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Real Estate Service Agreements in Manitoba
As of January 1, 2022, a change has been made to the Real Estate Services Act (RESA) that requires you to sign a service agreement with a REALTOR® up front, before any services are rendered. If you’re buying, selling or renting a commercial or residential property in Manitoba, you’ll need to sign a service agreement.
The new service agreement is your assurance that your REALTOR® is on the job for you, on your terms. Your signature acts as proof that you understand the purpose of the agreement: that it’s your REALTOR®’s pledge to deliver on their promise of professionalism and transparency at every step of the home buying or selling process.
Visit https://www.promisesonpaper.ca/ for more details on the changes.
It’s the same great service, just with a bit more paperwork 😊
– Justin
Virtual Staging in Winnipeg
This one bedroom condo unit in St. Boniface was 100% vacant when the owner was ready to sell. Given its small size, I knew it would benefit greatly from virtual staging to give buyers an idea of how how it could function as a work from home space with a desk in the primary bedroom and where a dining space could fit. I can’t believe how real the technology is starting to look! It sold within the first week on market, compared to an average of 36 days for other units in the building this year. Check out the before and after photos. The results speak for themselves.
The virtual staging process starts by shooting photos of the vacant property then sending those images to a graphic design firm who digitally places furniture in those shots to compliment the space.
Every property is different has has its own set of challenges. If you need help with how to best position your property to get top dollar, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Justin Pokrant
Realtor
Century 21 Bachman & Associates
www.justinpokrant.com
204.997.5876
Well Water Testing in Manitoba
When you buy a home that has community supplied water like we have in the City of Winnipeg, you don’t usually give a second thought to the quality of the water. We have a great treatment facility that purifies our tap water and makes it safe to drink, cook and bathe with. But when you are dealing with properties – typically rural homes – that have water supplied to the home from a well, it becomes much more important to verify that the water is fit for human consumption. Not only do you want to keep you and your family safe, but lenders require a satisfactory water sample to fulfil their mortgage lending requirements. Total coliform bacteria and E.coli is routinely found in wells throughout Manitoba so it’s important for wells to be tested and maintained regularly to ensure any issues are identified and addressed quickly.
If you are selling your home that has well water, it’s a good idea to do a water test before you list the home, and have it available to potential purchasers so that there are no delays when you are dealing with offers. If you don’t do it before you list, it can cost you a lot of time and money to correct a contaminated well and retest, which can put a sale in jeopardy. It usually takes 3-5 business days just to collect the water, drop it off at the test facility, and get the results back. Add in the time it takes to correct any possible issues and you could be looking at weeks of delays.
If you are buying a home that has well water, be sure to ask for a recently passed water test. If the seller doesn’t have one available, make it a condition on your offer.
To test a well, there are specific bottles that the water needs to be collected in, and a number of steps that need to be followed to ensure you provide an accurate sample. You can consult the Manitoba governments website for instructions or reach out to your favourite Realtor to take care of it for you as part of their services 🙂
Stay hydrated!
– Justin
