Local Senior Real Estate Specialist helps prevent seniors from being taken advantage of when it is time to sell longtime home

By KAT BERGERON

Protecting seniors from being taken advantage of in real estate transactions and navigating what can be the complex process of moving out of what has been the family home for decades is the goal of Beach area realtor Jacquie Harris.

Seniors who have owned their homes for years and built enormous equity in their properties may need to move for health, financial or other reasons. That is where Harris, who has a Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation, can be of assistance.

“For me, working with seniors is a lifestyle transition, not just a transaction,” said Harris.

A local resident and realtor with Real Estate Homeward Brokerage in the Beach since 2007, Harris saw the need for specialized realty services for seniors through her experiences helping her own parents.

She said seniors need specialized assistance with all aspects of moving out of a longtime family home, and it can be a vulnerable time for them.

Seniors can feel overwhelmed by the many tasks at hand, or sentimental about the memories and objects in their homes, and may require assistance to transition into the next phase of their life. Harris works with professional movers, renovators and downsizers to help ease some of the burdens associated with the transition.

“Seniors often face struggles related to mobility and health, a fixed income, a need to downsize, or move into a long-term care facility, which can be overwhelming and emotional decisions. Having a support system can support them to manage the transition,” said Harris.

To earn the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation, a realtor must complete a course and then actively maintain the designation National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Centre for Realtor Development (CRD). A Seniors Real Estate Specialist has in-depth understanding of the unique needs senior clients may face in the housing market and helps homebuyers and sellers over the age of 50 buy or sell their homes and connect them with supporting resources throughout the process.

One of the areas Harris advocates for the seniors she works with is dealing on their behalf with others who may have personal motivations for trying to convince the owner to sell the house to them privately for far less than its true value.

“A wrong decision can lead to not retaining as much value as possible, which can measure into the hundreds of thousands in this area. It can be a big consequence which has real ramifications for choices for long-term care or a smaller home,” said Harris.

Not all seniors can turn to trusted family members to help them sell their house, let go of their belongings and prepare to move into a smaller home or a care facility.

“The decisions and support often fall to the adult children who are also busy, making it more of a challenge to help,” said Harris.

The feeling among some seniors that they don’t want to bother or be a burden to their adult children can lead to them being taken advantage of.

“When they kind of look around and they see how much stuff they’ve accumulated, and of course, all of the memories, if someone were to knock on their door and offer them a low-ball offer and be told that you know you don’t need to worry as my client is prepared to pay you this much money, they would take the deal, not realizing that they may be selling at under value,” said Harris.

There are also those actively looking to take advantage of vulnerable seniors and their valuable houses, she said. These people are trying to convince local seniors to sell their homes in private sales for prices far below market value, or to exploit the equity in the home at the expense of the owner.

She said one example is what she called the “Loan to Own” scam, which is also known as equity stripping. This sees door-to-door sales agents convincing seniors to take out a mortgage at a high interest rate. Harris said another example of a common scam is “total title fraud” in which a person may attempt to steal the identity of the senior homeowner and transfer the property into their own name.

Former Beach residents Anne and Ken Craig are senior clients recently helped by Harris.

“It has been a lot and a challenge,” said Anne. “I don’t want to move again because it has been hard on us, and my kids.”

She said her adult children were a great help as they moved from their Beach home to a new residence in the High Park area, as was Harris’ support and expertise.

In 2021, nearly 238,000 Canadians over the age of 85 were reportedly living in collective dwellings such as retirement residences or nursing homes, according to Statistics Canada. That number is expected to grow as more Canadians get older.

Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia are the provinces with the highest percentage of residents who are over 85 years old.