Desperate Bid By Housing Agencies To Salvage Plummeting Fees

[ahjane 2]

maybe the agencies could think of something to warrant that kind of commission...eg.. number of houses viewed....fetching to view houses?.....fixed sum + variable ...variable could based on amount over and above the valuation? cos both side high motivated to sell high....and close deal....

[MaCe 3]

it will be the same as petrol companies.

all the big bosses will have coffee and agree upon a FIXED % ala cartel.

[zirhk3355 1]

There were alot of talk about itemised billing for their commission, like what ahjane said, a certain price-tag for a certain service provided.

However, that also means the cheaper properties' owners will suffer by paying more, and/or conversely the more expensive properties' owners will benefit by paying less.

Unless someone out there gets really innovative and be supported by most agencies, the current percentage billing, or what they called the 'robin hood' billing, would still stick. The issue is just how many percent now, after the guideline is axed.

[papbestdad 0]

There were alot of talk about itemised billing for their commission, like what ahjane said, a certain price-tag for a certain service provided.

However, that also means the cheaper properties' owners will suffer by paying more, and/or conversely the more expensive properties' owners will benefit by paying less.

Unless someone out there gets really innovative and be supported by most agencies, the current percentage billing, or what they called the 'robin hood' billing, would still stick. The issue is just how many percent now, after the guideline is axed.

You agent? why know so much about agent 's job?

And agent cheat your money before?

[loli 0]

thx for your extremely kind words. i'm staying in sembawang, basically that location is not gd, plus its quite some distance from the MRT, say abt 5-7 mins walk. and i was told by this agent that my floor area (130sqm) is not what ppl r going for. he said if ppl wanna buy EA flat, they normally wanna go for bigger units like 141sqm or so. dunno how true lah.

haha... i like your graciousness...

i dun think it is true cos I have bot mine at 127 sq m. It all boils down to location and price. 10-15 sq m difference does not really matter much unless you have a big family.

[loli 0]

Like I said, it depends on your willingness to pay. Eg if a family member is in hospital and you do not earn enough to pay for the bills, would you not let your loved one receive medical attention?? Of course not right, by hook or by crook also must find the money to treat him/her. Same here; if you are very motivated to sell the flat, no matter how also will sell, you will find a way to pay for the agent's fee.

Anyway, the 2%/1% rule doesn't really apply anymore; I know in the market, people had been bargaining like crazy. Some agents are not collecting comm from buyers, some are even willing to lower to 1% for seller.

And yes also got some negotiate until fixed sum, but bear in mind lor, if its fixed eg $10K, whether you sell $300K or $500K also $10K comm for the agent, why should the agent bother to push the buyer for $500K? Might as well PUSH YOU to close at $300K! So by asking for fixed sum comm, you are creating trouble for yourself.

I dun agree leh...

Fixed sum can work to our advantage if we know how. Firstly we, being the sellers, can tell the agent what is the price point that we will sell the house and we can avoid being shortchanged by engaging more than one agent. If I were to be a seller now, what I will do is to fix different commission rate for different price points. Eg, $3000 for $300k and $8000 for $400k. In this way, the agent will be motivated to push for higher price.

With the waiver of the 1%2% rule, the ball is in our court. Given that the industry is fiercely competitive, we can make it work to our advantage.

it will be the same as petrol companies.

all the big bosses will have coffee and agree upon a FIXED % ala cartel.

it is a dog eat dog world in this industry. They may agree on the suface but still undercut each other. All it takes is theirs or other agents, whom they do not have complete control over, to start undercutting each other, in order to stay afloat in this competitve industry.

[zirhk3355 1]

I dun agree leh...

Fixed sum can work to our advantage if we know how. Firstly we, being the sellers, can tell the agent what is the price point that we will sell the house and we can avoid being shortchanged by engaging more than one agent. If I were to be a seller now, what I will do is to fix different commission rate for different price points. Eg, $3000 for $300k and $8000 for $400k. In this way, the agent will be motivated to push for higher price.

With the waiver of the 1%2% rule, the ball is in our court. Given that the industry is fiercely competitive, we can make it work to our advantage.

Whether got guideline or no guideline, you MUST always tell the agent what is the 'price point' that you will sell the house.

Also, what I meant by fixed-sum commission is that the comm remains the same no matter what price it was being sold, thus the agent would most probably close at very low price (low price of cuz easy to close mah).

$3000 for $300K = 1%, $8000 for $400K = 2%. This is not fixed-sum commission leh, the comm you pay varies with the selling price, so its a percentage also, isn't it? So isn't it the same as the guideline??

[summerholiday 2]

jus sharing

i went to a unit, i called the agent said that i'm the buyer, i wan to view the unit, i ask which floor, happened that i stay jus opposite, so before i go up i went the night before and spot the right unit, this owner's parents invite us in to view, we are pleased with the unit.

my friend happened to be an agent, i scared being cheated by the seller agent so i ask my friend around.but as a first timer, i didn't know that this commission thing, end up tis seller agent a xra agent fd out that i'm the one that called him earlier, told me that my friend shdn't had intercept this deal, and that this xra is my agent by right.. end up wondering if the agent did sthg to e deal as we signed the otp but short of 1 owner signature, end up we did not managed to buy the flat..

so end p i realised that if u call the agent, they usu ask, you are buyer or agent?

meaning if u r buyer, ha ha he will be ur agent, so he will get 1% plus 2 % commission

if agent, i think he wont help u much..

i did ask my agent when i purchase my existing flat, actuallu i don need to give 1 % comm rite? they told me, it's trade practise.. meaning u happy i happy, u pay me, i help u.. so fi u not willing to pay, the chances of getting ur ideal flat at better price.. low

wondered anyone ever told a property agent that post in st that i will act as my own agent?

best if unless that lucky like my collegue, seller post himself, so he buy without agent fee.. both gain

again when engaging a agent we jus wan easy transcation.. pp to guide us..

jus like renovation, unless got the time to everything diy

cheers

[zirhk3355 1]

So study the regulations and deal yourself! Otherwise, be prepared to pay lor. And worse, if you are even too lazy to find out your rights, then be prepared to get cheated by the rogue agents.

Yup, you are right in a way too:

Generally, agents have a job simply because people are lazy.

I would also say that agents have their way in manipulating us to pay them extra comm is because we allowed them to. So while I blame the rogue agents for cheating people, I actually blame the sellers/buyers even more for ALLOWING the agents to cheat them.

This does not only apply to property agents, but any other middlemen/agents too. All agents/middlemen exists because they do things that people are too lazy to do themselves. But its a double-edged sword; they help you do your job and add value to you, but they can screw you up.

The automotive is another example; those car dealers can manipulate the buyers simply because they lazy and ask dealers to help them. Then it had came to such a state that if you got your own COE and go buy a car, you can expect to pay more. If one day the govt says all owners must go LTA and buy their own COEs, alot of car dealers will go bust.

There is no secret why the top number of complaints at CASE is always property agents and car dealers.