Agent buying my property

[Nan]

I had a real estate agent put an offer on my section in Taupo a few days ago for himself. He does not want anyone in his real estate office to know that he is doing this and I must use his Hotmail account for correspondence. He has also added, "or nominee" to his contact details for sale with a 3 month settlement.

I can not see anything wrong with this, but with his secrecy and working in a real estate company, it makes me wander if their is possibly some legal implications or conflict of interest he is hiding from his boss? I note this is a private sale.

[jimO]

he probably has a buyer lined up and hopes to make a few bucks

[Aston]

The Agent knows something you don't.

Be suspicious... very suspicious.

[Rosco]

My understanding is that a real estate agent must disclose that he/she is a real estate agent. Sounds like he has done that

I'm not sure if they have to further disclose what they are going to do with the property. You could ring a real estate firm or look at REINZ site and probably find this out easily.

I'm guessing just wants to keep his affairs private, rather than be dodgy. But gain some knowledge on what a real estate agent can or can't do, then go back to them

Ross

[KyronGosse]

It all depends on the situation.
Does this real estate agent have a listing authority with you, or does his agency? If yes then this is illegal without the right paperwork in place. he would need to get you to sign a doc recognising he is an agent, he would also have to get a registered valuation and show it to you.

If no, is it listed with another agency? - This is completely fine and legal.

Is it a private sale from you to him? - If yes, how did the relationship start off, was first contact made through looking to list the property through the agency and then he offered to buy it, or was it him buying it directly from the start?

[Nan]

Thankyou all for your thoughts,

This is a completely private sale. An agent from the same company had approached me previously and i said that if i did list with an agent i would use him. But i have not thus far listed with any agent.

I find it unusual that the agent wishing to purchase has used,"or nominee" as he has said it is for himself to build his own home. I would of thought if he was putting it into his trust or other personal entity he would name that entity now. This therefore leads me to believe it is for a property investment to sell as a house and land package or similiar. Not my concern, but with the secrecy i thought maybe agents have a restraint of trade clause in their contracts with the real estate companies they work under.

[elguapo]

I find it unusual that the agent wishing to purchase has used,"or nominee" as he has said it is for himself to build his own home.

Perhaps it's a house for his cat.

[PTILoveYou]

Thankyou all for your thoughts,

This is a completely private sale. An agent from the same company had approached me previously and i said that if i did list with an agent i would use him. But i have not thus far listed with any agent.

I find it unusual that the agent wishing to purchase has used,"or nominee" as he has said it is for himself to build his own home. I would of thought if he was putting it into his trust or other personal entity he would name that entity now. This therefore leads me to believe it is for a property investment to sell as a house and land package or similiar. Not my concern, but with the secrecy i thought maybe agents have a restraint of trade clause in their contracts with the real estate companies they work under.

Most buyers put and/or nominee in the contract so that before settlement they can figure out what entity to put the property under.

So why can't this person do the same?

If he's going to build a home on the land, he will probably setup a family trust to hold the property under.

The 3 months settlement period allows him/her to setup the family trust.

[PTILoveYou]

You should be thinking about the price that this person is willing to pay, and compare to what the market price you think it is, and what you are willing to sell for.

If he/she's paying the price you want, then sell it to him/her.

[Wayne]

Did you ask him why the secrecy etc?

[KyronGosse]

Thankyou all for your thoughts,

This is a completely private sale. An agent from the same company had approached me previously and i said that if i did list with an agent i would use him. But i have not thus far listed with any agent.

I find it unusual that the agent wishing to purchase has used,"or nominee" as he has said it is for himself to build his own home. I would of thought if he was putting it into his trust or other personal entity he would name that entity now. This therefore leads me to believe it is for a property investment to sell as a house and land package or similiar. Not my concern, but with the secrecy i thought maybe agents have a restraint of trade clause in their contracts with the real estate companies they work under.

In which case it is all fine. The reason for the secrecy is because it is nothing to do with work in which case all emails should be through his private email address as this proves that it is not work related. I do the same with my personal deals.

And or nominee is completely normal.

[Davo36]

In which case it is all fine. The reason for the secrecy is because it is nothing to do with work in which case all emails should be through his private email address as this proves that it is not work related. I do the same with my personal deals.

And or nominee is completely normal.

I don't think this is right at all.

If you are a real estate salesperson (people incorrectly say 'agent'), then you must disclose you are an agent whenever you buy property, get a valuation and so on.

I'm pretty sure it's got nothing to do with whether this section is listed with the agency he works for or not.

He's using his private email etc. because he doesn't want the licensee in his office finding out about it.

It is pretty common to use 'and/or nominee' but in this case it looks pretty clear that he's just going to flick it off to another person he knows and make some money at your expense.

[donthatetheplayer]

How did he find out the property is for sale? Are you happy with the price offered? If so, sell and forget about it. If not, decline to sell and move on. Why worry about his intentions once you've sold it?

I always put and/or nominee - nothing sinister.

[Maccachic]

If I was buying a property I wouldn't use my work email, it would be done out of office hours on my laptop and hotmail account? Why is an agent any different? The seller knows the buyer is a RE.

[Ahar]

The Agent knows something you don't.

Be suspicious... very suspicious.

Agreed, be suspicious

It's all very well for some to say that if you're happy with the price then take it, but you could be doing yourself out of
a sizable sum

The only way to know for sure is to get an independent valuation done

I should think that this will be money well spent