Real Estate Sales Agreement

[Tikki]

Last week I signed an agreement to sell the house which is jointly owned by HWHFPO and myself. The agent wrote it up without asking who owned the property so it only names me as the Vendor. Does anyone know if this renders the contract invalid?

Cheers
Tikki :)

[Pat]

Tikki, have you rung the R/E agent? What is their answer first? What's your significant other's take on this document? Have you raised your concerns with your solictor?

The first thing I would do is ring the principal (owner) of the R/E and let them sort it out.

Hope it helps.:)

[ozwinner]

I should think it would have to name all joint owners on the contract.

Al :)

[aabb]

Last week I signed an agreement to sell the house which is jointly owned by HWHFPO and myself. The agent wrote it up without asking who owned the property so it only names me as the Vendor. Does anyone know if this renders the contract invalid?

Cheers
Tikki :)

MY OPINION ONLY - NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Possibly, but as you signed the contract-- HMHFPO could have claim you tried to (maliciously) sell their property. Depending on what HMHFPO means this may be more of problem for you.

The validity of contract with agent is irrelevent in that house cannot be sold by you as you dont have clean title to it.

I would also appear that you have wasted Agents time and if i was agent I wouldnot be impressed - unless you thought you genueinly. were acting on behalf of HMHFPO or were otherwise ignorant of what you were doing. Agent should have established that you had title before entering contract - but i dont know if this is normal -- I hold real estate agents (apart from a few good ones) in very low esteem.

Please note this is not legal advice and you should not rely on it under any circumstances. See a lawyer if there is an issue.

Albert

[bitingmidge]

Tikki,

In Queensland you would not have a contract.

Here I go again though: You are dealing in hundreds of thousands of dollars here, why. That is WHY haven't you got a solicitor handling the sale for you?

I know they are right down there with real estate agents in the food chain, but believe me , they do serve a purpose (other than to hurry me along with the dust collection eh boban?)

In my day job, I buy property on behalf of my employer and sell it on a regular basis, I am employed because I have 30 years of experience doing that yet I wouldn't buy without engaging a solicitor, and a surveyor at least (usually a town planner as well), neither would I enter into a contract to sell without getting proper legal advice.

It's a jungle out there!

Please do yourself a favour!

cheers,

P;) :cool:

[Tikki]

Thanks guys ... it wasn't til I spoke to a friend today who has worked in a real estate office that I realized that perhaps the contract wasn't legal. Thanks Midge, I will contact a solicitor tomorrow. It may also be a good opportunity to relieve myself of the agent ... he has not done anything he promised and altered the selling fee in his favour between our telephone conversation and writing up the agreement! :mad: :mad:

Cheers
Tikki

[Iain]

altered the selling fee in his favour between our telephone conversation and writing up the agreement! :mad: :mad:

Cheers
Tikki
Does this read I haven't signed anything yet????
If that is the case I doubt anything is binding as yet.

[Tikki]

Hi Iain

No, I've signed the contract ... he altered the fee from a percentage plus GST to a GST inclusive percentage. I didn't check the difference til after he'd left, no wonder he smiled all the way out the door :(

Cheers
Tikki

[Ashore]

If you are the only one to sigh and the property is jointly owned and the other owner does not admit he gave you permission to sign on his behalf then I think the agents smile may turn upside down
See / talk to a good soliciter and I think they will agree
Do not ...Do Not allow yourself into agreeing to or being browbeaten , believe anything he says about legal responsibility etc or signing anything else with this oboiviously shonky real estate agent until you have spoken to your soliciter.
If he has a boss / owner of the agency or if the agency is franchised go up the line and complain threaten abuse etc if he has changed a contract to improve his commission without discussing it with you go to dept of fair trading, your local member , check if there is an ombdusman that covers real estate agents in S.A.


Sorry time to calm down but slime Real estate Agents get to me , I know and are friends with a couple of agents who are honest and when I see or hear of these White Shoe Types it gets me going.


Rgds
Russell

[boban]

Tikki dont be so sure that you have no contract.

Here is something to think about. This is not advice that you should rely on without seeing a solicitor who will no doubt have access to all the facts.

In NSW you cannot have a property dealing without it being in writing. Generally speaking that is. Equity provides a few options that provide relief in the absence of writing.

What you have however is a service contract that is an agreement between the owners and the agent. It is merely a document that records both parties' intentions. Sometimes that document contains mistakes such as incorrect spelling, an absence of an owner or a misdescription. It does not necessarily make the contract invalid. (note that I am not familiar with Real Estate Agent legislation in your State)

Also remember that a partner can also make another partner liable without their knowledge (mostly occurs in business partnerships).

Where there is an error that doesn't accurately reflect the agreement, it would be up to the agent to prove that there was a valid agreement between the agency and all the owners. That is usually an expensive exercise but not always futile. I've seen many a vexatious agent chasing their commision in court, so nothing would surprise me, especially if you sell your house within the exclusive agency period through another agent.

Safest way is to just wait out the exclusive agency period then terminate the agreement. Just let the agent know that you do not want him to sell your home asap so that he doesn't try to seek advertising or any other costs he may be entitled to under the contract.

BTW please read the contract carefully and put it in writing that the Agent has altered the contract (commissions provision) unilaterally. That is that the contract doesn't reflect the oral agreement you had. You see how it works for you where you think there is an error.

