Estate Agent

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We can educate “ignorance” but “stupidity” is another ball game.
Allow me to share with you two scenarios. I will in turn give you the opportunity to ponder which of these is made through ignorance and which one is made through stupidity personified. Like always, pour a cup of coffee and read on.
First scenario: 
I attended to a home in the Northern Beaches to provide a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and bid for the vendor’s custom. Like always, local agents were also called in.
After discussing the process and the method of sale with the vendors, they began to enlighten me about my competition. Names withheld to protect the dummies. 
The following is a short transcript of the discussion. 
Agent (A): What has the out-of-area agent (Me) told you the home is worth? 
Vendor (V): After recommendations made; fixing and cleaning parts of the home, he felt $1,500,00-$1,600,000 is achievable and would advertise along these lines. 
V: What do you believe the home is worth?
A: The figures sound right. But we would not advertise it like he suggests.
V: What do you suggest? 
A: We would auction the home and ask for offers above $1,350,000.
V: But you told me the house was worth between, $1,500,000-$1,600,000. 
A: Yes that’s right, but we don’t want to scare any buyers/enquiry and we can work them up at the auction. 
Second scenario: 
We have on the market a home for sale, in Eastlakes. As usual, other than normal enquiry, we also receive enquiry from agents that are curious. Agents that work in the area, their patch. 
The conversation went along these lines.
Local Agent (LA): Hi, I noticed you have a property in the area, I was told you had sold it? If so, what did it sell for? 
Me: Not sold as yet, but presently working with two offers. How can I help you?
LA: Well, I’m a local agent and I have listed a home around the corner, just wanted to see what you sold your home for? 
M: Nice, how does it compare with my one?
LA: Very similar but land a bit smaller. Also fully renovated and 4 bedrooms, single level. 
Me: If I can ask, what’s your price guide? 
LA: We are quoting $1,500,000-$1,800,000.
Me: Wow, that’s a very broad price-guide isn’t it?
LA: Well it’s hard to determine the value of property.
Now, you tell me which one of these agents is ignorant and which one is simply stupid. Or do you think both fall in the same category? Or perhaps the words arrogant and deceptive spring to mind? 
One thing is for sure; not all vendors are sympathetic to “under-quoting” and deceitful marketing strategies. Nonetheless, is it up to the vendor to guide the real estate industry into best practice, or up to the professional? 
What I can say to most of my realtor friends is; if the kitchen is too hot, then go back to selling used cars and take the nonsense of charging vendors for the sale and marketing fees with you.
 
EDWIN ALMEIDA is licensee in charge of <a href="https://www.just-think.com.au/" target="_blank">Just Think Real Estate</a>.<a href="https://www.just-thin.com.au/"> </a>
He is also the creator of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JustThinkProperty" target="_blank">Oz Real Estate.TV</a> and a presenter for <a href="https://propertyinvestingvault.com/" target="_blank">propertyinvestingvault.com</a>.
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Ignorance or stupidity? Edwin Almeida

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The Australian estate agent Ken Jacobs has joined the launch of Forbes Global Properties, a curated consumer marketplace that connects high networth buyers directly to the world’s finest homes.

Forbes, one the world’s most-recognizable business media brand, announced the launch of Forbes Global Properties last week.

Established as an invitation-only consortium of leading real estate firms, the start-up will capitalize on Forbes’ engaged audience of 140 million monthly global visitors to connect, inform, and inspire high-net-worth potential homebuyers and sellers about the finest properties for sale around the world.  

It is entering the arena occupied by Global Mansion, operated within the News Corp group as a marketing platform. 

But spearheaded by Jeff Hyland, co-founder and president of Hilton &amp; Hyland, and Bonnie Stone Sellers, an accomplished real estate industry veteran, Forbes Global Properties is primarily broker owned and led.

Forbes is also invested in the initiative.

Hyland and Sellers have appointed Alex Lange, an industry veteran who most recently served as the CEO of UpstreamRE, as its chief executive.

Jacobs is on the board of directors, though his recently established entity Private Property Global. He retains the Christie's International Australian affiliation through his Prestige Homes of Australia office in Double Bay.

“Unlike other branded real estate groups, Forbes Global Properties is not merely a listing tool for agents — it offers direct and measurable access to potential high-net-worth buyers through Forbes’ worldwide media penetration,” Hyland suggests.

