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Well Knock Me Over With a Feather

I know this is hard to believe, but some real estate agents may not exactly be totally honest with the people they are trying to flog homes to.

Okay, estate agents do have a reputation as smarmy, do-anything-for-a-sale types, but when other agents complain about the practices of fellow sellers things must be bad.

There was a case in Melbourne over the weekend where a beautiful mansion was put up for sale at a quoted $4million-plus.

It's not far from the Melbourne Cricket Ground so you can see the attraction, and there would have been a number of very interested buyers at that price. However, things began to stink a tad when it was revealed the $4-million mansion was passed-in at $7.1 million.

Of course it could have been that the agent made a slight undervaluing of the property - we know maths (other than commissions) is a bit hard to work out for some - but to be so wide of the mark?

Well, industry chiefs thought was just a little too wide for comfort - not to mention bringing their industry under the microscope of the media and consumer watchdogs - and they are looking at ways of stamping out agents publicising the asking price at ridiculously low levels.

Now, believe it or not, there is an official code of conduct for real estate agents.

According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria - an agent must "act fairly and honestly and to the best of his or her knowledge and ability with all parties in a transaction".

Excuse me while I choke, because in all the dealings I've had with agents there have only been a couple who actually had me believing they were genuine and worth trusting for something as expensive as the cost of a house.

Mind you, they're a couple of steps up the honesty ladder from politicians and used-car dealers. "Maaaate!"

If there is something that has really got up your nose, let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com