Eerlijk Bieden this week introduced the Eerlijk Bieden Dataroom for affiliated residential real estate agents. Thanks to the use of a Dataroom, the process of selling homes is further professionalized and more transparent. What exactly a Dataroom is, we explain in this blog.
What is a Data Room?
A Dataroom is basically not much different than a secure page where all relevant documents about an object can be found. It is clear to everyone when a document was posted, whether it has been changed in the meantime and whether new documents have been added in the meantime.
One central page with all available documents quickly prevents misunderstandings, as there is no need to send separate emails or WeTransfers between all parties.
Data room in corporate brokerage
In corporate brokerage, Datarooms are often used to assist with complex legal processes. Because more money is involved in this type of process and lawyers are involved, the parallel with residential brokerage does not seem to be a direct one. Still, the residential real estate broker can learn a lot from the corporate broker in this area.
The Q&A module
In most Datarooms, there is usually also a Q&A function available, aka Question & Answer. This means that stakeholders can ask a question to the sales intermediary, in this case the broker. The questions can be read back immediately for the other parties involved in the Dataroom. Again, everyone is kept informed of important updates.
Why is a data room important in residential brokerage?
First of all, a Dataroom brings great convenience to all involved. All information can be accessed at any time in one secure and central location. Specifically, this can contribute to the broker's duty of notification. Simply put, by using the Dataroom, everyone is always up to date with the latest information.
In addition, the Question & Answer module helps the prospective buyer with the obligation to research. Nowadays, viewings are becoming shorter and shorter due to the busy housing market. It can therefore easily happen that you forget a question, or don't have time to ask a question at all. In the Dataroom, therefore, you can think about any questions you might have until the time of bidding. Because fellow candidates do the same - and the questions are insightful - you can supplement each other's questions and duplicate questions are avoided.
Well and good in court
Last year alone, as many as 62 lawsuits went to trial for issues concerning the duty to investigate, 91 additional cases on the duty to report. Often then it becomes a legal yes-no. When a broker says one thing to Candidate 1, but then says something else to Candidate 2, written evidence is missing, making a legal process more difficult.
In some cases, the court even has to advise real estate agents to better organize the sale documents of a property. Such was the case in a recent case concerning a Haarlem home, where the buyer discovered after closing the deal that the foundation was rotten. The damage to the new buyer amounted to nearly €80,000, but to whom was this recoverable? The judge ruled that there was no error on the part of the seller, nor the real estate agent, and also gave direct advice for subsequent cases:
"The brokerage business should, more than it apparently does now, count it as part of its responsibility to ensure that sales transactions are supervised, as far as the informational side is concerned, in such a way that a sad outcome such as the one at issue here cannot occur."
So it is clear that the housing brokerage industry would benefit from a central information system that allows all stakeholders to efficiently fulfill the duty of disclosure and investigation. Eerlijk Bieden will soon launch its own Dataroom, free to use for affiliated members.
