Jens Gaunt (Ballarat)

We advertised and sold out house through them within 5 days of putting it on the market. They got us an excellent price, better than what we had hoped for and in a wonderful time frame as it was just before the Christmas rush.

Approximate cost: $5000

I cannot believe this company still exists! There appears to be a divide in Ballarat between reasonably-good and untrustworthy/poor real estate agencies. Jens Gaunt falls flatly into the latter!

I put in an offer on a relatively expensive house in town a few months ago (after also having a debacle with GSRE, see other post). The interior looked wonderful, but on closer inspection (via a building inspector), there were a variety of flaws conveniently forgotten by the agent; she failed to inform us that the beautiful new bathroom was simply a facade, as it in fact was not actually connected to a water supply! Additionally, the hot water service was dysfunctional, a piece of information also omitted. Furthermore, the house actually had an extension, but the agent did not give an indication that it actually needed a permit - something that was missing. The superficial smiles and the charm rapidly faded from memory.

Most intriguingly (in this process), we also received a call from the agent about the building inspection. She called us, without knowing it, whilst we were standing there with the building inspector himself. He had found numerous important problems; Yet she phoned us and lied, stating "I just received a call from the building inspector and he said everything is ok (ie, so let's get on with the sale)".

I am so grateful that my conveyancer and I ended up steering clear of what would have been a big rip-off sale shrouded in half truths.

I understand they need to get sales, but this was beyond the pale.

Agencies that were MUCH better in Ballarat were Cosgrove, Hayden, Wes Davidson and Booth/Lee.