AAR was established in May of 2012 in order to lay the foundation for a professional realtors’ association in accordance with the Dutch model.
After AAR had been established, all active local realtors were invited to become members. Some did, some did not.
This week at La Garage, Renaissance Marketplace the association celebrated five years of success, over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
So what do the realtors say?
This year is considerably better than last. Americans, Canadians, and a handful of Venezuelans are buying homes and condos but alas, government agencies do everything they can to delay the process and make it as cumbersome as possible.
When a seller and a buyer shake hands on a deal, an agreement is signed, then a 10% deposit is made.
In principle within 6 weeks, the docs should shuttle between government agencies and the notary’s office; then when the 90% balance is paid, the deed should be finalized.
Nowadays that process takes at least three months and sometime much more, up to two years in the case of a premier realtor who sold 22 lots in a new development waiting for a government agency to complete measuring and assigning lot numbers for taxation purposes. The mythical spiltizing takes forever, they say.
The biggest hurdle? Legger waarde en inzage, that takes too long. Basically it means that if a home is sold for two dollar, the government may assess it for two dollars for tx purposes. But they take long to hum and haw, and shuffle the papers from the inbox to the outbox. Buyers’ remorse often sets in, before the transaction is completed. Those who patiently wait, are rewarded with a big fat tax bill which must be paid immediately.
The realtors state that it is in the interest of the government to expedite docs, and it remains a mystery why the system is so sluggish.
The more structured they are, the more money comes in, so why are they dragging their heels?
Another hurdle? Professional rivalry among four notary offices. The decision which notary to employ is at the hands of the buyer, and when a transaction is assigned to a rival, monumental heel-dragging ensues!
On the upside, all realtors are now using the same uniform agreement, and the mutual collaboration between AAR members is much improved.
This week the central bank invited the realtor for a talk, asking them to do the bank’s job and report on suspicious transaction, besides reporting it to the Office for the Disclosure of Unusual Transactions.
Question: If everything is funneled through the central bank, anyway, why do they require another set of papers regarding that same exact deal?
It is obvious that they are making it more complex, instead of digitalizing, and centralizing all reports.
