New RE Legislation for South Australia Commences 28 July 08

Thanks for the update Matt. My first impressions is that this is all about increasing transparency and removing any perceptions of shady RE tactics. What is your assessment? As a buyer, is there any downside for me?

Thanks again. :cool:
 
Friend at work had told me about this a few days ago, but hadn't been able to find any links, thanks for sharing.

Agents will be required to give all prospective purchasers an information notice or checklist to assist them discover whether there are features of the property that may adversely affect the value, enjoyment or safety of the land, e.g. the presence of asbestos, structural problems due to termites or salt damp, illegal building work, the proximity of the property to a live music venue, whether property has septic tank etc.
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I find this really interesting, so what happens in the case that they don't tell you about the termite infestation (or heavy cracking in the walls that was painted over, etc) and the vendor was aware...you become aware of it a couple of months or years after the sale...what can you do?
 
Wonder how much this'll affect the price RE agents charge. Who pays for all the structural and pest inspections? Who goes hunting for asbestos? Who does council searches for all building approvals to look for illegal building? Will houses need to be surveyed before sale in case they are over the boundaries? Can they just write off older illegal work once its too old? A lot of that was buyer beware before.

Glad I bought my IP when I did because I can see its price would have gone up after all that. Someone else had done a pest and structural inspection on a previous contract, there was already a list of flaws from a formal building inspection and a 'cannot guarantee asbestos free' in the fine print, but the boundary fence doesn't line up with the side of the house, we found a small sheet of asbestos jammed in a cupboard completely covered up (if it had sold now, could we have sued because the vendor didn't find that sheet for us?) and it turns out one of the floors was missing half its joists, and that wasn't noted on the structural inspection or the order to improve because you couldn't tell until you removed the floor. We also missed a crack in the wall that was in a well-hidden corner, filled and painted over (badly).

As someone already said, exactly how do people propose to work with things that they may not be aware at time of sale? I'm sure the vendor I bought my house from had no idea how bad the floor joists were or that there was a square foot of asbestos in a cupboard, especially since the vendor never lived in the house and only had possession of it for a year.

Signed offers must be given to a vendor within 48 hours (or at a later time agreed with the vendor)
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ETA: we'd fail badly on that one too. By the time we had our offer in writing to give the vendor, it took well over a week to track the vendor down and put it to the board to discuss and then approve, which took another week, and everything was being mailed to Adelaide. This is going to hit banks hard on mortgagee sales, banks seem to be amazingly slow to deal with paperwork. Our RE agent was very aware that it could take a week to do anything with the bank that would have taken a few hours with a Real Person as vendor.
 
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hobo-jo said:
... so what happens in the case that they don't tell you about the termite infestation (or heavy cracking in the walls that was painted over, etc) and the vendor was aware...you become aware of it a couple of months or years after the sale...what can you do?
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Get it repaired / replaced / modified, and pass the invoice to the agent / vendor case depending.

I thought the more interesting part of the news article was compulsory registration of bidders at an auction, and reducing / getting rid of vendor bids / dummy bids.
 
Property Mogul said:
Thanks for the update Matt. My first impressions is that this is all about increasing transparency and removing any perceptions of shady RE tactics. What is your assessment? As a buyer, is there any downside for me?

Thanks again. :cool:
Click to expand...

I think the new legislative changes are good for all parties involved in the transaction. Vendor, purchaser & the agent.

The only downside I can see for the buyers is a but more paper work involved with buying at auction, especially if your a proxy bidder. Only the registered bidder who has shown their proof of ID and has a registeration card with a number can bid, or if your a proxy bidder, you must have proof of ID for the buyer and ID for you as the proxy bidder, because if you dont have proof of ID for the buyer you will have to buy and or nominee.

and also quite alot of buyers like to submit offers verbally, that cant happen anymore, has to be in writing & signed before it can be presented.
 
hobo-jo said:
Friend at work had told me about this a few days ago, but hadn't been able to find any links, thanks for sharing.

Agents will be required to give all prospective purchasers an information notice or checklist to assist them discover whether there are features of the property that may adversely affect the value, enjoyment or safety of the land, e.g. the presence of asbestos, structural problems due to termites or salt damp, illegal building work, the proximity of the property to a live music venue, whether property has septic tank etc.
Click to expand...

I find this really interesting, so what happens in the case that they don't tell you about the termite infestation (or heavy cracking in the walls that was painted over, etc) and the vendor was aware...you become aware of it a couple of months or years after the sale...what can you do?
Click to expand...

Below is the link showing a copy of the buyers information notice.
http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/assets/files/FormR3.pdf

This notice needs to be given to every buyer entering a property which is for sale and also attached to the contract and forms.

Before you buy a home there are a number of things that you should investigate and consider. Though it
may not be obvious at the time, there could be matters that may affect your enjoyment of the property,
the safety of people on the property or the value of the property.
The following questions may help you to identify if a property is appropriate to purchase. In many cases
the questions relate to a variety of laws and standards. These laws and standards change over time, so
it is important to seek the most up to date information. Various government agencies can provide up to
date and relevant information on many of these questions. To find out more the Office of Consumer and
Business Affairs recommends that you check the website: www.ocba.sa.gov.au/Realestate/
Consider having a professional building inspection done before proceeding with a purchase. A building
inspection will help you answer some of the questions below.
The questions have been categorised under the headings Safety, Enjoyment and Value, but all of the
issues are relevant to each heading.
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The vendor doesn't fill out this form to present to the buyer, the form is just given to the purchaser advising them of a list of items worth investigating before purchasing the property.
 
The whole idea was to make things more transparent for purchasers but there are still enough loopholes to allow dodgy agents to get away with things and the honest agents to be stuck with extra regulations and paperwork. This is sort of like assuming that everyone that goes through an airport is a suspected terrorist and will be put through metal detectors and their baggage checked because no one can be trusted.

I think good honest people in all walks of life outway dodgy people but society tends to put a huge focus on those who are bad!
 
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