Lawyers Selling Real Estate – It’s Time!
OPINION
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B
Real Estate Consumer Advocate
Real Estate Lawyer
Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria
Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd
I would like to hear from lawyers who would be interested in selling real estate in competition with real estate agents. This is a service offered by lawyers in a number of other countries, and it is time to develop the concept here in Australia.
8 Comments
I really agree with that lawyers can also be real estate agents cause they are really good in public speaking and a strategies they can involved themselves in commercial property business.
Where would they find the time to do open homes, advertising and marketing, contract negotiation etc….I think they either do one job or the other well. Hard to do both well I would say.
http://www.kwikclicks.com.au
Mark, the current real estate agent model for selling real estate is a dinosaur. There’s no need for open houses, advertising, marketing and all of the usuall nonsense real estate agents go on with – they just do it to look as though they’re relevant.
Technology has exposed the real estate agent as no more than a passenger, while those who do the legal work are carry the transaction (and the real estate agent) from start to completion.
As for negotiation, how can a real estate agent negotiate when they don’t have the capacity or skills to provide legal advice or to draft legal documents?
Peter, this is a great idea. I have worked as a conveyancer with Qld, NSW and ACT prior to getting admitted and have to say that I couldn’t agree with you more.
As a conveyancer, I would have encountered 75% of issues arising from sloppy contract conditions, misrepresentations of process by agents who didn’t understand how much complexity is involved in a conveyance etc, so I would imagine this kind of approach could certainly make the difference to an anxious seller or purchaser.
Is there any plans to extend this idea to Queensland? In Queensland (unlike NSW & ACT), most lawyers will receive a contract post-exchange, making it pretty much impossible to rectify any mistakes in agent written contract special conditions and little recourse for our clients. Would be great to see this kind of evolution extend past your current borders.
Thank you Michele. Here’s another postive aspect of the LRE concept – because it is based on an incorporated legal practice, an LRE franchise can be owned and operated by a non-lawyer conveyancer. The only requirement is that a legal practitioner director (LPD) must be appointed, and the role of the LPD is dealt with as part of the franchise operating procedures.
And yes, we’ll be coming to Queensland – we already have a number of Queenslanders in the queue.
Thank you Peter. Sounds fantastic. It’s great idea and having the LRE concept as an ILP and the franchise running off that sounds like an excellent strategy. The opportunities are endless.
In addition to keeping abreast of things on this blog – How can I find out more about the developments here in sunny Queensland?
I see you’re a lawyer and you’re on LinkedIn. What if I connect with you on LinkedIn, and send you an invitation to join the Lawyers Real Estate Group. You’ll see a lot of the issues we’ve been discussion regarding the franchise concept. I’ll contact you on LinkedIn now.
Yes indeed. Sounds great. Look forward to getting in contact.