Suburb for Sale

Did anyone watch "Suburb for Sale" on SBS last night? What an eye-opener! The most amazing part of the programme was when a real estate agent openly admitted that she was about to lie to a couple who wanted to purchase a property - and then did...all on national TV! The couple were the only interested party in a particular house which was suppose to go to auction. No-one turned up to the auction and so it was cancelled. The couple were then told that there were other buyers, however they couldn't arrange finance, but they were still interested.

Talk about showing why the real estate industry is generally held in such contempt. The really interesting aspect of this is what will the couple do now that they know they were lied to. I wonder if they can take legal action? The evidence was there for everyone to see. Additionally, it will be interesting to see if the Real Estate industry takes any action against this agent. If not, it will just reinforce the belief that this is the normal and accepted practice of real estate agents.

 

I doubt that we will see any action taken, though the people I really feel sorry for (and, who, no doubt, would have been watching the programme to see themselves on telly) are the misled buyers. Preying on people's fear of missing out is something that, unfortunately, some agents regularly do. It does backfire though, and when they get caught out, all they can do is serve up further lies to avoid digging themselves deeper into that hole.

Still, I wouldn't like to be that agent for a while- I'm sure she'll be wondering how many potential buyers (and sellers) saw her on SBS and will give her an earful......