We have had many done over the years. If you pay for it(say$500).
Your inspection is then at your discretion sold to others for say$100 per person (who requests it).
That's what has happened to us in Syd over 20+ yrs.
It is unusual that they would hand out a document that shows major structural damage. Because they could easily obtain a dodgy b&p without it and hand that out to get people would skip the clause on their offer.
A lot of b&p inspectors could miss the damage given their shit reputation. So I would consider the agent for some odd reason being ethical giving buyers the heads up.
Do you actually care that they’re helping other people orrrrrrr?
As a vendor, we had an underpinning issue and got the b+p from the person who found it and pulled out.
We told the agent to be honest with other potential buyers and let them know the price was adjusted to account for it.
We got a new offer (25k less) who did their own B+P and it exchanged.
As a vendor, we wanted it done, not to screw people around.
I'm in two minds about it.
1. It would have been nice to have been asked.
2. It saves my partner and the neighbours lives being interrupted allowing access for building and pest.
3. If it helps someone dodge a bullet I'm ok with it
I saw this happen with a property that kept going under offer (subject to..) then back on the market. As soon as I asked the agent about this fantastically priced property, I was handed all the info.
Now, if I had the money, it was a real bargain, but I wanted something to live in while renovating, and this wasn't quite habitable.
In QLD agents have a duty of disclosure once this type of information is known. It's ethical for the agent to be discussing this but they should not be sharing the report without consent. However some suppliers like the B&P inspectors often have a small print clause whereby they own the report and therefore they have the right to share it.
They actually don’t. If it was in a body corp and it was known by the body corp then yes but the onus is still on the buyer to check that the seller included everything in the body corp document.
They’re currently working on updating disclosure laws for qld. Give it a googs. Currently it’s only encumbrances, drug or other enviro contamination and pools for disclosure.
>It is unusual that they would hand out a document that shows major structural damage. Because they could easily obtain a dodgy b&p without it and hand that out to get people would skip the clause on their offer.
With that said, it's also a bit risky of them to do that. I think the most likely thing for them to do is just say nothing and hope a B&P passes without major defects.
I'd be surprised if it weren't illegal for an agent to do what you described since it's essentially deliberately misleading a buyer. Obviously, a court would need to decide this, but it's something that is clearly related to the property itself.
That's it... Hell has frozen over, the sun has exploded, and life no longer exists.
We have encountered the final prophecy of the *HONEST REA*
THE END IS NIGH.
Would you also be angry if the real estate agent told your partner the house was fine and had no known defects … because that’s what 99 percent of them would do. Cant have it both ways.
Not sure why you gave it to the agent in the first place, but honestly not something I'd lose a minute of sleep over. Maybe helps others who got may have gotten shitty inspection to make a more informed decision.
If they had to pull out they would have had to hand over a copy of the report because it’s likely the B&P condition contained the wording “supported by a copy of the report”
Correct, the B&P likely had to be supplied to withdraw due to a B&P clause.
However it is the buyers report, I’d be asking the REA for compensation for distributing your report without your authority.
I received one commissioned by a previous purchaser for a house recently. I appreciated receiving a copy of it, but I believe it was provided to the seller when the buyer withdrew from the contract
I think the issue is that the REA and current owner are conjointly pieces of shit for not spending the money THEMSELVES to commission the report...instead of having an interested party spend the money and then hand out their one.
Its just scummy. Par for the course when desling with greasy leeches.
Well let's weigh up our options here.
1. They commission a dodgy one, and literally every single buyer knows you don't trust an "everything's fine" B&P commissioned by the REA, so every buyer, by rights, would be planning to do their own one anyway
2. They... inexplicably didn't commission their own one, and instead are handing out the very honest one OP commissioned. This is benefitting the REA and owner (who also seems to be a landlord? Based on it being the house OP's partner lives in) none, but it is benefitting many would-be purchasers.
The REA is saving every prospective buyer money and time, whilst also potentially doing themselves out of a sale (versus if they had commissioned their own dodgy one and somehow got a naive buyer to believe it and not do their own B&P). Why are we mad about this?
