What does “Newer” mean? 

published November 24, 2008 - WORTH A READ
What does the word “newer” mean to you or your clients?
Consider these public remarks:
Newer furnace, upgraded electrical, upgraded plumbing, newer garage...

Technology has enabled REALTORS® to send up-to-date listings to their clients as they are entered into the database. The information contained in these listings is relied upon when selecting homes to preview. While this information is not guaranteed it should be somewhat reliable.

Consumers have raised concerns about these representations.

In the most recent case, a member listed a 1930 bungalow using the public remarks noted above.

Based on the description, the buyer’s REALTOR® made arrangements to show this property and an offer was executed with a property inspection condition.
Six hundred dollars later, the buyer discovered the furnace was installed 20 years ago, the electrical was 70 amp service, the plumbing included galvanized pipes, and the garage was built around 1970.

The listing REALTOR® when questioned about his interpretation of “newer” explained to the buyer’s REALTOR® that “newer” referred to the upgrades since the house was built in 1930.

Is this how you interpret the word “newer”? Certainly it is not how buyers do.

The dictionary says “newer” means “more recent” or “occurred lately.” Is 78 years recent; did work done 20 years ago occur lately?

This type of marketing reflects poorly on the real estate industry. Remember, you are all professionals and consumers rely on you to help them through one of the biggest transactions of their life. It is okay to be creative in marketing a property, but care should be taken to ensure you are not misleading the public.

For those representing buyers you may wish to change your business practice and start questioning listing REALTORS® before showing homes to your clients. This will take you a little more time, but will save your clients the hassle of viewing homes that only look good on paper and you won’t be embarrassed by what other REALTORS® deem to be “newer.”

Brought to you by the Industry Standards and Practice Department EREB

Follow-Up => The Edmonton Real Estate Board has given out a rough Guideline that "Newer" should be within 5 years & "New" should be within 1 year, both with Reciepts.