Things To Look Out For When Engaging Agents

[johnthese 0]

hi,

i am considering selling my hdb flat but am wondering what to look out for when getting an agent.

1.commision is usually pegged at how many percent?

2.must they be willing to co -broke?

3.what are the guidelines to look out for when choosing an agent?

thanks for any help rendered

Edited November 5, 2010 by johnthese

[therat 18]

Most important is to get a honest agent which will think of your interest 1st and not quickly wanna close the deal to get the commission quickly .

How to tell the agent is honest?

How to know the agent will think of the client interest 1st and not quickly wanna close the deal to get the commission quickly?

Can teach us?

[Plastic3 0]

How to tell the agent is honest?

How to know the agent will think of the client interest 1st and not quickly wanna close the deal to get the commission quickly?

Can teach us?

haha, this is true...hard to tell unless your own trusted friend has experience with the Agent.

[skyflyer54 0]

Hi,

First of all, must understand the market and pricing first. In order not to let your agent cheat you, best is be firmed at your selling price.

Usual practise is 2% commission for agent as they need to do marketing and alot of viewing appointment liasing for you.

Nowadays, agent are more than willing to co-broke as CEA had already spelled out that agent are not allowed to have dual commission from seller and buyer.

As for guidelines for choosing agent, it will depend on how comfortable you are with the agent. Most important is get them up to your house and do all the financial calculation for you so as to test whether they are proficient or not, and also don't get forced by the agent to sign exclusive with them. Test them and ask them for a valid reason and advantages why exclusive is needed. A good agent will tell you the advantage and disadvantage to have exclusive or not.

[Maverick78 0]

1. As mentioned by others, comm is 2% for seller's agent.

2. As outlined by CEA, all agents have to cobroke their listings. Best way to test your agent is to call and ask for cobroke after he starts advertising your unit for sale. Depending on how he answer your questions, you will be able to know if he is working in your best interest.

3. An agent who meets up with you the first time should not be too concerned about the selling price. What he should be concerned is your financial interest, and others such as your reason to sell, your plans after selling etc. Seeling a property is more than just the selling price. Selling price is "about there" as unless your unit is superbly good or superbly bad, the market is currently at $30k +/- COV.

4. Of course do check HDB website and online property portals for a rough estimate of the selling price in your area.

Just my 2c worth of personal opinions.

Hope the above helps.

hi,

i am considering selling my hdb flat but am wondering what to look out for when getting an agent.

1.commision is usually pegged at how many percent?

2.must they be willing to co -broke?

3.what are the guidelines to look out for when choosing an agent?

thanks for any help rendered

[blue_skies 3]

I just sold my flat and I actually mentioned upfront at the first meeting with my agent that I would only pay 1% commission no matter how high a deal he secures, and he was agreeable to it. I feel that this is an important point that should be agreed upfront otherwise later the agent can hold you ransom by blowing the deal just because he insists on a higher commission.

Anyway my agent was nice enough to schedule all viewings on a weekend between a stipulated time, e.g. 2-4pm so that it doesn't interfere with our daily activities.

He showed us a list of other similar flats in our area and how much COV they were asking, so that we could see for ourselves whether ours was asking the "average" or "above average" amount. He will advise if the COV is realistic or if it means it will take longer to sell.

Anyway we sold our place within 3 weeks of advertisement so I belive a good agent will really help.

By the way we bought the flat from this same agent a couple of years ago and he was very helpful so decided to approach him again when we decided to sell the place.

Edited November 29, 2010 by blue_skies

[mel77 1]

Some things i learn from my recent sale & buying.

1. Don't rush into exclusive. Agent need to explain the pro/con for signing exclusive

2. Discuss commissions % and payment timeline

3. Try to talk to at least 5 agents to have a good gauge on their abilities. Cos some is only interested in getting the commission and will not advice you on other matters to consider. Like as Seller, you might have special arrangements for next house...buy first or sell first, financial planning, HLE or Bank loan etc.

4. Establish what is the agents role & responsibilities.

5. If you going in as a Buyer, state your requirements clearly. Hand over date, seller's reno details if seller claims that things are done. Make sure it is stated on the OTP document. Don't get caught in a situation where after completion, the house has issues and seller act blur and start ignoring. Agent also start acting blur..

