Terms & Conditions

The Authority has prepared an approved guide to agency agreements plus sale and purchase agreements for residential property. These guides are available in many languages. A copy of each guide in English should have been provided to you, if you need an alternative language, please ask if it is available. You can also access the guide via our website. We recommend that you read the approved guides before entering into this agency agreement and any agreement for the sale and purchase of the Property.

You acknowledge that you were given a copy of the approved guides before entering into any Agreement.

The Rules and our best practice, require us to recommend and give you a reasonable opportunity to obtain both legal and specialist advice before entering into any Agreement with us.

You acknowledge that we have:
• recommended that you seek independent legal advice;
• ensured that you are aware that you can, and may need to, seek technical or other advice and information; and
• provided you with a reasonable opportunity to obtain the advice.

APPOINTMENT AS AGENT

You appoint Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty to be your real estate agent for the purposes of selling the Property.

You appoint Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty as an exclusive agent. The agency commences on the date you signed the Agreement (unless otherwise specified in that agreement) and continues until the end date (maximum of 90 days). At this time the agreement shall convert to a general agency unless the exclusive agency agreement is extended (in writing) for a further period. Any general agency may be cancelled by either party giving seven (7) days’ written notice to the other party.

OUR SERVICES

We are authorised to market the Property for sale, conduct negotiations with potential purchasers, prepare sale documentation, and do all other things that may be necessary, expedient, or desirable to sell the Property (together, the Services).

• The Services will include: 
• • Arranging and conducting viewings of the Property for potential buyers, whether by open home or private viewing;
  
• • Interior, exterior and aerial photography of the Property;
  
• • Video footage of the Property filmed and edited into a short marketing video;
  
• • Designing a floor plan for the Property;
  
• • Professional copywriting for the description of the Property;
  
• • Obtaining a rental appraisal and certificate of title;
  
• • The preparation of sale documentation;
  
• • Online advertising of the Property on smartsale.co.nz, expnz.nz; expnewzealand.co.nz; realestate.co.nz, trademe.co.nz, facebook.com,oneroof.co.nz, homes.co.nz and, at our discretion, other websites used by Smart Sale Real Estate for advertising the sale of real estate;
  
• • Printing a signboard and installing it at the Property;
  
• • Access to Smart Sale Real Estate's online seller dashboard; and ongoing support provided by eXp Realty head office.
• • Your authorisation to provide the Services extends to any licensed real estate agent working for eXp Realty and providing real estate agency work as defined in section 4(1) of the Act (Agency Work). 

EXPENSES

If you have chosen to sell the Property by auction, a further Auction Fee is payable in addition to the Initial Fee. The Auction Fee covers expenses we will incur in preparing for, and arranging, a sale by auction. The Auction Fee is payable at the time of signing the Agreement. Once paid, the Auction Fee is non-refundable. 


We confirm that, in relation to any expenses for or in connection with any Agency Work carried out by Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty for you in connection with the transaction covered by any Agreement, that we will not receive, and are not entitled to receive, any rebates, discounts, or commissions. 


COMMISSION

You will pay us commission if:
• You enter into an agreement to sell or exchange the Property (or part of it) at any time during the term of the agency and the agreement is or becomes unconditional (whether during or after the term of the agency); or
• You enter into any agreement to sell or exchange the Property (or part of it) within six (6) months following the date of cancellation or termination of the agency, through the instrumentality of Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty or to a purchaser introduced by Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty and the agreement is or becomes unconditional (whether during or after the 6 months period).
In either case, the Commission will become payable immediately the agreement becomes unconditional.

Please be aware that if you enter into, or have already entered into other agency agreements for the sale of the Property, you could be liable to pay full commission to more than one agent in the event that a transaction is concluded. The circumstances in which you could incur such liability should have been explained to you.

You acknowledge that we have explained the circumstances in which commission could become payable to more than one agent.

PAYMENT OF DEPOSIT

Smart Sale Real Estate does not operate its own trust account for the payment of deposits.

Any deposit payable by a purchaser of the Property, or any part of the deposit, will be paid into the trust account of eXp Realty. Deposit payments will be made directly to the trust, the independent custodian of the service. eXp Realty Trust will then be responsible for holding and disbursing the money on behalf of the purchaser and you. The trust account is non-interest bearing.

METHOD OF SALE

The method of sale of the Property is set out in the Listing Details. Given we charge an agreed fee for commission as set out in the agreement, the individual benefits we will receive will not be affected by your chosen method of sale. (A separate Auction Fee does apply, if applicable)

APPRAISAL

You should have received a written appraisal for your Property. The appraisal may be included in the Listing Details.