Membership in the network is reserved for 100 elite brokerage firms with homes being presented to potential buyers across Forbes and Forbes Global Properties print, digital, and social media channels.

The current membership spans more than 75 locations across the U.S., Asia and Europe with the network accepting new member brokerages in the coming months "after a rigorous vetting process." 

Founding member brokerages are established leaders in their local luxury property markets and have offices in more than 75 locations across the U.S., Asia and Europe. The network will begin accepting new member brokerages in the coming months after a rigorous vetting process.

The Forbes Global Properties brand also has another Australian connection — the founders tapped Tracey Atkins of Australian-run firm Goldeneye Media to make the launch film, available here. 

Reserved for luxury properties, forbesglobalproperties.com currently showcases thousands of high value homes available for sale around the world, including homes priced above USD$160 million.

More than 200 homes are priced above USD$10 million, but none yet from Australia.
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Forbes, one the world’s most-recognizable business media brand, announced the launch of Forbes Global Properties last week

jchancellor

Ken Jacobs joins Forbes Global Properties network

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Following spells at both LJ Hooker and Cobden &amp; Hayson, Brigitte Blackman has returned to property group BresicWhitney after six years away, alongside Amber Riethmuller.
Blackman (pictured) works in the inner Sydney market, with a 20-year career.
“In a changing market it’s good to have the right people on your team,” Blackman says.
“It’s inspiring to know you can come back into an office with renewed energy, working with Ivan Bresic, Shannan Whitney and sales leaders I’ve known for so many years.”
Over the same period, BresicWhitney has evolved with locations across Darlinghurst, Balmain, Glebe, Hunters Hill and Rosebery.
BresicWhitney has ranked in the top 20 Great Places to Work.
Co-founder and director Shannan Whitney said Blackman would work across city fringe locations in the east and west.
BresicWhitney’s recently announced three new directors joining the existing shareholding group of Ivan Bresic, Shannan Whitney, William Phillips and Adrian Oddi.
The incoming directors include sales agents Andrew Liddell and Maclay Longhurst, as well as a non-transactional member of the senior leadership group, Will Gosse.
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Inner Sydney estate agent Brigitte Blackman rejoins BresicWhitney

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Sid Morgan, the Hills Shire estate agent shot in the face during a dispute allegedly involving Irish accented tradies may not have been the intended target.
Morgan was found <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/95701-sydney-estate-agent-sid-morgan-shot-at-point-cook" target="_blank">lying in a pool of blood</a> on the road outside a friend’s Point Cook rental home, in Melbourne's south-west, about 11pm last Thursday.
Nine Entertainment suggest the alleged duo were allegedly chasing an unpaid debt.
<div class="_1665V undefined">
It has been reported Morgan travelled to Melbourne to help a friend, a building contractor, who was allegedly being threatened by tradesmen.
The friend and his family had fled their Spraypoint Drive rental home following the alleged threats, but Morgan stayed behind alone.
</div>
<div class="_1lC_G">Morgan who answered the door when the tradesmen arrived, allegedly demanding money.</div>
<div class="_1lC_G"> </div>
<div class="_1lC_G">Morgan is still in a critical condition at Royal Melbourne Hospital.</div>
<div class="_1lC_G">
Nine reported Morgan had a newly created Twitter account where he wrote: "I love life and live it to the fullest. I take great delight in seeing people happy ... life is far too short for regret and unhappiness."
Since this article was posted Victoria Police have advised two men have been charged on warrant with one count of attempted murder following the shooting.
Homicide Squad detectives yesterday charged the 30-year-old and 26-year-old men from Point Cook.
They are due to appear at Byron Bay Courthouse later today.
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Sid Morgan may not have been intended target of shooting

