8th Febuary, 2006

It's the sneakiest trick in real estate. Although it relies mostly on bluff and bullying, it still catches thousands of home-sellers every month.

That's right, thousands of sellers and yes, every month. All over Australia and New Zealand,

Here's how the sneaky trick works.

Agents quote sellers a selling price for their homes. The sellers sign-up and agree to pay advertising expenses. In the weeks ahead, the sellers receive offers well below the price quoted. Consequently, their homes remain unsold.

Now, here comes the real kick-in-the-guts to the home-sellers. The agents still demand payment for the advertising costs. The fact that the only reason the sellers agreed to pay the advertising costs was because of the price quoted by the agent, is now ignored by the agents.

"Oh, it wasn't our fault. It's the market. Things are tough. Your house hasn't sold which means we don't get any commission but you still have to pay for advertising your home."

Well, in most cases, that's nonsense. The agent are bluffing.

Sellers should NOT have to pay for the advertising of their homes if the agents misled the sellers with a false quote.

The trouble, for most sellers, however, is that they are easily bullied by agents who are quick to send legal letters to sellers who protest.

Another bullying tactic is to use an `outstanding advertising account' as a method of keeping sellers tied to the estate agency. "If you leave us and go to another agent, you'll have to pay the advertising costs," goes the threat.

Again, in most cases, that's nonsense. But, again, sellers are easily bluffed by bullying agents.

Well, take heart home-sellers. Do not be bluffed or bullied. Stand up to agents and you will most likely find that, with this sneaky trick, the law is on your side.

Last week, the NSW Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal said that a property seller did not have to pay an agent for the cost of advertising a property. The agent had quoted the seller a price but had failed to sell the property. The agent then did what thousands of agents arrogantly do - sent the seller an advertising bill for several thousand dollars.

The seller told the agent to get lost. And so did the law.

It's a closely-guarded secret, but similar legal decisions have been made in other states.

Many agents depend on bluff and bullying to intimidate sellers. With legal decisions such as these, however, the bully-boy agents will be running scared. Their sneakiest trick is being exposed as nothing but a monumental bluff.

Sellers should get the message. If their homes don't sell for the prices quoted by the agents, the sellers should tell the agents to get lost.

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This articles was taken from the News section on the Jenman website.