You All Bad Clients! Me Good Agent...you Bulwee Me...boohoo!

[zirhk3355 1]

Aug 11, 2008

Bad and irrational to axe property commission guide

NO DOUBT about it. The removal of property agent commission guidelines by the Institute of Estate Agents is a bad and irrational move.

The institute has undone its many years of good work that instilled a sense of proper worth for the work agents do. The public and the media are always inclined to portray agents as devils and the clients as angels or damsels in distress. While there are exceptions to any rule, I would argue to the contrary. Show me one client of honorary character, and I'll show you 10 agents who will return the favour over and beyond the call of service.

The fact of the matter is, the gentleman client is a rarity in the Singapore property market. The largely fictional scrupulous agent is a direct result of the dearth of principled clients. In theory, one devil client is enough to spawn 10 devil agents. Sadly, nine in 10 clients tend to be the devil. This is a market that never appreciates good service offered, though exceptions apply. Regardless of the industry, monetising good service is close to impossible with Singaporeans. When your business comprises all service and no tangible product, it becomes a huge problem of survival.

Removing commission guidelines in a gentleman's market is well and good, but to do so in Singapore is detrimental to the industry and its benefactors, both agents and clients. Soon everyone will have forgotten there were ever guidelines. And most clients will try to get away with free service and a pound of flesh. As the situation deteriorates, agents will tend towards bad service, and the honest ones will eventually drop out. And we will have a scoundrel's playground for a real estate market. Welcome to reality.

In any case, Institute of Estate Agents guidelines were just that. No agent could effectively enforce them, because they were not enforceable in court. What the guidelines did was to give the collective conscience of property players a proper perception of the worth of work done by agents. Now that thin string to common sense is gone. Get ready for many sad stories.

Forget about Integrity, Service and Excellence. Expect minimum, disgruntled and devalued service.

James Rajan

Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Onl...ory_266638.html

[zirhk3355 1]

Another 'boohoo' letter...

---

Aug 15, 2008

After rule change, consider plight of estate agents

THE ANNOUNCEMENT on removal of estate agent's commission has left agents to the mercy of the public. It encouraged the public to view agents' services as a commodity to be bargained over and not see agents as human beings performing an uncertain job with no fixed pay, no CPF and no Medisave.

The statement has resulted in ridiculous requests by owners who deliberately ignore the hard work and costs put in by agents. For example, I now have a case where I am marketing a property with construction sites right, left and centre for a month. Costs are high because lag time is longer with market slowdown and after a long time, there is only one offer. Despite this, the owner wants to offer 50 per cent discount because I had a direct buyer.

Does anyone stop to think agents we have no CPF and no Medisave? And if I don't do any deals in the seventh month, I need to use my savings to pay my expenses. No, they don't. Agents and buyers are two parts of one equation. If only one side is protected, the other side will be victimised. A few hundred thousand ricebowls are at stake. We have families too. Please consider us too.

Lynette Choy

Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Onlin...ory_268120.html

[junxian 0]

whichever side, there are some devils. bad client , bad agent....

[GMC 12]

Just sharing the 4 private transactions I handled within June - July.

The guy who served me twice did not even get 1% on the 3rd time in a sale.

The guy who helped me to secure a good deal in buying got banker's referral fee from me.

The guy who sold my place within 2 weeks didn't get 2% coz he deliberately lowered my asking price without me knowing.

The guy who help me secure another unit asked from me 0.6%, and nothing from the seller.

I gained even more experience and still open to more knowledge in dealing with property.

[666 0]

I have searched for units for a long time and have seen quite a lot of agents.

Out of 10 agents i met, onli 2-3 i feel is ok.Rest are just out 2 chop you.

I was very unfortunate to meet 1 & lose $$ out of it even though i have experienced so many agents.I made a mistake of showing a slight interest in the unit.

-Agent pressured me, say if i dun sign OTP tonite, he will release it to other interested seller.

-On the night to sign OTP, he demanded 1k CASH, although i wanted to juz give $500 in cheque.

-Then commission,tell me 1% is the law/rule, cannot reduce. I tulan refused to pay coz i onli met him like twice.told him how can u get commission from both seller & buyer. I even say like dat..i get another agent to represent me. He say not ethical la..legal la..he consulted his lawyer.Like hinting to me,he can sue me if i do that. After 2-3 days bargain, he reduced $500 out of 5k+...which i did not accept.

-On dat nite after signing OTP and obtaining seller signature. He asked me come down exercise OTP at 1am. Knn..so desperate. lucky i refused say im tired..

-At dat nite..both me & my wife could not sleep coz we were like rushed to it..& we hated the agent.

-I found a much better unit a few days later & place $500 cheque OTP. Then we cancelled the other 1.

-The fcukin agent called me stupid & idiot coz i rejected his unit...ccb.i farked back say yes..im stupid coz u manage to con me to give u $1k cash as deposit..

