| Buyer beware Caveat emptor, buyer beware, unfortunately this is the reality we live in. With hundreds of millions of dollars being lost in investment scams each year in Australia alone, I don’t think I am being alarmist. In Australia, the real estate industry has become heavily regulated with the introduction of new laws occurring on a regular basis. The reason for this is that some real estate agents will find a loophole, take a short cut or misrepresent a situation, if they think they can get away with it. As a real estate consumer don’t expect the regulator to come to your rescue. If a real estate agent commits a transgression, the regulators have always been too slow to react. When they finally act, it is too late anyway. During my 40 years in real estate, statutory authorities like Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission have always been known within the industry as “paper tigers”. The best course of action is to be an informed consumer, that way you are in the best position to avoid unsavoury situations before they occur. Apart from the usual deliberate and substantial underquoting, in recent times I have been privy to situations where selling agents have fallen way short of an acceptable standard. The first was the use of aerial photos in a marketing campaign that was many years out of date. A recent photo would have shown a freeway and chimney stack close to the subject property. Interstate and overseas buyers sometimes rely on marketing photos in their assessment of a property. Another example was marketing material claiming a property for sale had off street parking when there wasn’t. This fact becomes obvious when prospective buyers inspect the property however buyers who specifically want off street parking are lured to the property under false pretences. Further, I received a phone call from a selling agent at 11.00am on a public holiday saying an acceptable offer had been received on a property and if my client wanted to challenge that offer there would be a boardroom auction at 5.30pm that day. In this situation the agent had total disregard for his vendor client and interested buyers. Being a buyers advocate I was able to participate in the boardroom auction on short notice as it’s my job to be prepared for all eventualities. This lack of fair and reasonable notice results in buyers not being confident enough to participate in the auction and consequently the seller being short changed. All parties lose out, except the selling agent. Even though the real estate industry has become heavily regulated, buyers should be thorough in their due diligence process. Like a good detective always remember the A.B.C. Assume nothing, Believe nothing. Check everything! |
