
by Neil Jenman
Reading time: Apx 6 minutes
When you sell your home, an agent will ask you to sign an agreement. That’s if you choose to use an agent; if you knew what most agents do, you’d do what most sellers should do – sell your home yourself and get a better price at a much lower cost.
But that’s another topic.
Right now, let’s say you’ve decided to sell with an agent. You’ve interviewed a few agents and selected the one you dislike the least.
Be careful. Stop. Think about it. Just for a couple of days. For your own sake.
If you do not slow down and think, you will do what most sellers do, step into the real estate bear-trap. And many sellers bitterly regret doing so.
The bear-trap is how agents lock-you-up, take control of you and the sale, charge you needless costs, slug you thousands of dollars even if your home fails to sell, sue you if you challenge them, pocket kickbacks from service providers, lodge a caveat on your home if you refuse to pay their obscene charges, and basically strip you of your fundamental consumer rights.
Don’t believe me? Think I am exaggerating?
Okay, try this: Before you sign-up with any agent, take their agreement to your solicitor and get a legal opinion. It’ll be the best couple of hundred dollars you’ll ever spend.
I can almost guarantee you this: No self-respecting solicitor will urge a home-seller to sign the listing agreement most agents ask sellers to sign. No way.
Agents will tell you that, by law, they cannot sell your home without a written agreement.
And that’s true.
But it doesn’t have to contain all the ‘nasties’ in their agreement. You can delete whatever you wish to delete – if you know what you are doing.
Although they make it seem harmless by telling you that it’s a “standard agreement” or that it has been “approved by the real estate institute”, that doesn’t mean it’s safe for you.
And it certainly doesn’t mean you should mind-numbingly sign it because an agent – who you probably met less than an hour ago – tells you to do so.
It’s your house, keep control of what happens. Be strong. Stand up for yourself.
Just consider what you do if you sign-up with an agent. You are giving up control of your biggest asset. To a near-stranger. After barely reading a document shoved under your nose.
I believe more than half the home-owners who sign-up with an agent never read the agreement before they sign it. At best, they glance at it.
In a world where dedicated doctors and scientists are scrutinised and criticised for trying to keep us physically healthy, consumers sign over the rights to their most valuable asset to estate agents who sole goal is sell their home at any price and enrich themselves to the max. It doesn’t make sense. We distrust those who deserve our trust and trust those who don’t deserve it.
It’s time to think more carefully about so much of what we do in our lives.
Think about it. Yes, those three words can save a lot of pain and a lot of money. Think about it. Don’t sign-up blindly. Wait. Another few days won’t hurt.
Less than one person in a hundred ever says what all home-sellers should say: “Please leave this agreement with me and I will have it checked out and get back to you.”
Unless you have real estate experience, unless you are a legal expert, then please, for your sake, DO NOT SIGN-UP with an agent without getting help from someone who places your interests first.
The agent’s agreement might be “standard”, but it does not make it safe. Nor does it make it right. As for being approved by the real estate institute, that’s laughable – the institutes have one purpose: protect the interests of real estate agents.
Those real estate agency agreements are designed by lawyers who were told: “Protect the interests of real estate agents.” Not the interests of sellers.
Who protects your interests?
As you are reading this now, you may be thinking that you won’t get caught.
But the only way you can guarantee that you won’t put your foot in the real estate bear trap is not to sign their agreement the first time they ask you. Get it checked out.
Find someone who cares about you.
If not, if you are so naïve to sign a legal document that means you lose complete control over your biggest financial asset, terrible things can happen to you.
If you think I am trying to frighten you, you’re darned right.
Almost every day, I am contacted by people who have signed-up with an agent too quicky and bitterly regret it. They had no idea of the pain that comes from stepping into the real estate bear trap – or how hard it is to get out once you get in.
Take your time getting in, otherwise you will find it impossible to get out for months.
Here are ten nasty things that happen to thousands of sellers who sign one of those “standard” real estate selling agency agreements.
Then you will realise what a joke this real estate industry really is.
No, the joke might be on you. But that’s only because you stepped into that bear-trap. If you had said to the agent, “Wait, I am not signing anything without getting advice from someone who will protect my interests,” you would have been safe.
If your foot is hovering above the real estate bear-trap – in other words, you are about to sign-up with an agent to sell your property – STOP! Contact us and send us a copy of the agent’s agreement. Just email [email protected].
We will have a lawyer check it out for you and delete all those nasty clauses. You will not be charged for this assistance. Our aim is to protect you – and help you get the best result.
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Please note: We do not charge sellers for our support. Nor do we ever ask you to sign any agreements. Our entire focus is to protect your interests.
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PLEASE NOTE: Our focus is on helping consumers. Abuse from agents on our website or Facebook page will be deleted, ignored or well publicised – it depends on our mood.
But one thing will never vary: We will never stop doing what we love most – helping polite and honest consumers get the best deal possible in real estate. And, of course, if any agents are serious about taking care of consumers, we’ll help you too. Thank you.
Stephen E says:
Great advice Neil.
I think the rule of life that should be taught at school is “Never sign ANY document unless you have read and understood EVERY word/ clause / sentence”. If you don’t understand it, get advice.
Steven says:
Thank you Neil for your eye opening advice regarding the traps of selling real estate.
Rip offs that most trusting honest people have no idea can occur when selling their family home.
Keep up your great work Neil, thank you.
Marko says:
Great article there Neil, I continue to learn every time I read your articles. The principles of this article equally apply to real estate agent prepared tenancy agreements.