Can someone please decipher this article?

Brazen · 03-06-2011, 06:50 PM

http://theage.domain.com.au/real-est...ml?from=smh_ft

I must be in stupid mode, I don't understand what this is saying. I think I understand the basic gist, just not the details.

Even the article title does not seem to fit what is happening to my dumb brain.

Three internet handshakes for some cliff-notes of what happened.

Quote:

Toorak agent accused of fake bidding

Andrea Petrie
June 3, 2011 - 2:46PM
A TOORAK plastic surgeon had multiple people bidding on his behalf at the auction of two apartments located next door to his medical practice, despite telling the real estate agent - a relative of the vendors - he had no interested in buying it, a court has heard.

And Dr Chris Moss' skincare specialist wife, Andrea John, was yelling and screaming and had what was described in the County Court today as a "meltdown" after learning her husband had paid $2.7 million for the property.

The couple claim real estate agent, RT Edgar Toorak director Greg Herman, artificially inflated the price of the apartments by claiming another bidder had made a higher offer.

Dr Moss and his wife were concerned that if the apartments, being sold by Mr Herman's twin sister Kendra Abay and other relatives, were redeveloped to include a third storey, the privacy of high-profile celebrity clients would be invaded.

Mr Herman testified yesterday that Dr Moss and his wife told him they were not interested in buying the property.

But the agent of 30 years discovered after the Toorak Road property was passed in at auction on February 27, 2010, for $2.1 million by a man representing Dr Moss, that several of the bidders were in fact representing the couple.

The court heard the highest bidder's offer during post-auction negotiations of $2.4 million offer was rejected by the vendor.

Another bidder, also acting on the doctor's behalf, then asked to buy one of the properties and an agreed price of $1.25 million was reached.

The bidder then offered of $1.4 million for the other apartment, but the vendors wanted $2.8 million if they were to be sold separately.

Mr Herman said the bidder made a phone call to who he said was his partner and Dr Moss appeared. The doctor said he wanted to buy both apartments and offered $2.6 million, despite his earlier bidder offering $500,000 more. Dr Moss then agreed to pay $2.7 million, which the vendors accepted.

Mr Herman said while he was speaking to the vendors about one of the offers that had been made, a relative of one of the vendors, Stuart Fleetwood, made a verbal offer for $2.6 million, so when Dr Moss and his wife quizzed him about the offer, he had genuinely received one.

The court heard that when Andrea John arrived at the property, she was abusive, swearing and aggressive towards her husband and the agent and was "stomping" around the room.

"She said you are a stupid ********** plastic surgeon and you should have stuck to my plan," Mr Herman said.

"She looked like she was having a meltdown and she was screaming."

Mr Herman said Dr Moss, who was sitting in "stunned silence" as he endured five or six minutes of his wife's "absolute tirades", then asked him to "pacify my wife".

He said Ms John quizzed him about the other bidder, who he said had driven a silver Mercedes, and showed him a photo she had taken on her phone of another bidder at auction, wanting to know if he was their competition.

He said he plucked the name "Tom" out of his head "on a whim" and said the man in the photo "could have been him". As it turned out, the underbidder's name was in fact Tom. But Mr Herman said he was not referring to him and had been unable to disclose Mr Fleetwood's name, for privacy reasons.

Dr Moss, Ms John, the underbidder and the doctor's first bidder then approached Mr Herman as he put the sold sticker on the property and made allegations that he had artificially inflated the price.

Mr Herman's barrister Bernard Quinn said in his opening address that his client felt intimidated and believed the group's actions were "entirely unreasonable and disrespectful".

The civil trial, before Judge Tim Ginnane, will continue next week.

SEZ213 · 03-06-2011, 07:22 PM

What the hell?!

He paid 2.7 million dollars for a property he didn't want...and had people bidding on his behalf - but has since accused the real estate agent of getting false bids placed?

That makes no sense...that man is an idiot!

WMD351 · 03-06-2011, 07:33 PM

The real estate agent is related to the person selling.

The doc actually did want to buy but had an overly complicated plan to buy at the cheapest price.

The real estate agent BS'd that he has a bid in order to try and jack up the price.

When the agent gets called on to prove the legitimacy of this phony bid, in order to save his own backside he then claims that the person who made this bid is (coincidentally) related to both the seller and himself.

I think...?

**DJR-351** · 03-06-2011, 08:13 PM

A classic case of someone’s ambitions outweighing their abilities and overcomplicating a scam and coming out second best....

Text book stuff really....

Scott · 03-06-2011, 08:29 PM

Seems like it was all ok until his wife turned up.

For the OP, the Dr & his wife hatched a plan to buy the apartments - they initially wanted them for $2.1m but lifted that to $2.4m which was also rejected. In order to try and rattle the vendor, they had two friends each make an offer on an apartment each - the plan being to lower the overall expectation of what multiple bidders were telling them the apartments were worth.

When that failed, the Dr bit the bullet and offered $2.7m which was accepted by the vendor (who had wanted $2.8m all along).

When the Dr's wife found out, she chucked a spak as she thought if he had just held his ground he could have bought for some price lower.

To appease his wife and deflect the blame from themselves, they are now trying to pin the final price on the real estate agent by saying he jacked it up artificially.

**DJR-351** · 03-06-2011, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

Seems like it was all ok until his wife turned up.

For the OP, the Dr & his wife hatched a plan to buy the apartments - they initially wanted them for $2.1m but lifted that to $2.4m which was also rejected. In order to try and rattle the vendor, they had two friends each make an offer on an apartment each - the plan being to lower the overall expectation of what multiple bidders were telling them the apartments were worth.

When that failed, the Dr bit the bullet and offered $2.7m which was accepted by the vendor (who had wanted $2.8m all along).

When the Dr's wife found out, she chucked a spak as she thought if he had just held his ground he could have bought for some price lower.

To appease his wife and deflect the blame from themselves, they are now trying to pin the final price on the real estate agent by saying he jacked it up artificially.

But i thought that is what i said, in fewer words of course....

Scott · 03-06-2011, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJR-351

But i thought that is what i said, in fewer words of course....

I type slow

fmc351 · 03-06-2011, 09:52 PM

Basically, a real life "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" by the sound of it. Im assuming the wife is Ruprecht.

Yaw · 04-06-2011, 12:38 PM

This is nothing new in real estate quite a few years ago a friend of my ex having her first auction as a real estate agent had us at a house auction as a fake bidder. (I was much younger and stupid back then) Would have been around 1993 and the real estate agent was the Franchise of Keith Brady, "The Professionals" at Everton Park. We were not the only fake bidders there were about 5 or 6 couples. You can always tell because they are the ones with a fellow real estate agent of the selling agent, standing with the couples doing the bids, Not the actual couples. Proving it is another thing. This is why I will never buy at Auction.

[EDIT] Not Kieth Brady himself, one of his employees was the friend of my ex.