Your encounter with Property Agent!

[Billyone]

in my dealings with property agents

I have NOT encountered a single honest hardworking agent YET

 

I pray for one but the act of GOD has not given me one yet

I hope i dont have to wait for 50 years

 

my very first property that I bought

b u s t a r d, the agent ask me for kopi money $15,000

if i dont give the property will go to another agent buyer

s h i t

how to complain

complain cannot buy the property

further more kena drink kopi and long long interview

where got time

so paid kopi money

s h i t

 

 

will continue

 

please do contribute if you think will benefit our bros and sis here

 

[Troyempire]

Most of the agents out there are "corn man".

[Benarsenal]

Money and greed. What else could it be. The term 'salesmen are conmen' don't come for nothing.

[Cerano]

good!

 

quite a few i met were willing to go the extra mile

[Sorrow]

can i offer another perspective of unrealistic yet want the sky customers or customers that you go extra mile and they don't appreciate.

 

I can offer you my own POV on customers, there's always two sides to a coin. Everytime we say others on their attitude, pls look back at ourselves if we will be like this.

[Joseph22]

\Had quite a few dealings with property agents, buying selling and renting.

 

Only found one difficult to deal with so 'sacked' her and found someone else.

 

If you pay coffee money of that amount then sorry to say more fool you.

 

i think he mean commision lah. maybe he buy a very very expensive property leh

[Aeromania]

They are all out to dig money out of you. Many of them jack up prices without owner's consent and that is why they always keep buyers from speaking to the owners. Take for example you saw a house selling $1,000,000 and you're interested in it and contacted the agent for a viewing. When you reach there they most likely let you have a look and have a feel of the house and then come down to the price. Now the agent will cook up some stories of another interested buyer has already agreed to buy it at $1,200,000 (WHICH IS A BLOODY LIE), and will tell you the owner will let you have it if you are willing to pay at least $1,250,000 bla bla bla... and they will start telling you it's worth it because there's MRT station, shopping centre, yada yada bling bling bla and it will be catastrophic to not buy it.

 

They are all staging false scenarios to jack up price and instill fears in you so it's whether you buy their stories and give what they ask.

 

Solution?

 

Maybe let's say owner is asking $1,000,000 and they gave you same story and asking $1,250,000. So 1% is $12,500 (as in their commission). Ask them to make it $980,000 and you will top up their commission to $12,500. They are happy to work hard for you this way. It's win freaking win and all parties are happy.

 

They stage you, you get off the stage and bring them to your own ground.

[Billyone]

They are all out to dig money out of you. Many of them jack up prices without owner's consent and that is why they always keep buyers from speaking to the owners. Take for example you saw a house selling $1,000,000 and you're interested in it and contacted the agent for a viewing. When you reach there they most likely let you have a look and have a feel of the house and then come down to the price. Now the agent will cook up some stories of another interested buyer has already agreed to buy it at $1,200,000 (WHICH IS A BLOODY LIE), and will tell you the owner will let you have it if you are willing to pay at least $1,250,000 bla bla bla... and they will start telling you it's worth it because there's MRT station, shopping centre, yada yada bling bling bla and it will be catastrophic to not buy it.

 

They are all staging false scenarios to jack up price and instill fears in you so it's whether you buy their stories and give what they ask.

 

Solution?

 

Maybe let's say owner is asking $1,000,000 and they gave you same story and asking $1,250,000. So 1% is $12,500 (as in their commission). Ask them to make it $980,000 and you will top up their commission to $12,500. They are happy to work hard for you this way. It's win freaking win and all parties are happy.

 

They stage you, you get off the stage and bring them to your own ground.

