{"id":9314,"date":"2016-09-19T01:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-18T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=9314"},"modified":"2016-09-19T01:00:17","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T15:00:17","slug":"buyers-agents-association-hits-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/buyers-agents-association-hits-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyers Agents Association hits back – Rich Harvey"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nPresident of the Real Estate Buyers Agent\u2019s Association of Australia, Rich Harvey<\/strong>, slams real estate companies misrepresenting themselves as buyer\u2019s agents and offering free services. He is angry at claims by a company called Seekology, that is out to disrupt Australasia\u2019s property market by offering a service to buyers that is free.
\n <\/p>\n

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

Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 As you heard just before the break there, talking to Tim Godden about his new model called Seekology where he is purporting to be a buyer\u2019s agent. This has caused grave concern to the Real Estate Buyer\u2019s Agents Association of Australia. Their President is on the phone to me, Rich Harvey.
\nRich, why are you so concerned about Seekology?
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 Good day, Kevin. Good to have a chat.
\nI guess any new company that comes into the buyer\u2019s agent field needs to be very careful about how they present themselves. If someone is going to call themselves an exclusive buyer\u2019s agent, one of the key things the consumer needs to be aware of is to ask the question \u201cHow are they remunerated? How are they paid for their service? If they\u2019re claiming it\u2019s a free service, which I believe it is, you have to ask the question why is it free? Are they being paid somewhere else? And is this a sustainable business model?\u201d
\nKevin, let me ask you this question. Would you use a free mechanic to fix your car? Would you use a free builder to build your house? I certainly wouldn\u2019t. I want to use the best builder or the best mechanic so that I know my car is safe and my house isn\u2019t going to fall in.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 It seems to be a model where one part of the business is going to be free of charge and the other part is where they\u2019re going to be charging a client to buy an owner-occupied property. I find it hard to work out how they\u2019re going to work that out.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 That\u2019s right. I think good luck to that company if they wish to go down that road, but I guess the key thing is to make sure that they\u2019re doing the right thing by the client.
\nAs an Association, we have a very strict code of ethics and we like to make sure that all of our members follow a strict due diligence code that they put the best interest of the client at heart, that they\u2019re not receiving any secret kickbacks or any secret commissions along the way, and that they\u2019re providing the best possible advice.
\nYou have to just question how good free advice is, because it may end up costing the home buyer or the investor a lot of money down the track.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Rich, do you think the Seekology model or what he\u2019s proposing is a risk to consumers?
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 I do think it is a risk in the sense that it\u2019s not proven. Like I said to you before, I don\u2019t know of too many other models or businesses that stay around for very long that offer a free service. It\u2019s not really a business. You can run a charity, but this is not a charity.
\nYou\u2019re talking about a major asset \u2013 at least half a million dollars when you\u2019re buying a property \u2013 and if you\u2019re going to have someone that\u2019s representing you for free you have to question how good a job are they going to do for you if you\u2019re not paying anything for it.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Just on that point, Rich, if I could ask you then, if it is a possible threat or a danger to consumers, is there enough regulation around this? Why can someone come in and just open up a business like this?
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 First of all, Kevin, if they\u2019re going to operate as a buyer\u2019s agent, you must have a license to operate in the state that you\u2019re buying that property in. If you\u2019re going to engage a buyer\u2019s agent, check that they have a license to operate in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Perth, wherever they\u2019re buying. Make sure they have a relevant license. That\u2019s number one.
\nThe other thing that needs to be improved, I believe, in the legislation is the licensing and education standards. At the moment, to become a selling agent, you can get a certificate of registration in about five days and then operate under a full licensee. That\u2019s not a long enough length of time to get all the skills you need to operate in this industry.
\nOne of the things I\u2019m advocating to government is that they need to really ramp up the requirements to become either a selling agent or a buying agent and jump through a few more hoops before you start representing people\u2019s biggest asset.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Is that going to happen, Rich? There have been calls for that now for well over a decade and nothing seems to be happening.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 In New South Wales, Kevin, I serve on a separate committee with the Institute and I\u2019m advocating to the Minister. They\u2019re actually doing a review of licensing as we speak. So there is a review going underway and they are looking at doing that. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s happening in Queensland or Victoria or the other states, but it\u2019s something that should definitely be happening.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I know that in some of the states, they have been talking about it for some time, but governments seem to be reluctant to want to get into checking those qualifications.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 I think one thing that should happen is that there should be some simple regulation around the definition of the term buyer\u2019s agent. We have to make a clear distinction between a buying agent and a selling agent. A buying agent is someone who works purely for the buyer and is paid by the buyer. It\u2019s as simple as that. A selling agent is someone who is paid by the vendor for selling their property. There\u2019s a thing called fiduciary duty, and there\u2019s a pretty clear line between the two.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Well then clearly, Rich, you would have a problem with the current way real estate works broadly in Australia where an agent actually acts on behalf of the seller but also deals with the buyer, because that creates a conflict.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, but it can be done well. That\u2019s why people should use more buyer\u2019s agents. Yes, the selling agent there is representing the vendor and they certainly have interaction with buyers, but that\u2019s where buyers need to be aware \u2013 not so much skeptical, but just be aware of who they\u2019re dealing with and how the agent is paid. That\u2019s what needs to happen.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I know that in overseas countries they can\u2019t work out how we work in Australia in those areas of conflict because clearly it is a conflict. In America, they have very clear definitions between the seller\u2019s agent and the buyer\u2019s agent.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 There\u2019s a different model in the U.S. In many cases, there\u2019s a much larger commission at stake \u2013 there\u2019s a 5% or 6% commission \u2013 and often they have buying and selling agents in the same office, which I think is a conflict of interest. So as much as you think we might have conflict of interest here, there they still have conflicts of interest. And again, they\u2019ve had the same sort of debate between buyer agent and exclusive<\/i> buyer agent.
\nI think the key thing here is that consumers need to be aware of the clear definitions of what a true buyer\u2019s agent is and how they\u2019re paid versus a buying agent who also gets cuts along the way.
\nKevin: <\/b>There is a lot of gray here. Just give us the parting message, Rich.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 The parting message, Kevin, is buyer beware. Make sure that your buyer\u2019s agent is licensed, is experienced, has excellent local knowledge, and certainly is a member of REBAA \u2013 the Real Estate Buyer\u2019s Agent Association of Australia.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Well said, my friend. Thank you very much. Rich Harvey is in fact the President of that organization REBAA. Thanks for your time, Rich.
\nRich:<\/b>\u00a0 Thanks, Kevin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  President of the Real Estate Buyers Agent\u2019s Association of Australia, Rich Harvey, slams real estate companies misrepresenting themselves as buyer\u2019s agents and offering free services. He is angry at claims by a company called Seekology, that is out to disrupt Australasia\u2019s property market by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":9318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,10,11,13,36,17,25],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-9314","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-property-investment-topic","category-property-investment","category-sponsored-channels","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nBuyers Agents Association hits back - Rich Harvey - 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\/buyers-agents-association-hits-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buyers Agents Association hits back - Rich Harvey - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  President of the Real Estate Buyers Agent\u2019s Association of Australia, Rich Harvey, slams real estate companies misrepresenting themselves as buyer\u2019s agents and offering free services. 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