Real eState

Real estate agent fined over $15000 for drinking milk at seller’s home

Published

1 year ago

August 2, 2023

The world’s most expensive milkshake is the epitome of luxury: a gold-flecked creation of Madagascar vanilla beans, donkey milk caramel sauce and Venezuelan cocoa that comes in a Swarovski crystal-encrusted glass and sells for $100 a pop.

A Canadian real estate agent will have to pay more than 150 times that much for taking a swig of plain milk.

After a home surveillance camera caught Mike Rose drinking milk straight out of the container at a house he was showing, the British Columbia Financial Services Authority, a government agency tasked with regulating the Canadian province’s financial institutions, on July 18 deemed Rose’s actions “unbecoming” under the British Columbia Real Estate Services Act. It fined him 20,000 Canadian dollars, or approximately $15,162. The agency also ordered Rose to pay an additional 2,500 Canadian dollars, or almost $1,896, in enforcement expenses, records show.

Rose did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in a statement to local outlet CFJC Today, he apologized for the “very unfortunate, and very uncharacteristic, decision.”

“I have never done this kind of thing before, nor will I ever behave in this way again,” Rose said. “… Although I have apologized directly to the homeowners, I know that actions like this are not quickly forgiven nor easily forgotten. I will be spending the next few weeks considering my actions, better understanding why I would do this, and work to ensure this kind of [behavior] never occurs again.”

The incident occurred on July 16, 2022, in the city of Kamloops, before potential buyers were scheduled to arrive at the house for a viewing.

That day, homeowner Lyska Fullerton and her family had left the house ready, clean and with the lights on for what they initially thought would only be one viewing. Later in the evening, though, the Fullertons’ real estate agent told them there had been a second showing.

That’s when Fullerton went back to her Ring camera — a device originally “intended for my teenage kids, so I could keep an eye on them and make sure they went home on time,” she told The Washington Post. She figured she would see a real estate agent guiding a group of prospective buyers.

But what she found left her “utterly speechless, in shock and creeped out,” Fullerton said.

The footage showed Rose entering the home some 30 minutes before the buyers. That afternoon, he walked into the kitchen and pulled the window blinds open. Then, he opened the fridge, pulled out a carton of milk and took a long gulp. Rose then put the milk back inside the fridge and closed the door, the video showed.

To make matters worse, Fullerton added, the video also showed Rose sitting on the couch while the potential buyers visited the house. He broke the couch’s arm, she said.

“This was unprofessional in so many ways,” Fullerton said. “Every part of it was just such an invasion of privacy and such an invasion of our home.”

Seeing the video left Fullerton disgusted, she said — particularly because the incident happened during a global pandemic that heightened observations of personal hygiene and killed both her and her husband’s parents.

“In what world do you think that this is ever okay to do?” Fullerton said. “I wouldn’t even do that in my own family’s home.”

According to the order from the British Columbia Financial Services Authority, Rose told the agency he was “unusually dehydrated” at the time because of a new medication. He was also under “considerable stress,” the report shows.

Fullerton confronted Rose two days after the incident, when the prospective buyers went back for another viewing. When she asked him if there was anything he wanted to tell her about his last visit to the home, Fullerton said Rose replied, “The milk?”

She reported him after that.

For Fullerton, it’s not so much that Rose drank the milk — it’s how he didn’t let anyone know that he had done so, she said.

“It doesn’t bother me that he drank milk. I mean, maybe he had an upset stomach, for all I know,” she said. “But to do it in that way? He didn’t even leave a note or tell us this happened. I had to find out because of my camera, and that’s just gross and plain wrong.”

“It makes you question your trust in people who visit your home,” she added.

That’s the reason the financial services agency cited in fining Rose. In its order, the agency said Rose’s behavior was in violation of statutes in the British Columbia Real Estate Services Act, which deems “unbecoming” conduct as behavior that “undermines public confidence in the real estate industry” and “brings the real estate industry into disrepute.”

Despite the milk situation, the prospective buyers wound up becoming the home’s owners, and the Fullertons moved out later that month.

“We sold it pretty quickly right after that, which is great,” she said. “Because the new people can go on and have new memories there, and we don’t have to stick with the memories of what happened.”

As for the milk jug that started it all, Fullerton said she immediately poured it out.

“My husband came back home and watched me throw a half a gallon of milk in the trash,” she said. “He’s looking at me like I’m crazy and asked, ‘What are you doing?’”

She told him: “You don’t even want to know.”

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Real eState

Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

Published

4 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Real eState

Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Real eState

Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

Published

3 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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