Be very careful when you are selling your home and don't trust anyone, especially your real estate agent. In 2007 Philip Dickins was supposed to help sell a property for Ms Beetham at Hervey Bay where he worked but instead, he secretly bought it under another name and sold it on for $30,000 more. But get this, Dickins was prosecuted in the Magistrates Court for failing to declare his interest and was fined a lousy $2000. The agency's owner refunded Ms Beetham the commission she paid and the difference between the two sale prices when he found out about the scam. Of course the owner didn't know anything about it.

Neil Jenman, ex real estate agent and crusader against crooked owners, says to be alert when selling your home and suggests some of the problems are

Overquoting the seller to get the listing
Buyers underquoted to get interest
Sellers negotiating position weakened by having their motivations revealed.
Sellers pressured into accepting less to make the sale

And remember Real Estate Agents are not qualified to value property and the result of accepting their guess is usually the loss of many thousands of dollars. Make sure you get an Independent Property Valuation done by a Registered Real Estate Valuer.

And you don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to sell real estate, anyone can do it.



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