3 Questions Realtors Need to Ask

How To Be
How To Be
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

During my time as an elected official, I had the opportunity to run across residents who were upset because they purchased their home with a certain set of expectations that they felt in hindsight, were not accurate.

People purchased a home across from a large empty field and were told by their realtor that a school would be built there. Years went by and the residents were frustrated as their children grew up and still no school.

Or, they purchased a home with green space in their backyard, only to discover it was the future home of a new residential development, or a utilities corridor.

In all the situations, residents expressed their displeasure to their elected representative, saying their realtor had told them something about the use of the open land and they had taken their word for it.

It may very well be the fault of the home buyer, and they definitely should have done their own due diligence before making a purchasing decision on such a large financial commitment, but a lot of heartache and frustration could be saved right from the onset.

While every municipality, province or state may have different ways of handling development issues, it is fairly easy to find out what the process is around land usage. A couple questions to ask your municipality:

1. Who makes the final decision on where schools are built and when?
2. If there is greenspace, who owns it and who decides how it may be used?
3. If there is a utility corridor, what types of utilities may or may not be installed?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you should be able to find the right person to talk to about specific cases. For example, if you obtain a listing for a property across the road from land that is zoned for a school, and you know it is the school board who makes the final decisions on school placements, you know who to contact to find out what their plans are for that space.

It might take an extra couple phone calls, but your clients will thank you.

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