Scum of the Earth
When someone you know or a member of your family gets royally screwed over by another person you just can’t help but lose a little more faith in humanity. I am telling this story to make others aware that it’s not only buyers who should, ‘beware’, but also sellers. Especially if you are selling a house, even when in a hurry, do your homework and find out what a reasonable price for the house actually is.
I must say that Real Estate Agents were always high on my list of dodgy professions, but a recent incident has moved them to the top of the list.
Earlier this year, my grandma moved into a nursing home, and to afford the massive deposit for her to stay there, my mum had to sell her parents unit. It was located in a very nice suburb, close to shops, schools, etc. Although it was getting on a bit and needed some work, there was not a huge amount that needed to be done to it. My mum was under time constraints to sell it and so went to only one Estate Agent and trusted that they were professional experts and would try and get her the best price for the place.
At first my mum was told by the agent that it was probably worth about $300k , but after a subsequent visit, apparently noticed more faults with the place and dropped the estimate to between $200 and $250k. My mum semi-joked that the agent was probably selling it to a friend and was looking to get a decent price for them. She also believed that the people who were buying it would be moving in and living there. Ultimately she sold it for around $250k, believing that was the best price she could get.
Cut to a number of months later and my mum sees the unit back on the market. She even went to the open day and noted that they had probably spent a few thousand dollars on tearing the carpets up and polishing the floor boards, as well as painting the place and doing some other superficial work to make it look prettier. Then imagine my mum’s surprise when the place now sold for just over $450k! A far cry from the max $250k, the SAME REAL ESTATE AGENT had quoted her a few months earlier!!
I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it doesn’t seem a stretch to suggest that the agent saw my mum as being a bit naive about house prices and saw a chance to take advantage of that and sell cheaply to a buddy (and pocket one commission), then pocket a second larger commission after the new owners had touched the place up.
If anyone has relatives in a nursing home, you know how expensive those places are and my mum could have done with the extra money to go towards paying for her parents to be well cared for, but that scum f**k agent wouldn’t give a damn about anything, but lining his own pocket. Personally I hope he burns in hell.
Angry rants aside, if anyone reading this is thinking about selling theirs or another property, I hope you remember this kind of scam, especially if you have even an inkling that the place should be worth more than you’re quoted by one person. Get second and third opinions, especially from expert third parties. And in the words of Fox Mulder, “Trust no one.”
I must say that Real Estate Agents were always high on my list of dodgy professions, but a recent incident has moved them to the top of the list.
Earlier this year, my grandma moved into a nursing home, and to afford the massive deposit for her to stay there, my mum had to sell her parents unit. It was located in a very nice suburb, close to shops, schools, etc. Although it was getting on a bit and needed some work, there was not a huge amount that needed to be done to it. My mum was under time constraints to sell it and so went to only one Estate Agent and trusted that they were professional experts and would try and get her the best price for the place.
At first my mum was told by the agent that it was probably worth about $300k , but after a subsequent visit, apparently noticed more faults with the place and dropped the estimate to between $200 and $250k. My mum semi-joked that the agent was probably selling it to a friend and was looking to get a decent price for them. She also believed that the people who were buying it would be moving in and living there. Ultimately she sold it for around $250k, believing that was the best price she could get.
Cut to a number of months later and my mum sees the unit back on the market. She even went to the open day and noted that they had probably spent a few thousand dollars on tearing the carpets up and polishing the floor boards, as well as painting the place and doing some other superficial work to make it look prettier. Then imagine my mum’s surprise when the place now sold for just over $450k! A far cry from the max $250k, the SAME REAL ESTATE AGENT had quoted her a few months earlier!!
I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it doesn’t seem a stretch to suggest that the agent saw my mum as being a bit naive about house prices and saw a chance to take advantage of that and sell cheaply to a buddy (and pocket one commission), then pocket a second larger commission after the new owners had touched the place up.
If anyone has relatives in a nursing home, you know how expensive those places are and my mum could have done with the extra money to go towards paying for her parents to be well cared for, but that scum f**k agent wouldn’t give a damn about anything, but lining his own pocket. Personally I hope he burns in hell.
Angry rants aside, if anyone reading this is thinking about selling theirs or another property, I hope you remember this kind of scam, especially if you have even an inkling that the place should be worth more than you’re quoted by one person. Get second and third opinions, especially from expert third parties. And in the words of Fox Mulder, “Trust no one.”
posted by Javatari at 12:44 PM
10 Comments:
Your mum should contact the REIV and report it, I believe there are laws against that kind of thing. If no actual laws, its definitely unethical.
We've bought/sold about 5 homes during the last 18 years, I don't think I've ever come away from a transaction feeling good about it, I've always felt duped in some way.
Hey, btw, what's going on with the clock? I just posted that previous comment at 7.54am and it's come up as 12.53pm????
Was it the same real estate agency that sold it for the higher price? If it is I would certainly report them to the Australian equivalent of the Better Business Bureau for unethical practices.
colls bolls, I know that mum has sent off a couple of angry letters, but I'm not sure who they were too. I'll mention the REIV to her though.
In buying our first house, we are still not sure whether there was actually was another interested party, or if it was another agent lie. All you can do is pay what you're willing to pay I guess.
As for the clock thing, I actually blog from another dimension in which the laws of time are applied differently. Seriously though, it must be a blogger thing.
kris, as I believe it was the same agency. If there are not laws against such things, there certainly should be.
I am more happy to kick them in the balls for you if the angry letter doesn't work
Tell them you'll SHOOT them in the FOOT!
The clock thing must be because you haven't changed your local time to Melbourne time or something.
It's either that, or Colls Bolls has been drinking before 8am yet again. (It happens.)
Bevis, hahaha. I don't carry a toy gun with me. ;)
hick!
That is truly disgusting. You should really look into getting this investigated somehow.
On a side note. I hope you have a great christmas.
Steph, I'm not sure legally if there is much that can be done. Complaints have been made though.
Merry Christmas to you too.
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