 

they are not so stupid just for the extra thousand or so

they rather close the deal quick rather than no deal

 

true they like to play this game that there is another buyer

s h i t

i hate this

because I always fall for it

 

I saw the property on Monday and on Tuesday the b i t c h call me up

tells me that there is someone also looking at the property

this is a caucasian who is from Merrill Lynch that quit and become full time trading in property and is very interested in this property because he has seen the property twice

the owner of the property is in Malaysia and he will come back to singapore only every saturday because of business

b i t c h gave me alot of pressure

b i t c h said if i agree she will fly down the tuesday evening to get the seller to sign in malaysia because b i t c h is sure that if she returns to Singapore the caucasian will buy it

so blur blur i agreed

I just bought a property

now when i call her she becomes less friendly

i guess because I already signed the deal and commission of 1% already

 

s h i t

 

anywhere got lesson on how NOT to be s h i t by property agent

 

[Knight]

Hi

 

dont take sides

 

where can u find a place on earth without scums or cheaters

try taking taxis in france, and see how they switch notes

 

 

How often I hear people complain about brokers when they lose in the stock market

or blame the Trainer when they lose in forex trading

or think they got a less than good deal with agents and brokers, houses or cars whatever

or blame fengshui of house blame agent blame broker

 

who is responsible?

 

instead of bashing

why not try learning and investing in yourself

 

life is never fair

but life is better if you are knowledgeable

Edited July 24, 2010 by Knight

[Topaz]

really feel that the role of the agent is very extra...

they r complicating the whole process :angry:

[Freestylers09]

i wil tell them then let go lor..singapore many property to choose..but u lost a chance to earn commission and maybe no more recommendations etc etc..

 

if they are smart..they will think long term..especially in sales or biz..if they just wan hit 1 time target..wont last long usually..name will chao one

[Billyone]

i wil tell them then let go lor..singapore many property to choose..but u lost a chance to earn commission and maybe no more recommendations etc etc..

 

if they are smart..they will think long term..especially in sales or biz..if they just wan hit 1 time target..wont last long usually..name will chao one

most agents short term minded

especially when property moves in cycle

[Siewss]

They are certainly not deserving of the current level of pay for the services rendered.

 

I think a commission rate of 0.1% is about right for that level of skills, knowledge, administration and time.

[Billyone]

They are certainly not deserving of the current level of pay for the services rendered.

 

I think a commission rate of 0.1% is about right for that level of skills, knowledge, administration and time.

cant agree more

look at the amount of work the australian property agent has to do

when compared to singapore agents

my god the difference is glarring

[Dunno]

They are all out to dig money out of you. Many of them jack up prices without owner's consent and that is why they always keep buyers from speaking to the owners. Take for example you saw a house selling $1,000,000 and you're interested in it and contacted the agent for a viewing. When you reach there they most likely let you have a look and have a feel of the house and then come down to the price. Now the agent will cook up some stories of another interested buyer has already agreed to buy it at $1,200,000 (WHICH IS A BLOODY LIE), and will tell you the owner will let you have it if you are willing to pay at least $1,250,000 bla bla bla... and they will start telling you it's worth it because there's MRT station, shopping centre, yada yada bling bling bla and it will be catastrophic to not buy it.

 

They are all staging false scenarios to jack up price and instill fears in you so it's whether you buy their stories and give what they ask.

 

Solution?

 

Maybe let's say owner is asking $1,000,000 and they gave you same story and asking $1,250,000. So 1% is $12,500 (as in their commission). Ask them to make it $980,000 and you will top up their commission to $12,500. They are happy to work hard for you this way. It's win freaking win and all parties are happy.

 

They stage you, you get off the stage and bring them to your own ground.

 

It's part and parcel of the industry. Do you know why they have to stage? Because owners ain't stupid either. They will get a whole lot of property agents to sell their house. When there a many cooks, there will be many patterns coming out. Some of the owners ask for sky high prices. Agents know they will not be able to fetch these kind of prices, but if they advertise so high, the cost will 100% go down the drain (mind you, owners are not paying a single cent for advertisement). How? Advertise lower price then try to stage higher price to meet the owner's high asking price lor. If they don't do it, some other agents will still do it.

 

It's all part and parcel of the industry, can't complain about it. Still got many patterns and ways used to also bring owners down to ground as well. Face it, buyers always low low price, sellers always want high high price. If there's no staging, both ends will never meet. Same for any kind of sales job. Even buying clothes also tio stage if it's no fixed price.

