Colliers waives investment transaction fee

“Accepting commissions from both parties involved in a certain transaction sets up a severe conflict of interest. When a broker, hired by the owner of a commercial property to find suitable buyers, accepts that his client (the party who is paying his commission) is therefore the vendor - this should prohibit the acceptance of further commission from buyer’s side”, said Blake Horsley, Manager of Investment Division within Colliers International Romania.

There are cases, Horsley continued, where one is representing both the vendors and buyer exclusively, but when these situations arise, a broker needs to discuss the position with both parties and decide for whom they will act.

“This is common practice in developed markets such as the US and UK and is a step in the right direction to ensure that Romania develops ethically and will help ameliorate beliefs from the west that some Eastern European markets are unethical”, Colliers consultant added.

Colliers, announcement refers solely to transactions with commercial properties. A similar proposition for office space was discussed at the Realty Forum event, organized at the end of October. Tim Wilkinson, chief executive of DTZ Echinox, said in the office market, many brokers charge both vendors and buyers in an office rent transaction.

As of this fall, Blake Horsley assumed the role of manager of Office Division at Colliers while continuing with his responsibilities at the Investment Division of Colliers. The company reported net profit of €2.7 million in 2008, 62.3% below year-ago level and a turnover of €17.7 million, down 16.6% from a year earlier.