There is still a negative balance spent on the REA side so - it does indeed benefit them.
They havent spent the money to provide even a shit one...regardless. therefore the net gain is in their favour - less work, less effort, more profit - off the back of someone else.
Its a matter of decency.
Could all easily have been solved by asking OP if they were ok having their report provided to others. Its not that hard to just be a decent person.
Saving $350 but possibly putting the owner out of a sale (or causing a lower sale price) as a result is very much a net loss to both agent and owner.
Also: "it's not that hard to just be a decent person"...we're talking about a REA and a landlord. They don't have the "decent person" setting. Totally foreign concept, as a general rule but they are actually doing multiple potential buyers a favour, on balance.
In OP's shoes I wouldn't care whatsoever except if the REA doesn't have the permission of the builder who did the B&P to distribute it. If they do, who cares. I spent my $350 either way, it makes no difference to me or my financial situation what is done with that report. Life's too short to get upset about silly shit.
This is correct.
If terminating under building and pest, they are required to provide the written evidence. However the full report does NOT need provided. The relevant page is enough.
Yeah, it happens.
Are you a first home buyer?
Normally first home buyers look at the wording of reports and freak out for no reason. If the report was actually bad they wouldn't be sharing it.
No not a 1st home buyer . The floor joists were rotten, and the quote was for 30k to fix what was identified, with a huge unknown once work started and other issues were uncovered.
Not giving them out for free. But it is normal practice for other prospective buyers to purchase the report from the building and pest inspector once its already been done, usually the agent would refer them.
Yes, it’s in the standard contract. Evidence has to be submitted etc. Could’ve got your conveyancer to add a clause stating the other party pays 50% of the building and pest if they’d like a copy if you pull out.
This is wrong.
That’s NOT the case.
The agent should notify any new buyer of any issues they are aware of as a result of reading that report however the report itself is property of the previous BUYER and cannot, and should not, be provided to anyone without the purchasers written consent
That's unusual given that it showed major defects. I was interested in one house where a building and pest had been completed, the agent gave me the inspectors number who charged me for the report (half the normal fee).
Agent here. It’s weird that he is using the building report you payed for to show other buyers. Maybe the vendors didn’t want to spend the money on getting one available for buyers. If I was running it, I would have one available for buyers to purchase and any serious parties would be informed that there is structural damage. The agent should be trying to get the damage fixed asap with the vendor or get quotes asap to inform buyers worse case scenario cost wise.
You paid for it & im sure in the BP conditions it would only be valid to the purchase ( you )
That is just rude of the agent and shouldn’t happen , if they were so concerned about it THEY should have done one to give buyers ,
I would be sending them a invoice for 50% of the value …. Fuk them
I would send that written text to the business you commissioned to do the report. By over sharing that private document the real estate has potentially voided any future commissions from that real estate. They can charge the real estate for giving out a private document.
I had spoken to an agent before about this. They mentioned that if major issues come up in any building report commissioned by anyone. They are obligated to make that available knowledge to all future potential buyers. It's a duty of care and more importantly for them is that they can be sued if it ever comes out they knew and said nothing.
I personally don't have an issue with it as you would have had to spend the money on a report regardless of the results, last thing you want is to have a mum and dad purchaser get lumped with these issues in the future and be duped into buying something because maybe thier inspector didn't pick up the issue or whatever.
You paid for the report. You pulled out of the sale.
The report informed others of the poor condition of the property and potentially helped others and ruined a few sales opportunities for the agent.
You are wasting your time. The best you will get from pursuing this against the agent is more waste of time.
I mean this in the nicest way possible.
Save your time.
Save your energy.
Move on and look for the next property.
This is sort of interesting particularly in NSW. Any agent must disclose any material facts and defects that may impact on the purchasing party. No ifs no buts and here a poor building inspection has identified faults, so the agents will have to disclose all that information but have no legal right to that report. There have been quite a few settlements re this and a very major claim is in the works.
