New legal changes in our largest states aim to make things easier for would-be home buyers.
This comes after so many potential purchases have been majorly disappointed in the past.
In NSW
- Real estate agents will face fines up to $110,000 (up from $22,000) for providing misleading property price estimates.
- Agents would be prohibited from advertising a sale price lower than a previously rejected written offer or the highest unsuccessful bid at an auction,
- At auction, penalties would be doubled for ‘dummy bidding’ – the practice of using fake bidders to artificially drive up the price – from $55,000 to $110,000.
In Victoria
- Vendors will be liable for the cost of building and pest inspections and then making them available to would-be buyers.
- Agents must declare what a property sold for – to give greater market transparency.
Both these changes are in the favour of purchasers.
NSW has been plagued with stories of agents underquoting on likely sale prices as a means of driving up interest (in the hope that they can inflate a price).
Many have complained they have been lured by a low price quoted, incurred huge inspection costs, then been blown out of the water on auction day.
The Victorian survey obligations put a stop to a previous regime where each potential buyer had to pay for their own survey even if they did not end up buying the property
While price disclosure stops the wild goose chase where potential buyers face ‘contact agent’ or ‘price withheld.’