-1k poorer..i juz put letter in seller letterbox to inform him i gave the 1k cash to agent..in case he kapo the $$.

till now..im veri sore over tis incident...next time i sell..gonna give agents a hard time..if im gonna use them.

Edited August 17, 2008 by 666

[zirhk3355 1]

Great examples! Sometimes, it really take us, as consumers, to put in efforts to wack all those 'devil' agents.

Agents are definitely essential, not just in property but alot of other industries too, and they provided alot of added values. But we must work together to cast out those who just want to earn a quick buck and run.

[tweetie76 0]

I have searched for units for a long time and have seen quite a lot of agents.

Out of 10 agents i met, onli 2-3 i feel is ok.Rest are just out 2 chop you.

I was very unfortunate to meet 1 & lose $$ out of it even though i have experienced so many agents.I made a mistake of showing a slight interest in the unit.

-Agent pressured me, say if i dun sign OTP tonite, he will release it to other interested seller.

-On the night to sign OTP, he demanded 1k CASH, although i wanted to juz give $500 in cheque.

-Then commission,tell me 1% is the law/rule, cannot reduce. I tulan refused to pay coz i onli met him like twice.told him how can u get commission from both seller & buyer. I even say like dat..i get another agent to represent me. He say not ethical la..legal la..he consulted his lawyer.Like hinting to me,he can sue me if i do that. After 2-3 days bargain, he reduced $500 out of 5k+...which i did not accept.

-On dat nite after signing OTP and obtaining seller signature. He asked me come down exercise OTP at 1am. Knn..so desperate. lucky i refused say im tired..

-At dat nite..both me & my wife could not sleep coz we were like rushed to it..& we hated the agent.

-I found a much better unit a few days later & place $500 cheque OTP. Then we cancelled the other 1.

-The fcukin agent called me stupid & idiot coz i rejected his unit...ccb.i farked back say yes..im stupid coz u manage to con me to give u $1k cash as deposit..

-1k poorer..i juz put letter in seller letterbox to inform him i gave the 1k cash to agent..in case he kapo the $$.

till now..im veri sore over tis incident...next time i sell..gonna give agents a hard time..if im gonna use them.

So did u get back your $1k OTP ? Do we have to pay commission if we are the buyer who look out from newspaper ?

[666 0]

No..i knoe its the practice..if u back out..u cant get back..but if seller back out, u can get back..

best part, after i rejected. keep seeing the unit ad on the papers for past few months...dunno now have or not..never check.

Now "current practice" still have to pay commision, i do knoe of frds who r direct buyer stated upfront that they dont want to pay commission but like that not much choices the agents will offer.Maybe ask for discount. like wat i did..agent charge me 0.5%.

[tweetie76 0]

No..i knoe its the practice..if u back out..u cant get back..but if seller back out, u can get back..

best part, after i rejected. keep seeing the unit ad on the papers for past few months...dunno now have or not..never check.

Now "current practice" still have to pay commision, i do knoe of frds who r direct buyer stated upfront that they dont want to pay commission but like that not much choices the agents will offer.Maybe ask for discount. like wat i did..agent charge me 0.5%.

The commission thing is the part that i hate most, but no choice.

For buyer, the norm commission is 1% correct?

As for seller, if we sell the flat on our own & the buyer brings his agent, do the seller need to pay 2% commission even though the agent is not engaged by the seller ?

Edited August 18, 2008 by tweetie76

[zirhk3355 1]

For buyer, the norm commission is 1% correct?

Yes for now, no after the stupid IEA guideline is scrapped in Sept'08.

As for seller, if we sell the flat on our own & the buyer brings his agent, do the seller need to pay 2% commission even though the agent is not engaged by the seller ?

Definitely a no. But of course, the agent will threaten that if you do not pay, he will not bring the buyer to you. So its up to you to handle the agent and how to get the buyer while paying lesser or no comm at all.

[tweetie76 0]

Yes for now, no after the stupid IEA guideline is scrapped in Sept'08.

Definitely a no. But of course, the agent will threaten that if you do not pay, he will not bring the buyer to you. So its up to you to handle the agent and how to get the buyer while paying lesser or no comm at all.

hi zirhk

thanks for the clarification, at least now i know seller no need to pay commission if agent is engaged by the buyer, thanks!

Edited August 18, 2008 by tweetie76

[666 0]

Depends..tis was discussed before in the forum..

I think briefly is..

-U be harassed by agents askin you to let them sell ur house

-Ur house will bcum like showroom to agents but none will buy ur house.

-etc..

[tweetie76 0]

Depends..tis was discussed before in the forum..

I think briefly is..

-U be harassed by agents askin you to let them sell ur house

-Ur house will bcum like showroom to agents but none will buy ur house.

-etc..

How come agents sound like ah long..

so that means no matter what we still have to pay the protection fees..