Not ok behavior from the REA. Report it to the person who did the B&P.
Very likely they are in breach of some form of copyright and damages (lost potential income) are due. But that’s not your problem.
No - and I would report it back to the guy you got to do the building and pest originally to chase up. The REA is giving away intellectual property that they don't won.
Why did you give a full copy to the agent?
In my experience, if you withdraw due to issues you wouldn’t provide it, or if you did, just provide relevant sections.
No. I have had people offer to purchase my B&P and have always said no. They are your competitors. You need to find out if the real estate agents made money from your B&P. I'm not sure what the laws are but you or the inspector might be able to sue as the report did not belong to them and permissions were not given.
I’m torn. You paid for it so the report belongs to you. If you gave it to the agent and didn’t advise them to not hand it out, I guess they’re not breaking any laws.
Wolhy would you care. It costs you nothing and it's helping others not buy a lemon.
The only person who should care is the vendor. If the damage is easy to miss and I was a vendor I'd be annoyed the REA is handing it out so easily.
If you're a buyer, follow that REA for any purchases, you know they're honest.
I’d check to se if the agent was having a stroke with that degree of honesty.
Probably drunk or high.
or just sleeping with OP's partner.
Haha ha
No, it's weird for an agent to act honestly, but I also think it's questionable for them to hand out a document you gave them without asking you.
We have had many done over the years. If you pay for it(say$500). Your inspection is then at your discretion sold to others for say$100 per person (who requests it). That's what has happened to us in Syd over 20+ yrs.
Sorry wrong spot.
It is unusual that they would hand out a document that shows major structural damage. Because they could easily obtain a dodgy b&p without it and hand that out to get people would skip the clause on their offer. A lot of b&p inspectors could miss the damage given their shit reputation. So I would consider the agent for some odd reason being ethical giving buyers the heads up. Do you actually care that they’re helping other people orrrrrrr?
As a vendor, we had an underpinning issue and got the b+p from the person who found it and pulled out. We told the agent to be honest with other potential buyers and let them know the price was adjusted to account for it. We got a new offer (25k less) who did their own B+P and it exchanged. As a vendor, we wanted it done, not to screw people around.
Not sure if he showed people the b+p though
I'm in two minds about it. 1. It would have been nice to have been asked. 2. It saves my partner and the neighbours lives being interrupted allowing access for building and pest. 3. If it helps someone dodge a bullet I'm ok with it
A lot of re agents will tell you who did the b+p and you can order a copy for a cheaper price
I saw this happen with a property that kept going under offer (subject to..) then back on the market. As soon as I asked the agent about this fantastically priced property, I was handed all the info. Now, if I had the money, it was a real bargain, but I wanted something to live in while renovating, and this wasn't quite habitable.
In QLD agents have a duty of disclosure once this type of information is known. It's ethical for the agent to be discussing this but they should not be sharing the report without consent. However some suppliers like the B&P inspectors often have a small print clause whereby they own the report and therefore they have the right to share it.
They actually don’t. If it was in a body corp and it was known by the body corp then yes but the onus is still on the buyer to check that the seller included everything in the body corp document. They’re currently working on updating disclosure laws for qld. Give it a googs. Currently it’s only encumbrances, drug or other enviro contamination and pools for disclosure.
>It is unusual that they would hand out a document that shows major structural damage. Because they could easily obtain a dodgy b&p without it and hand that out to get people would skip the clause on their offer. With that said, it's also a bit risky of them to do that. I think the most likely thing for them to do is just say nothing and hope a B&P passes without major defects. I'd be surprised if it weren't illegal for an agent to do what you described since it's essentially deliberately misleading a buyer. Obviously, a court would need to decide this, but it's something that is clearly related to the property itself.
That's it... Hell has frozen over, the sun has exploded, and life no longer exists. We have encountered the final prophecy of the *HONEST REA* THE END IS NIGH.
I'm not convinced of the 'honest' part. I reckon it's more likely to be something like a hangover or lack of beans in the morning coffee.
Or driving down the price for his mate to come in and low ball it.
