I was literally just on the phone with a colleague who told me, “You use way too many metaphors.  Like, seriously.  Every time you explain something, you want to tell a similar story to prove a point.”

Well, if the shoe fits…

Imagine that you are a trapeze artist.

In your line of work, few can do what you do, successfully, and at the highest level.

The stakes are high.

People are watching, and when you fail, they take notice.  When you succeed, they notice as well.

But success is simply expected.  Failure causes surprise, but success merely gets a clap or two, before people move on to the next shiny object.

Now picture yourself atop a platform some 100-feet off the ground.

In front of you is a wire, suspended above the ground, and attached to a similar platform 200-feet away.

Your objective, quite obviously, is to step out on that wire and walk across to the other side, when all the while people watch your every move.

Now consider that the very moment before you take your first step, you first pause, and take out a skillsaw, to cut off your left foot.

You then raise your left leg and take your first step toward the wire.

I think it’s fair to say that you probably wouldn’t get too far across that wire, would you?

As a trapeze artist, what you do is exceptionally-difficult, and it can go wrong very easily.

But what if you were the author of your own misfortune?

Alas, the old adage, “Shooting yourself in the foot” rings true in the story I’m about to tell, but rather than use that example, well, I guess I felt like this story involved a circus of sorts, so the trapeze analogy was better-suited.

Two weeks ago, a property came onto the Toronto market on the west-side, and based on the location, the price point, and of course – the barren wasteland that comprises “active listings” in Toronto, this property was going to get action.

This was a true “box-checker,” as the description goes.  That’s a phrase I use all the time with my clients when, irrespective of the condition or style, most of our criteria has been met: semi-detached, 3-bedrooms, 2-bathrooms, and parking.

But not just parking; two-car parking!

This was just great!

Parking is becoming a really tough animal in Toronto, not necessarily in terms of whether a buyer “needs” parking, since I believe that’s one of the first concessions a buyer should make in the $1M price point, but rather in terms of how parking is defined.

We all know that you can’t go by what’s listed on MLS anymore.

How many times have we seen a listing show “1” parking space, only to see that the driveway is mutual, and the two owners have a fence installed at the back?

“Oh, you see,” the listing agent will explain if pressed, “There is parking back there, I mean, the option for parking, but the sellers have never needed it, so they, along with the neighbours, installed a fence back there.  But you can have parking if you and the neighbours take down the fence.”

Perfect.

How many times do we see “Front Pad” parking, only to find out it’s not legal?

This can’t happen in 2020, folks.  It just can’t.

Bookmark this link, right now:

https://www.toronto.ca/data/transportation/residential_locations/residential_locations.pdf

That’s every licensed parking pad in the City of Toronto.

And the first thing you should do when you see “Front Pad” on the MLS listing, is click on that link, and ensure it’s legal.

What to do with illegal pads is a topic for another day.  Maybe Wednesday, if I have time…

So we can agree that parking is fudged on MLS constantly, and it’s incumbant upon the buyer and the buyer agent to investigate themselves.

For the property in today’s story, however, there was certainly no debate.

The house was situated on a corner lot, so not only was the parking not down some sort of narrow mutual driveway, but rather it was accessible from the street.

Have a look:

Now what is that type of parking?

Is that a parking pad?

Well, parking pads are usually refered to as “Front Yard Parking,” as per the link above.

There is, however, a type of parking called “Boulevard Parking,” which is also referenced in the link.

So what is this?

It’s two-car, of course, we know that!  And that’s going to drive the value of this property big-time!

But how did the listing address this type of parking?

Ah, yes!

Other.

When in doubt, other that thang!

Who knows what “other” is.

Who cares, right?

You’ve got eyes!  You can see the parking, for not one, but two cars!

Here’s the parking from a different angle:

Yup, two-car parking.  Indisputable.

Offer day arrived, and I think a lot of buyer were keen on this property.

The interior of the house wasn’t aesthetically-pleasing, but there’s an increasing number of buyers out there who want a house that’s in worse shape so they can afford the damn thing in the first place!  Do the work yourselves, add some sweat-equity, and pick your own finishes, too!

But I had to figure there would be 20-something offers on this house, as there were with virtually every other $799,000, $829,000, and $899,000 listing in the past month.

Now picture this: our trapeze artist, er, real estate agent, is getting ready for offer day.  The preparations were fierce!  Lots of stretching and sit-ups on the carpet in the morning, sharpening lots of pencils, and ensuring there’s plenty of toner in the printer.

Then out of nowhere, on the very DAY of offers, comes this email:

Wow.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.  Or, for the trapeze artist…

What’s a guy to do, right?

I mean, I get it.  The agent was provided this information by the seller, and it just so happened to be the very day that offers would be reviewed.  To not disclose this would be problematic, and that’s not what I’m suggesting.

But what I am suggesting, is that coincidental, unforeseen, or not – this is literally the worst-possible timing for something like this to transpire.

This email hit my inbox around noon, with offers set to be reviewed at 6:00pm.

Can you even imagine what the fallout would be?

Every buyer agent had to then go back to his or her buyer and say, “So it looks like there’s an issue with the parking…”

To say that, “The house will be sold without parking” isn’t really an explanation of what’s going on, either!  Read that email again.

Why isn’t the city issuing a new permit?  Where are the email or applications explaining what transpired?

Who is a “city worker” anyways?  That’s a rather aloof description.  What department at the City of Toronto?  What is the issue with the parking, and how can it be remedied?

This is a total cop-out, in my opinion.

I get that a bad hand was dealt here, but this isn’t a solution.  This is giving in.

This property never should have been sold that night.  But it was.  And it sold for far less than it should have.

If this were my listing, and on the day of offers, I was given this information, I would have told the seller to suspend the listing, and investigate.  Perhaps a new permit could be obtained, or perhaps it couldn’t.  But either way, you’d eliminate all the uncertainty therein, not to mention, the buyer pool doesn’t like surprises.

If you were a buyer for this home, and on the day of offers, you were given this curveball, what would you have done?

I suppose you can say, with the benefit of hindsight now, that you’d have looked to secure a “deal” on the house as other buyers turn and run.  But on the day of offers, with this little nugget of information, I know most of my clients would have frozen.  And rightfully so.

Nobody likes uncertainty.

I mean, just look at the “updated” feature sheet that was emailed to agents:

First of all, great feature sheet!  No photos – great job!

But does this have parking, or doesn’t it?

Parking: NONE

“2 Parking Spaces”

Sure, it’s a mistake.  I know.

But it simply underscores the confusion, uncertainty, and lack of clarity that exists with this property, and will continue to exist for the new owner.

Last year, I wrote about a midtown Toronto house that had a major flood the very day before offers were to be reviewed.

The timing couldn’t have been worse.

But guess what happened?

The listing went on!  Offer day came and went, and the house was sold!

To email eighty buyer agents and say, “This house flooded, but it’s good, don’t worry, we’re still taking offers, and, oh yeah, please sign this indemnification against future claims re: flood” is certainly not going to help calm the nerves of the buyer pool.

But that’s what happened.

And the house sold for less than it would have, could have, or should have.

The stakes are so high in this market.  You just can’t afford for anything to go wrong.

This parking situation should have been dealt with beforehand, if possible.

But no matter what, given this curveball on the day of offers, the listing agent never should have advised the seller to proceed.

Unless, of course, that seller was independently wealthy, and didn’t think a $100,000 swing was something worth crying over.

It’s an interesting market out there, folks.  Every day, something different…