British Columbia · Seller Report
If your home does not sell at the agreed price within the agreed time, we will buy it. That is the idea. The terms are where it lives.
A guaranteed sale program is a written agreement in which the agent or an affiliated buyer commits to purchase your home at a pre-agreed price if it has not sold within a pre-agreed period.
It is a legitimate tool, it solves a real problem, and it is also a product where the detail matters enormously. So this page is mostly about the detail — including the questions you should ask us.
Part one
How it works
- A full market evaluationThe home is assessed against recent comparable sales, condition and current competition.
- Two numbers are agreed, in writing, before marketing beginsA list price — what it goes to market at — and a guaranteed price, which is lower. You see both before you commit to anything.
- It is marketed normallyPhotography, MLS®, portals, open houses, the full plan. The intention is always that it sells on the open market.
- If an outside buyer offers more, you take itYou get the market price, not the guaranteed one. The guarantee is a floor, not a ceiling.
- If it does not sell within the period, the guarantee is triggeredOn the terms and at the price set out in the agreement you signed at the start.
Part two
What the written terms must tell you
Ask for the agreement before you agree to anything. Read every one of these.
- The guaranteed price, in dollars — and exactly how it was arrived at, with the comparable sales attached.
- The list price, and who decides if it changes during the term.
- The time period, and precisely when the clock starts.
- The commission and all costs payable in each scenario — open-market sale and guaranteed purchase. They may differ, and you need both figures.
- The condition requirements — what state the home must be in, and what happens if something changes.
- Your access and showing obligations, and what happens if they are not met.
- Any price reduction schedule the agreement requires during the term.
- Completion and possession dates under the guarantee, so you can plan your next move.
- How you exit if you change your mind, and what that costs.
The honest trade-off
The guaranteed price will be below market value. It has to be — whoever stands behind the guarantee is taking on the risk, the carrying costs and the eventual resale.
What you are buying is certainty, and you are paying for it in price. That is a genuinely good trade in some situations and a poor one in others. Anyone who presents it as free money is not being straight with you.
Ask for the guaranteed price and the realistic market price side by side, in dollars. The gap between them is the actual cost of the certainty, and you should decide with that number in front of you.
Part three
When it is the right tool, and when it is not
Genuinely useful when
Certainty is worth more than the last few percent
- You have already firmly bought and cannot carry two homes
- A job relocation with a fixed start date
- An estate that has to be wound up
- A separation where neither party can carry the home
- Any situation where a failed sale creates a worse problem than a lower price
In these cases the gap between guaranteed and market price is often cheaper than two months of carrying two properties.
Probably not for you if
You have time, and time is the cheaper option
- You have no deadline and no pressure
- Your home is well priced in an active segment
- You have not yet tried the open market properly
- You would resent the gap afterwards
If you can wait, waiting is almost always worth more than the guarantee. The honest advice for most sellers is: price it correctly and market it well first.
Questions we get asked
Is this too good to be true?
It is neither a trick nor free money — it is a trade. You give up some price to remove the risk of not selling. The programs that deserve suspicion are the ones that will not show you the guaranteed price in dollars up front, or that bury a price-reduction schedule in the terms. Ask for the document early; that request settles most of the question.
Do I have to accept the guaranteed price?
No. It is a floor available to you if the home has not sold within the period. If you would rather keep marketing, or take it off the market, that is your decision — subject to whatever the agreement says about ending it, which is why you read that clause first.
What if I get a higher offer from a buyer?
You take it. That is the normal and intended outcome. The program exists so that you are not trapped if the market does not deliver, not to steer you away from a better offer.
Does every agent offer this?
No — it requires the capital and the risk appetite to actually buy a home if called upon, which most do not have. That is also the fair question to ask anyone offering one: who exactly is standing behind this guarantee, and what happens if they cannot perform?
Ask for the numbers before you decide
We will give you the realistic market price and the guaranteed price side by side, with the comparable sales behind both, plus the full written terms. Then you decide whether the certainty is worth the gap.
Call 778‑234‑2000 Prefer to write? Send a message insteadPlease note: This describes a program offered by 10X Realty Group at eXp Realty. Qualifying conditions apply, the written agreement governs in all cases, and not every property qualifies. This page is general information about British Columbia and Canadian rules, current at the time of writing, and is not legal, tax, financial or mortgage advice. Figures and programs change — confirm anything you intend to rely on with the relevant authority or a qualified professional. Sonny Bhinder is a licensed REALTOR®, not a lawyer, accountant or mortgage broker. Not intended to solicit properties currently listed for sale, or to cause a breach of an existing agency relationship.