Many brokers abuse their position of power and consumers are powerless, or so it sounds. Home Ownership Association calls on Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Internal Affairs) to make agreements with real estate agencies to eradicate the abuses.
‘worrying picture’
In April and May, more than six hundred responses were received at the reporting centre. Cindy Kremer, director of Vereniging Eigen Huis, speaks of a ‘worrying picture’.
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It is especially wrong when bidding on a house. A common complaint: brokers who ignore buyers’ bids because they are not affiliated with a particular buyer’s broker. Appointments for a viewing are then hardly possible.
Something similar happened with Marjolein Nieuwenhuizen. When selling her house, her real estate agent deliberately withheld applications. She did receive an application from the broker’s daughter. If she would accept the daughter’s offer, she would not have to pay a brokerage fee.
‘Really bad’
Marjolein did not trust it and had friends call for a viewing appointment: this turned out to be very difficult. “He told me it was only possible at 11am the next day, while I was very flexible and could go all day. The fact that he wanted his daughter to buy the house and thus prevented viewings is really bad.”
The broker says in response that he should not have accepted the assignment afterwards. “I didn’t want to charge the commission to be independent. I was not aware that I put my daughter in a better starting position. In retrospect, that was not good for confidence.” The broker denies having canceled requests for viewings. The name of the broker is known to the editors.
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Other reports are about brokers exchanging information about bids. For example, a sales broker then passes on the highest bid to a purchase broker. As a result, the purchasing agent can always sit above the highest bid and other consumers who do not have a purchasing agent are sidelined who do not have the information.
Reports have also been received of buyers being pitted against each other by brokers to drive up the price. For example, a broker who accepts an additional bid after the time has elapsed to make a bid (see box below).
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“Brokers can be expected that the sales and buying process is clear and fair. This is often not the case,” observes Kremer of Vereniging Eigen Huis. “Due to a glaring lack of rules and clear agreements, many brokers go over the limit of what is ethically permissible.”
Large gray area
According to Kremer, there is ‘a large gray area’ between what is possible and what is allowed in which too many brokers ‘go their own way’. “That’s because they have a crucial advantage in market information and can steer the sales process. That dominant position has always existed, but in the overstrained housing market more and more consumers are finding out in an annoying way.”
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According to Vereniging Eigen Huis, the process must become much more transparent and clear rules must be established. The bidding system must be verifiable, which allows monitoring of the brokerage’s practice.
Vereniging Eigen Huis hopes that the minister will take the signals seriously. “Change will first have to come from the sector itself. An important step is recognizing the role and contribution of brokers to the problems in the buying process, instead of systematically denying them. Obviously we want to work with you on this. step up,” the Home Owners Association writes in the letter.
Also striking: when a broker was mentioned, 88 percent of the reports concerned a broker who was affiliated with a trade association. This concerns a broker of the NVM, VBO or Vastgoedpro.
NVM broker
About 70 percent of those reports concerned NVM Estate Agents. This is in stark contrast to what the NVM has recently suggested: that the brokerage profession should once again be elevated to a protected title. According to the NVM, it was mainly the free boys who did not have to abide by the rules.
Lana Gerssen of the NVM nuances the reports. “You can make two people happy: the seller and the buyer. A lot of people also come out sad. Still, it is very annoying to read that buyers and bidders have experienced this.” When asked that hundreds of reports can not only arise out of frustration,+ Gerssen believes that ‘the broker’s story should also be looked at’.
According to Gerssen, the fact that NVM brokers are more common is due to the larger market share of the NVM. This just does not correspond with the NVM’s earlier statement that it is mainly a brokerage association. Nevertheless, the code of honor and high quality standards are not up for discussion, according to her. “We would like to see the code of honor and quality standards apply to the entire industry. We are already discussing this with the Ministry of the Interior.”
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‘Congratulations, you’ve got the house’
Jos Anbergen also had to deal with a rogue broker in his search, without a purchasing agent. Jos offered 30,000 euros above the asking price on a house of 350,000 euros and he seemed to buy the house without any problems. “I remember it well. I was waiting at the physio and then I got a call saying how flexible I was to come and pick up the key. I was even congratulated!” The next day it turned out that the broker had received a higher offer and that Jos and another party both had the chance to make a final offer. “I got really angry then. So a verbal agreement really means nothing.”
In the end Jos was able to buy the house. Not because the broker withdrew his verbal agreement, but because the selling party did not want to accept the other offer. “The owner later told me that the other party had outbid only 1100 euros. This party did have a purchase broker. The woman then indicated that she thought it was very strange that a bid came in so late with a small difference. She thought this was so strange that she did not accept it, also because she had already said yes to my offer The other party must have had information about my offer With the knowledge of now it really seems as if the broker wanted us to bid against each other .”
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