6. Check with agent if you suspect seller is divorce case. Can have a lot of issues. Wife don't want to talk to husband, don't want to sign OTP....etc

7. If both seller and buyer agents are friends and from the same agency, chances are you will be in for rough time in terms of acting for your interest

[edenstrauss 3]

I didn't think that agents would be telling the truth even though there is something wrong with the property or its previous owners.

They are all geared up to earn their commission and that's about it. Very sales-driven and realistic.

[manutd1972 1]

I didn't think that agents would be telling the truth even though there is something wrong with the property or its previous owners.

They are all geared up to earn their commission and that's about it. Very sales-driven and realistic.

agree to a certain extent.

but to be fair to all, let's try and look at things frm an agent's perspective. they hv no basic salary at all. all their income is frm the commissions they earn. they also hv their commitments and nd to earn a living to feed their family. we appoint them to sell for us, but dun sign exclusive wif them, they spend money marketing our property, but another agent manages to sell it for us. so this successful agent gets paid and his expenses on marketing our property is recouped. wat abt the other agents who also marketed our property? their marketing expenses is all money down the drain. time and effort spent without any returns, dun even talk abt break-even. it's a negative for these agents.

if we were in their shoes, do u think we wld do our best to market a property if we knw there are a few other agents marketing it as well, and there's no exclusive signed at all?

as far as their industry is concerned, each agent is like his own businessman even though they belong to a particular agency. the agency only provides the infrastructure to conduct the business. hw the business is run, it's up to the individual agent, so long as they dun run afoul of the law.

so like all businessmen, a business has to be profits-driven first, in order to survive and succeed. once established, changes can be made to the way the business is run so that it is also more holistic and not just profits-driven.

most businesses which start immediately wif an holistic approach typically dun survive beyond a few years. tt's the "evil" of capitalism. can't be helped. our market is simply not big enough to enable such lofty business models to survive.

think abt it this way: if an agent is GUARANTEED to provide u excellent service, go the extra mile all the time, takes care of all details, big and small, and basically gives every single customer of his, a successful and smooth, headache-less transaction, be it sale, purchase or rental, but he charges 3% commission. Would any of us really sign this agent on? Would there be enough such willing customers to engage this agent such tt he will be able to earn a respectable living thru our business? In our society, sadly, i dun think there will be enough such customers who're willing to pay.

in my 12 years of doing sales, i've seen enough of us SG ppl to say tt most of us are (translated frm Hokkien), want cheap want green plus must be good. what is cheap can sometimes be good, but what is good, is usually not cheap.

[Plastic3 0]

I didn't think that agents would be telling the truth even though there is something wrong with the property or its previous owners.

They are all geared up to earn their commission and that's about it. Very sales-driven and realistic.

Agents are engaged by the Sellers to sell their property, if they were to disclose any details that may affect the sale of the property...they are doing the Sellers a disservice. The Sellers are paying commission to the Agent, the Sellers Agent works for the Seller not the Buyer.

This is why there is conflict-of-interest for Agent to serve both Seller & Buyer, I feel it is fantastic that there can no longer be any dual representation.

Likewise, if a Murderer engages a Lawyer to defend him in court, the Lawyer will do his best to defend the Murderer & try to clear his charges, is the Lawyer wrong or is he just doing his job?

Buyers if you have your own Agent, he will look out for you, if you are without an Agent...keep your eyes open & verify what Sellers Agent say to you yourself.

Best,

Mark

Edited December 2, 2010 by Plastic3

[Plastic3 0]

agree to a certain extent.

but to be fair to all, let's try and look at things frm an agent's perspective. they hv no basic salary at all. all their income is frm the commissions they earn. they also hv their commitments and nd to earn a living to feed their family. we appoint them to sell for us, but dun sign exclusive wif them, they spend money marketing our property, but another agent manages to sell it for us. so this successful agent gets paid and his expenses on marketing our property is recouped. wat abt the other agents who also marketed our property? their marketing expenses is all money down the drain. time and effort spent without any returns, dun even talk abt break-even. it's a negative for these agents.

Hi manutd1972,

I don't see many people looking at it from an Agent's perspective, it is heart-warming to read your post and know that there are people like you around.

I have served Sellers & Buyers who refuse to sign exclusives, very few of them are kind & understanding enough to reimburse us for the marketing expenses even when we didn't Sell & Buy for them in the end....but they do exist.