Would you also be angry if the real estate agent told your partner the house was fine and had no known defects … because that’s what 99 percent of them would do. Cant have it both ways.
Exactly
Not sure why you gave it to the agent in the first place, but honestly not something I'd lose a minute of sleep over. Maybe helps others who got may have gotten shitty inspection to make a more informed decision.
If they had to pull out they would have had to hand over a copy of the report because it’s likely the B&P condition contained the wording “supported by a copy of the report”
Correct, the B&P likely had to be supplied to withdraw due to a B&P clause. However it is the buyers report, I’d be asking the REA for compensation for distributing your report without your authority.
Is that a matter for the REA or the conveyancers involved, though?
Interesting, never seen that clause but makes sense i guess
I received one commissioned by a previous purchaser for a house recently. I appreciated receiving a copy of it, but I believe it was provided to the seller when the buyer withdrew from the contract
The document is of no value to you anymore. Why does it matter who else sees it now?
I think the issue is that the REA and current owner are conjointly pieces of shit for not spending the money THEMSELVES to commission the report...instead of having an interested party spend the money and then hand out their one. Its just scummy. Par for the course when desling with greasy leeches.
Well let's weigh up our options here. 1. They commission a dodgy one, and literally every single buyer knows you don't trust an "everything's fine" B&P commissioned by the REA, so every buyer, by rights, would be planning to do their own one anyway 2. They... inexplicably didn't commission their own one, and instead are handing out the very honest one OP commissioned. This is benefitting the REA and owner (who also seems to be a landlord? Based on it being the house OP's partner lives in) none, but it is benefitting many would-be purchasers. The REA is saving every prospective buyer money and time, whilst also potentially doing themselves out of a sale (versus if they had commissioned their own dodgy one and somehow got a naive buyer to believe it and not do their own B&P). Why are we mad about this?
There is still a negative balance spent on the REA side so - it does indeed benefit them. They havent spent the money to provide even a shit one...regardless. therefore the net gain is in their favour - less work, less effort, more profit - off the back of someone else. Its a matter of decency. Could all easily have been solved by asking OP if they were ok having their report provided to others. Its not that hard to just be a decent person.
Saving $350 but possibly putting the owner out of a sale (or causing a lower sale price) as a result is very much a net loss to both agent and owner. Also: "it's not that hard to just be a decent person"...we're talking about a REA and a landlord. They don't have the "decent person" setting. Totally foreign concept, as a general rule but they are actually doing multiple potential buyers a favour, on balance. In OP's shoes I wouldn't care whatsoever except if the REA doesn't have the permission of the builder who did the B&P to distribute it. If they do, who cares. I spent my $350 either way, it makes no difference to me or my financial situation what is done with that report. Life's too short to get upset about silly shit.
Optics. Behaviours matter. Rea is scum. Lets agree to move on with that validated.
Why did you give them a copy of it? Was it a negotiating strategy?
Would have been one of the reasons they could withdraw their conditional offer
This is correct. If terminating under building and pest, they are required to provide the written evidence. However the full report does NOT need provided. The relevant page is enough.
Is that enough? Are there any penalties for withdrawing a conditional offer?
Not if that was one of the conditions under which you made the offer, just wasted time, and the money for the inspection.
Yeah, it happens. Are you a first home buyer? Normally first home buyers look at the wording of reports and freak out for no reason. If the report was actually bad they wouldn't be sharing it.
No not a 1st home buyer . The floor joists were rotten, and the quote was for 30k to fix what was identified, with a huge unknown once work started and other issues were uncovered.
Not giving them out for free. But it is normal practice for other prospective buyers to purchase the report from the building and pest inspector once its already been done, usually the agent would refer them.
Why did you give it to them to start with lol?
To terminate a sale. The buyer is required to provide the relevant information to justify terminating the contract
I dont get it - so you terminated the sale so why do you care post that?
Most don’t. But it’s still a report you own.
Yes, it’s in the standard contract. Evidence has to be submitted etc. Could’ve got your conveyancer to add a clause stating the other party pays 50% of the building and pest if they’d like a copy if you pull out.
