taking videos of properties for people, legal issues?

Hi everyone, just wondering about potential legal issues and what disclaimers would be required to set up a business for interstate investors in which on their behalf you took a video of a property they are interested in for a small fee?

Realestate agent told me buyers agents do this all the time for their clients.

However i would not be giving any advice at all on the property, just a simple 10min video in which the investor can come to their own conclusions.

Any ideas? Thanks

 

You may be crossing the line unless you hold a real estate agency licence or are working for the vendor.

 

I would think the disclaimers would be along the lines of those you get in P&B reports - you know, where there are 24 pages of report, 22 of which are disclaimers, 1 of which is left deliberately blank, leaving 1 remaining page (in aggregate) of actual report.

Imagine if the purchasers relied on you for a full video report and you somehow neglected something on which they relied to buy the property, but which was later found to be omitted by you either in error or on purpose? I hope you plan to have plenty of PI cover.

 

Check with your state fair trading about real estate services licensing to see if they have an issue.

 

personally I love actual videos rather than the standard photos coming in and out of focus to annoying music. I had friends and family take videos of the streets and houses for me but have never thought about paying someone to do one.....until now - sounds like a great idea

 

Thanks heaps for everyone's feedback.

I'll follow up like Paul@PFI said and see if it's allowed for non-agents.

Then I guess it's a matter of writing up a very good disclaimer. How much do you think it would cost to have a solicitor look over a disclaimer? Anyone here qualified and able to do it for a fee? Or can anyone suggest someone able to look it over?

Other than that I guess I would need public liability insurance. How crazy would it be to do some videos for people without it, if I had a good disclaimer in place?

Really it's only the video. No comments or advice whatsoever. And if the disclaimer blatantly says something like "This video is for the sole purpose of giving the client a better feel for the property than can be achieved by the pictures supplied by the real estate agent. This video is not a building and pest inspection and does not substitute a building and pest inspection in any way. It is recommended, as with any property purchase, that the client contracts qualified professionals for the purpose of checking any issues with their potential purchase".

Surely something like that spells the service out pretty well doesn't it.

I would get public liability insurance eventually, but just thinking of doing a video for free for a PC member that contacted me already about a property on the northside, just so I can try it out.

 

what's a 'better feel' -very subjective.

 

If I couldn't attend a home open I would get someone to set up a video chat over mobile phone.

I could direct the person where you want to look and see if the home open is busy.

 

True.

How about

"This video is for the sole purpose of simulating a general walkthrough of a property. It is not a professional inspection. A general walkthrough in this case is defined as the type of inspection a general unqualified member of society would conduct when attending an open home. Further limitations may apply to the quality of the general inspection due to the inspection being conducted via video camera, in which image quality and feed could potentially be affected. A general inspection will give the client a partial indication of the layout of the property and a partial indication of the condition of the property. A general inspection may miss issues that the property has, which is why a building and pest inspection by a professionally qualified inspector is still required. The video provided does not substitute a personal inspection by the owner, or a properly qualified building and pest inspection."

 

If you look at what happened to the taxi industry and several other up and down the chain with the uber style business plan,i think there would be a big market for this,but you would have to 'LIC' in one way or another because when you rely on others for advice and through no fault of their own are unable to have any understanding of the photos,and the Chinese have been doing this for a while in inner Brisbane,they just bypass the agent,.

 

Whats "LIC" stand for?

 

You would have to have some sort of real estate license to make it work,,-LIC-,,you can't bypass the legal system but you can bypass something very complicated like real estate sales and break in down into something more simple with less people..imho..