BC REALTORS® Advocate for a Pre-Offer Period

The BC Real Estate Association’s annual Government Liaison (GL) Days event was held from Sunday, March 10 to Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria.

Bringing together 65 attendees consisting of government relations (GR) staff and REALTOR^® committee members from all of the regional boards/associations, BCREA GR staff, and Board Members, the event provided delegates an opportunity to hear from a wide range of speakers, learn about advocacy meeting best practices, and meet with their regional Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

This year, we were pleased to hear from all four provincial party leaders: Premier David Eby, Kevin Falcon from the BC United Party, John Rustad of the BC Conservatives, and Sonia Furstenau from the BC Greens, as well as BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon, and federal Conservative Housing Critic Scott Aitchison. Non-political speakers included our media panel guests, Richard Zussman and Katie DeRosa, pollster Mario Canseco from Research Co., and Dil Puar from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

At Monday night’s reception at the Steamship Grill & Bar, the second annual Provincial Advocacy Awards were handed out to Tore Jacobsen (GR REALTOR^® Volunteer Award), Greater Vancouver REALTORS^® (though, given that the award is for 2023’s work, the award was presented to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver) for the Real Estate Board GR Committee Award, and Seth Scott of the Association of Interior REALTORS^® (Real Estate Board GR Staff Award). BCREA greatly appreciates the work of our dedicated members and partners in delivering advocacy messages to various levels of government.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. The serious work was meeting with MLAs and delivering our key messages in the form of two “asks.” First, we re-vamped our previous recommendation for a Permanent Provincial Housing Roundtable. With the numerous and complex housing policies announced by the government, it is necessary to ensure that they will accomplish their goals “on the ground” and not generate negative unintended consequences.

Our second ask was for the government to replace its current Home Buyer Rescission Period with a Pre-Offer Period to provide improved consumer protection for buyers and sellers during over-heated market conditions. A Pre-Offer Period would allow buyers to complete their due diligence prior to making an offer rather than after an offer has been accepted.

BCREA will continue to advocate for more thoughtful and evidence-based policies and will follow up with MLAs on these two recommendations to support REALTORS^® GL Days lobbying efforts as we move towards the provincial election, scheduled for October 2024.

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