Publication of sold price

As long as the deed of sale has not been published in the Land Register, the price indicated therein constitutes confidential information and must be treated as such by real estate brokers. Therefore, the selling price obtained, whether or not it matches the listing price, must not be advertised. It’s also not allowed to disseminate information that can be used to guess the selling price (e.g. “20% more than the asking price”).

Even with the agreement of both parties to the transaction, it is risky for a seller to advertise the selling price obtained immediately after the fulfilment of the conditions of the Promise to purchase. Indeed, the Promise to purchase may become null and void, for example, following the discovery of a defect before the signing of the deed of sale. To protect the public, such a practice cannot be permitted.

If that is the case, how come a broker can communicate the sold price to an information dissemination service between agencies or brokers as soon as the conditions are lifted?

The sold price is part of the non-public component of an information dissemination service, which is only accessible to brokers who are members of a real estate board. They need to know that the property has been sold to be able to stop offering it to potential buyers right away. They must also know the selling price in order to establish reliable comparables and then set realistic prices for new listings. The bank of ''SOLD'' properties is only accessible to licence holders and cannot be used for advertising nor be made available to the general public, including via a website.

It is therefore possible to use the sheets of these properties as comparables to set the sale or purchase price of a property. However, in order to preserve the confidentiality of the selling price of properties whose deed of sale has not yet been published in the Land Register, these sheets may not be given to a client or be included in a document submitted to a client unless the property's identification information is hidden (photos, address, name and contact information of the owners, etc.).

The broker must keep in the brokerage contract or transaction records all the description sheets used to establish a sale price for new listings or a purchase price when drafting promises to purchase.

''SOLD'' rules

(Apply only once all conditions are fulfilled.)

Periodicals, newspapers and Internet

  • Advertising an immovable as ''SOLD'' until the signing of the deed of sale is allowed, even if the brokerage contract is expired.
  • Make sure advertisements are kept up to date by indicating that the immovable is ''SOLD''.

Sign

  • Once all the conditions of a promise to purchase have been fulfilled, except the signing of the deed of sale, the broker must advertise the "SOLD" notice on the sign posted on the immovable.
  • Any sign must be removed immediately at the earliest of the expiration of the brokerage contract or the signing of the deed of sale.

For more information, please read the “Advertising guide for real estate agencies and brokers”.

 

Last updated on: October 15, 2021
Numéro d'article: 122843