Bidding blind

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Rebecca Borkman and her partner Byron Tolley are among the thousands of Australians counting the cost of misleading price guides.

This couple spent $500 trying to buy their dream home. They never stood a chance

More than 5550 people told this masthead’s Bidding Blind investigation that they had spent money and time investigating properties that they would later discover they could not afford.

  • Aisha Dow

Latest

Bidding Blind.

‘Biggest liar gets the listing’: The tricks some agents use to pressure home sellers

Whistleblowing agents and property insiders working across Australia’s two largest cities say the practice of deliberately manipulating vendors through lies and other dirty tactics is “common”.

  • Lucy Macken and Aisha Dow
Buyers and sellers reconsider strategies as coronavirus scare changes market conditions.

The slow burn and hard slog of a cracker investigation

Whether it’s exposing real estate underquoting or the negligence of a celebrated surgeon, impactful journalism takes time and resources, as well as skill and dedication.

  • Mathew Dunckley
Bidding blind

Buried findings: Real estate expert’s frustration at underquoting inaction

Real estate stalwart Enzo Raimondo was one of two experts appointed to make findings on how Victoria’s property market could be improved. He says their report made strong recommendations and should be released.

  • Aisha Dow and Kieran Rooney
Jeremy van Dijk backs disclosure of reserve prices.

‘Demands a response’: Peak real estate lobby backs underquoting overhaul

Mandating public reserves, tougher penalties and vendors providing condition reports to buyers are some of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s proposals as it adds its voice to wider calls for change.

  • Aisha Dow and Rachael Dexter
Agents who underquote systematically should have their licences suspended or cancelled.

Public reserve prices, tougher penalties: A plan to tackle underquoting

We at the Real Estate Institute of Victoria accept that agents who underquote should have licences suspended or cancelled and that building/pest reports should be paid for by the vendor.

  • Jacob Caine
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Melbourne underquoting hotspots revealed

Buyers beware: These are Melbourne’s underquoting hotspots

An 18-month-long data investigation by The Age analysing almost 26,000 auction listings in Melbourne found that homes in these postcodes are regularly selling above the listed price.

  • Aisha Dow, Nigel Gladstone and The Visual Stories Team
None of the 10 homes sold in Veronica Crescent, Mill Park over the past two years have changed hands within the advertised price guide.

This suburban street says so much about the problem with auction price guides

Veronica Crescent is a microcosm of a wider pattern that has taken hold across swaths of the city and fuelled hot debate about the extent of underquoting.

  • Aisha Dow, Nigel Gladstone and The Visual Stories Team

The system for selling property is broken

Age readers respond to the Age series on underquoting in the real estate industry.

Underquoting is widespread in the real estate industry.

Government’s underquoting failure abandons consumers making their biggest financial call

Promises to end the odious practice have not delivered, a review remains inexplicably buried and Victorians are left in the dark.

  • The Age's View