Take Midge's advice. Don't take any chances with real property and the law. Way too expensive.

Hey Peter, I noticed that the clamp rack just got priority over the DC. Yep solicitors have a purpose. To provide me with work.

Addendum- The house cannot be sold without your husband's signature, but the agent wont care about that. He can sue you for misleading and deceptive conduct (somewhat ironic). What's his loss? His commision of course.

[Tikki]

HWH etc etc lives interstate and has given me permission to sell the house. I'm just surprised the agent didn't 1. ask who owned it, and if more than one 2. ask for some signed documentation giving me authority to act on their behalf. As for the fee, my fault for not checking the figures ... it only amounts to about a grand, but better in my pocket than the salesman's. Seems I may be able to worm out of it, that being the case all I've lost is time.

Cheers
Tikki

[boban]

In that case Tikki, you may have to lie in court to get out of the agreement. You are acting on his behalf with authority.

Get any termination in writing from the agent, or at the very least, write to the agent recording the fact that he agreed to terminate the contract.

[bitingmidge]

Hey Peter, I noticed that the clamp rack just got priority over the DC.
Always did have! (Which is why the dusty isn't finished yet!)

Mind you, you're pushing me pretty hard, so I may have to reasess that shortly! A couple of my droppers fell down today- I can say with some authority that the temporary race taped joins I used will last approximately 26 months, then they'll all fail at once. So I'm actually going backwards...

Good luck with all that Tikki, I hope it all works out well for you after a bit of a stutter.

P
:D :D :D

[boban]

Dont talk to me about temporary, I've been using that phrase for couple of years now. I just did a temporary 4" ducting system in the old shed (system is not really a good description) .

Whenever I think I've got some time........

[Tikki]

Thanks boban ... I'll stay with the agent if the contract is legal (will check tomorrow), but am still surprised I wasn't asked who owns the property.

Cheers
Tikki

[Daddles]

I'd offer a rational, considered, sober appraisal of this situation but I passed that point about five glasses of red ago :rolleyes:

Real estate contracts can be killers, but they can be benign depending on the people involved. If the other bit of the equation is okay with the deal, you're riding fine. If he's like the bitch I'm saddled with, you've got trouble. Notice that none of this has anything to do with the agent who is only interested in his commission.

I hope it works for you Judi. Contracts have all sorts of legal ramifications but in reality, it all boils down to how interested the parties are in making it work. I'm sorry if that offends the legal wallies among you but that is the reality of it all.

Richard

[bsrlee]

Do a quick legal check - some/most states have a 'cooling off period' proviso on contracts that allows either party to pull out if they feel they made a mistake - usually 7 to 14 days, and it may not apply to all contracts, so get onto a solicitor, the Clerk at the local court (who is often/usually the local magistrate as well) or your consumer protection department ASAP!

[Sturdee]

There is some very good advice here and also some well meaning waffle that is not worth the paper it is written on.:D

Judi, the contract you signed with the RE agent is a binding contract in which you agreed to sell the property, on the terms described, to a purchaser introduced by the agent and you may be required to enter further contracts direct with the purchaser to give effect to this. Normally at that stage you will arrange for your co-owner to also sign or you can sign under Power of attorney.

It doesn't matter that you are not the sole owner as the agent can properly assume that you have the right to sell and can produce title in due course. If you cannot you will still be liable to pay the agents commission and you may be liable for any potential loss that a possible purchaser may incur.

That the agent altered the rate of commission to a GST inclusive rate is irrelevant as you signed the contract after he altered it. In any case it is illegal to enter into a contract that is not an GST inclusive contract. I understand that the ATO now prosecutes in cases of contracts expressed in Amount + GST. Their period of grace has well and truly expired.

Although it is not necessary to employ a solicitor, you can use a conveyancer or do it yourself, I strongly suggest that you use a solicitor, and do this before even talking to any RE agents.

Remember that those who act as their own solicitor have a bloody fool as their client. Solicitors may at times stuff up but they have a guarantee fund and insurance to pay for their mistakes.

Peter.

[Studley 2436]

I wonder what you did sign Tikki. Was it a contract between you and the agent or you and the buyer? There is proper conveyancing that has to be done, exchanges that have to be made and so on.

Is it worth getting that fussed about? $1000 is a bit of a haircut but it may not be worth fighting over. Then again you might have a cooling off period that you can take.

More pulp to the mill from one more uninformed but well meaning friend

Studley

[Tikki]

I wonder what you did sign Tikki. Was it a contract between you and the agent or you and the buyer?
Studley

Studs, it was the contract to put the house on the market. I wasn't overly fussed about the $1000, it was more about not being trampled on. He increased the fee because I refused to have open inspections or photos of the house interior on the street sign ... he claimed it would make his job harder (read I won't get my commission as quickly and I'll have to actually work for it). I was met with silence when I reminded him I had made these conditions quite clear before he quoted the original fee.

Anyway, I got some advice today and both owners MUST sign the agreement. The ex will sign on the condition the fee is the first quoted (it's not a bitch Rich) and the agent has agreed ... I just wonder how much effort he'll put in now he's lost the first round :rolleyes: I was also advised to contact the principal of the RE office, but will hold off and see how round two goes! :D

Thankyou all for your advice and opinions :)

Cheers
Tikki :)