You acknowledge that we have given you a written appraisal of the Property that realistically reflects current market conditions and:
• is supported by comparable information on sales of similar properties; or
• where no directly comparable or semi- comparable sales data exists, this has been explained to you in writing.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO PURCHASERS

The Rules say that we must not mislead, provide false information to, nor withhold information that should by law or in fairness be provided to a potential purchaser of the Property. Where it would appear likely that the Property may be subject to hidden or underlying defects, then the Rules requires us to either:
• obtain confirmation from you, supported by evidence or expert advice, that the Property is not subject to defect; or
• ensure that any potential purchasers are informed of any significant potential risk so that they can seek expert advice if they so choose.

You may not direct us to withhold information relating to hidden or underlying defects in the Property from potential purchasers. If you do, the Rules require us to cease acting for you. We will then terminate this Agreement with immediate effect by giving written notice to you.

USE OF MATERIALS

You consent to us using any photographs and display materials intended for public advertising that we create when providing the Services to you to promote other services offered by Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty, including after the term of this Agency Agreement.

COMPLAINTS

Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Real Estate has developed and maintains written in-house procedures for dealing with complaints and dispute resolution. You should read those procedures before entering into any Agreement. The procedures can be found on our website.

The Real Estate Authority (REA) operates its own complaints process that can be accessed via the Authority’s website, www.rea.govt.nz. You can make a complaint using the Authority’s process without first using our in-house procedures. Any use of our in-house procedures does not preclude you from making a complaint to the Authority.

NOTICES

A copy of this Agency Agreement and any notices given under or relating to this Agreement, may be given to the Seller or the Seller’s lawyer by hand, mail, or email. If there is more than one set of contact details for a Seller, a copy of this agreement and any notices under or relating to it may be sent to any one of the Sellers and notice to any one Seller will be treated as notice to all Sellers.

This Agreement and any notices under or relating to this Agreement will be treated as having been received:

• if given by hand, at the time of personal delivery;

• if given by mail, three (3) days after being mailed to the recipient’s last known postal or residential address; or

• if given by email, when the email enters the information system at the recipient’s last known email address.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

You will give us all reasonable assistance and information to ensure that no hazards or risks at, or arising from, the Property affect the health and safety of any person while we are providing the Services. You agree to:

• Promptly provide us information about any and all hazards or risks at the Property that are known to you;

• Comply with our instructions about actions required to be taken to address any identified hazards or risks at the Property for the purposes of ensuring the health and safety of people visiting the Property at our request or invitation; and

• Do all other things we consider to be reasonably necessary to meet our obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement or as agreed between the parties, neither party may disclose any information contained in, arising from, or related to this Agreement to any third party other than, with the other party’s written consent:

• To its employees, officers, agents, contractors, advisers, and bankers, but only to the extent reasonably necessary; to enforce a party’s rights or to defend any claim or action under this Agreement; as necessary to answer or defend any complaint, claim, allegation, or proceedings you make against us; where the information is already in the public domain other than as a result of breach of this Agreement; or as required by law.

WARRANTIES AND INDEMNITY

You warrant to us that you have full power and authority to enter into this agency agreement and appoint us as an exclusive agent for the sale of the Property. If this Agreement is not signed by all Sellers of the Property, each Signatory warrants that they have full power and authority to enter into this Agreement on behalf of the relevant Seller(s).

You also warrant that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, and after making proper enquiries:

• The information provided to us about you and the Property in the Transaction Details is correct; the Property does not have any defects or hazards and is not subject to any requisitions, notices, or demands from any party, or, if there are such issues affecting the Property, that those issues have been disclosed to us; and you have not omitted to provide any other material information about you or the Property to us. You indemnify us against all losses, damages, claims, or other liability arising from breaching the above warranties.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND SIGNATURES

You consent to this Agreement and all documents, notices and other communications required under or relating to this Agreement, being provided to you, and signed, electronically. You acknowledge that this Agreement will be legally binding after being electronically signed on behalf of the Seller(s) and Smart Sale Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty. Signing of the Agreement will be treated as your acknowledgement that you have also received a copy of the Agreement signed by you and us.

WHEN THIS AGREEMENT ENDS

This Agreement, and our appointment as exclusive agent under it, will end:
• At the date stated on the agreement, at which point this agreement will revert to a general agency (unless extended as an exclusive agency in writing)
• in the case of a party cancelling this Agreement on notice, on the date seven (7) days after the notice of cancellation is received; or
• in the event you direct us to withhold information relating to hidden or underlying defects in the Property from potential purchasers, the date you receive our notice cancelling the Agreement.

The termination of this Agreement for any reason will not affect the rights, powers, authorities, or remedies of the parties that accrued before termination. This includes our right to be paid the commission.