conditioning – Real estate scams • 04.29.09
The conditioning process adopted by some agents is one reason for the bad reputation that real estate agents have in Australia. Conditioning has become part of the real estate market because many agents lie to property owners about the value of their property.
The Process
When valuing a property some real estate agents will quote a value in excess of the property’s true value in the belief that the owners will list their property with the agent that gives them the highest valuation.
A typical Australian real estate agent’s selling agreement will tie the property owner to that agent for 90-120 days. If the property is sold during this period the agent will earn their commission whatever the sale price.
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