20190116 (Wed)
Can we all do without estate agency practice in property dealings? Part 1
There are people who go straight to the legal firm for all the property deals, especially sale and purchase agreement (SPA). In fact, some lawyers encourage this practice as their “brokers” will bring clients direct to the legal firm for all the required transactions. After all, you really have no other choice. Like being sick, you require a medical leave issued by a doctor, NOT by a pharmacist or Chinese Sinseh.
So, why can’t legal firms also carry out estate agency practice? In fact, they are already doing it since ages ago. There is no issue in law that a buyer goes to a legal firm and place a booking fee with the firm for a purchase of a property. The law firm acts as stakeholder. The seller will eventually get paid, like the normal process in post SPA stage, which is a routine in a conveyancing process.
Tomorrow you will see the reason why this might not be so simple. One of the reasons is price.