Buyers of a Waikato lifestyle block say they have been left living in a caravan after discovering their new home was uninhabitable, uninsured, and required demolition.
The Real Estate Authority found two salespeople, Scott and Steven Mathis, and their supervisor engaged in unsatisfactory conduct over the 2022 sale, including failing to disclose roof leaks, asbestos risks, and misleading driveway access claims.
Despite warnings from neighbours, key defects and access issues were not made clear to purchasers, who later found they could not legally use the driveway or safely live in the house.
Steven Mathis was censured and fined $10,000, his son $3000, and supervisor Pete Lissington $8000, with all three ordered to undertake further training.
The case has been referred to the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal to consider possible compensation.
Image credit: Brock Wagner
Without knowing the facts, this feels like leftist entitlement to me
Salespeople of the Year
All three ordered to take additional training…PREFERABLY IN A PRISON FOR 5+ YEARS!
This is why we have always done ‘Private Sales’ with an unbiased Solicitor doing the purchase and vendor contracts.
AND- we make copies of the same for our files!
Real Estate processes and procedures in this country are deliberately fucked-up…! It is designed to be that way so that the status-quo can monitor, and either approve, disapprove, or cause liability problems to those involved in such transactions.
We don’t hear too much about these things as they happen on a regular basis, and vendors / buyers do not want to admit that they ‘have been taken’ by a con job that permeates in the Real Estate ‘profession’…
Why hasn’t the Mathis Family had the assets of the realtors forfeited by judgement entry over to them to offset the losses?
Why wasn’t the Solicitor(s) handling the sale NOT INSURING THAT THEIR CLIENTS WERE PURCHASING PROPERTY THAT WAS *’FIT FOR PURPOSE’ (*don’t you just love that silly and condenscending phrase??).
What is also amazing is that there is really NEVER A PRICE ON THE PROPERTIES IN THE ADVERTISEMENTS. The reason for this that we figured out is that it forces a potential buyer to have to contact the Vendor’s Realtor, and then the Realtor ‘sizes-up’ who is making an offer on the property.
If the Buyer’ is ‘in the know’ or from a Provincial Family, they will insure that the status-quo is upheld. If the person has been labeled as ‘an import’ or malicious fasse gossip has played-out in the ‘community’ where the offer for purchase is made, then rest assured that in the morning and weekly meetings will concoct a plan to prevent any transcation from happening.
This is especially true with regards to ‘Exclusive Communities’…excluding those whom the PTB and status-quo who determine in their phone calls and meetings on who they will bar those from purchasing and moving into such an area.
When we sold a property in Canty, the Purchasor wrote-up an agreement that they would take immediate possession of the property and we would leave our home, but..NOT GET PAID UNTIL THE PURCHASOR WAS PAID-OUT THEIR EQC LOSS ON THEIR QUAKE-DAMAGED HOME!
That took 3+ years, and we would have also been homeless!
And..THE PURCHASOR WAS ALSO A WESTPAC MORTGAGE LOAN OFFICER, and her Daddy was a Cop who absolutely knew what she and her family were trying to do!!!
Then, when we sold another home, a ‘1%’ type of Realtor demanded the deposit be paid before the vendor agreed to sign the contract. He continues to be a problem to this day, and Christchurch is FULL OF THESE TYPES! That’s why we don’t live there anymore among those disgusting creatures!!! We spend our $$ in another part of NZ.
Please VOTE FOR THE NEW ZEALAND LOYAL PARTY TO STOP THE QUASI-CRIMINAL REAL ESTATE FRAUD AND DECEPTION FROM CONTINUING TO BE AN ARM OF THE STATUS-QUO ‘GOOD OL’ BOY’ AND ‘GOOD OL’ GIRL’ NETWORKS that habitate in the Banks, Real Estate Firms, and the offices of the Colonial-based actions and mentalities of the Solicitors, and the Cops.
To become a licensed real estate agent in New Zealand—including for Māori agents—the required qualification is the New Zealand Certificate in Real Estate (Salesperson) (Level 4). This is the foundational course mandated by the Real Estate Agents Authority (REA) for anyone seeking to work in real estate agency roles.
📘 Course Overview: NZ Certificate in Real Estate (Salesperson) Level 4
– Duration: Typically completed in 6–18 months (Part-time)(Could be 6 months)
– Credits: 50
– Delivery: Online, through providers like Open Polytechnic and Skills Institute
– Eligibility: Must be 18+, a fit and proper person, and meet character requirements
🧭 What You’ll Learn
– Property law, land ownership systems, and titles
– Building regulations and council compliance
– Real estate ethics and legal obligations
– Market operations, client database management
– Property appraisal, valuation, and sales processes
🧡 Māori Support and Pathways
– Many providers offer scholarships and support for ākonga Māori, including cultural wellbeing resources and whānau engagement
– The course itself is not specific to Māori agents, but Māori learners are encouraged and supported through tailored pathways
Once completed, graduates can apply for a real estate license and begin working under supervision in accordance with the Real Estate Agents Act 2008.
Costs incurred could reach $2000 depending on authority
Separate development still alive and well
Yes there are some very convincing people out there
Especially who prey on the elderly and trusting
Of the old school
Charlatins shysters con artists fly by nighters
Buyer beware
I spent a bit of time looking at rural properties to buy. The issues raised in this article are common to many rural properties and can easily be researched at places like the Council offices. It sounds like some very silly buyers have made the mistake of not doing their own due diligence and relying on the sales reps – especially if the issues had been highlighted by people living in neighbouring properties. I didn’t buy a rural property in the end – I was put off by Council regulations and things like access, approvals, waste water requirements, the near impossibility of self-building a consented property, additional costs to get building materials and the near impossibility of getting tradies (especially plumbers) to do various things. Asbestos is also another costly problems which can be avoided by not buying a property with too much, or no asbestos in it.
Toxic overreach intrusion and red tape
And yet, this government was supposed to have made building consents easier…
Maybe on a national scale, but certainly NOT with the …’Local Council(s)’…!
Homeless folks are better off in many ways- they don’t have to pay rates on owned or trust properties, or pay for over / hyper-inflated electricity and gas.
They don’t have to comply with using ‘Council-only trash bags’ (a form of double taxation…), or have to deal with raunchy, loud or anti-social neighbours.
If you have camping and bush skills, and have experienced the various survival schools whilst inthe military, then one could reside quietly and out of the way for a while.
Granted, the streets are dangerous, but as pointed out with the lovely girl who was homeless whilst going to school, having and staying around a group of friends helps IF they are reliable, trustworthy and look out for one another.
Many elderly couples have given-up their homes due to the cost of rates, utilities and commodities, and have hit the road with camper vans, caravans, etc. similar to the ‘Travelers’ (Gypsies) in the UK and in Europe.
Still, there is no getting away from hyper-inflated mRNA spike protein food,and wild bushmeat (ie deer, pigs, etc.) could be contaminated from ingesting 1080.
Being homeless, or engaging in Van Life is a matter of planning and potential balancing-out the encountered problems.
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/van-life-australia-work-remotely/
https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingTheVanLife
Of course, in finding interim solutions to being homeless, most governments at all levels try and take those shelters away from the homeless, marginalised, sick and disenfranchised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdbmLKaGleg
Just wait until ‘Social Credit’ and ‘Digital IDs’ come around- another excuse for the governments to steal from the poor / disenfranchised / blacklisted or on a ‘watch-list’ as a potential ‘terrorist’ of from being a Veteran!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugJ0T9d0a4c