Recently, I served a single buyer who was open to buying in almost any area (Agent's Nightmare ), we brought her to see units in Bedok, Bukit Batok & Aljunied, in total 2 months we saw over 20 units. One day she called me to inform me her BF suddenly proposed to her & they were getting married so she has to put the flat buying on hold, She was kind enough to give us an "Ang Bao". To be honest the "Ang Bao" wasn't enough to cover the time & expenses we had spent on her case, but I was happy to serve her as she a very friendly & understanding buyer.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Plastic3

[manutd1972 1]

Hi manutd1972,

I don't see many people looking at it from an Agent's perspective, it is heart-warming to read your post and know that there are people like you around.

I have served Sellers & Buyers who refuse to sign exclusives, very few of them are kind & understanding enough to reimburse us for the marketing expenses even when we didn't Sell & Buy for them in the end....but they do exist.

Recently, I served a single buyer who was open to buying in almost any area (Agent's Nightmare ), we brought her to see units in Bedok, Bukit Batok & Aljunied, in total 2 months we saw over 20 units. One day she called me to inform me her BF suddenly proposed to her & they were getting married so she has to put the flat buying on hold, She was kind enough to give us an "Ang Bao". To be honest the "Ang Bao" wasn't enough to cover the time & expenses we had spent on her case, but I was happy to serve her as she a very friendly & understanding buyer.

it takes commission-based salespeople to be able to understand the difficulties faced by agents.

too many consumers see things only frm their perspective. expect heavenly service, but only willing to pay peanuts. over here, commission of 1-2%, oredi so many consumers complain. wait till they go to Taiwan/Australia(cant remember which one liao) and buy/sell a property there. their commission is, i think, 7% or higher!

[adanshen 0]

==> IT WILL DO US AND THAT AGENT GOOD IF YOU POST HIS/HER NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION.

I just sold my flat and I actually mentioned upfront at the first meeting with my agent that I would only pay 1% commission no matter how high a deal he secures, and he was agreeable to it. I feel that this is an important point that should be agreed upfront otherwise later the agent can hold you ransom by blowing the deal just because he insists on a higher commission.

Anyway my agent was nice enough to schedule all viewings on a weekend between a stipulated time, e.g. 2-4pm so that it doesn't interfere with our daily activities.

He showed us a list of other similar flats in our area and how much COV they were asking, so that we could see for ourselves whether ours was asking the "average" or "above average" amount. He will advise if the COV is realistic or if it means it will take longer to sell.

Anyway we sold our place within 3 weeks of advertisement so I belive a good agent will really help.

By the way we bought the flat from this same agent a couple of years ago and he was very helpful so decided to approach him again when we decided to sell the place.

[Plastic3 0]

it takes commission-based salespeople to be able to understand the difficulties faced by agents.

too many consumers see things only frm their perspective. expect heavenly service, but only willing to pay peanuts. over here, commission of 1-2%, oredi so many consumers complain. wait till they go to Taiwan/Australia(cant remember which one liao) and buy/sell a property there. their commission is, i think, 7% or higher!

I am not sure about the commission rates in Australia, but over there, the Agents do the marketing but the Sellers pay for all marketing costs.

It is also not as competitive over there...the number of real estate agents in Australia is about 30,000 about the same in Singapore.

But they have more than 4 times our population [Australia is about 22million, Singapore about 5million].

Rates in the US is about 6%, but to be fair...property prices in Singapore on average is high.

One thing I feel is quite unfair to Agents in Singapore is that buyers do not pay a fee for the Agent's service for bringing them around to view properties, alot of times Agents are not treated as Real Estate Agents but as "Taxi driver-cum-Travel Agents", we can bring a buyer around to see numerous properties only for the buyer to disappear on us.

This is one of the few professions where you can work very hard but not make a single cent.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Plastic3

[bepgof 20]

One thing I feel is quite unfair to Agents in Singapore is that buyers do not pay a fee for the Agent's service for bringing them around to view properties, alot of times Agents are not treated as Real Estate Agents but as "Taxi driver-cum-Travel Agents", we can bring a buyer around to see numerous properties only for the buyer to disappear on us.

This is one of the few professionals where you can work very hard but not make a single cent.

Agreed.

There are always "calculative bad sheeps" out there. Their calculative-stlye costs them in some other areas. God is always fair.

Look ahead, walk straight, do the best, enjoy present, prepared for the worst.

Edited December 5, 2010 by bepgof