{"id":10528,"date":"2017-02-23T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=10528"},"modified":"2017-02-23T01:00:07","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T14:00:07","slug":"vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/","title":{"rendered":"Vendor Reports – Let the Buyer Beware – Garth Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changes to the real estate sector in NSW that came into effect mid-way through 2016, require real estate agents to disclose all reports taken out by a vendor or potential buyer \u2013 usually building, pest and survey reports.\u00a0 Conveyancer\u00a0Garth Brown<\/strong>\u00a0tells us now that this has led to some agents and vendors supplying false reports.<\/p>\n

Transcripts:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Homebuyers in New South Wales will soon have greater access to discounted pre-purchase inspection reports with reforms announced by the state Minister for Innovation & Better Regulation in that state.
\nWe very rarely do a state-only story, but we will in this case because I think there\u2019s a lot of lessons that can be learned by people right around Australia. Apart from New South Wales, the ACT is the only other state that asks sellers to get the pre-purchase inspections done. It could happen in other states. And if it does, maybe there are some lessons in what we\u2019re about to talk about now.
\nConveyancer Garth Brown from Brown and Brown Conveyancing has warned buyers that they should beware of these reports. He joins me.
\nHi, Garth. Thanks for your time.
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Hi, Kevin. Thanks for that.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Why are you sounding this note of caution? Surely, it\u2019s a good thing; it\u2019s going to save buyers some time and money.
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes. Look, it\u2019s a good thing in theory but there\u2019s this proviso or red flag where I warn potential purchases of property where a vendor has had these pre-inspection reports produced is that they could be dumbed down. Maybe an agent regularly uses a particular pest and building report and they\u2019ll just brush over any potential major problem and maybe list it as a minor problem when really it\u2019s a major problem. It\u2019s that independence of opinion, as well.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>What regulation is there around this to prevent that and protect consumers? Surely, a qualified building inspector who has a license, he\u2019s doing this, doesn\u2019t he have an obligation to make sure that he reports accurately and correctly?
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, that\u2019s what he\u2019s employed to do. He generally has insurance for that. But other than that, it\u2019s really up to the freewill of the billing inspector as to what he reports.
\nWhat\u2019s a really good thing with the pest and building reports is any report that has pictures of different parts of the house, it gives you a bit more confidence in their report \u2013 and videos. Some of those pest and building inspectors carry those sorts of technology. That gives you a bit more confidence in the report and independence of it.
\nIt\u2019s just there\u2019s a red flag that some purchasers, they\u2019ll rely on those reports and then they\u2019ll end up doing their own after exchange of contracts.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>After exchange of contracts, what position are they in at that stage to dispute the contract if they find something?
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Not in a very good position, but if a major problem is found, they could still negotiate with the vendor. So, that is potentially a problem. But most vendors I have encountered do come to the party and negotiate, but you are running that risk.
\nIt\u2019s just that between exchange and getting these reports together, there\u2019s so much going on that potential buyers can miss out on a property and just decide to do it afterwards.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Because in some other states of Australia, when you do take a contract out on a property, you can make it subject to a satisfactory building and pest inspection, which admittedly is funded by the buyer. In this case, you\u2019re recommending the same thing should happen anyway, Garth. Is that right?
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, that\u2019s right. Yes, you should. But most of those contracts don\u2019t have that special clause in the contract in New South Wales unless it\u2019s agreed to by the vendor before exchange of contract.
\nThe other way is if you have a cooling-off period but some vendors won\u2019t allow that; they want an unconditional contract.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes. It really varies from state to state, doesn\u2019t it? I\u2019m just looking around Australia. Each state is totally different in how they handle. The New South Wales system seems to me to be very convoluted. There are lots of things that can go wrong and there\u2019s no surety that you\u2019re really ought to be able to settle on the date of settlement.
