Real Estate Law: Analyzing Agent Responsibilities through Case Studies

This assignment presents a series of case studies focused on real estate agent responsibilities and legal compliance, particularly concerning the Agent Act 2003. The first case study examines the ethical and legal implications of an agent, Chris, delegating property management tasks to an unlicensed administrator, Bethany, and discusses potential breaches of the Act. The second case study addresses the duty of a real estate agent, Marissa, to disclose potential disadvantages of a property to a client, Graham, ensuring ethical conduct. The third case study analyzes the requirements of Section 86 of the Agent Act 2003 regarding an agent, Rita, purchasing property, focusing on disclosure and potential conflicts of interest. The fourth case study provides advice to homeowners, Dominic and Tina Azzopardi, on selling their property, including renovation suggestions and auction strategies, while also addressing ethical considerations related to buyer proposals. Each case study provides recommendations and references to relevant legal sections, emphasizing the importance of ethical practice and legal compliance in the real estate industry.

Running head: REAL ESTATE PROJECT
Real Estate Project
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Case Study 1....................................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question a...................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question b..................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question c...................................................................................................................2
Case Study 2....................................................................................................................................3
Answer to part a...........................................................................................................................3
Answer to part b...........................................................................................................................3
Case Study 3....................................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question a...................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question b..................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question c...................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question d..................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question e...................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question f...................................................................................................................4

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Case Study 1
Answer to Question a
The issue that has been presented in the question refers to the fact that the real estate
agent Chris has been missing office on account of employment as a teacher at a local TAFE. As
a result he has been spending less time in the office. There have been instances when the
individual has not come into the office for days in a row. On the resignation of an agent, Chris
has asked Bethany to conduct some rental property inspections and result in the preparation of
the condition reports. It must be noted here that the Bethany had been working as an
administrator manager for the City Real Estate from the time of its inception and has worked
closely with Chris for the purpose of building the business. The agent has decided for the
undertaking of the training to become a registered property manager. This incident falls under
the Agent Act 2003. Now, Part 3 of Division 3.1 states that the person in order to be a real estate
agent should be licensed. This means that a person carrying out the real estate practices as an
agent in the form of the pretention results in an offence. This will result in a penalty of 100 units
and in the imprisonment for a period of 12 months or more (Barkham, Bokhari and Saiz 2018).
Answer to Question b
The advice that should be provided to the Bethany and Chris is that they should try to
arrange for the proper formalities in order to carry out the required business activities. This
means that it has been mentioned in the Agent Act 2003, that a person who is carrying on the
service as an employee of some other institution of any kind should not be allowed to carry out
the business activities as a real estate agent. Moreover, it has been mentioned in the case study
that the agent Bethany intends to be a registered property manager but she still has not acquired
any kind of license of the similar nature. Therefore, both Chris and Bethany has to do the needful
in order to carry out the services in the form of a real estate agent (Barkham, Bokhari and Saiz
2018).
Answer to Question c
The breach of the act will certainly affect the eligibility of Bethany to be an agent. This is
because if Bethany carries out the practices as a real estate agent then that will surmount to be a
criminal offence, which will result in a penalty of 100 units and in the imprisonment for a period
of 12 months or more (Barkham, Bokhari and Saiz 2018).

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Case Study 2
Answer to part a
The advice that should be presented to Marissa is that it is the primary duty as the real
estate agent to discuss with Graham the disadvantages of the house in terms of the particular
demand that is made by the customer. This means that the sole purpose of Marissa should not be
the sale of the property before she goes onto a holiday for the next month. The primary concern
of a real estate agent should be that he or she should provide the information that is true and
complete. This means that the considerations that should be included are that the client wants a
property in a quiet area because he works in the night shifts. Furthermore, he has displayed
interest in the property listed by Marissa. Therefore, it is the primary duty of Marissa to inform
Graham, that the apartment blocks back on to a street, which consists of a church. Therefore, it
can get noisy particularly on Sunday mornings (Du and Luo 2015).
Answer to part b
The advice that should be given to Marissa is that Marissa should maintain a balanced
opinion in front of the client. This means that the client should be shown the particular property
that he has chosen. But the information that the apartment blocks back on to a street, which
consists of a church therefore, it can get noisy particularly on Sunday mornings, should be
clearly informed (Du and Luo 2015).
Case Study 3
Answer to Question a
The section of the Act that relates to the agent purchasing property is the Section 86 of
the Agents Act 2003.
Answer to Question b
The requirements of the section is that the agent should completely disclose to the seller
the circumstances that have been surrounding the obtaining of the beneficial interest. Moreover,
the sellers also has to agree in regards to the obtaining of the interest and this agreement has to
be presented in the form of writing.

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Answer to Question c
The requirements of the section apply to Rita’s situation. This is because Marco who is
interested in the property is related to Rita therefore; there is a chance of obtaining beneficial
interest (Piazolo, Junius and Cvetkovic 2016).
Answer to Question d
There is no exemption to the requirements of the section as mentioned in the Agent Act
2003.
Answer to Question e
The penalties which are applicable in relation to the breach of the section is that the
maximum penalty that has to be paid amounts to 200 penalty units and imprisonment for a period
of 2 years (Piazolo, Junius and Cvetkovic 2016).
Answer to Question f
The advice that should be given to Rita for the implementation of the actions in regards to
this particular matter is that Rita should clearly disclose the matter to Marco as well as Rashid
and obtain their mutual agreement in regards to the beneficial interest that has to be obtained.
Case Study 4
Answer to Question a
The advice that should be provided to Dominic and Tina Azzopardi is in regards to the
selling of the property. This means that the property should be repaired and renovated accounting
statements the couple is living in the house for the last thirty. The carrying out of the required
renovations will result in the increase of the price of the property. The best method that can be
applied for the sale of the property is the auction. This is because auction will result in the
increase in the chances of a raise in the estimated price of the property. Moreover, there will be a
number of buyers, which will increase the chances of the sale of the property. An auction will
also provide the buyers to inspect the property in a proper way (Du and Luo 2015).
Answer to Question c
The strategies that will be used to market the property can be listed down as follows:
 The property should get a proper exposure. This means that there should be a proper
advertisement in the paper, which would result in the advertisement of the property.

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 Moreover, as a real estate agent, the sources that the agent possesses for the sale of the
property should be utilized properly
 The agent should also ask the owners to carry out the renovation of the house to attract a
number of potential buyers.
Answer to Question d
There should be a proper license for conducting the auction. As it has been mentioned in
the case study that the property is knocked down to Andrea Atkins who has successfully made a
bid of $960,000. The legislative requirements that have been carried out is that the proper
identities have been disclosed, the price on which the sale has been proceeded, has been reserved
and then the buyer’s premium has been obtained in order to finalize the sale. Once the sale has
been finalized the details of the sale is recorded. These details include:
 auction date
 description of the sold item
 selling price
 name and address of the buyer
 cross reference
Answer to Question e
There should be no agreement to the proposal of the buyer. This is because there would
be an ethical implication on the real estate agent. Moreover, the agent will acquire a benefit on
the basis of the proposed deal. This means that there will be criminal offences if he agrees to the
proposal of the buyer.
The issue that has been presented in the situation is that the potential buyer makes an
offer of $900,000. It has been believed that the house will be sold for more price at the auction so
the offer has not been passed to the vendors. However, in the auction, the property has not been
more than the estimated price. This is not a fault of the real estate agent. However, there should
have been proper analysis in regards to the reserved price of the property and the method of sale
that will result in the acquiring of the estimated price (Piazolo, Junius and Cvetkovic 2016).

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