Ang Kalatas Volume V February 2015 Issue | Page 16
16
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 5 Number 5 | February 2015
PROPERTY MARKET
Sales Agency Agreement
AGENCY AGREEMENT SALE OF RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY
Before an agent can market a property, they must sign
a contract with the vendor,
called “Agency Agreement”.
This is a legally binding contract. Thus, when you sign
an agency agreement with an
agent, you enter into a legal
contract.
THE AGENCY
AGREEMENT MUST
STATE:
l the services the agent
will provide for you.
l the amounts of any
commission and/or fees
you agree to pay for
those services.
l the circumstances in
which the agent is entitled to payment – for
example, commission
is usually payable only when the property is
sold or when advertising expense is due (if
any).
l how and when payment
is to be made – whether the agent can deduct
their commission from
the deposit money paid
by the buyer or be paid
by the vendor.
l warnings about circumstances in which you
might have to pay commission to more than
one agent, the extent of
the agent’s authority to
act for you.
l the agent’s estimated
selling price or price
range for the property.
l You can negotiate with
the agent about the
terms and conditions of
the agreement and Alterations made to the
agreement need to be
signed by all parties.
l Disclosure of all rebates, discounts and
commissions (if any)
REAL ESTATE MADE EASY
DOM
MELLA
[email protected]
which will or may be
received by the agent
in relation to expenses payable by the client
under the agreement.
TYPES OF AGENCY
AGREEMENTS
There are several different kinds of agency agreements. You should discuss
the agreement with a legal adviser if you are not sure about
your rights and responsibilities. The following is an overview of the different types of
agreements.
l EXCLUSIVE AGENCY
AGREEMENT
In this kind of agreement, you give exclusive
rights to one agent to sell
your property. This will
entitle the agent to be paid
commission if the property is sold during the
fixed term of the agreement, even if the property is sold by you or by another agent. The original
agent may also be entitled
to commission if the property later sells to a person
introduced by the original
agent.
l SOLE AGENCY
AGREEMENT
This is similar to an
exclusive agency agreement. You give rights to
one agent to sell the property but you may find a
buyer yourself. If you find
a buyer not introduced by
the agent, then no commission is payable to the
agent. However, both parties may agree to a reduce
commission and/or compensation of marketing
expenses incurred, if buyer is found by you.
l GENERAL LISTING
/ OPEN AGENCY
AGREEMENT
This lets you list your
property with a number
of agents. You pay a commission to the agent who
finds the buyer.
l MULTIPLE LISTING
This occurs when you
deal with an agent who is
part of a network of agents
working together to sell
your home. It covers both
auction and private treaty. You only pay a commission to the agent you
signed up with.
l AUCTION AGENCY
AGREEMENT
This is effectively an
exclusive agency agreement where the property is
listed for auction.
The “Fact Sheet” from
Fair Trading explains further
what your rights and responsibilities are under the contract.
The agent is mandated by
law to provide you with this
“Fact Sheet” and a copy of the
signed agency agreement.
For free advice or further
information contact Dom on
02 8887 5400 or 0403 226
169.
Source: NSW Fair Trading
Dom Mella is the Principal/
Licensee of Ray White Rooty
Hill. He’s also a qualified
accountant with background
in Finance & Investments.
He’s been in real estate
business since 1999.
Major changes
to home building laws
IF
you are in the home building industry, or building or
renovating your home, be aware of changes resulting
from new laws, according to the NSW Fair Trading
department.
THE changes were shaped
through extensive consultation with industry, home
owners and key stakeholders.
Most changes commenced
on 15 January 2015. Further
amendments concerning contract requirements will commence on 1 March.
The new laws help to
modernise industry practices, reduce red tape and support consumer confidence and
building activity across NSW.
Major changes from 15
January include areas covering:
LICENSING
l The threshold for requiring a licence for
building and general trade work has been
raised from over $1,000
of work to over $5,000
(including labour and
materials). Specialist
work (such as plumbing, electrical and air
conditioning)
still
needs a licence regardless of the cost of work.
l Stand-alone contracts
for internal paintwork
as well as work related
to tennis courts, ponds
and water features no
longer need a licence,
unless done as part of
other home building
work.
l Up to 12 months in prison is a new sentencing
option for a second or
subsequent offence for
unlicensed
contracting or not having the required statutory insurance.
l Licence
eligibility
has been tightened to
stamp out ‘phoenixing’;
where a company closes down leaving large
unpaid debts, only to reemerge as a new company trading under a
different name.
l Fair Trading needs to be
notified within 7 days
if a licensed builder is
‘wound up’.
OWNER-BUILDERS
l Owner-builders are required to name all other
owners of the land on an
application for an owner-builder permit. This
is recorded on the permit to prevent people
using this system to carry out commercial unlicensed building work.
Any owners named
cannot apply for anoth-
er owner-builder permit
for a different property
for 5 years.
l Owner-builders
are
prohibited from getting
a permit for a dual occupancy except in special
circumstances.
l Owner-builders are not
able to get statutory insurance although contractors working for the
owner-builder still need
to provide certificates
for work over $20,000.
If the property is sold
within the warranty period, the contract for
sale must clearly state
that there is no statutory
insurance on the property.
l The threshold for requiring an ownerbuilder permit has increased to work valued
over $10,000. All owner-builders must provide evidence of having
done basic work health
and safety training, and
for work over $20,000
they will need to do an
owner-builder course.
[For more details, visit the
website of NSW Fair Trading,
www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au]
LAND FOR SALE
Located in Village East Executive Home
(Cainta, Rizal). 267 sq. m.
Fully paid. First owner.
For more information, call Sol Chan
(H) 9829 4321, (M) 0425 215 321
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