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, that\u2019s true, but that is changing as well with this PEXA online settlement system, where it does away with the need for titles and people turning up with checks and other associated things at settlement. That is slowly changing where if a settlement day is chosen, it generally goes ahead pretty well with this new PEXA online system.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>I did an interview recently, Garth, and you may or may not have heard about this. In the States, they\u2019ve enacted things they call Transaction Rooms, which is where all the documents are placed if there\u2019s a sale going through. All the solicitors\u2019 contracts and documents and searches are all inside the Transaction Room, and anyone can view them at any point in time. And even to the point of all the way through the settlement, all parties are there.
\nThis is probably the way it\u2019s going to go long term as we become more used to how the Internet as working and this need for transparency. I think it\u2019s very, very important, isn\u2019t it?
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>It is. And just on that note there, the PEXA have this little app that you can track your online settlement as to how it\u2019s going. It\u2019s like a countdown clock, letting you know where it\u2019s all up to.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>How could those interested access this, Garth?
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>You go to Pexa.com.au. It talks about online settlements. If your practitioner is not registered for it or if your bank is not, you won\u2019t be able to use it. But if all parties are, it\u2019s a great system to make sure your property settles on time.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, well worth looking into. Thank you for your timely warning too, Garth. Garth Brown from Brown and Brown Conveyancers. Thanks for your time, Garth, and talk soon.
\nGarth:\u00a0 <\/b>Thanks, Kevin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changes to the real estate sector in NSW that came into effect mid-way through 2016, require real estate agents to disclose all reports taken out by a vendor or potential buyer \u2013 usually building, pest and survey reports.\u00a0 Conveyancer\u00a0Garth Brown\u00a0tells us now that this has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":10538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,10,11,13,25],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-10528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-a-property-topic","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-sponsored-channels","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nVendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Changes to the real estate sector in NSW that came into effect mid-way through 2016, require real estate agents to disclose all reports taken out by a vendor or potential buyer \u2013 usually building, pest and survey reports.\u00a0 Conveyancer\u00a0Garth Brown\u00a0tells us now that this has...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rolanrush\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rolanrush\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rolanrush\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d\"},\"headline\":\"Vendor Reports – Let the Buyer Beware – Garth Brown\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1082,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"podcast\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Buying a property\",\"Kevin Turner\",\"Kevin's Update\",\"Latest Stories\",\"Sponsored Channels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/\",\"name\":\"Vendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vendor Reports – Let the Buyer Beware – Garth Brown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Realty Talk\",\"description\":\"Your Trusted Voice For Property Investing. Anywhere, Anytime.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d\",\"name\":\"rolanrush\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rolanrush\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/author\\\/rolanrush\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk","og_description":"Changes to the real estate sector in NSW that came into effect mid-way through 2016, require real estate agents to disclose all reports taken out by a vendor or potential buyer \u2013 usually building, pest and survey reports.\u00a0 Conveyancer\u00a0Garth Brown\u00a0tells us now that this has...","og_url":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/","og_site_name":"Realty Talk","article_published_time":"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00","author":"rolanrush","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rolanrush","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/"},"author":{"name":"rolanrush","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d"},"headline":"Vendor Reports – Let the Buyer Beware – Garth Brown","datePublished":"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/"},"wordCount":1082,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","keywords":["podcast"],"articleSection":["Buying a property","Kevin Turner","Kevin's Update","Latest Stories","Sponsored Channels"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/","url":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/","name":"Vendor Reports - Let the Buyer Beware - Garth Brown - Realty Talk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2017-02-22T14:00:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/vendor-reports-let-the-buyer-beware-garth-brown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vendor Reports – Let the Buyer Beware – Garth Brown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/","name":"Realty Talk","description":"Your Trusted Voice For Property Investing. Anywhere, Anytime.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d","name":"rolanrush","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86544778804295a7fa45cbde097dc3a58a45ba6ed28859f17059ca74c38723d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rolanrush"},"url":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/author\/rolanrush\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176692471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}