I'm looking for some legal advice.
I have been looking for some investment property and some business associates of mine let me know that they could help me find good capital growth property. They are licenced real estate agents though they are not connected with any real estate firm.
I spent a day with them looking at land developments and houses of a builder that they recommended. They told me that they could get some land within the development that they showed me and would arrange for the builder to build the houses for me.
At no time did they get me to sign any agreements nor did they tell me of any fees.
Over the last couple of months, they have said that the land was not out of titles office yet, that I would be looking at a different sub-division stage, and then that the land was going to be 13.5 metres wide when I was looking for large blocks.
Within days of hearing about the size of the block they wanted me to buy, I eventually found and bought a house and land deal myself from another agent. I rang my "friends" to advice that I wouldn't be going with them this time. I mentioned that I might be able to do business with them in the future.
Today (4 days after ringing them) I received in the mail a Tax Invoice for $4,400 for:-
""Consultations, Structuring and Planning on the acquisition of Investment Properties, detailed areas and research house plans.
Liaise with developers for land and builder for house construction. Merge plans on land and rearrange landscaping to suit land demensions.
Introduce to Real Estate Agent and Property Manager in the area.
I knew that they would earn a commission based on any purchases that I made and it came as a shock when I received this "bill" in the mail when I had not signed any agreement for them to act as my 'buyers agent'. Plus they never introduced me to any Real Estate Agent or Property Manager when I was with them. And why charge me for merging plans onto a block of land that was smaller than I wanted. To top it all off, they had at the bottom of their Tax Invoice, Terms net 7 Days (for such a large amount of money).
In the period that they have been "looking" for me, values have been skyrocketing and I have now lost around $10-15K through having to pay higher prices than I would have had to pay if I had purchased when I was originally ready 2 months ago.
Would any legal experts out there be able to recommend a course of action that I can take as I do not want to pay for something that I did not agree to, and I can't afford legal fees.
My "friends" are really selling agents in my eyes as I have worked out over the last few months that all they do is find buyers for house and land packages from this particular builder. They never showed me any houses built by any other builder.
Hoping that someone can help me.
Cheers,
Bmok
I have been looking for some investment property and some business associates of mine let me know that they could help me find good capital growth property. They are licenced real estate agents though they are not connected with any real estate firm.
I spent a day with them looking at land developments and houses of a builder that they recommended. They told me that they could get some land within the development that they showed me and would arrange for the builder to build the houses for me.
At no time did they get me to sign any agreements nor did they tell me of any fees.
Over the last couple of months, they have said that the land was not out of titles office yet, that I would be looking at a different sub-division stage, and then that the land was going to be 13.5 metres wide when I was looking for large blocks.
Within days of hearing about the size of the block they wanted me to buy, I eventually found and bought a house and land deal myself from another agent. I rang my "friends" to advice that I wouldn't be going with them this time. I mentioned that I might be able to do business with them in the future.
Today (4 days after ringing them) I received in the mail a Tax Invoice for $4,400 for:-
""Consultations, Structuring and Planning on the acquisition of Investment Properties, detailed areas and research house plans.
Liaise with developers for land and builder for house construction. Merge plans on land and rearrange landscaping to suit land demensions.
Introduce to Real Estate Agent and Property Manager in the area.
I knew that they would earn a commission based on any purchases that I made and it came as a shock when I received this "bill" in the mail when I had not signed any agreement for them to act as my 'buyers agent'. Plus they never introduced me to any Real Estate Agent or Property Manager when I was with them. And why charge me for merging plans onto a block of land that was smaller than I wanted. To top it all off, they had at the bottom of their Tax Invoice, Terms net 7 Days (for such a large amount of money).
In the period that they have been "looking" for me, values have been skyrocketing and I have now lost around $10-15K through having to pay higher prices than I would have had to pay if I had purchased when I was originally ready 2 months ago.
Would any legal experts out there be able to recommend a course of action that I can take as I do not want to pay for something that I did not agree to, and I can't afford legal fees.
My "friends" are really selling agents in my eyes as I have worked out over the last few months that all they do is find buyers for house and land packages from this particular builder. They never showed me any houses built by any other builder.
Hoping that someone can help me.
Cheers,
Bmok