Property Point

I’m not sure that Donald Trump would play fair if he were one of the buyers in a multiple offer scenario on a Mackay property.

There are clear rules about how multiple offer situations must be handled and, based on recent form, I just don’t think the US president would want to abide by the rules.  

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From what I can tell he doesn’t seem to be a very good sport, not a great loser, and in a multiple offer situation in Queensland real estate there has to be a loser.

Take Trump’s conduct during the soccer World Cup, being held in the US, Canada and Mexico.

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When US star Folarin Balogun received a red card and, as is standard practice, got an automatic one-match suspension Trump was on the blower to FIFA president Gianni Infantino asking for a review.

The result was that the US star’s suspension was suspended for one year and he was able to play in the next World Cup game.

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It seems unlikely that a phone call from leaders of other countries would have resulted in a similar reversal of a decision. But I don’t blame Trump … that’s what he does. He tries to push and shove and shout and bully his way to getting the best deal he can for the United States.

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You might not like him but he certainly tries to get the best deal he can for his country on the world stage and, no doubt, for himself when it comes to business.

It was, however, a bit of a surprise to hear he had made a call to the FIFA president trying to reverse the ban on a US player.

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What was even more surprising was that his strategy worked. Now I’m not to sure about this and I am just a real estate agent in Mackay who follows other football codes much closer than soccer but that FIFA mob looks a bit dodgy to me.

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You would have thought there would be a clear response from the FIFA president along the lines of: “Thanks for the call Mr President but you have got to be kidding if you think the independent body governing the world game is going to be influenced by political leaders about who can and cannot play based on our established rules.”

Clearly that was not how the call played out and it turns out that there seems to be some flexibility in the rules and how they interpreted based on the person who is making the request.

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Which brings me to another contentious situation, the multiple offer scenario for properties being sold in Queensland.

When it comes to multiple offers and which one is accepted, it is entirely up to the seller. The seller can accept a higher offer, accept a lower offer that might have no building and pest clause or no finance clause, or accept an offer just because  that’sthe one they like.

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A client of mine accepted a lower offer on a property last year because the buyer was a young, local woman who was starting off in life and had made the best offer she could. An investor offered about $30,000 more but the seller said, “I’m making good money out of this either way. I want the young woman to have it.”

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But one thing that is clear is that a real estate agent can’t tell one buyer what another buyer has offered in a multiple offer situation. We have to tell a buyer: “There is another offer on the table so you are in a multiple offer situation and I suggest you put in your best and final offer as you might not get a chance to make another offer.”

That’s when some buyers say: “How much is the other offer.” Some buyers can be quite forceful but rules are rules and agents can’t reveal that.

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Although, if the FIFA president was the agent and Donald Trump was the second buyer there might be some flexibility.

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