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This is my series about trying to find our footing in Australia. It will no doubt be a series of joy and sadness and struggle... Things will turn out alright? Won't they?

Part 1: Settling In and Adjusting
Part 2: Checking In...
Part 3: House Hunting
Part 4: Best and Final

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So, this is a bit of a sad post to write... we had an offer accepted on a really beautiful house in Canberra, Australia in the suburb of MacGregor. We had paid the deposit and were just days away from signing the contract. Then, we got a message from the real-estate that was doing the selling... they had received a higher offer, and apparently that would put the seller in an "awkward" situation if we didn't match the offer.

... well... let me tell you, it is only "awkward" if your honour and word are easily bought off. We found ourselves in a similar position with he roles reversed when we were selling our house in the Netherlands. We had accepted an offer, and then later in the day... our real-estate passed on a higher offer... a significantly higher offer. However, for us, the answer was immediate and decidedly NOT awkward... we had given our word to the original buyer that their offer was accepted, and whilst it would NOT be illegal to renege on that verbal agreement.. well, these points of honour are important to us. So, both my wife and I agreed immediately and without hesitation to reject the later higher offer.

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Back up a couple of days... we were over the moon that our offer had been accepted, for such a nice place and in such quick time since arriving in Australia. It seemed like things on that front were progressing incredibly smoothly and that we would be lucky. The rules of the offer rounds were clear... one initial bid, and one "best and final" round. Then the offer would be chosen.... and as it turned out that was our offer!

Sadly, there were some interesting developments in the day after our offer was accepted. An open house or public viewing went ahead... and our previously secret rounds of offers were publicly published on the real-estate website. Combined with the fact that the sellers are NOT legally locked into the sale until the written contracts are exchanged, this meant that we were wide open with a public offer and no protection from people who would ignore the "under offer" tag and just overbid us.

... unfortunately, that did happen. With an additional buyer swooping in and gazumping us... Now, technically there is nothing illegal in all of this. However, it is a chain of shitty human behaviour... the buyer who jumps in to overbid KNOWING that an offer has been accepted, the real estate with "interesting" marketing and open house protocols who doesn't stick to the widely understood definition of "final" and then finally the seller... who reneges on a verbal deal for a relatively small increase in total price.

So, no one has done anything illegal... but shitty human behaviour shouldn't need to be codified in law for people to behave decently. Of course, every person in that chain can justify their own actions to themselves... and there is likely no guilt or remorse. This is the world we live in when the concept of reputation and honour are meaningless when people aren't going to ever meet up again... that would be different in a small village.

Anyway, this gets me thinking that this unfortunate event highlights the need for trustless networks to handle these transactions. Trusted third parties are the current norm, and lets not kid ourselves, real-estate agents are NOT disinterested third parties. They have every incentive to screw over the buyer... in the interests of looking after the seller's interests. Meanwhile, the seller has no collateral or skin in the game... they can pull out with no loss of assets/collateral. Finally, if a verbal contract can not be considered binding, then perhaps there needs to be a way to do an near-instant electronic pre-agreement on the blockchain... with both sides locking in a deposit or collateral to prevent gazumping.

So... long way of getting around to saying that some people are pretty shit, and the mere fact that they aren't doing anything illegal is justification enough for them. Still, I do wonder why things need to be codified in law... I mean being decent, honourable and respectful shouldn't need to be codified... they aren't difficult things... but apparently, for some people, they are really quite difficult things to understand.

Anyway, we have learnt a lesson... we are out on the conveyancing fees... which no one is obliged to pay, even though their choices meant that we wasted money and it screwed us over. I guess everyone will congratulate themselves on a good deal done... and ignore the collateral damage to other people. That is the way of the modern world...

We move forward... a little sadder, a litter more disillusioned with humanity... but wiser, and most importantly with our own honour and reputation intact. Sure, others can have a flexible version of these concepts... but if other people choose to be shitty, we don't have to stoop to that level. There are some things that aren't able to be priced in mere dollars...

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

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