In the 2 months I had to deal with Sharon, I experienced nothing but anxiety & anger due to her consistent carelessness & sneaky behaviour. Carelessness: On one occasion, Sharon left my antique French chair outside in the rain despite me asking her to bring it in after inspections as it was only to be used for staging.On another occasion, I went to the property to find the front door wide open! It had been left open for a few days because Sharon forgot to close it after her last inspection (thanks CCTV). As I don't live in the area, this resulted in me having to travel 1.5 hours round trip after all inspections to check on the property. There were many other examples of Sharon’s carelessness, but I can't go into detail due to the word limit. Sneakiness: I was made an offer by the purchaser which included “a 5% deposit”. I assumed this was a holding deposit as the contract clearly stated the full deposit was 10% of the purchase price. When I asked Sharon to clarify, she said because I wasn't purchasing another property, 5% deposit was the norm. At no point did she tell me I was entitled to the full 10% or the risks of only accepting 5%. Namely, in the event the purchaser defaults on the contract, whilst they are legally liable to pay the remaining 5%, legal precedent in NSW indicates it is extremely unlikely a court will enforce it as the legal system deems it as a “penalty.” Also, you have to pay for the litigation process to recoup the remaining 5%. By contrast, I note that in her agency agreement, Sharon will still take her commission in the event the purchaser does not go ahead with the sale. Yes, she covers herself if a purchaser defaults but doesn't inform you of your risks should you accept a 5% deposit instead of 10%. Sharon also tried to charge me $95 to put the sold sticker on the signboard AFTER I had already paid nearly $6K in marketing fees! Her only saving grace is her assistant Diana.
Sharon Skrabanich
