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Ethical Questions Regarding Real Estate Business
I’m asking a few questions on behalf of a friend who works as a real estate agent.
1. In Pakistani real estate market, agent gets a commission of 1% for residential property and 2% for commercial property from both buyer and seller. Unfortunately most of the clients refuse to pay commission to the agent. In that scenerio, agents adjust their Comission in the deal E.g acquiring plot in 98 lacs from seller and giving it in 100 lacs to the buyer. Is this act justified?
2. Instead of just adjusting the Comission, some dealers adjust a large amount in the deal. E.g acquiring plot in 98 lacs from seller and giving it in 110 lacs to the buyer. (This is called “Top” in their terminology) Is this act justified?
3. When a society is initially launched, it sells files (with 10% downpayment) instead of plots. At lauching phase, if society has acquired a land which can comprise 1000 files, they will sell 10,000 files instead and acquire the remaining land later. Is selling of such files justified?
These three questions are a hot topic among Real Estate agents of Pakistan. Almost all of them consider these acts as haram and at the same time almost all of them indulge in these acts as well with a feeling of guilt.
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Ethical Questions Regarding Real Estate Business
updated 2 years, 6 months ago
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There’s no prohibition in buying something and selling it for a profit.
If someone is brokering a deal between a buyer and a seller, however, their commission as well as other aspects of the deal should ethically be disclosed.
Selling something that one hasn’t acquired yet and there’s a chance that they won’t be able to deliver to the buyer according to the sales contract is immoral, hence forbidden. One possible permissible situation could be a transaction in which the buyer already knows at the time of buying the possibility of the deal falling through. Of course in that case buyer’s money should be returned promptly with justice.
In every business transaction the key to determine its permissibility is its moral aspect. This includes lies, deceptions, delays in delivery or return of money, injustice, etc. As long as a deal is done morally with clear understanding of all parties and it’s done with justice then it’s halal otherwise it’s haram.
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