Ban takes toll on real estate customers

THE fallout from the decision by the Victorian Government to forbid private inspections in metropolitan Melbourne until October 26 continues to hurt vulnerable sellers.

The biggest shock in Sunday's lockdown extension announcement was that the ban on private inspections in metropolitan Melbourne has been prolonged to 26 October.

The move is beyond the two week extension on many other industries, and also far longer than the previously advised date of 14 September.

This means that no-one will not be able to inspect a property for another seven weeks, even via a private inspection on a one on one basis.

The leading agency group in Victoria, Ray White, labelled the decision as “hurting some of the city’s most vulnerable”.

The group has been inundated with calls from customers who are distraught at the prospect of further significant delays in the marketing and sale of their properties.

“This is a needs based market. Shelter is a basic human need - many people simply need to move for various reasons and do not have the luxury of waiting for restrictions to ease,” said Dan White, Ray White Group Managing Director.

“The financial stress is compounding every day for many of our clients.

“Many of our customers often need to move properties for fundamental reasons - be it illness, divorce or other hardships like unemployment.”

One distressed seller, Glen Waverley antiques dealer, Lyn Davenport is not looking for a handout. She simply wants some compassion from the Andrews Government. And she wants to move.

The single mum, with a 12-year-old daughter on the spectrum, sold her home through Ray White Rosebud after her marriage broke down and it doesn’t settle until mid-November.

“I cannot move until my home settles on November 17 but I also cannot look at other properties until October 26,” said the owner of the Waverley Bazaar, which she has owned for the last 15 years.

The antique shop has been closed for months and Ms Davenport has no income. The shop is an hour’s drive way from her home which means she cannot even do online sales.

“I cannot pack up the house because I don’t know what’s happening. I was thinking of making a new start in Ballarat or Bendigo but I am not buying a property over the internet, I have to walk inside,” she said.

“I think Dan Andrews is trying to do his best but there’s a lot of people in my position who need to do private inspections one on one to view property. I am not looking for a handout, just some dispensation.”

For Dimitris Loupos of Craigieburn, the extended lockdown of the real estate industry in Melbourne could cost them their life savings of $80,000.

“The only way we could get approval for our mortgage was to sign on for a loan where our house would settle on the same day as the property we have purchased - so essentially the money transfers directly from one to the other,” Mr Loupos said.

“When I heard the news on Sunday I just wanted to throw my remote at the TV screen - I was in utter shock with the roadmap.

“I could have coped with the two-week extension, but to not allow the real estate industry to open until 26 October, it will destroy our dreams.

“It literally makes me feel sick thinking about the burden of losing $80,000 because we’ve spent years building our savings up to this point.

“My message is simple. Please allow private inspections. How can it be that you go to a fuel station and pick up a pump and it be fine - yet a single person isn’t allowed into your home with a mask on and with sanitized hands?”

Over in Perth, another Melbourne-based seller Jack Jakupi is holed up in a quarantine hotel at his own expense of $2500 while he sits out the 14 days before he can work again.

The 36-year-old carpenter left his wife and three small children to get work in the west as he’s had no work since March. The family has lived in Werribee for the last nine years.

“I work for myself - my work died off in March and I have had no work. I have been renovating the house but I had to stop because I literally needed to put food on the table,” Mr Jakupi said.

“I cannot keep the house, it must be sold as the interest is accruing at more than $1,400 per month. I really need it sold as I am not able to make any more payments,” Mr Jackupi said from his quarantine hotel in Perth where he’s been since last Wednesday.

“I need to have it sold and Dan Andrews needs to toughen up. The house is empty, there’s no-one in there, what is the risk?

“I have never been more stressed in my life, the financial strain on my family is enormous.

“The country should be in outrage over this inequality. I need to sell my house so I can buy something here for my family. I want my family to be all together.”

In collaboration with the industry, Ray White has developed a detailed set of operating protocols for conducting private inspections to keep our customers safe. These include a single buyer and agent inspecting for less than 15 minutes, without touching surfaces and observing social distancing.

Ray White is not aware of any community transmission occurring in Australia as a result of real estate activity, and we estimate that nearly 180,000 properties were listed and marketed across Australia since April. That includes conducting open homes and auctions throughout Sydney during July and August and private inspections in the lead up to the Stage Four Melbourne lockdown, when community outbreaks were occurring in both cities.