It was interesting to read solicitor Tim O’Dwyer’s comments last week about the apparently parlous state of contract preparation within the real estate industry, not least of all because they came almost four months after the rules relating to real estate contracts changed. Tim’s assertion, that agents who amend contracts on behalf of buyers and sellers are now effectively breaking the law, implies that somehow agents would have a vested interest in doing so; as though they might have something to gain by not doing everything to the letter of the law. This is plainly ridiculous. It also creates a picture of recklessness and insufficient training among real estate agents, when of course the reality is that contract preparation is a critical component of the modern real estate training curriculum – ultimately overseen by the legal profession through the conveyancing process. (In my business’s case, voluntary membership of the REIQ additionally entails commitment to ongoing Best Practice training and participation in the association’s comprehensive Continuing Professional Development Program – added reassurance for consumers that we really know our stuff.) Importantly the current system of contract preparation is a highly efficient one for buyers and sellers, ensuring their specific needs and points of negotiation are couched within the terms of their contract. It is also extremely cost-effective for consumers, ensuring their legal fees are limited only to essential conveyancing costs. The alternative, a system whereby lawyers prepare contracts from the outset, potentially riding roughshod over the nuances of consumers’ specific conditional requirements, would not only cost buyers and sellers thousands of extra dollars per contract, but it would also mean that they would still incur legal fees for those occasions when contracts fall over – as they inevitably do at times. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for changes to the real estate industry that increase its capacity to deliver a highly professional and ultimately transparent service, but I fail to see how unnecessarily lining lawyers’ pockets with families’ hard-earned cash is good for anyone bar lawyers. Until next week … Gerard Baden-Clay Principal, Century 21 Westside
About the author ...
About The Real Estate Expert
- Gerard Baden-Clay BBus, AFAIM, LREA
- Gerard Baden-Clay operates at the forefront of long-overdue change in the business of real estate. Embracing superior standards of training and recruitment, he is driving a growing team of local experts motivated by the goal of “win-win” results for buyers and sellers. Gerard's personal philosophies of ethical excellence and team loyalty, derived from his lineage as the great-grandson of international Scouts founder Baden Powell, have found their perfect landing spot in the field of real estate. Gerard’s commitment to the local community is genuine and entrenched. In addition to his own family – wife Allison and three young daughters – much of the extended Baden-Clay family also lives within the 4069 postcode. Gerard is a keen supporter of the local Scouts and Guides chapter, contributes to the provision of a chaplaincy service at Kenmore State High School and for the third year has been reinstated as President of the Kenmore Chamber of Commerce, an organisation to which he devotes considerable time and resources in boosting membership and service levels.
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