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Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Dorothy
(Post 4255934)
Too right. Any houses we wanted to look at were at times convenient for the agent, not us. They do not work weekends, nor evenings and a few never returned our numerous calls regarding houses we were interested in. That's why we chose to build instead. Screw the agents. When and if we ever decide to sell our house (once it's built) we'll do it privately without the "help" of these useless pricks.
My feelings exactly:) |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Who are all those people running the thousands of 'Open for Inspections' all day on Saturdays (and Sundays) if Real Estate Egents don't work on weekends?
Whenever we've sold a house (in Sydney) the agents have been available 24/7. We certainly had plenty of 'sales' visits from them during the evenings when they wanted our listing and they were very good at keeping on touch. I can imagine that they're probably not quite so attentive to buyers but to say they don't work at weekends or at night is just not true. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by NickyC
(Post 4258620)
Who are all those people running the thousands of 'Open for Inspections' all day on Saturdays (and Sundays) if Real Estate Egents don't work on weekends?
Whenever we've sold a house (in Sydney) the agents have been available 24/7. We certainly had plenty of 'sales' visits from them during the evenings when they wanted our listing and they were very good at keeping on touch. I can imagine that they're probably not quite so attentive to buyers but to say they don't work at weekends or at night is just not true. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Wol
(Post 4254028)
Bit of both, except that agents in Australia have none of the high moral values they do in the UK and USA! (Seriously).
Lying to customers, faked signatures, false passports and dodgy deals with developers. An undercover investigation reveals the secret world of estate agents' dirty tricks. [...] In another Foxtons office, lettings staff jump up and down in delight after they successfully fake a signature on an absent landlord's paperwork. Faking documents is something of a habit in the St John's Wood office, where Emma Clarke worked undercover in the lettings department. I was shocked when she played me her secret footage which showed staff cutting, pasting and gluing signatures onto contracts. They call it "chop chop". [...] The maverick owner of T2M, Bruce Burkitt, was fined last year by the Office of Fair Trading after he failed to disclose that a member of his family had purchased a property. So I went to see if the agency had cleaned up its act. I got a job and within an hour of joining T2M, I was shown exactly how they sold their properties. It was simple. Once they value a property and get the owner to use their services, they then lie about offers they haven't had. Then after a while, when the owner is utterly desperate to sell, they make up false offers well below the original valuation so the owner reduces the price. The manager called it "price reduction hour" and "vendor care" - everyone else calls it lying. [...] After just a few days trawling the high street agencies, we found one unscrupulous agent who asked for a £10,000 backhander to cheat a pensioner out of more than £50,000. The manager of a Chard estate agency branch in Fulham, west London, showed us round a flat worth more than £190,000. Yet if our developer was happy to grease his palm to the tune of £10,000, he'd tell the owner to take the offer of £140,000. [...] We visited Primetime Mortgage and Property in north London and within minutes of our meeting we were offered a fake British passport, P60 forms and forged utility bills. I still wasn't convinced that he'd be able to come through with the passport. But after one more meeting and £550, we had a fake British passport in my name. I watched this docco on the night it was broadcast. It told me all I needed to know about the "high moral values" of UK estate agents. :D As far as I can tell, there is no government regulation whatsoever; companies are simply allowed to do their own thing under the euphemistic banner of "self-regulation". :rolleyes: Oh, and while I'm debunking the nonsensical dream of the morally impeccable UK real estate industry, I should also mention the infamous European Land Sales con (recently exposed on Radio 4) run by a grubby little Pom called Stephen Cleeve, who has recently attempted to enter the Australian market. Fortunately, the Aussies are onto him already, so I doubt he will get far. You can read all about it here. IMHO, the most ethical agent franchise in Australia is the Jenman Group. They have an excellent track record, and their founder (Neil Sharman) has written a book on the standard dodgy tricks and illegal methods of Aussie real estate agents. (You can read a summary here). They also maintain a running commentary of real life examples on their Website (here). My mother used to be a real estate agent, and she had nothing but praise for the Jenman Group. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by NickyC
(Post 4258620)
Who are all those people running the thousands of 'Open for Inspections' all day on Saturdays (and Sundays) if Real Estate Egents don't work on weekends?
Whenever we've sold a house (in Sydney) the agents have been available 24/7. We certainly had plenty of 'sales' visits from them during the evenings when they wanted our listing and they were very good at keeping on touch. I can imagine that they're probably not quite so attentive to buyers but to say they don't work at weekends or at night is just not true. It is common knowledge that Australian real estate agents work on weekends. After all, that's when most people attend open viewings (a practice totally unheard of in the UK, as I have been disappointed to learn). |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
(Post 4259122)
In which parallel universe does this mythical UK exist, pray tell?
[indent] Lying to customers, faked signatures, false passports and dodgy deals with developers. An undercover investigation reveals the secret world of estate agents' dirty tricks. [...] In another Foxtons office, lettings staff jump up and down in delight after they successfully fake a signature on an absent landlord's paperwork. Faking documents is something of a habit in the St John's Wood office, where Emma Clarke worked undercover in the lettings department. I was shocked when she played me her secret footage which showed staff cutting, pasting and gluing signatures onto contracts. They call it "chop chop". I'd be inclined to say it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other - as always!! Most agents will play a variety of tricks to achieve the highest price for the seller - all things being equal, and if one of those is fibbing about other buyers.... well... :cool: I like 2 things about australia's system i) once you've made a offer, (and had it accepted) the house is off the market. Please correct me if I am wrong! ii) chains seem non-existent. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
(Post 4259122)
In which parallel universe does this mythical UK exist, pray tell?
