On December 30th, 2011 the Calgary Real Estate Board announced several rule changes for the coming year.  The most interesting change came in the area of reporting conditional sales.  In the past, when an offer on a home was accepted that home was removed from the market until the conditions (home inspection, etc...) were satisfied.  Once conditions were removed the home would be reported as 'sold'.  In some cases, if the offer fell through, the home would be put back on the market and open to new offers.

     The new rule states the following: All Conditional Sales will be reported at the time of acceptance of a conditional offer sale except where the Seller has given written instruction not to report the conditional sale until conditions are waived in writing.

    Essentially, the Seller now has the choice of whether or not their home will remain on the market during the conditional sale period.  This provides the Sellers the opportunity to continue to market their home to other Buyers and the potential for the acceptance of 'back-up' offers that would be subject to the collapse of any previous offers. 

    From the perspective of the Seller, this new rule might be viewed as positive but it will be interesting to see how Buyers reacts.  Some may be uncomfortable with the knowledge that the home they conditionally purchased is still being shown to others.  All the more reason for Buyers to ensure that they are well qualified to purchase before they make an offer on a home the Seller will likely be less flexible with extending conditions for financing conditions if they have what they deem to be a solid back-up offer waiting in the wings.