Mark Walker is a real estate agent and the broker/owner of Kelowna’s Walker Real Estate.

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OPINION

I love real estate. I was a real estate investor long before I became a Realtor and a broker. Throughout my journey, from real estate investor to owner of a real estate brokerage, I’ve been passionate about education.

As you might imagine, our office works hard to stay up to date on new trends and best practices, but we also strive to keep our clients educated and informed too.

One piece that I find many consumers are unaware of is what a real estate agent’s fiduciary duties are, and given my passion for education, the mission of my column this week is to share this information so you’ll go into your next conversation with a Realtor a little more informed.

The best way I have found to describe fiduciary is as legally binding trust. In essence, a fiduciary is an individual (or an organization) that is legally bound to the very highest standards of good faith and trust. It is actually, the most significant form of multi-party legal duty that exists in our judicial system. So what does this mean in a real estate context?

Ultimately, if you hire a Realtor and establish a fiduciary relationship, they are ethically required to serve your best interests above all else (including their own interests). You should be able to trust that your agent is working to your best interests throughout your entire transaction.

Along with the fiduciary relationship come six core responsibilities - they are as follows:

1. Keep your private info confidential - your real estate agent should keep any private information you share with them strictly confidential. As you might imagine, this becomes even more important when the info has the possibility of damaging your position in negotiations.

2. Loyalty - your Realtor must maintain loyal to you at all times during your transaction. This means they are required to put your needs ahead of their own.

3. Full disclosure - No matter the consequences, if your Realtor learns of some new information that may strengthen your hand in negotiations, they must share it with you. No exceptions. If it is in your interests, they are required to tell you.

4. Care - You are number one throughout the entire transaction and your agent must do their very best for you. Your real estate agent is required to put you first (even ahead of themselves) at all times during your deal.

5. Follow your instructions - so long as your instructions are legal and ethical, your agent is required to follow all your requests and instructions.

6. Appropriate accounting - your Realtor is required to appropriately handle and account for all funds you entrust to them. They must not commingle your entrusted funds with their personal or business funds.

At Walker Real Estate, we pride ourselves on getting results, maintaining the highest standards and providing a world-class client experience. We strive to exceed expectations with every transaction we’re lucky enough to work on.

If you’re looking to buy, sell or invest in Kelowna real estate, please feel free to contact me directly. My team and I would be delighted to assist you. I can be reached at 250-764-4344 or Mark@KelownaProperties.com.

— Mark Walker is a real estate agent and the broker/owner of Kelowna’s Walker Real Estate. His company runs the website KelownaProperties.com - Kelowna’s most comprehensive real estate search tool. Mark Walker’s column appears here every two weeks.

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