Two B.C. realtors are under investigation after sending letters to homeowners inquiring about a potential private sale – without disclosing what they do for a living.

Looking to buy a townhouse, the couple sent 36 heartfelt letters to current residents of a Langley complex, asking owners if they had interest in selling.

The letters told owners that they wanted to buy a bigger place as the birth of their first child approaches. The couple also wrote that they'd tried to bid on a home in the Exchange complex previously but were outbid, a story to which many Metro Vancouver homebuyers can relate.

"So we came up with the idea of sending letters directly to the owners and see if anyone is interested in selling by owner," the letter read.

"We are ready to pay market price and are pre-approved for financing."

The couple wrote that the decision to sell off-market could save between $15,000 and $18,000 in realtor commission fees. They wrote that their move-in date is flexible, and "you can be sure that the buyers of your home will truly appreciate it."

But the letter, which has a wedding photo of the couple at the top, didn’t disclose the fact that Dessi and Neyko Dimov are both realtors.

Not only are they realtors, but they had recently sold a 2-bedroom Langley townhouse for $52,000 over asking, according to a post on their Facebook page.

That omission is a violation of the REALTORS ® Code of Ethics, which states: "realtors cannot acquire an interest in property (either directly or indirectly) without disclosing the fact that they are real estate professionals."

Dan Morrison, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, said there are very strict rules around disclosure. He said a failure to disclose that one is a realtor violates the rules of the organization he represents and those of the Real Estate Council of B.C.

"Any time you're communicating with the public, you have to tell them you're a realtor… It's very important that the public knows they're dealing with professionals."

He said he didn't know all the details of the specific case, but that non-disclosure in general "reflects badly on our profession."

The Real Estate Council of B.C. was notified of the letter on Tuesday, and told CTV News that the council has opened an investigation.

"Whenever licensees sell their own property, or make an offer to purchase property for themselves or their spouse, they must promptly disclose to the other party that they are licensed, before any agreement to purchase the property is signed," the council said in a statement.

"The Council has therefore opened an investigation into this matter to determine if there have been violations of the legislated conduct requirements for real estate licensees."

Investigators are asking anyone who received a copy of the letter to contact the council at 604-683-9664 or by email at info@recbc.ca.

The Dimovs told CTV News that they wanted to apologize for their letter, in case it was interpreted in "the wrong way."

Neyko Dimov said he and his wife are "desperately looking" for a home for their growing family, and were not trying to solicit business.

He said his wife "fell in love with it," and that it reminded her of the buildings in Europe, where they're from.

So they tried to appeal to owners of units in their budget on a personal level, by writing to them.

"But I guess one little thing we forgot to mention in there is that we are licensed agents," he said.

He said his wife considered mentioning their jobs in the letters, but he encouraged her not to include it because he thought the recipients would see it as a marketing ploy and throw them out.

"I want to apologize if anybody took it the wrong way and if anybody would think that we're trying to take advantage of anybody."

He said the intention was not for marketing, but to connect with the current owners.

"We're kind of devastated… We have buyers that are outbid every day and we see what's going on and now we're in the same boat."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Mi-Jung Lee