Disclosure - Real Estate Agency

房地产经纪人有责任告知您对他出售的房产的了解。 那是对的吗？
Fángdìchǎn jīngjì rén yǒu zérèn gàozhī nín duì tā chūshòu di fángchǎn de liǎojiě.  Nà shì duì de ma?  The real estate agent is responsible for telling you what he knows about the property he is selling. Is that correct?

Recently I watch a Chinese drama series entitled “Perfect Partner” or in Chinese, the title is 完美关系. Episode # 1 consists of three sections and one of these sections is about a real estate agent working in Ray White’s office in Sydney. This agent’s name is Jiang Da Lin (acted by Tong Li Ya). It is about this section of the episode that is the subject matter of this article.

Jiang Da Lin, is the only daughter of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of a Public Relations Consultancy Firm DL Limited in Shanghai. This section of Episode # 1 depicts her as having just completed her University education in Sydney and is working as an estate agent in the one of the offices of Ray White Agency in Sydney.

Watch the story contained in the following time slots in this Episode # 1.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/tElWsmHROYA and fast forward to the following minutes: (1) 13:05 - 13:40; (2) 15:09 - 16:00; (3) 18:40 - 22:04; (4) 23:50 - 24:50.

There was this rich lady from Beijing, Mrs. Qiao, looking at buying a big house with grounds for Aust $10 million. Jiang Da Lin conducted the tour with her Australian boss, Da Lin being the interpreter as well.

The rich lady, Mrs. Qiao, was happy with the intensive grounds, the internal layout, the indoor banqueting hall for entertainment, the five large bedrooms, every bedroom with ensuite. The rich lady was about to sign the sale and purchase agreement but Da Lin, pulled her aside and told the lady prospective buyer that the house had not been sold for so long mainly because of the fact that the previous owner’s wife committed sucide in the ensuite of the Master’s Bedroom.

As a result, there was no sale of the property. Da Lin’s Boss sacked her for such a disclosure and the agency had lost a possible huge commission.

The question therefore is this: Has Da Lin acted correctly as an agent acting on behalf of the vendor? Is Da Lin’s boss correct in not disclosing the fact the the property has had a person (owner’s wife) who died living there?

Da Lin was driving out of Sydney with her friend along Sydney to Wollongong coastal road, when she was recalled into her office to help his boss in showing a prospective buyer (a rich lady from China) a large house. That house was on the agency’s listing for a fairly long time and the house had an asking price of over Aust $10 million.

达琳正和她的朋友开车离开悉尼，沿着悉尼到卧龙岗沿海公路，她被召回办公室，帮助他的老板向一位潜在买家（一位来自中国的富婆）展示一所大房子。那所房子在该机构的挂牌上已经有很长一段时间了，房子的要价超过了 1000 万澳元。
Dàlín zhènghé tā de péngyǒu kāichē líkāi xīní, yánzhe xīní dào wòlóng gǎng yánhǎi gōnglù, tā bèi zhàohuí bàngōngshì,

bāngzhù tā de lǎobǎn xiàng yī wèi qiánzài mǎi jiā (yī wèi láizì zhōngguó de fùpó) zhǎnshì yī suǒ dà fángzi. Nà suǒ fángzi zài gāi jīgòu de guàpái shàng yǐjīng yǒu hěn zhǎng yīduàn shíjiānle, fángzi de yāo jià chāoguòle 1000 wàn àoyuán.

“What? You want be back in the office? I am now on my way to my holidays, remember?” “Yes, we have no one here who can speak the Chinese Language. You need to come back.”

“什么？你想让我回到办公室？我现在正在去度假的路上，记得吗？” “是的，我们这里没有人会说中文。你需要回来。”
“Shénme? Nǐ xiǎng ràng wǒ huí dào bàngōngshì? Wǒ xiànzài zhèngzài qù dùjià de lùshàng, jìdé ma?” “Shì de, wǒmen zhèlǐ méiyǒu rén huì shuō zhōngwén. Nǐ xūyào huílái.”

“The ground is extensive,” said the Boss, Mr. Richardson. “Good,” Mrs. Qiao replied in Chinese and Da Lin did the translation.

“地面广阔，” 老板理查森先生说。 “好。”乔太太用中文回答，达琳负责翻译。 “Dìmiàn guǎngkuò,” lǎobǎn lǐchásēn xiānshēng shuō. “Hǎo.” Qiáo tàitài yòng zhōngwén huídá, dàlín fùzé fānyì.

“This banquet room is big enough to hold a formal party for two dozen people.”

“这宴会厅大到可以举办两打人的​​正式宴会。”  “Zhè yànhuì tīng dà dào kěyǐ jǔbàn liǎng dǎ rén de​​zhèngshì yànhuì.”

“Wow! The bedrooms are luxuriously fitted out, and the cloakroom here looks good.” Bossman, Mr. Richardson, mentally said to himself - “All the buyer’s signals are here. Let us close this deal while the iron is hot.”

“哇！卧室装修豪华，这里的衣帽间看起来不错。” 理查森先生，博斯曼在心里自言自语—— “所有买家的信号都在这里。让我们趁热打铁完成这笔交易。”
“Wa! Wòshì zhuāngxiū háohuá, zhèlǐ de yīmàojiān kàn qǐlái bu cuò.” Lǐchásēn xiānshēng, bó sī màn zài xīnlǐ zì yán zì yǔ——“suǒyǒu mǎi jiā de xìnhào dōu zài zhèlǐ. Ràng wǒmen chènrèdǎtiě wánchéng zhè bǐ jiāoyì.”

Da Lin whispered to Mrs. Qiao, “Be careful, though.” “Why?” “The wife of the vendor had committed sucide here in this bathroom.” “Oh dear!”

达琳小声对乔夫人道：“还是小心点。” “为什么？” “卖家的妻子在这个浴室里自杀了。” “哦是吗？”
Dàlín xiǎoshēng duì qiáo fūrén dào:“Háishì xiǎoxīn diǎn.” “Wèishéme?” “Màijiā de qīzi zài zhège yùshì lǐ zìshāle.” “Ó shì ma?”

“Yes, do you know that you are not working for the vendor when you told Mrs. Qiao that?” “Oh!” “You know what, you don’t have a job now.”

“是啊，你告诉乔太太的时候，你知道不是在为卖家工作吗？” “哦！” “你知道吗，你现在没有工作了。”
“Shì a, nǐ gàosù qiáo tàitài de shíhòu, nǐ zhīdào bùshì zài wèi màijiā gōngzuò ma?” “Ó!” “Nǐ zhīdào ma, nǐ xiànzài méiyǒu gōngzuò le.”

Da Lin’s service was terminated. Immediately after this, Da Lin’s mother rang to ask her to return to Shanghai to head her Dad’s company due to the fact that her Dad had to leave the country for some explainable reason.

达琳的服务被终止。紧接着，达琳的妈妈打电话来，要求她回上海领导爸爸的公司，因为她爸爸为某种原因不得不出国。
Dàlín de fúwù bèi zhōngzhǐ. Jǐn jiēzhe, dà lín de māmā dǎ diànhuà lái, yāoqiú tā huí shànghǎi lǐngdǎo bàba de gōngsī, yīnwèi tā bàba wèi mǒu zhǒng yuányīn bùdé bù chūguó.