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Gayla Currie, who worked for Century 21 Max Comben real estate agency in Perth, has been caught presenting more than 20 fake contracts for fake property sales.
The real estate agent has been banned from working in the industry for life after being found guilty of fabricating purchase offers on numerous properties.
The forged contracts pretended to be prospective buyers.
The punishment was imposed by the State Administrative Tribunal on Currie, who worked as a sales representative in 2015 and 2016.
Ms Currie began working for the agency as a sales representative in February 2015 and was supervised by Mr Comben. Ms Currie held a sales representative certificate from October 2012 to October 2015 but failed to renew her certificate of registration until February 2016. She continued her sales activities with the agency between October 2015 and February 2016, despite not holding a certificate of registration.
Currie’s employer and sales supervisor Maxwell Comben were also fined by the SAT for breaching the Real Estate and Business Agents Act.
The SAT found as supervisor, Comben had failed to notice that signatures on the offers were in Currie’s handwriting, finance letters from banks were forged, phone numbers were made up and none of the sales ever settled.
Consumer Protection commissioner David Hillyard said there had been a serious lack of proper supervision on Comben’s part.
"Property owners who put their trust in the agency have endured great inconvenience and financial disadvantage,” he said.
Max has been selling in the Real Estate industry for over 41 years and all of these 41 years have been in the local area.  Max Comden commenced selling in 1975.  Max has been inducted into the prestigious Century 21 Hall Of Fame which is the highest individual award offered by Century 21. He is a "Centurion" level salesperson putting him in the top 2% if sales people in the largest real estate system world wide.
Currie’s employer Sakar Pty Ltd, trading as Century 21 Max Comben, was fined $2,000 and sales supervisor Maxwell Comben was fined $3,000 by the SAT for breaching the Real Estate and Business Agents Act by failing to exercise due care, skill and diligence and continuing to employ a sales representative in the time period that the sales representative’s certificate of registration had expired and was therefore no longer valid. The agency and Mr Comben were reprimanded and ordered to also pay costs of $1,200.
The SAT findings:
<ul data-reactid="103">
<li data-reactid="104">Sixteen fake contracts of offer and acceptance to the owner of a Westminster property between May 2015 and February 2016;</li>
<li data-reactid="106">Two fake contracts of offer and acceptance to the owner of a Balcatta property in October 2015 and January 2016;</li>
<li data-reactid="108">Three fake contracts of offer and acceptance to the owner of a Morley property between December 2015 and March 2016; and</li>
<li data-reactid="110">One fake contract of offer and acceptance to the owners of a Stirling property in February 2016.</li>
</ul>
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Century 21 agent banned after fake sale contracts on Perth homes

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Real estate agents’ commissions are the lowest in South Australia and highest in the cheapest housing market, Tasmania, according to a new report.
The insight revealed the national commission average was 2.07 percent in metro areas and a higher 2.5 percent in regional areas.
Tasmanian vendors pay at an average commission of 3 per cent, while in South Australia the average commission is 2 per cent.
NSW and Victoria both had average rates of 2.05 per cent, Queensland 2.61 per cent while Western Australia averaged 2.31 per cent.
The average commission on a NSW $500,000 house eased, according to LocalAgentFinder.com.au.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/27/wa_graph_2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/07/27/wa_graph_2.jpg" alt="">
LocalAgentFinder chief executive Matt McCann said the average commissions in NSW and Victoria were a reflection of the robust markets
“It’s interesting to see Western Australia is at 2.31 per cent, given the market’s current state,” Mr McCann said. 
“Prior to commissions being deregulated in Queensland, they were capped, so a high average commission could still be carrying on as an effect of that,” Mr McCann said.
The rival Openagent website had previously calculated the average commission real estate agents charge varied between the lowest of about 1.6 four percent and the highest about four percent.
It noted across the country the average charge was around 2% to 2.5% of the sale price of your home, or from $10,000 to $12,500 when selling a $500,000 house.
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How much should your estate agent's commission fee be? New Australia-wide survey

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Former LJ Hooker agent Judy Nguyen, charged with misappropriating more than $2 million of customers’ money, is working as an agent in Melbourne.
According to a report in Domain, an advertisement in a local suburban paper advertisement featured Judy Nguyen is an agent at OZ Capital Real Estate in Springvale, due to open next week.
Consumer Affairs Victoria charged her in January with 216 offences. 
Ms Nguyen was originally charged with 216 breaches of the Estate Agents Act. The Office of Public Prosecutions was granted approval to 113 charges, with the case returning to court 19 May for a committal mention.
According to the Domain report, a Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesman said the watchdog was aware of the advertisement regarding Ms Nguyen and “is assessing all options available under existing legislation”, with Oz Capital Real Estate officer Dixon Lim saying he was in discussion with Consumer Affairs Victoria and could not comment further.&gt;
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/04/6/Screen%20Shot%202017-04-07%20at%209.45.26%20AM.png" alt="">
"Last month, Ms Nguyen and her husband Tri Duc (Jospeh) Ngo appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court for a committal mention following the collapse of six Melbourne LJ Hooker offices last April," Domain noted.
"Mr Ngo’s lawyer, Erol Cinar, told the court that Mr Ngo was the only one with access to the trust accounts and he was the one who committed the offending. Ms Nguyen would plead not guilty to all charges."
Picture courtesy of Domain.
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Court-bound estate agent Judy Nguyen joins new Melbourne agency