 

[Billyone]

It's part and parcel of the industry. Do you know why they have to stage? Because owners ain't stupid either. They will get a whole lot of property agents to sell their house. When there a many cooks, there will be many patterns coming out. Some of the owners ask for sky high prices. Agents know they will not be able to fetch these kind of prices, but if they advertise so high, the cost will 100% go down the drain (mind you, owners are not paying a single cent for advertisement). How? Advertise lower price then try to stage higher price to meet the owner's high asking price lor. If they don't do it, some other agents will still do it.

 

It's all part and parcel of the industry, can't complain about it. Still got many patterns and ways used to also bring owners down to ground as well. Face it, buyers always low low price, sellers always want high high price. If there's no staging, both ends will never meet. Same for any kind of sales job. Even buying clothes also tio stage if it's no fixed price.

you sounded like a potential agent

[Billyone]

not to long ago i sold one of my property

told agent i want to sell at this price

but keep asking if lower price ok

then finally i relent and said ok eg $10

 

the agent next day found a buyer for $10 and is coming to let me sign on the preliminary S&P

basket, if i blur blur sign, it actually was for $9.50

question why he act as if it is ok

i was really pissed off

i told him i cannot sign and cut his commission

b u s t a r d

 

unscrupulous agent

s h i t agent

we as consumer got no recourse for complain

complain also so what

no action taken

 

 

 

[2bfree]

There are always 2 sides to a story. I have been doin property part-time for quite awhile. I started out in the Pte Property in the beginning nw doin HDB more. Yes, there are indeed f**k up agents out there. I have been conned, played outside inside left right centre by some agents too even tho I m in this industry. But its a full circle, if the seller's are realistic & pay according to market comm, no agent wants to drag a deal. No logic in that. All sales must be made ASAP for time efficiency. Time is money. Let me put in my 2 cents but I m not defending the industry.......I will explain later.

 

1. The agreed comm from all agencies was 2% frm seller but in real life, most will pay 1%. In alot of countries. seller pay 3%<, example USA. A beach house bought at 3mil, with 1mil in renovation, Reno 10 years ago, can be market at 5.5mil. Even if the property is Co-broked, at least a decent income for the money & time spent. Cos the asking is alot higher then the Val, a longer time is needed & also alot more money is needed to market the property. Got it frm Cable TV.

 

Thus, its harder to market a property here becos rather thn market 1 property with a better marketing budget, local agents have to market 2-3 properties with same budget yet the price asked frm Seller is above val & some are really very high. The properties sold within a mth are usually

 

a. less than 100K frm val. C'mon, HDB flats already asking 30k -40k for 4Rm frm Val 340K. Of cos, easy to sell.

b. Selling below val due to some reasons but dun worry, NO GHOST involve.

 

2. There are as many f**k up sellers out there as well as f**k up agents. Why? Cos I hav heard so many agents including myself kena play out by them. My own case example, 1% comm for sale of Corner Terr, Val 1.88mil Asking 2.18mil. Realistic but there was construction goin on next door, damn noisy & a nearby unit was asking the same price but has a bigger land.....After 1mth, money spent, time spent, effort spent, 2 offers, 2mil frm my buyer & 2.05mil frm co-broke agent later, seller threaten to cut my comm if 2.18mil not reach. Hw to cut? Highest offer 2.05mil is frm co-broke agent, co-broke agent not entitle to comm frm buyer in Pte. So bite my tongue, spent more money, time, effort & nearly lost my listing halfway......Finally, in my 3rd mth, 2.18mil frm co-broke agent........NNBCCB, 2.18mil offered then wants 2.23mil, second nite 2.3mil. My co-broke lucky is my district kaki, I damn malu. On the 4th day, seller wants me to sell at 2.38mil.......I said BYE BYE. I spent 6 sat open hse 3-6pm, weekday nites weekend day viewing, at least 2.5k on advert, fuel & other expenses. Even if the deal went thru, 1% of 2.18mil is $21,800/- share with co-broke 0.5% is $10,900/- minus $2500, left with $8400/-, minus agency share left $7560/- divide by 3mths to get sale, 2 weeks to excercise option, 3 more mth for sale transaction, 2 weeks to receive money, total 7 mth, is $1080/- a mth. I tink my Bangla supervisor earns more than me...with no OT.

