OPINIONby Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Consumer AdvocateReal Estate LawyerQualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector 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.
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OPINIONby Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au After many years as a conveyancing solicitor I identified three immutable rules of real estate. The first is that salespersons move fast. The second is that solicitors move slowly. And the third, the reason for the first two, is that buyers and sellers alike can change their minds. When real estate consumers – particularly buyers – change their minds part-way through contracts, their conveyancing solicitors are expected...
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OPINIONby Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Several months after contracting to buy six beach resort units, as well as the resort’s management and letting rights, Fred Sutton had second thoughts about his company’s purchase. No matter that the seller company had already made some post-contract concessions: a price reduction on the rights contract, and extensions of time for finance and the completion date of both contracts. Each contract was conditional on the other,...
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OPINIONby Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au The Queensland Law Society has warned its solicitor members of an attempted trust account scam that had been brought to the Society’s attention. A Queensland law firm had been contacted by individuals who purported to be associated with a large international company trying to recover outstanding debts from Australian companies. The law firm was instructed not to contact the debtor company. The firm soon received a cheque...
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OPINIONby Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerQualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd A real estate sale negotiator requires a thorough knowledge of the laws and regulations affecting real estate, drafting expertise to convert ideas into a written document that will give legal effect to the agreement reached, and the ability to recognise threats to the legality of the sale (and to be able to deal with them if they arise). Only...
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OPINIONby Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerQualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd As an investment adviser Enzo Raimondo, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria is the last person a property purchaser should listen to. In his most recent article “Buyer’s agent a sound investment” in the Domain section of The Age newspaper Saturday 17 January, 2009, Raimondo is quite dishonest with readers as he misstates the law on purchaser...
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OPINIONby Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerQualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd I have previously written about estate agents who refer clients to “pet” solicitors and conveyancers in return for payment, and the corrupting effect this has on the industry. An equally insidious form of client referral is the “punishment referral”. This is where the estate agent refers clients away from a lawyer or conveyancer as a form of punishment. Two...
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by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Last week I received this email: “Tim, I was wondering if you could help me with a strange clause. A woman wants to purchase a property for $500,000. She wants to get extra money from the banks to cover deposit, so this is what she proposes: Contract Price: $670,00030% deposit (deposit is not physically paid, but sellers acknowledge that the deposit has been) Then at settlement, she pays the...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd “Real Estate Agents Preying On Battlers” is the title of an article appearing on the ABC news website. I invite visitors to read the item for themselves, but it is a comment to this item that I find particularly interesting. Way down the list of 37 comments to the article is one by a contributor known as Rel. ...
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by Shannyn HunterConveyancer shannyn@lawyersconveyancing.com.au Lawyers Conveyancing On Monday morning purchasers can experience a real estate hangover. After a weekend of elation at finding their dream house and pressure from the agent to make an offer, with hesitation they sign on the dotted line and their concerns about legal advice are pushed aside. They are locked into a contract. Unfortunately, the emotive attachment that causes you to buy a property can also cause you to forego certain...
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