BC Real Estate Trading Services Exam common mistakes
BC Real Estate Trading Services Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the client's request to 'get the best price' as permission to disclose a competing buyer's offer amount to other buyers without the seller's written instruction.
Candidates confuse the duty of undivided loyalty with a duty to maximize price at any cost, and they forget that confidential offer information belongs to the seller, who alone controls its release.
What to do instead
Before revealing any offer term to another party, obtain the seller's written direction and document it in the file; explain to the client that the agency relationship makes the seller the decision-maker on disclosure, and that releasing offer details without authority breaches confidentiality and can trigger disciplinary action.
Calculating the deposit and balance owing on a purchase using the full purchase price as the base for the deposit percentage, instead of applying the agreed deposit to the price and then computing the cash-to-close separately.
Candidates rush the arithmetic under time pressure and conflate 'deposit' with 'down payment', then carry the wrong figure into the statement of adjustments.
What to do instead
Write the formula on scratch paper before computing: deposit = stated percentage × purchase price; cash to close = purchase price + adjustments − deposit − new mortgage proceeds. Recompute each figure independently and check that deposit plus mortgage plus cash to close equals price plus adjustments.
Stating that a buyer's offer becomes a binding contract the moment the seller signs it, ignoring the requirement that acceptance be communicated to the offeror.
Candidates memorize 'offer plus acceptance equals contract' as a slogan and overlook the communication-of-acceptance rule and the effect of revocation before acceptance.
What to do instead
For every offer question, identify the sequence: offer made, acceptance communicated, consideration, capacity, legality. State explicitly that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror (or its agent) unless the offer dispenses with communication, and that a revocation communicated before acceptance defeats the contract.
Computing the mortgage qualifying ratio using gross household income without applying the lender's stress-test qualifying rate or including property taxes, heating, and half of condo fees in the debt service ratio.
Candidates mix up the contract rate with the qualifying rate and forget that total debt service includes carrying costs beyond principal and interest.
What to do instead
Use the lender's qualifying rate (typically the greater of the contract rate plus a stress buffer or the benchmark rate) and build the full carrying cost: principal and interest at the qualifying rate, property taxes, heat, and 50% of strata fees. Compute gross debt service and total debt service ratios separately and state both.
Valuing a property by averaging the sale prices of three comparable properties without adjusting each comparable for differences in size, condition, and date of sale.
Candidates treat the direct comparison approach as a simple average and skip the adjustment grid because it takes time.
What to do instead
For each comparable, state the sale price, then apply explicit dollar adjustments for differences from the subject (living area, lot size, garage, condition, time). Derive an adjusted value range and reconcile to a single estimate, explaining why one comparable is weighted more heavily.
Describing a property as 'zoned for duplex' or 'subdividable' in a listing without verifying the current zoning bylaw and any pending bylaw amendments.
Candidates rely on the seller's statement or on general knowledge of the area rather than checking the municipal zoning bylaw and official community plan.
What to do instead
Before writing any development or use statement, pull the current zoning designation from the municipality, check for pending amendments or development permit areas, and phrase the listing to describe only what is verified. Add a seller representation and a buyer's acknowledgment that the buyer must independently confirm development potential.
Failing to remit GST on a new home sale or miscalculating the GST new housing rebate by applying the rebate to the full price without the phase-out threshold.
Candidates memorize the rebate percentage but not the price threshold at which the rebate is reduced or eliminated, and they forget the GST is on the purchase price before rebate.
What to do instead
Compute GST as 5% of the purchase price, then apply the rebate only if the price is below the phase-out threshold, reducing the rebate proportionally as price rises. Show the calculation in steps and state the net GST payable after rebate.
Recording a client's deposit into the brokerage's general operating account and later transferring it to the trust account.
Candidates confuse the brokerage's own funds with trust funds and think a short delay is acceptable because the money will reach trust eventually.
What to do instead
Deposit trust funds directly into the trust account on the next banking day, record the receipt in the trust ledger with the client name and file number, and never commingle. Reconcile the trust account monthly and retain the deposit slip and ledger entry.
Explaining the agency relationship to the buyer only at the time the offer is written rather than before any substantive discussion of price or motivation.
Candidates treat agency disclosure as a signature formality at the end of the transaction and do not recognize that agency duties attach when confidential information is first received.
What to do instead
At first contact, before asking about budget or motivation, provide the required agency disclosure and have the buyer acknowledge it in writing. Record the date and time of disclosure in the file and confirm which party the licensee represents before any substantive conversation.
Ignoring the difference between a strata corporation's common property and a strata lot when advising on alterations, and assuming the owner may alter common property without approval.
Candidates treat a strata lot as if it were a freehold house and do not check the Strata Property Act and bylaws on alterations to common property.
What to do instead
Identify whether the proposed alteration touches a strata lot, common property, or common assets; check the bylaws and the Strata Property Act for the required approval (often a special resolution or council approval), and advise the client in writing of the approval process and any indemnity agreement required.