OPINION by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Real estate agents are rarely prosecuted or sued. Sure, we regularly hear about misbehaviour in the real estate industry and occasionally a real estate agent appears in court, but this is a rarity compared to the level of misbehaviour and misconduct encountered by consumers on a day to day basis. The reason for the low rate of court actions against real estate agents is the...
Continue Reading »
by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au After firing more than a few verbal bullets over recent months at Queensland’s Attorney-General (and Fair Trading Minister) Kerry Shine in The Courier Mail and Gold Coast Bulletin newspapers, on ABC radio and here in the Australian Real Estate Blog, I finally got a response (of sorts). The critical issues, of course, had been the largely unregulated role of legally unqualified real estate agents in the preparation...
Continue Reading »
by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Walk away to bid another day – but not before the auction is over. Picture yourself as a duly registered, cashed-up bidder at the auction of a seaside mansion. Bidding starts at $6.5 million. You join in as bidding progresses to $7.5 million. Then the auctioneer announces that the property is “on the market” – meaning that the reserve price has been reached and any higher bid will,...
Continue Reading »
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerQualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) has been forced to come clean, and to admit to consumers that “…no binding contract exists until the successful bidder and the vendor have signed a contract.” A proposed addition to the legislation governing the conduct of real estate auctions represents one more nail in the auction coffin. In his weekly propaganda...
Continue Reading »
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...
Continue Reading »
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd It is fitting that the logo of Max Brown Real Estate should depict the estate agent as a shadowy faceless figure, as it suggests the level of responsibility the estate agent assumes when “advising” vulnerable consumers. By the time the consumer realises that he or she has received dodgy advice, the estate agent has melted back into the...
Continue Reading »
by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Solicitors, not estate agents, should prepare sales contracts. This is the view of the Gold Coast District Law Association which has called for Queensland to be brought into line with the long-established New South Wales practice whereby agents do not prepare or exchange contracts. Queensland Law Society president Megan Mahon agrees that real estate consumers “should be guided by professional legal advice at every stage”. “The (legal)...
Continue Reading »
by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Below are comments I have received independently from a couple of legal colleagues. They are clearly quite concerned about the ‘costs consequences’ of conveyancing solicitors’, rather than real estate agents’, preparing sales contracts. The first comment (slightly edited) comes from a North Queensland practitioner. The second (also edited a tad) is from a Brisbane suburban solicitor. COALFACE CONCERNS “I enjoy your Real Estate Blog, and particularly the...
Continue Reading »
by Shannyn HunterConveyancer shannyn@lawyersconveyancing.com.au Lawyers Conveyancing The mundane life of large body corporates will be shaken up at the start of next year when the Owners Corporations Act 2006 takes effect. As reported by Wendy Mason in the Herald Sun they will be called Owners Corporations (OCs). The idea is to move away from the ad hoc approach to building maintenance, and prevent lot owners being slugged with considerable levies when maintenance work is needed. Mason’s...
Continue Reading »
by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au The following tale was sent to me by a legal colleague. He described it as “a little anecdote” that he was sure I would enjoy. “My client owned a rental property that he leased through a local agent. The tenant wanted to purchase the property. They negotiated a price and my client then asked the tenant to speak to the managing agent about the matter. The agent...
Continue Reading »
