新西蘭英語 215 Buying or selling a house

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A new Code of Conduct became law this week. It tells real estate agents how they must behave when helping you to buy or sell a house. First they must now have a licence from a new government agency, at a cost of $500.

If you want to sell your house, you can ask a real estate agent to tell you how much your house is worth. Now the agent cannot tell you a price in a few minutes; instead the price must be written down. On the paper, it must have some examples of houses just like yours with the price paid by the buyer.

The agent must tell you how much commission they will get from selling your house. Will it be a percentage of the price or will it be a sum of money like $5,000?

The agent must also tell you if the buyer is a friend of his or hers. In the past, some sellers have been unhappy because the agent wants to help a friend get a cheap house instead of helping to get the best price for the seller.

In the past, you could complain about an agent but the people who listened to your complaint were other real estate agents. Now, complaints go to the government agency which is independent. In the past, the maximum fine was $750; now the fine is $10,000 if an agent has not been fair. For a serious complaint, this will go to a court. A buyer could get up to $100,000 in compensation if the agent gave false information.