HOMENET ESTATES (SPRINGS)

I contacted Izan Dippenaar, principal of Homenet Estates, to list my house. Mr. Dippenaar gave me a valuation for the property. I was shocked because of the low value. He assured me that it was market value and it was all the property was worth. Within four (4) days, Mr. Dippenaar sent his agent, Paula, to my house with two signed contracts (Offers to Purchase). I told the agent that I need R15 000 more. Both parties immediately agreed to offer an extra R15 000. The agent then told me to accept the second offer which Mr. Dippenaar’s tenant made. The dates on the contracts showed that the tenant’s offer was the second offer. I told the agent that I think it would be unfair to the person who made an offer first, since both offered the same amount. She said that she can assure me that it is fair, because Mr. Dippenaar “was working with a plan”. I signed the contract, but the purchase price and commission was blank. I was told by the agent that the reason for this was that Mr. Dippenaar had to negotiate the commission, but I do not have to worry about that as I received the value of my property as well as an extra R15 000. Mr. Dippenaar accompanied one of the bank evaluators to my house. While the evaluator was busy, Mr. Dippenaar told me that Standard Bank has already approved the loan. I told Mr. Dippenaar that there must be a mistake, as Standard Bank has not send an evaluator to the property. Mr. Dippenaar then told me that it was not necessary, as he has an arrangement with Standard Bank. When I received a copy of the contract with all the information, I realised that the selling price for the property, included the buyer’s transfer fees, as well as full commission for Homenet Estates. Unfortunately, I signed the contract without all the information, and it will be impossible for me to prove differently. It means that my property was worth much more, at least the amount which included the transfer fees. The fact that the property was sold to two parties within four days, without being advertised, further strengthen my belief, as well as the fact that Standard Bank had no problem approving this amount, without even seeing the property. Therefore, this means that I paid the transfer fees of Mr. Dippenaar’s tenant. When I tried to discuss this with Mr. Dippenaar, his answer was: “Discuss it with my lawyer.” He then turned around and walked away. As I am deaf, I had a witness present to help me communicate, and therefore the witness can also testify to all stated facts. I do not have words to describe my feelings of anger and helplessness against this injustice. All that I can do is to report this to South African consumers and try to prevent this from happening again.