And tis is not the only case, Its veri common in pte property. Dont get me started with me on the other side as co-broke serving buyers, do offer to so many sellers with the price so near if not at the asking price, still kena play out by seller.....both me & the seller's agent.

 

2. Seller threatens to cut comm if expected selling price not reach.

And wats the normal Cash expected frm Val? Other district I duno, D15 inter range from 250k- 350k, corner 300k- 400k, semi 500k-800k.

So hw? I serve my buyers, help them nego a great deal, a great price but COMM. not frm buyers. So if I nego the price & seller agree but cut seller's agent comm. then I oso no comm. I eat "SAI" huh? My own case example again, helped nego a price for a inter, did my homework, knw hw much the seller bought & will earn frm sale, hw long in the market etc. Helped my buyer saved $60k but when agreed, seller cut agent's comm right in front of me. Everyone knws dat in Pte, buyer dont pay comm. If dont cut comm then no deal, so hw? So I went to my buyer & told him abt it, lucky for me buyer paid me comm. I am lucky becos I was paid by buyers twice. One was this & the second was before the offer. The buyer told me if I can help them get a good price, they dont mind paying me the portion of the comm......Hw i wished most buyers are like dat.

 

3. For the record, most sellers wont want to talk to buyers. Unless buyer's offer is near to asking price, buyers will nvr hav a decent or honest response frm seller. Frm the begining, seller will usually give us a price indication of wat to look out for. Let's take my example 01 above, anything below 2mil dont even bother letting seller knw. The exact sentance was," Dont come to me with a low baller & waste my time." And trust me, I have heard even worst in my short stint in Pte property selling. Of cos we want the seller & buyer to meet, its so much easier to close the deal when all parties are arnd. We can get it done right on the spot. Save everyone's time & esp ours, agent's time & effort too. We can move on to our next sale.

 

4. Sellers need us to do the dirty work. The rejection, the time, the effort, the blame etc are all on us. And the free marketing too. But if buyers tink for a sec dat they can do without a buyer agent then sori hor. Unless buyer is like some of our MCF bros here, then u will be so call "stage" until u can reach a "stage" where u duno where is the "stage" ur offer is at. This is wat my "ATAS" management told me, "Remember, AS A PROFESSIONAL PROPERTY BROKER, WHEN WE REPRESENT A SELLER ,WE GET THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE PRICE. WHEN WE REPRESENT A BUYER, WE GET THE LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICE. WE ACT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PARTY WHOM WE REPRESENT, THATS BEING PROFESSIONAL. THATS CALL ETHIC."

So, will a seller's agent if not for the fear of being unprofessional, at least for the fear that their comm will be cut or being reject by the seller too often & terminate the listing, nego for the buyer who dont have any benefit for the seller's agent? Think. We as buyer's agents oso kena frm seller's agent sometimes when the seller really press them too hard. We understand, we are sometimes in dat shoes too, BUT we will minimise the impact on the buyers thru ourselves.

 

I can go on & on with wat I have observed during my stint in Pte property.....But in short, the ball has always been in the seller's hand in Pte property. Cos the oni legimate "pay master" is the Seller, & oso tis is Singapore. In the near future, very near in fact, agents will only represent 01 side of the sale. Either the seller side or the buyer side. And hopefully, the comm will be spread out by the seller & the buyer, like HDB sales. That's 01 reason why I do HDB more nw & lesser pte. The money is almost the same, lesser staging.....in fact none so far in the last few sales. Cos I get my comm frm buyers or I get my comm frm sellers, I dun need to stage others or be stage by others. Much simpler. More paperwork, more hassel but MUCH SIMPLER.

 

I am not trying to defend myself or this industry, there are always black sheeps. I used to HATE agents too. I choose to join property full time at this age not becos it pays that damn well. I am earning comfortable money for myself as I m single.. I was tinking, F**K! Property agent, hw hard can it be? Anyway, just do part-time try try lor. But after some time, I start to realise the misconceptions abt property agents & why I HATE them.

I m just speaking in fairness for property agents who are not the f**k up ones.......

 

Sori, tink I veri naggy again.......old man by nature.

Cheers

Edited July 24, 2010 by 2bfree