted was one of those over $700,000 — with no subjects. Making such a purchase with no building inspection exceeds the risk that any conscious buyer(s) would and could take.
Do real-estate agents and realty associations welcome or even encourage competitive situations such as this?
It is as if families are unable to purchase homes in their cities and communities, as buyers continue to purchase homes with no conditions or subjects — changing our communities forever.
What are local families to do?
As community members and working professionals who contribute to our community and to the larger society, it is provoking anger and frustration.
To sum it all up: Ask yourself, who is buying a 1920 house in Victoria well over asking price without looking under the hood?
How much longer will the B.C. government and the real-estate boards of B.C. turn a blind eye to these types of transactions?
Sharon Martin and Florian Gabriel
Victoria
