The laws governing real estate in Ontario are about to change with the introduction of TRESSA.  One of the significant changes is the introduction of Designated Agency, but what is it and how will it impact home buyers and seller in the GTA?

What System Was In Place Before?
In Ontario under the old law REBBA the all agents working for a brokerage were responsible for representing the seller. The system is called Multiple Representation.  This meant the same Agent to represent both the home buyer and seller in the same transaction, but also any other Agent that worked for that brokerage, considering some offices have 1000's of agents this could get very complicated.
In Multiple Representation all Real Estate Agent in the brokerage are to remain impartial in advising both parties, but it also limits the advice they can give either party.  So Agents could not advise on price and what conditions to include in the offer.  This could get even more complicated when Multiple Offers come into play as is very common in the GTA real estate market.  Because of the risk of conflict of interest we are now able to offer a more common system called Designated Agency.

What Is Designated Agency?
Designated agency refers to a situation where a Brokerage can designate a specific agent within the brokerage to represent the buyer and seller separately in a real estate transaction. This is done to manage conflicts of interest and ensure that each party receives fair and loyal representation.

1. Real Estate Brokerage are now longer classed as the "Agent".  Instead the Agent is the licensed person representing each client.  

2. In a typical real estate transaction, there are two primary parties—the buyer and the seller. Each party may choose to work with a real estate agent to help them navigate the process. A buyer's agent represents the buyer's interests, and a seller's agent represents the seller's interests.

3. In some cases, a real estate brokerage may have both buyer's agents and seller's agents working within the same firm. To avoid conflicts of interest that could arise if the same agent were to represent both parties in a transaction, the brokerage can implement a Designated Agency system.

4. Under Designated Agency, specific Real Estate Agents are designated to represent the buyer and seller separately. This means that one agent from the brokerage will represent the buyer, and another agent will represent the seller. The goal is to provide each party with dedicated representation and avoid potential conflicts that could arise if one agent tried to represent both parties' conflicting interests.

5. Designated agency comes with the expectation that information shared with one designated agent will be kept confidential from the other designated agent within the same brokerage. This ensures that each party can trust their designated agent to act in their best interests.

How Will This Impact You?
If you happen to be working with a Buyers Agent in the GTA you will no longer be negatively impacted should you choose to make an offer on a property listed by the same brokerage and you will be able to get a more comprehensive service without limitations.

If you have more questions about how this impacts you, reach out to our team today to help you.