Transparency? More Like A Two-Way Mirror!

OPINION
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B
Real Estate Lawyer
Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria
Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd

Estate agents have a marvelous talent for redefining words so that their everyday meaning is distorted to the point that they become oxymorons. The use of the word “transparent” by Real Estate Institute of Victoria CEO Enzo Raimondo suggests that the transparent “window” offered to consumers is really a two-way mirror.

We have previous demonstrated the way in which estate agents have redefined common words to suit themselves. For example, the word “sale” as defined in the Exclusive Sale Authority document produced by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) is defined so that a property can be regarded as sold (and the estate agent can collect a commission) even if the property is not sold. See also our blog posting on the term “ethics” at Maitland Horler Ethical Agents – An Oxymoron?

It seems that estate agents have now redefined the term “transparency” as it applies to real estate transactions, so that the term refers to a concept similar to that of the two-way mirror. According to Wikipedia, “A two-way mirror, also called a one-way mirror, is a mirror which is partially reflective and partially transparent. It is used with a darkened room on one side and a well-lit room on the other, allowing those in the darkened room to see into the lighted room but not vice versa.”

In a real estate transaction it is the consumer who sits in the well-lit room, while the estate agent occupies the dark side.

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