Pieces of the Same Puzzle

“All for one and one for all.”

- The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas

Filip de Sagher

If a puzzle is a contrivance designed to test our knowledge and ingenuity, it certainly is one of the better definitions of a real estate transaction. Frustration and suspense can hover over each puzzle piece as it is fit into place—or the attempt thereto—and feelings of exhaustion, relief, and satisfaction all accompany the end result.

I exaggerate not. As a spider fashioning a web, the Notary Public requests and receives bits and pieces of information and starts creating a file with many documents that will ultimately lead to a sale or a purchase of a property. Far from just opening a box with pieces and a picture at the ready, the Notary Public has to rely on many partners to hand over essential information and, on his or her own ingenuity, to achieve the result desired by the client and dictated by the Contract for Purchase and Sale.

The stakeholders are many and varying and have their own goals to meet. A piece of the puzzle might not arrive on time or might be the wrong shape, with potentially costly consequences. And don’t forget the clock is always ticking; by the completion date, the web must be complete, the file finalized, the property transferred.

Puzzle-makers have to fit pieces together in compliance with everincreasing rules and regulations . . . and the pieces themselves have multiplied over time, making conveyancing more challenging. Not only has the cost of not finishing the puzzle in a satisfactory manner become prohibitive, the cost of making the puzzle itself has escalated, both financially and mentally. The stakes have increased.

It only underlines that collaboration with our stakeholders is a sine qua non. Working together as a team—where Together Each Achieves More—is more than ever a crucial feature of the puzzle. Each piece represents a partner who is involved, with whom we communicate and who is key to our success. Have I, then, exaggerated when describing the feelings generated by the trip taken and the destination reached, the work done, and the result achieved? It is a “feel-good” moment for Notary, client, and stakeholders when the puzzle is complete. The team can celebrate and then it is onward and upward to the next one! s Filip de Sagher is a BC Notary practising at Deprez & Associates in Vancouver.