Australian Real Estate Blog : queensland

Sugar-Daddy Sought Security for His Largess

Peter Mericka — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:46:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Peter Mericka — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:29:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Peter Mericka — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:41:00 GMT

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?...(read more)

Did The Minister's Dog Eat Hubby's Homework?

Peter Mericka — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:05:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Former corruption investigator Tony Fitzgerald QC and former premier Wayne Goss recently charged that Queensland’s Beattie and Bligh governments had let the state...(read more)

Investing In Queensland Real Estate

Peter Mericka — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:40:00 GMT

Opinion by Neil Jenman Consumer Advocate Within an hour of reading this article another investor will almost certainly have been ripped off in another dud Queensland property deal. That's how often it happens. While there is no official 'Register of Rip...(read more)

Estate Agents As "Legal Advisers"?

Peter Mericka — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:33:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Harcourts real estate agent, Lester Drew, in a recent letter to the editor of Queensland's Courier Mail criticised an earlier column in that newspaper about selling...(read more)

Conveyancing Corruption - Lawyers Too!

Peter Mericka — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:27:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au (Following on from " Licensed Conveyancer Corruption Must Be Stopped ", Tim O'Dwyer reports on a lawyer conveyancer's attempt to attract referrals from real estate...(read more)

Preventing Estate Agents From Preparing Contracts

Peter Mericka — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:21:00 GMT

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au After firing more than a few verbal bullets over recent months at Queensland’s Attorney-General (and Fair Trading Minister) Kerry Shine in The Courier Mail and Gold Coast...(read more)

Deep North Agents "Re-licensed" to Practise Real Estate Law

Peter Mericka — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:00:00 GMT

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au From July 1st last year the role of Queensland real estate agents in preparing contracts was severely limited by law. Sit back, dear readers, as I now blow the whistle...(read more)

Fair Trading No Longer Queensland's Neglected Orphan?

Peter Mericka — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:14:00 GMT

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Once, when Queensland’s Premier Peter Beattie was planning a ministerial reshuffle, I offered him this advice: the Fair Trading portfolio, because of its appalling real...(read more)

Confessions Of An Over-priced Property Lender

Peter Mericka — Thu, 03 May 2007 01:29:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au A typical marketeering scenario begins with cold-calling of unsuspecting Mums-and-Dads to tout wealth-creation and/or tax saving seminars then proceeds to the...(read more)