And I've never understood why a business where people spend more money than anywhere else in their lives has virtually no regulation at all... |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
(Post 4259126)
...a practice totally unheard of in the UK, as I have been disappointed to learn...
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Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
For those who know the two systems is there much difference to the process of buying a house in Oz compared to NZ?
Please can someone explain this grant to me? |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
(Post 4259122)
In which parallel universe does this mythical UK exist, pray tell?
Lying to customers, faked signatures, false passports and dodgy deals with developers. An undercover investigation reveals the secret world of estate agents' dirty tricks. [...] In another Foxtons office, lettings staff jump up and down in delight after they successfully fake a signature on an absent landlord's paperwork. Faking documents is something of a habit in the St John's Wood office, where Emma Clarke worked undercover in the lettings department. I was shocked when she played me her secret footage which showed staff cutting, pasting and gluing signatures onto contracts. They call it "chop chop". [...] The maverick owner of T2M, Bruce Burkitt, was fined last year by the Office of Fair Trading after he failed to disclose that a member of his family had purchased a property. So I went to see if the agency had cleaned up its act. I got a job and within an hour of joining T2M, I was shown exactly how they sold their properties. It was simple. Once they value a property and get the owner to use their services, they then lie about offers they haven't had. Then after a while, when the owner is utterly desperate to sell, they make up false offers well below the original valuation so the owner reduces the price. The manager called it "price reduction hour" and "vendor care" - everyone else calls it lying. [...] After just a few days trawling the high street agencies, we found one unscrupulous agent who asked for a £10,000 backhander to cheat a pensioner out of more than £50,000. The manager of a Chard estate agency branch in Fulham, west London, showed us round a flat worth more than £190,000. Yet if our developer was happy to grease his palm to the tune of £10,000, he'd tell the owner to take the offer of £140,000. [...] We visited Primetime Mortgage and Property in north London and within minutes of our meeting we were offered a fake British passport, P60 forms and forged utility bills. I still wasn't convinced that he'd be able to come through with the passport. But after one more meeting and £550, we had a fake British passport in my name. I watched this docco on the night it was broadcast. It told me all I needed to know about the "high moral values" of UK estate agents. :D As far as I can tell, there is no government regulation whatsoever; companies are simply allowed to do their own thing under the euphemistic banner of "self-regulation". :rolleyes: Oh, and while I'm debunking the nonsensical dream of the morally impeccable UK real estate industry, I should also mention the infamous European Land Sales con (recently exposed on Radio 4) run by a grubby little Pom called Stephen Cleeve, who has recently attempted to enter the Australian market. Fortunately, the Aussies are onto him already, so I doubt he will get far. You can read all about it here. IMHO, the most ethical agent franchise in Australia is the Jenman Group. They have an excellent track record, and their founder (Neil Sharman) has written a book on the standard dodgy tricks and illegal methods of Aussie real estate agents. (You can read a summary here). They also maintain a running commentary of real life examples on their Website (here). My mother used to be a real estate agent, and she had nothing but praise for the Jenman Group. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by iamthecreaturefromuranus
(Post 4259271)
Have you ever thought of having treatment for your Googlitis?
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Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Dorothy
(Post 4259396)
I'm sorry. I made a gross generalisation...
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Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Vash, you are living proof that Australians don't do irony!
(No doubt you'll have a few Googled / Wickipedia'd quotes showing that "Irony" is not the right word <g>). Let's call it sarcasm, then. (You know, the lowest form....) When I said that Aussie agents hadn't the moral values of UK and US ones I DIDN'T MEAN THAT *THEY* THEMSELVES HAD MUCH IN THE WAY OF SCRUPLES. GEDDIT? As for "Open Houses" they are a means of stickybeaks having a gawp at people's homes, not a serious way of selling. I spent 12 months rushing from one to the other to get in during each 30 min window - it sucks. It's not a sane, a sensible or an efficient way to sell houses. |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Wol
(Post 4259674)
Vash, you are living proof that Australians don't do irony!
(No doubt you'll have a few Googled / Wickipedia'd quotes showing that "Irony" is not the right word <g>). Let's call it sarcasm, then. (You know, the lowest form....) When I said that Aussie agents hadn't the moral values of UK and US ones I DIDN'T MEAN THAT *THEY* THEMSELVES HAD MUCH IN THE WAY OF SCRUPLES. GEDDIT? As for "Open Houses" they are a means of stickybeaks having a gawp at people's homes, not a serious way of selling. I spent 12 months rushing from one to the other to get in during each 30 min window - it sucks. It's not a sane, a sensible or an efficient way to sell houses. S |
Re: Aussie Real Estate Agents
Originally Posted by Wol
(Post 4259674)
Vash, you are living proof that Australians don't do irony!
(No doubt you'll have a few Googled / Wickipedia'd quotes showing that "Irony" is not the right word <g>). Let's call it sarcasm, then. (You know, the lowest form....) When I said that Aussie agents hadn't the moral values of UK and US ones I DIDN'T MEAN THAT *THEY* THEMSELVES HAD MUCH IN THE WAY OF SCRUPLES. GEDDIT? As for "Open Houses" they are a means of stickybeaks having a gawp at people's homes, not a serious way of selling. I spent 12 months rushing from one to the other to get in during each 30 min window - it sucks. It's not a sane, a sensible or an efficient way to sell houses. |
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