Bait, Crunch & Flip

by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Queensland Solicitor & Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au

How to “Bait & Crunch” Your Seller Client Before Re-selling For Your Mate, The “Flipper”

Last weekend a major daily regional newspaper ran a three-page feature about an outrageous “bait-and-crunch” on a vulnerable seller whose estate agent collected two quick commissions by helping a buyer mate do a profitable “flip”. Needless to say, this sort of real estate racketeering happens right across the nation every day of the week. Here is more or less what happened as boldly reported in the Queensland Times:

A woman seller lowered the sale price of her house in the face of her estate agent’s demands, only to find the same agent re-listed it for her buyer within a fortnight of settlement at $10,000 more than her original asking price.

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