Australian Real Estate Blog

Licensed Conveyancers Are Not Welcome in Queensland! (Or the A.C.T.)

2010-09-08T07:00:00Z

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au The Queensland Law Society has happily informed its solicitor members that the Queensland Government does not intend to allow licensed conveyancers to practise in the Sunshine State. No matter that many solicitors here have long disguised themselves as conveyancers, and conduct their conveyancing practices under imaginative, less-than-imaginative and less-than-professional business names where the words “conveyancing’...(read more)

Consumer Affairs Victoria - The Reason We Need A Corruption Commission!

2010-08-14T02:27:00Z

by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd Eight long years ago an over-zealous clerk at Consumer Affairs Victoria told me that I must either shut down Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd or obtain an estate agent's licence, otherwise Consumer Affairs Victoria would prosecute me for being an unlicensed estate agent. When Consumer Affairs Victoria investigated the matter and informed me that there would be no prosecution and...(read more)

Sugar-Daddy Sought Security for His Largess

2010-08-02T20:46:00Z

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au If a good Samaritan wants to buy you a property, watch out for any equitable strings attached ! After Charles Irvine and Soozie Cooper met through an internet dating service in March 2006, they entered into a sexual relationship. Charles was a successful businessman while Soozie was less financially secure. She had a job, owned her home and was paying off a bank mortgage. Charles’ and Soozie’s relationship...(read more)

You Can't Always Rely On Your Lawyer's Signature

2010-07-26T20:29:00Z

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Several months after contracting to buy six beach resort units, as well as the resort’s management and letting rights, Fred Sutton had second thoughts about his company’s purchase. No matter that the seller company had already made some post-contract concessions: a price reduction on the rights contract, and extensions of time for finance and the completion date of both contracts. Each contract was conditional...(read more)

Fairness From NSW Office of Fair Trading? It's Problematic!

2010-07-05T01:45:00Z

by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd After experiencing first hand the legal knowledge and reasoning of Mr. Robert Guthrie, Acting Manager, Licensing for the New South Wales Office of Fair Trading, I have written a comedy script for the ABC's 7.30 Report. The script is based on a letter penned by Mr. Guthrie concerning the operations of Lawyers Real Estate. Lawyers Real Estate featured in a segment on Channel...(read more)

Lawyers Real Estate Well Received

2010-06-30T05:58:00Z

by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd We have been overwhelmed with emails, texts and telephone calls from well-wishers. There were plenty of consumers interested in having Lawyers Real Estate sell their property for them, but also lawyers, conveyancers, accountants and even some real estate agents who are interested in owning a Lawyers Real Estate franchise. Lawyers Real Estate featured in an item on Channel...(read more)

Real Estate Bidding Online - It Costs Nothing To Bid

2010-06-18T22:58:00Z

Lawyers Real Estate is a law firm that sells real estate for its clients without involving any real estate agents. To make the selling and buying of real estate quick, simple and transparent, the SLOD! real estate bidding facility has been established. In this series of postings we will be examining SLOD! in detail, explaining how it works why it is the best and fairest way to negotiate real estate transactions, and how to use it effectively. We also invite questions and comments from consumers,...(read more)

Two Tales of Estate Agents' Wilful Silence

2010-06-04T00:04:00Z

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Agents might heed the Appeal Panel’s general warning to be “especially careful” that buyers are informed of material matters not discoverable through “undertaking usual enquiries,” and to be wary of not disclosing anything “particularly unusual” about a property. STORY ONE FROM QUEENSLAND: When Chris and Mary Carr went house‑hunting they noticed tradesmen working on one of the houses they inspected. “The owners...(read more)

Can flood-prone Queensland homes be sold without sellers or agents volunteering the soggy truth? Yes!

2010-05-24T19:41:00Z

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au What if sellers don’t ‘fess up if there’s no record of council inspections? They can sell regardless! What if a seller’s carport, garage or deck was built illegally? No selling worries! What if a home is termite-riddled? Don’t tell! And if sellers obtain a pre-sale building report showing heaps of problems? Don’t mention the report! This is why “buyer beware” is the first unwritten rule of real estate in Queensland....(read more)

REIV Provides Misleading Auction Advice

2010-05-09T02:17:00Z

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd In his regular propaganda column in the Domain section of The Age newspaper, the CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), Enzo Raimondo, pretends to inform consumers about the auction myth. Asking the question, "Is it sold after the hammer falls?" Raimondo casts the question as one relating only to the right of the vendor to sell or not to sell after the...(read more)

SLOD! Another Sale by Lawyers Real Estate

2010-05-01T01:21:00Z

No, SLOD! is not a typographical error, it's the name of the website Lawyers Real Estate uses to sell properties for its clients. Lawyers Real Estate is a law firm that sells real estate for its clients for a single fixed-fee, without involving real estate agents. To see the property most recently sold by Lawyers Real Estate, just click on the Facebook link below. To hear some past clients of Lawyers Real Estate describe their experiences in selling through Lawyers Real Estate, run this short video:...(read more)

Questions & Answers On Our Facebook Page!

2010-04-23T05:16:00Z

We are now using Facebook to provide answers to consumers' questions about real estate related matters. If you have a question, comment or complaint about the real estate industry or those involved in it, the Lawyers Real Estate Facebook Page is the place to go. Where a short questions is asked, the answer will be added on the "Wall", and where longer questions or issues are raised we may open a discussion on the "Discussions" page. In addition, the page is regularly updated with interesting tweets...(read more)

Real Estate Agents - Refusal To Divulge Visitor Details

2010-04-21T23:11:00Z

What do you do when your property has been listed for sale and your agent refuses, on the basis of the Privacy Act, to give you the names of prospective buyers introduced to your property? Well, you stick it right up your agent as clients of mine recently did. These folk had listed their home with a local agent who was a member of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ). Their listing agreement with the agent, unusually, did not provide for a sole or exclusive agency. Rather, it was an open...(read more)

Who is Bruce Atkinson and what's his problem?

2010-04-19T23:16:00Z

Hon. Bruce Atkinson MLC is the Deputy President of the Legislative Council of Victoria. Atkinson's problem is that he has been used by the real estate industry to further its cause at the expense of real estate consumers. It is sad to see a person in public office used to further the interests of a group as undeserving as the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) and its members, but it becomes quite pathetic when the political figure himself is left looking like a buffoon. In this particular...(read more)

REIV Hypocrisy - Cut Stamp Duty While Commissions Increase

2010-04-11T21:04:00Z

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd The hypocrisy is astounding. Enzo Raimondo told the Herald Sun newspaper "If stamp duty rates are not reduced then anyone buying an average home will pay, as a percentage of the purchase price, a higher amount of stamp duty than they ever have before." What Enzo chooses to ignore is that real estate agent commissions have doubled, and none of the benefits of advances...(read more)