This week on Before the Weekend, Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade work through a week where the claims did not survive contact with the people who actually do the job.

First, eXp Australia. Three social media posts, no press release and no mainstream coverage, but agents inside the business confirm it: the Class 2 and sales representative pathway is being terminated. Independent contractors with their own licence and entity are unaffected. The recruiters who built teams on the promise of passive income are not. Peter has written to eXp Australia director for a response.

Then the $593 million black hole. realestate.com.au says negatively geared Queensland landlords are heading for a mass sell-off before the negative gearing and capital gains changes land. Peter is not convinced the number holds - the PIPA figure of 35.5 per cent of Queensland investors selling in the last 12 months predates the tax change entirely - but the instruction to principals is the same either way: audit the rent roll for the owners who are negatively geared, and get in front of them before they list.

Then the article Peter filed under T for trash. RentBetter founder Jeremy Goldschmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald that one third of Australia's 2.2 million rentals are now leased without an agent. The Queensland RTA, which holds every bond in the state, says 89 per cent of rentals are professionally managed. NSW is 93 per cent. And 83.1 per cent of RTA infringement notices last quarter went to private lessors, against about 15 per cent for agents. Kasey adds the story of a 22-year-old on a private landlord's lease that contradicted the Act. "Completely fabricated, not true, not even in the vicinity."

Then Consumer Affairs Victoria fines one agency and drags two more to court over late bonds, and former REIV president Adam Docking is punched four or five times and robbed putting out an open-for-inspection sign in Vermont at midday on a Saturday. His warning to every agent and property manager: never leave the keys in the car.

Paul Tommasini of the Tenancy Skills Institute joins to explain why the property manager is the first responder in the homelessness system: property managers say about 50 per cent of failed tenancies could have been saved with simple interventions, the Brisbane and Mackay pilots pushed that above 90 per cent, and PM Assist turns a referral into a two-minute job - because every day a tenancy drifts costs another hundred dollars nobody gets back.

Also this week: rates go up Tuesday and David Koch blames Canberra, nearly half of Australians in share houses are over 40, the Victorian auction rules start next week without the paperwork, and Jellis Craig's Andrew McCann calls it the worst market in 30 years.

The ACCC has made realestate.com.au rewrite its agency contracts. For three years REA cannot require or incentivise agencies to list all or most of their properties with it, or push them into premium listings. No finding of wrongdoing, no penalty - but agents now have a choice to explain to vendors.

South Australia has opened a select committee into the conduct of real estate professionals - underquoting, appraisals, undisclosed faults, rental bidding. Submissions close 23 October. REISA's Andrea Heading wants scrutiny that is evidence-based, and a reminder that agents are not building inspectors.

Two Queensland licences, on opposite ends of the same provision: Tony O'Doherty in the Supreme Court arguing an Irish conviction should not cancel a Queensland licence, decision reserved - and a Brisbane agent sentenced this week over child abuse material. Plus arson at a Jacobs Well agency, a second Result Strata director banned, NSW Smart Rental Bonds statewide, and the modelling that says the 2027 CGT changes add eight years to a young saver's deposit.

Then Sarah Cincotta on why investors are leaving, what landlords are really saying in the Facebook groups, and why retention is the growth strategy nobody is running.

Before the Weekend is a weekly podcast for Australian property professionals, hosted by Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade. New episodes every Friday.

This week on Before the Weekend, Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade work through a week where the rules got stricter, and the people living under them got very little say in how.

First, Victoria. Auctioneer and coach Andy Reid called Peter after last week's episode to say we had it slightly wrong, so he came on to fix it. After a briefing from Consumer Affairs Victoria's Nicole Rich, the draft clause that appeared to stop buyers making an offer until they had held the contract for 14 days has been put down to a typo - the contract now simply has to be available for 14 days before the auction. From 1 October the statement of information becomes the property price statement, "a statement of information on steroids" with detail on every comparable sale. The reserve has to be published seven calendar days out, and while it can come down during the auction it cannot go up. An offer above the reserve that is rejected on price resets the seven days; one rejected in writing on process does not. Campaigns launched before 1 October get two weeks' grace, so the auctions of 3 and 10 October run under the old rules. Andy's read is that auctions accelerate at the bottom of the market and drift away at the top, and his line on the new rules: "it's actually one of the best conditioning tools we've ever been given." Peter's worry is the week the market moves after the reserve is set, and he wants a month of results before he believes it.

Then AUSTRAC. Section 167 notices started going out in late August to agencies that have not enrolled, a reminder that the deadline has passed.

Then the story that divided the industry. McGrath Bulimba principal Tony O'Doherty has had his Queensland real estate licence cancelled over an assault in Ireland in 2013, when he was 23. He pleaded guilty by video link in November 2025 and received a two-year sentence, fully suspended. He is appealing, and McGrath is standing behind him. Kasey walks through what changes inside an office when the licensee goes, down to the form 6s and the name on the door, and Peter asks the harder question: at what point does society let someone move on, and what precedent does it set if it does?

Then housefishing in New Farm. A rental listing at 22 Mark Street appears to have been built with AI images that bear little resemblance to the house. Peter, once called the catfisher of real estate from his years at BoxBrownie, draws the ethical line - a grey sky or a Queensland lawn can be fixed, power lines cannot - and says this one is beyond any disclaimer: walls stretched, power points gone, every image changed. Queensland's Property Occupations Act allows up to 540 penalty units for false or misleading representations, and Kasey asks what rights a tenant has if they signed without ever inspecting.

Then Revenue NSW and the contractor who is really an employee. Most internal conjunction arrangements fail every payroll tax exemption, and section 47 can set aside the ones that pass.

Also this week: Kasey reports back from the REIQ Property Insider Lunch, where Treasurer David Janetzki said loan applications and approvals are down and Queensland is not paying for Jim Chalmers' budget, and the AFR's John Kehoe put the tax changes at 60 basis points on an investor loan with transactions down about 15 per cent; the WA rent cap debate returns; and Kasey heads to PM/ONE in Sydney while Peter flies from PropTech Connect in London to the REACH gathering in Colorado.

Before the Weekend is a weekly podcast for Australian property professionals, hosted by Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade. New episodes every Friday.