Posted by admin on 20 June 2010
Negotiating with buyers is a skill-set that real estate agents really need to improve. In our opinion this is a key part of the service we’re paid for: the ability to secure our seller clients a higher price and on better terms. So if you’re about to sell your property ask your preferred agent to demonstrate their negotiating skills – before you appoint them.
And one area often overlooked in getting an offer from a buyer is a sizeable deposit. In new projects developers ask for 10% so why do agents and sellers often settle for a measly couple of thousand dollars? Buyers may not have buckets of cash lying in their account but if they aren’t prepared to put down a large amount (and closer to 5% where at all possible) the seller must ask: “Should I take my property off the market while we wait to see if they will settle?” A contract is a legal commitment but money held as deposit is the real show of good faith.
Even in more balanced markets like we have now, a seller should expect this from a buyer. Time on the market is critical and if they have finance limitations or are going to have second thoughts it’s better you know up front. And a tip for buyers – if you offer a decent deposit it may help you secure a better price.
PS: We have a bunch of Frequently Asked Questions like this on our website for sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants. Have a sticky-beak.
Tags: Brisbane real estate agents, contract of sale, negotiating a sale, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 24 March 2010
Finally the state government has acted and last night introduced a Bill to simplify the contracts process for residential real estate. It’s not a massive change but it is a welcome one.
Currently a buyer must be given a warning statement before signing a contract and if the order of the documents isn’t spot on there can be a loophole to terminate. One famous case saw a judge deem a contract invalid because it had a clear plastic cover (the warning was not then the first page!).
Once the law’s through the warning will still be needed and it’ll have to be signed before the contract, but its position in the gigantic wad of paper won’t be regulated.
Jeremy Streten from lawyers Rostron Carlyle says it’s a welcome change. “These changes will greatly assist vendors and real estate agents who found it difficult to comply with the overly proscriptive requirements of the Act.” “Further the changes should ensure that developers are given comfort when commencing developments that a buyer will not find a technical breach of the Act to avoid the contract.”
We wrote last May that a simplification was on the cards and hopefully parliament will push this through. Of course the change won’t become law until October. Don’t want to rush these things…
Tags: contract of sale, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 8 March 2010
Bought a property in recent times? Here in the Smart State we must have one of the most complex, confusing and convoluted contract processes in the western world. Warning statements, disclosures by the dozen, many of them in BIG BOLD LETTERS. We’ve written here before about the failure of these so-called consumer protections.
Last Friday night we met with a couple who wanted to buy their first home. It’s 7pm at the home’s kitchen bench, another offer’s been received, the auction’s the next day, so no time to waste. And out we come with the 5 documents over 22 pages. Nervous do you think? Do they understand fully the details and implications? Is it a fair environment to put anyone in?
Surely consumer protection is firstly about informing people? How can they be fairly informed by 22 pages of reading on a Friday night? And this isn’t including the 2 page Sustainability Declaration the seller’s provided or the building and pest inspections they still need done. Or the title/council/body corp/main roads/EPA/flooding etc searches their solicitor will ask them to check.
One option being canvassed is the idea of a disclosure document, prepared and paid for by a seller before they put their property on the market. Kind of like a “roadworthy” you need before you can sell your car. It could include all the usual info and even a building and pest report, and be available to each and every buyer when they first enquire. If you don’t understand something, you can ask your lawyer/valuer/townplanner/banker/Uncle Jack before you decide to buy…
Then we can have simple contracts that everyone can follow.
What do you think of this idea? Got another solution to the masses of contract paperwork?We’d love to hear your comments.
Tags: Brisbane home buyers, building inspection Brisbane, consumer protection, contract of sale, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane, Sustainability Declaration Queensland
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing, trends in Brisbane property | 2 Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 20 May 2009
and here on page 493...
No-one would deny that buying and selling real estate is an important legal issue. These are usually peoples’ biggest assets and the risks are too high for any of the process or documentation to be taken lightly. But we don’t believe quantity equals quality and with our current sales contracts at 21 pages (apartments – 15 for houses) you do have to wonder. It’s all for consumer protection we’re told…. page after page of warning statements and disclosures.
One page in the wrong order and the contract may be worthless. The first page must be a warning to get a valuation and legal advice (unless you read the Body Corp act which says its disclosure must be the first page). Then there’s the form to make sure the agent’s disclosed their fees, the section with the name of the body corp secretary… and on it goes.
So now we use another form to tell a buyer what’s attached (listed in one order) and the process of reading and signing (in yet another, different order please). Then we have another form at the end for them to acknowledge that they signed in the right order, stood on the correct leg while reading, and held their head at an incline of precisely 82.5 degrees while signing.
I promise we’re not making this up – only the last bit.
While the industry backed another truckload of paper up to the office door the government finally agreed something had to be done. Various departmental officials were annoyed that those darned buyers don’t seem to be reading this stuff… Ya wonder!
When a review of legislation was kicked off in 2007 we looked forward to some simpler documents. And a couple of weeks ago (yes it’s mid 2009) the state government responded to that review, agreeing the paperwork could be made simpler. But not yet.
Why?
“Implementation should be delayed until mid 2009. This is because as part of the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs (MCCA), the Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs (SCOCA) has commissioned research by an independent consultant (UniQuest Pty Ltd, via University of Queensland) into pre-contractual disclosure under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, with the goal of developing an evidence-based disclosure model which addresses the needs of consumers.”
Oh dear…
.
Tags: consumer protection, contract of sale, legislation
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing | 2 Comments »
