When an agent gets caught out.

Office of Fair Trading investigating 'no reserve' auction in Chelmer

The no reserve auction that had a reserve- and the property was owned by the selling agent!

 

I know a strata property currently being advertised with a garage when in fact the Strata Plan is making the lot owner revert back to a carport.

Licensee response: so what

 

Interesting.

 

then was it a private sale? lol

 

Well that is a bit dodgy.
I'm sure not much will happen though.

 

quote..
“Once the bids got to $640,000 there was huge stalling, and then after a while he [Mr Johnston] told everyone there was another bid of $715,000 from a family trust that would be processed on Monday if there were no other bids,” the spectator said.

Sounds like a good way to bang up the price,or a simple mistake of fact..

 

Then on Monday the property was advertised as "offers over $700K"!

According to reports the winning?? bidder was unregistered, illegal in Qld.

Investigation proceeding.
Marg

 

yet, amazingly, some buyers proceed without a Strata Search!

 

I guess having 'no reserve' means no vendor bids?

 

The agent isn't backwards when coming forward. (Doesn't mean that you can trust him anymore or any less).

 

Sounds mighty dodgy!

It's funny when people have an issue with the selling agent owning the property. The agent is engaged by the seller and must act in the best interests of the seller. What difference is it if the agent is the owner? Either way their job is to get the best price for the property. Buyers sometimes get this false impression that an agent is meant to be working for them.

I must say though, I've sold quite a few properties for family members and it always had a bit of a strange feel about it once I disclosed I was related to the seller.

 

Would be good to see them made an example of.
Especially with the market heating up.

 

If the newspaper reports are correct (?) then the evidence appears convincing. Hope they prosecute AND insist that the property be sold to the highest genuine bidder on the day at the price bid.
Marg

 

Would be good.
Still I wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens.

 

You can't do that. The bidder may have moved on to other things, others may have come in at the last moment above the lowest, etc. By the time they actually get something to court - and it's appealed - then everything has changed. A sensible option would be to force the vendor to get three quotes from independent agents and choose one; from then on the agent would do the normal thing and it may (or may not) go to auction.

 

Of course. But I still believe the highest bidder should be given the choice to proceed at his bid price or not.
Marg

 

Yeah, they should like the highest bidder gets first option if it's passed in.

 

Anyone who bids at an auction after a "vendor" bid is made , is a fool. The only reason this rort ever got off the ground is because most people are morons when it comes to being savvy about property. Auctions are great for savvy people, and terrible for fools.

 

I've been to an auction, house worth about 500k.

Opening bid 100k, auctioneer thanked for bid and said I will put a vendor bid of 450k.

So your logic is don't bid now as a VB was used...

P.S I get your point if it was a serious bid and a VB back at you just wait for someone else to bid but to say you are a fool you need the full story.

 

Tactical move by the auctioneer to allow them to negotiate with all comers immediately post auction vs exclusive negotiations with the highest bidder.