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It’s no secret Metro Vancouver’s real estate market is a tough nut to crack with some hopeful buyers going as far as writing personal appeals to homeowners to get a foot in the door.

Travis Nicholson recently received such a letter from a newlywed couple that asked him if he wanted to sell his Langley townhouse.

“We really love the location, the rooftop patios, the look and feel of the complex and we saw that there are mostly young people living there,” the letter said.

Others in the new townhouse complex also received personal appeals from Dessi and Neyko Dimov, who said “we think this would be a great place to live in.”

“We recently put an offer on a unit in the complex but were outbid, so we came up with the idea of sending letters directly to the owners and see if anyone is interested.”

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The letter goes on to tout the benefits of paying no realtor commissions.

Never once did the Dimovs mention they are real estate agents.

The Real Estate Council has opened an investigation and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the lack of disclosure was wrong.

“The rules are pretty clear that when realtors are dealing with the public, they need to disclose that they’re realtors,” Dan Morrison of the Real Estate Board of Vancouver said.

Dessi Dimov is defending herself and her husband.

“I thought people would probably think that I’m doing some kind of marketing scheme,” she told CKNW. “I wasn’t trying to solicit anybody and doing anything unethical.”

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Nicholson thinks otherwise.

“If they are actually realtors I would hope they would lose their licence, for sure,” Nicholson said.

– With files from Catherine Urquhart