Noticed the number of listings starting to come on line now that are fixed price? An agency will list a property at a fixed price online or send you an email with an “off line” listing that is supposedly ready to go without the need for an auction and all that competition. You instantly think “great! I’m in with a chance here”, and immediately book an inspection and ask for a section 32 and contract of sale. This is where things start to go a little sideways. Strangely, no paperwork is available and the agency blames the vendor, the vendor’s solicitor or whomever else is involved and now you have to wait patiently for it to show. In Victoria an offer is only ever real if it is in writing accompanied by a signed acknowledgement that you have seen the section 32. It’s only binding as a deal when the vendor signs that offer. Just so you know, those “verbal” offers you have been putting in are not even worth wasting breath on. But that’s a topic for another day. So as you wait for the paperwork the agency shows more and more people this private, off line, quiet listing … Continue reading The New Underquoting