Unethical Treatment of estate agent

TrixA

I'm unsure of its legal origins, but as someone who's experienced both systems I can tell you that in practice the NZ system is radically different from the English one. If it's a 'distillation' it's a far superior one!

I personally don't see why the other party should lose out in the unlikely event that you suffer a relationship breakdown, job loss etc. That's life, innit? I had friends in a situation where they realised they were going to have to relocate for work while they were in the process of buying a new house. All it meant was that they had to go ahead with the sale and then remarket the house again shortly afterwards. In NZ it's normal for the entire process from offer to moving in to take just 4-6 weeks so it's fairly unlikely that someone's circumstances are going to radically change in that time. Conversely, the fact that English purchases take so long to complete just increases the risk that something will go wrong. I've heard that something like a third of offers that are accepted in England don't proceed - if you think of all the time and effort involved that's a massively inefficient process for everyone involved.

Re your second point in the NZ system there's a strong incentive for buyers to impose as few conditions as possible, because sellers simply won't accept your offer if there are too many conditions. When we sold our house prior to moving to UK we had several offers but chose the one that was unconditional even though there was a slightly higher conditional offer. When you sign a contract with conditions you also have to specify a date when the offer will go unconditional, so the timeframe is clear to all parties from the outset. With auction sales which is the way many houses are sold all offers have to be unconditional, so if you want any surveys or searches done you have to get them done before the auction.

Prothet_of_Doom

TrixA wrote: »

. I've heard that something like a third of offers that are accepted in England don't proceed - if you think of all the time and effort involved that's a massively inefficient process for everyone involved.

.

Think of the employment. If if wasn't so inefficient, 1/3 of the staff would be underemployed.

clar

The Canadian system is very similar to the NZ one, offers are legally binding and accompanied by a cash deposit (1-5% of the property value - and this is NOT what we call in England deposit. What we call in England deposit - the difference between price and mortgage amount - in Canada it's called downpayment. So the Canadian deposit - the one that secures the offer - is part of the downpayment).

Offers can be conditional or unconditional as well. Conditions are related mostly to the survey, getting mortgage financing, or minor improvements to the house (and because of market competition, sometimes buyers don't impose conditions to make their offer stronger in the eyes of the seller).

If you simply change your mind as a buyer, you lose the deposit and can also be sued by the seller. If you can't get the mortgage you need, you can withdraw the offer and get your deposit back - provided that you added the finance condition to the offer. If survey shows big problems you can ask for discounts or withdraw the offer.

If seller decides to withdraw you have grounds to take them to court and win.

Having been through both systems UK and Canadian, the Canadian one is way less stressful for everyone involved and much quicker.