Author Archives for Peter Mericka

Contract Switching and Lies at Ranges First National Real Estate

August 27, 2008 1:19 pm Published by Comments Off on Contract Switching and Lies at Ranges First National Real Estate Hot on the heels of the contract switchers at Barry Plant Real Estate Croydon comes Ranges First National Real Estate of Belgrave. But things get much worse when the switching of contracts is compounded with lies and threats as part of an attempted cover-up.

Estate Agent Theft Threat Increasing

August 24, 2008 1:32 pm Published by Comments Off on Estate Agent Theft Threat Increasing According to Chris Vedelago, writing for The Age newspaper, 'Falling sales levels and the prospect of a weaker market has led more than one in 10 real estate companies to consider selling up...The number of companies looking to move out of real estate has quadrupled...

The Conviction of John Talia

August 22, 2008 1:47 pm Published by Comments Off on The Conviction of John Talia John Talia's crime was a simple and common real estate crime. He bought the home of an elderly man for less than its real value.

Geoff Thompson – Contract Switching At Barry Plant RE

August 18, 2008 1:55 pm Published by Comments Off on Geoff Thompson – Contract Switching At Barry Plant RE The Barry Plant Real Estate tag line is 'The red carparet experience'. I felt that the red carpet had been pulled out from under me and my client when Geoff Thompson's sales representative Pauline Ferguson switched contracts without my knowledge and without any explanation...

Enzo Raimondo Must Resign

August 4, 2008 2:14 pm Published by Comments Off on Enzo Raimondo Must Resign Victoria's real estate industry is embroiled in another scandal. This time, the body at the centre of the scandal is the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (the REIV) and its CEO, Mr Enzo Raimondo.

David Sowersby – Serial Switcher of Contracts

July 31, 2008 2:28 pm Published by Comments Off on David Sowersby – Serial Switcher of Contracts Some years ago I pounced on Sowersby for "switching" contracts, and thought he had changed his ways. Unfortunately, it seems that when you've been in the industry as long as Sowersby has, old habits die hard.

Transparency? More Like A Two-Way Mirror!

July 23, 2008 2:49 pm Published by Comments Off on Transparency? More Like A Two-Way Mirror! Estate agents have a marvelous talent for redefining words so that their everyday meaning is distorted to the point that they become oxymorons.

Title Insurance

April 15, 2008 3:36 pm Published by Comments Off on Title Insurance During a conveyancing transaction a Solicitor or Conveyancer will work diligently to identify risks that may affect property. They will often find matters that could affect use of the property in the future; however, there are also risks that the most diligent process cannot discover which may be insured under a Title Insurance policy.

Beware of Enzo Raimondo’s “Wheelers & Dealers”

April 3, 2008 3:56 pm Published by Comments Off on Beware of Enzo Raimondo’s “Wheelers & Dealers” Enzo Raimondo is the Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, and he really should know better when he tells consumers (see 'Market Talk' of 1 March, 2008 (The Age - Domain p.3) that estate agents are 'licensed to wheel and deal'.