Author Archives for Peter Mericka

Tactics Of The Trade

February 2, 2006 6:28 am Published by Comments Off on Tactics Of The Trade Ultimately a real estate agent is a salesperson. Even the most ethical agents have a whole bag of tricks to draw on to secure listings then to sell properties.

Contracts Fundamentally Flawed

February 1, 2006 6:32 am Published by Comments Off on Contracts Fundamentally Flawed Queensland's major daily newspaper, The Courier Mail, has reported that millions of dollars worth of property contracts signed in that State in the past two months are flawed.

A Conveyancing Contradiction

January 31, 2006 6:49 am Published by Comments Off on A Conveyancing Contradiction Until the conveyancing black market officially ends, the Victorian conveyancing industry will continue to operate in the shadows, if Section 53A of the Estate Agents Act 1980 is to have any significance.

Energy and Real Estate

January 31, 2006 6:42 am Published by Comments Off on Energy and Real Estate Energy is so important for real estate and real estate so important for our economy, that the impact of an energy crunch would be felt not only on real estate but would spread and engulf the entire economy and impact our very own way of living.

Investing In Australian Real Estate

January 26, 2006 7:09 am Published by Comments Off on Investing In Australian Real Estate After spending many years in real estate management in Australia, my advice to potential investors is to invest in a product that has high demand.

Roused Regulator Re-Rattles Realtor’s Cage

January 26, 2006 7:03 am Published by Comments Off on Roused Regulator Re-Rattles Realtor’s Cage Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel argued that, when a complaint was made, the role of the ACCC was not to determine whether the Trade Practices Act had been breached.

A Sad Example Of “Industry Consultation”

January 24, 2006 7:22 am Published by Comments Off on A Sad Example Of “Industry Consultation” We continue our expose of the REIV’s use of the media and political lobbying strategies to prevent changes to real estate licensing laws. (For a detailed examination of corruption through political lobbying see Pigs at the Trough(Crown Publishers, NY, 2003) by Arianna Huffingtons.) What happened to SA’s wonderful new laws? (An article from the Jenman website) John Rau must be one of the most frustrated politicians in the country. Four years ago the dedicated Labor backbencher began...


Indoctrination As Work Experience

January 20, 2006 7:28 am Published by Comments Off on Indoctrination As Work Experience The major impediment to competition in the real estate industry is the requirement for a would-be licence holder to work as the employee of an estate agent for a period of 1 year.