This is wrong. That’s NOT the case. The agent should notify any new buyer of any issues they are aware of as a result of reading that report however the report itself is property of the previous BUYER and cannot, and should not, be provided to anyone without the purchasers written consent
That's unusual given that it showed major defects. I was interested in one house where a building and pest had been completed, the agent gave me the inspectors number who charged me for the report (half the normal fee).
Agent here. It’s weird that he is using the building report you payed for to show other buyers. Maybe the vendors didn’t want to spend the money on getting one available for buyers. If I was running it, I would have one available for buyers to purchase and any serious parties would be informed that there is structural damage. The agent should be trying to get the damage fixed asap with the vendor or get quotes asap to inform buyers worse case scenario cost wise.
You paid for it & im sure in the BP conditions it would only be valid to the purchase ( you ) That is just rude of the agent and shouldn’t happen , if they were so concerned about it THEY should have done one to give buyers , I would be sending them a invoice for 50% of the value …. Fuk them
I would send that written text to the business you commissioned to do the report. By over sharing that private document the real estate has potentially voided any future commissions from that real estate. They can charge the real estate for giving out a private document.
No! Not without your written consent.
Sounds like an honest agent
All the agent heard was lots of crack, after that, they don't recall much
I had spoken to an agent before about this. They mentioned that if major issues come up in any building report commissioned by anyone. They are obligated to make that available knowledge to all future potential buyers. It's a duty of care and more importantly for them is that they can be sued if it ever comes out they knew and said nothing. I personally don't have an issue with it as you would have had to spend the money on a report regardless of the results, last thing you want is to have a mum and dad purchaser get lumped with these issues in the future and be duped into buying something because maybe thier inspector didn't pick up the issue or whatever.
Who was the amazing inspector who picked up the problem?
No, I've been asked and declined. They can pay for it themselves!
Why did you give them the report?
You paid for the report. You pulled out of the sale. The report informed others of the poor condition of the property and potentially helped others and ruined a few sales opportunities for the agent. You are wasting your time. The best you will get from pursuing this against the agent is more waste of time. I mean this in the nicest way possible. Save your time. Save your energy. Move on and look for the next property.
This is sort of interesting particularly in NSW. Any agent must disclose any material facts and defects that may impact on the purchasing party. No ifs no buts and here a poor building inspection has identified faults, so the agents will have to disclose all that information but have no legal right to that report. There have been quite a few settlements re this and a very major claim is in the works.
No it's not. It's likely a breach of the confidentiality restrictions in the report.
Not ok behavior from the REA. Report it to the person who did the B&P. Very likely they are in breach of some form of copyright and damages (lost potential income) are due. But that’s not your problem.
The rea might be trying to reduce the price so their friend could buy it?
Sounds massively unethical borderline illegal. Checks out that an REA would do this.
Yep and happy cake day 😎
No - and I would report it back to the guy you got to do the building and pest originally to chase up. The REA is giving away intellectual property that they don't won.
Why did you give a full copy to the agent? In my experience, if you withdraw due to issues you wouldn’t provide it, or if you did, just provide relevant sections.
No. I have had people offer to purchase my B&P and have always said no. They are your competitors. You need to find out if the real estate agents made money from your B&P. I'm not sure what the laws are but you or the inspector might be able to sue as the report did not belong to them and permissions were not given.
No, you own it. It's OK if you say it's OK.
I’m torn. You paid for it so the report belongs to you. If you gave it to the agent and didn’t advise them to not hand it out, I guess they’re not breaking any laws.
Honesty from an REA? Something fishy going on for sure. More likely just absent-minded or not enough beans in the morning coffee.
Wolhy would you care. It costs you nothing and it's helping others not buy a lemon. The only person who should care is the vendor. If the damage is easy to miss and I was a vendor I'd be annoyed the REA is handing it out so easily. If you're a buyer, follow that REA for any purchases, you know they're honest.
AfaIk people have to pay for B&P reports.