Enzo Raimondo & REIV - Misleading Advice On Property Valuations

Published 07 March 11 09:18 AM | Peter Mericka

OPINION
by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B
Real Estate Lawyer
Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria
Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd

Enzo Raimondo is the CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), but he is not a lawyer. In fact, Mr. Raimondo is not even a licensed real estate agent, and he is certainly not a qualified real estate valuer. So why is Mr. Raimondo telling consumers about the role(s) of professional real estate valuers?

Enzo Raimondo, CEO of the REIV, has a regular column in the Saturday Age, called "Market Talk". Unfortunately, Mr. Raimondo misuses his column on a regular basis. In his most recent piece, Mr. Raimondo attempts to establish a false distinction between what he describes "present" valuations (provided by professional property valuers) and "future" valuations (provided by Licensed Estate Agents).

Misleading and Deceptive Assertions

Here is what Mr. Raimondo told his readers in The Age newspaper on Saturday 5 March, 2011 (Domain p.11):

"Valuers can serve many purposes

Valuers assess the value of property. Their services have a wide application, such as determining the valuation used by municipal authorities and state government to assess rates and taxation liabilities and estimating how much a property may be worth in the event of a compulsory acquisition.

When you take out a mortgage, the financial institution uses a valuer to determine the extent of the loan it's prepared to make...

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