Sarah is a licensed real estate professional representing Mr. and Mrs. Chen in the sale of their strata property at #301-123 Ocean View Drive, Vancouver. They receive an offer with a subject clause: 'Subject to the Buyer obtaining satisfactory financing by 5:00 PM on October 25th.' What is Sarah's most appropriate advice regarding this subject clause?

Question: Sarah is a licensed real estate professional representing Mr. and Mrs. Chen in the sale of their strata property at #301-123 Ocean View Drive, Vancouver. They receive an offer with a subject clause: 'Subject to the Buyer obtaining satisfactory financing by 5:00 PM on October 25th.' What is Sarah's most appropriate advice regarding this subject clause?

Answer options:

• Advise the sellers to accept the offer as is, as financing subjects are standard and rarely problematic. ✅ Recommend the sellers counter-offer to remove the 'satisfactory' wording, making it 'Subject to the Buyer obtaining financing' to reduce ambiguity.
• Suggest the sellers immediately reject any offer with a financing subject, as it indicates a weak buyer.
• Advise the sellers to accept the offer and not worry about the subject, as buyers always finalize financing.

Correct answer: Recommend the sellers counter-offer to remove the 'satisfactory' wording, making it 'Subject to the Buyer obtaining financing' to reduce ambiguity.

Explanation: To protect their clients, licensees should advise clarifying subjective conditions like 'satisfactory financing' to reduce potential disputes about what constitutes 'satisfactory'. This is good practice under the Real Estate Services Act.