1. Renovations without permits: Did you know changing your dishwasher requires a city permit? True story: condo owner near the penthouse changed dishwasher without permit, dishwasher leaked, damaged the suites below all the way to the ground floor, insurance asked whether a permit was granted by the city, condo owner said “no”, condo owner responsible for the insurance deductible for every single unit damaged from the leak, condo owner left with a $100,000 bill. Do-it-yourself renovations can save money, but if not done properly, can decrease the value of your home when it comes time to sell. When the home inspector was inspecting a house my clients wanted to buy, noticed lots of safety issues related to the poorly done DIY patio renovations. It may be a wise investment to just pay a professional to get the job done properly and according to building code and safety standards.
2. Unauthorized Suites: So you know many people who have unauthorized suites and don’t have a problem, but you might not know those who do have a problem.
Risks – if nosy neighbor or someone reports it to the city (it happens), the city will send an inspector to your home and request you to authorize it, which may include adding an address, making certain modifications, etc… Also, buyers are way more at ease when the house they want to buy has an authorized suite as opposed to unauthorized one, meaning buyers will pay more for your home if the suite is authorized. Sometimes people will tell you 99% of people do it, so it’s fine, but just beware.
3. “99% of the Realtors do it… it’s fine” was what he told me. Just because everyone does it, doesn’t mean you won’t get in trouble.
Ex: Today is Wednesday, Realtor A drafts up offer for Buyer A to buy a house, offer expires Friday. Saturday comes along, offer has expired, contract is VOID in the court of law. Realtor B representing Seller B wants to counter the offer on Saturday and takes expired offer, changes expiry date to Sunday and sends “expired” offer back to Realtor A. If Realtor A encourages Buyer A to accept offer, there’s a problem. The problem is that the “expired offer” is VOID and if either Buyer A or Seller B change their mind and want to get out of the contract, they can, just take it to court and the Judge will say, “the contract was void when it expired, contract not enforceable” Also, Realtor B can be sued by Seller B for countering a void contract and Realtor A can be sued by Buyer A for accepting the counter offer. Even if the Realtors aren’t sued, a complaint against them to the Real Estate Board could send them to Real Estate discipline.
Point is: yah if no one complains, then there’s no problem, and “it’s more convenient if I just change the dates” but why take the risk? Make sure your Realtor does things properly.
Yvonne Yang 
Carlos Garcia 
