New Property Laws in QLD from December 1

[RPI]

The QLD Government has split up the old regime so now property is covered by the Property Occupations Act . A new REIQ and QLD Law society contract is coming but not yet released.

http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/about-us/consultation-regulatory-reform/pamda-split

Key changes that affect investors are below, the deregulation of commissions allowing for bonuses to be paid for exceeding expectations would be a big one.

Commission

Deregulating the limits on sale commission. Agents will be able to negotiate any commission with their clients.

no need to disclose to the buyer how much commission they receive from the seller.

Warning statement

Sellers or agents will not need to attach a separate warning statement to a residential property contract.

Instead, they must include a prescribed statement in the contract itself. It must be:

clear, obvious and legible
directly above the space for the buyer?s signature.

Beneficial interest sales

Agents will also be able to charge a commission if they have a beneficial interest in the sale. However, they must:

act fairly and honestly in relation to the sale
make sure the seller knows about their beneficial interest
get the seller to sign a form to confirm that they understand and agree to the sale.

Cooling-off period

Buyers will no longer need a lawyer?s certificate to waive or reduce their cooling-off period.

Auctions

Agents will be able to say that a reserve price exists for an auction of residential property. They still must not disclose the reserve price itself.

Agents must not release a price guide for an auction of residential property.

 

[eggnog]

Thanks for the update Darryl

 

[neK]

Auctions

Agents will be able to say that a reserve price exists for an auction of residential property. They still must not disclose the reserve price itself.

Agents must not release a price guide for an auction of residential property.[/I][/I]

Thanks for the update.
I really have to wonder about this.... what is the bloody point.
Its like primary school... i have a secret and im not going to tell you ner ner.

 

[HeadsOnBeds]

The waiving of cooling off will be leveraged by buyers, sellers and agents alike. It's already pushed hard in the inner city. My solicitor just says no!

 

[Scott No Mates]

From something that I had read earlier today, they are even removing the scale of fees on commissions. Now agents might be paid what their worth, what they think they're worth or what their clients believe that they might be worth. The race to the bottoms starts now.

I see the removal of the restriction on having a solicitor sign off on the waiver or the cooling off period as a bit of a worry. Definitely a protection to purchasers which shouldn't be removed which will greatly impact on the vulnerable who won't have a way to get out of a contract if they've been smooth talked into a two-tier marketed property, discovered issues with the P&B, not achieved finance etc.

 

[travelbug]

I see the removal of the restriction on having a solicitor sign off on the waiver or the cooling off period as a bit of a worry. Definitely a protection to purchasers which shouldn't be removed which will greatly impact on the vulnerable who won't have a way to get out of a contract if they've been smooth talked into a two-tier marketed property, discovered issues with the P&B, not achieved finance etc.

I agree, this is not good news for buyers and I cannot see how fairtrading could sign off on this. It is opening the gate for vendors to put pressure on buyers to waive the cooling off period in order to secure a property. Most people only buy one house in their life so are inexperienced. The solicitor signing was their only safeguard.

Fairtrading might need to change their name.

 

[RPI]

Because our Finance Condition is so much in favour of the Buyer the cooling off provisions are best left alone anyway.

As a Buyer you are required to take all reasonable steps to obtain finance (I am heading to court in a dispute over what constitutes all reasonable steps but that is for another time) but you do not have to be reasonable about accepting the offer. So, as long as you seriously apply for finance, even if you are successful, you do not have to be find the offer of finance acceptable and can terminate on that basis. Then you get your whole deposit back, no 0.25% termination penalty as per the cooling off.

 

[RPI]

New Contracts Now Released

The new versions of contracts have now been released. These must be used from 1 December.

I will provide more details and an example later.

 

[RPI]

Table of Changes outlined by the Queensland Law Society Attached as well as the 2 examples

But also note my earlier post that the Warning Statement attached to the front has been removed and all forms changed.

There is also a change to the wording regarding the cooling off period allowing the seller to deduct a termination of up to 0.25% of the purchase price from the deposit paid (used to be deposit held)

 

[NBS]

Hi,

Having just received a COS (new version) for a property I'm looking at placing on the market. I noticed the commission (Qld) has been changed / deregulated with the commission set just under the 3% inclusive of GST.

Basically what does this mean, well for me its an extra $300.00 based on the current expected selling price (this may fluctuate if the selling price is higher or lower) unless I can negotiate a lower commission.

I feel depending on the market and location agents will either negotiate or not their commission.

As for the contract itself seems ok however considering engaging a solicitor for the sale of this property. Need to check out the cost for this service.

Brian