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Estate agent James Lyons has been sentenced to six years jail, with a possibility of parole after two years, after he pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of $1.6 million.
The Brisbane real estate agent pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to three fraud-related charges.
The charges relate to nine complaints over a two-year period. 
Judge Brad Farr set a parole eligibility date of August 23, 2018.
Lyons was on a base salary of $800,000 but would earn as much as $2 million a year on commissions as a commercial real estate agent.
Lyons was a finalist as “commercial salesperson of the year” at the Real Estate ­Institute of Queensland’s 2009 industry awards after broking multimillion-dollar deals around the Brisbane port.
He was bailed in late 2013 after being charged by detectives from Mt Gravatt CIB on seven counts of fraud allegedly committed at Chase Commercial’s Newstead office. 
The fraud-related charges related to nine victims from his time working for Chase Commercial between 2011-13.
The Crown prosecutor Jane Shaw told Judge Brad Farr that more than $1.05 million had been paid to the victims out of a compensation fund. Lyons had not made any repayments.
His legal-aid barrister, Saul Holt advised he was a diagnosed pathological gambler.
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Jail for guilty Brisbane estate agent

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Rumoured winner of The Bachelor's last rose, Nikki Gogan has been spotted at her real estate agency office in her WA home town of Northam.
Gogan has been in the Northam Real Estate industry for 12 years and works at Howlett and Lawrence First National Northam.
Her <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/agent/nikki-gogan-91250" target="_blank">profile on realestate.com.au</a> advises she is currently studying to achieve her diploma in real estate and further her career to become a licensee.
Her last sale came at the end of July when she <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-northam-122087366" target="_blank">sold a four bedroom</a>, one bathroom house for $230,000.
She has a number of properties still on her books, her most expensive being a four bedroom, two bathroom <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-northam-122220222" target="_blank">Art Deco era home</a> which is on the market for $595,000.
Fellow Western Australian and The Bachelor Richie Strahan will pick a winner in the coming weeks, and Gogan is tipped to be one of the front runners of the show.
Gogan owns an impressive property portfolio in WA, all focused in Northam.
She shares two properties with her ex-fiance and partner of 12 years Tim Verlinden, and also has one of her own.
The ex-couple spent $540,000 on a four bedroom home in 2007 and then $406,000 on a three bedder in 2013.
Gogan's own purchase was a four bedroom, two bathroom property which she paid $350,000 for in 2008, which has been up for rent for between $390 and $420 a week.
Numerous hints have been dropped that Gogan hasn't been able to keep the fact she is the winner of the show a secret.
The most recent is that ex, Tim has placed a $1000 bet on her to win.
Above image from Instagram.
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Bachelor contestant Nikki Gogan goes back to work at Perth real estate agency

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Sarah Penney-Filippini, the Gold Coast real estate agent faces disciplinary action for allegedly allowing her struck-off agent mother to act like an agent in her business.
Penney-Filippini sells million-dollar homes on the The Sovereign Islands through Island Realty.
She is facing disciplinary charges in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) after an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
In a decision handed down on July 19, QCAT member Tina Guthrie ruled there were “sufficient grounds” for disciplinary action against Ms Penney-Filippini for breaking industry rules.
"I consider that by breaching the provisions of PAMDA and the relevant Regulation, Ms Penney-Filippini’s actions have fallen short of the standard expected of a licensee," Member Guthrie ruled.
Ms Penney-Filippini had acted unprofessionally in allowing her unlicensed mother, Heather Filippini to interact with a potential purchaser during an open home and to negotiate a sale of another home.
Heather Filippini was banned from operating as a real estate agent in 2009 after defying a suspension in 2006.
Her unlicensed mother was alleged to have engaged in negotiations to sell a home in 2012 and that her mother spoke to a potential buyer during an open home in 2012.
Mrs Filippini denied she was acting like an agent simply attending the open home with “polite chitchat”.
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