Already Have a Buyer? Here's Why I'd Still Bring In Representation for a Private Sale
“• Selling to a friend, neighbour, or family member privately is becoming more common on the North Shore, but finding your own buyer doesn’t remove the legal, tax, or pricing steps a market sale requires.
• The CRA and BC’s property transfer tax both apply based on fair market value, not on whatever number two people agree to over coffee. Selling below market to someone you’re close with can trigger a bigger tax bill than you expect.
• Skipping the open market means skipping the price discovery a real listing provides, so you still need a real number, and a professional CMA or appraisal is the tool that gets you one.
• A private sale doesn’t mean you should go it alone. It’s actually the deal type where having someone represent your side, not the relationship, matters most.”
The Full Picture
It makes sense that more North Shore owners are considering this. A private sale can mean no staging, no open houses, and a buyer who already knows the house, the neighbours, and why you're selling. I've had more of these conversations lately, often from a client who mentions, almost as an aside, that their neighbour or a family member has already asked if they'd sell directly.
Here's the thing I want every one of those owners to hear before they shake hands on a number: a private sale changes how you find your buyer. It doesn't change what protecting your side of the deal requires, and it's usually the deal type where that protection gets skipped first, right when it matters most.Your Rights Under REDMA If a Presale Is Delayed
Presale purchases in BC are governed by the Real Estate Development Marketing Act, and BC's Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), the regulator, lays out purchaser protections plainly on its own site. A few of these matter most when a timeline slips:
1. Fair Market Value Still Applies, Even If Your Price Doesn't
If you sell to someone you're not dealing with at arm's length (a family member is the clearest example, but a close friend can qualify too depending on the specifics), the Canada Revenue Agency doesn't use your agreed price to calculate capital gains. It uses fair market value. If you sell below market, your proceeds are still deemed to be the fair market value for tax purposes, according to the CRA's own guidance on transfers of capital property. Sell a property worth $1.8 million for $1.4 million to help out your kid, and the CRA still calculates any capital gain as though it sold for $1.8 million.
The same logic touches BC's property transfer tax, which is based on the property's fair market value at the time of transfer. There's a specific exemption code for a principal residence transferred between related individuals, but it has its own qualifying conditions and doesn't cover every private sale between people who know each other. This is exactly the kind of fine print a private deal has no built-in check for, since there's no listing agent or buyer's agent independently confirming the number both sides landed on actually holds up. It's worth a five-minute call to a real estate lawyer before you settle on a price, not after.
2. You Still Need a Real Number, Not a Guessed One
Without a listing, you lose the thing a listing actually does: price discovery through real buyer interest. A private sale between people who know each other tends to anchor on a number that feels fair to both sides, which is a very different thing from a number the market would actually support, and it's usually the first place I see a private deal go wrong.
This is where a realtor's comparative market analysis earns its keep even when you're not paying for marketing or showings. It's an independent, defensible number, backed by real closed comparables rather than a guess or an old assessment figure, and it protects both people: the seller from leaving money on the table out of generosity, and the buyer from overpaying out of guilt about lowballing someone they know. If the sale is to a related individual, that same CMA is also your best evidence if the CRA ever asks how you arrived at your price.
3. The Paperwork Doesn't Get Lighter, It Gets More Important
A private sale still needs a real contract of purchase and sale, a completed Property Disclosure Statement, a lawyer or notary to handle the conveyance, and title insurance if either side wants it. Skipping any of these because "we trust each other" is exactly the situation where a dispute is hardest to untangle later, because there's no professional record of what was actually agreed to or disclosed.
If the property is a strata unit, the strata documentation review doesn't get skipped either. A friend selling to a friend can still miss a special levy or an insurance issue buried in the minutes just as easily as a stranger would. Coordinating all of this, the lawyer, the inspection if there is one, the disclosure paperwork, is normally a realtor's job in the background of any sale. In a private deal, that coordination doesn't happen on its own just because you already know your buyer.
4. Why I'd Still Recommend Representation, Even With a Buyer Already in Hand
This is the part worth sitting with. Finding your own buyer feels like it should mean you don't need an agent, but it's actually the situation where having one working only for your side matters most. When the buyer is a friend, a neighbour, or family, there's real pressure to smooth over anything uncomfortable, a low counter, a repair request, a delay, because you'll still see this person afterward. A realtor working on your behalf can be the one to say the awkward thing so you don't have to, and can flag a conflict of interest early if it's genuinely better for one or both of you to have separate representation rather than one agent trying to serve both sides.
Commission for this kind of deal is negotiable and usually lower than a full-service listing, since you've already done the hardest part, but the fee buys something real: pricing support, contract drafting, someone managing the professional side of the transaction, and a layer between the numbers and the relationship. If you want the mechanics of how realtor pay actually works before that conversation, I've written about it here.
What This Means for You
My honest take: a private sale is the one where I'd push hardest for representation, not skip it. The deals I've seen go sideways aren't the ones with a tough negotiation. They're the ones where two people who trusted each other skipped the professional layer entirely, then had to have a hard conversation about money with someone they'll still see at the block party next summer. Bringing in a realtor here isn't about not trusting your buyer. It's about making sure the friendship survives the paperwork.
A Word Before You Shake On It
If you already have a buyer lined up, whether it's a neighbour, a friend, or a family member, and you want someone in your corner to run the numbers and handle the parts that shouldn't fall on the relationship, send me a message. I'll tell you plainly what representation would look like for your specific situation, no pressure to turn it into a full listing if it isn't the right fit.
Related Reading
Should I Renovate Before Selling My North Shore Home, or Sell As-Is?
What's the Difference Between a Home Inspection and a Strata Document Review?
604.317.4464
Matt@RossettiRealty.ca
About Matt Council
Matt Council is a top-performing North Vancouver Realtor and West Van specialist with a background in finance. He moves beyond the sales hype to offer clients a data-driven, pressure-free approach to buying and selling real estate on the North Shore. Whether you are evaluating a presale in Lower Lonsdale or a detached home in Lynn Valley, Matt helps you understand the numbers behind the move.
Thinking of making a move? Let’s run the numbers.