A Consumer Alert - For Your Information

Friday July 3 2001

Subject: DON'T SIGN ANYTHING!

FROM: Neil Jenman. Friday July 3 2001.

Back in the days when doctors made house-calls and pizza companies didn't, things were different.

In those days, business was often done on a hand-shake. Consumers were more trusting. But then more companies were worth trusting. There was a spirit in our society which accepted that "your word was your bond".

Today the spoken word means little. Instead, what counts is the written word. It doesn't seem to matter what you were told. What matters is what you SIGNED.

When you sign on the dotted line with a real estate agent, your home is on the line. No matter what the agent tells you, once you sign-up to sell your home, the WRITTEN words take over from the spoken words.

If you get a lower price than you were told, too bad. If the agent puts you under pressure, too bad. If you don't like how the agent treats you, too bad. Once you sign, you're stuck with that agent.

Many home-owners have no idea what they are signing. Those selling agreements which the agents refer to as "standard" are designed by agents - or their representatives, the real estate institutes - to protect agents. These agreements don't protect you. In many cases, they harm you.

So when the agent says, "Sign here," what do you do? How do you wade through the fine print? How do you decipher those "standard" legal clauses? How do you protect yourself?

It's easy. Just remember three words - DON'T SIGN ANYTHING! At least until you are SURE your rights are protected.

YOUR BASIC RIGHTS

As a consumer you have four basic rights - Safety, Information, Competition and Redress. If you sign a standard real estate agreement you will almost certainly lose these rights. And it will be too late for you to do anything about it.

SAFETY - You have the right to be protected from financial and emotional harm. You should not pay unnecessary expenses. You should be safe from having your home sold for LESS than the Best Market Price.

INFORMATION - You have the right to expect the correct information, not just what agents want you to hear. You should be fully informed BEFORE you sign anything. However, in most cases, it is not until after sellers sign-up that they realise what they have done. By then it is too late.

COMPETITION - Many advertisements which show how sellers can avoid mistakes are now being banned from dozens of local newspapers. Real estate is a big money business. But just remember - BEFORE you sign - that it's your money. Protect it.
DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

REDRESS - There are almost no REAL Guarantees which force agents to honour their promises to consumers. On the contrary, agents can tell you almost anything. And then, once you sign-up, they can do almost anything. There is no escape because there are no Guarantees.

And this is why those three words are so important - DON'T SIGN ANYTHING. At least, not until you are sure that your basic rights are protected.

If you ignore this warning, then what happens to thousands of home-sellers could very easily happen to you. As one agent said recently, "When home-sellers sign those standard agreements it's not a case of whether or not they lose, it's how much they lose."

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE

An agent quoted Helen $870,000 for her home which was then bait-advertised for around $750,000. Despite her protests, Helen was assured this was "standard" procedure. She was then high-pressured into selling for $805,000. She lost her marketing expenses which were used to falsely advertise her home. But, worst of all, her home sold for well below its true market value.

"This has set us back ten years," said Helen.

A long-running advertisement placed by the real estate institute in her state says, "Our ethics and rules of practice Guarantee your protection." But when Helen wrote to the institute she was told that "the institute has no power to award compensation against its
members".

"Why do they advertise a Guarantee if they don't have one?" asked Helen.

Helen should have got a written Guarantee BEFORE she signed with the agent. If the agent had refused to sign Helen's Guarantee, then Helen would have refused to sign anything.

And that's the way it should be. When you are selling your home you should say to all agents, "I will not sign anything with you until you sign a Guarantee for me."

If the agent won't sign a Guarantee to protect your rights, then, whatever you do, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

A GUARANTEE FOR ALL HOME-SELLERS

The Jenman Group has designed a Consumer Protection Guarantee for Home-Sellers. And it is available to ALL home-sellers at no charge and with no obligation. You do not have to use a Jenman APPROVED agent. You can use any agent you like.

The Guarantee covers 16 major consumer protection points. It's a powerful Guarantee. It forces the agents to honour their word. It transfers the risk from the seller to the agent.

One real estate commentator said that "few agents would sign it" because consumers could take advantage of the agent. But agents have been taking advantage of consumers for years. Recent surveys show that real estate agents are among the least trusted of all business people. If agents want to win the trust of consumers, they must start by trusting the consumers.

There are far more honest consumers than there are honest real estate agents. Consumers deserve to deal with an agent they can trust. And this Guarantee makes the agent worthy of that trust. One home-seller described it as a "lie-detector" for real estate agents.

There has always been one unanswered question in real estate circles. If agents claim their systems are so honest, why don't they offer a Guarantee?

Well now, you can make sure you get a Guarantee. Don't be pressured, don't be talked out of it. It is your home, protect it by insisting on a Guarantee. If the agent won't sign your Guarantee - to protect your most basic rights - then DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

You can obtain a copy of the Real Estate Consumer Protection Guarantee for Home-Sellers by calling 1800 1800 18. Or you can read it on our web site at www.jenman.com.au. Just click on the notice that says - DON'T SIGN ANYTHING.

The Jenman Group is committed to improving ethics in real estate. We believe good ethics is good business. We believe we have a duty to help ALL consumers, not just those who happen to be using our agents. And that is why we offer it FREE of charge and with NO OBLIGATION to any home-seller, no matter what agent they wish to use.

And, if any agent tells you that no agent will sign this Guarantee, just tell them this:

"Nerang Real Estate will sign it."

If you remember the days when doctors made house calls, if you remember when business was done mostly on a hand-shake, you'll understand what we are trying to do. It will be nice to put the handshake back into real estate.

Until then, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING. 

[ Click Here  - to see the Consumer Protection Guarantee ]

[ Click Here - For information about the book  " Don't Sign Anything " ]