Plastic3

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.

Those who are selling their existing home and buying another home and wish to take 80% financing instead of 70% financing, must show proof of sale of their home by providing the Exercised Option To Purchase for the sale and the Stamp Duty Certificate showing that the buyer has paid the stamp duty. For HDB flats, they have to produce the Principal Approval Letter from HDB for the sale of their flat (issued within 2 weeks from 1st Appointment Date) and a letter from the bank showing that the outstanding loan will be discharged.

As long as they have an outstanding loan, private or hdb, can only get 70% financing.

From my time in this forum reading all this posts, I can tell therat & bepgof know more than enough.....new Agents won't be your match

Yes, Mr. Mah making us work hard for our commission Looks can be deceiving, some Aunties are able to do all the things stated by bepgof, I really admire them....being a professional Agent yet still able to take care of their family...it is not easy at all. Some other Aunties honestly, don't know much...some can't piece a proper sentence of english together, these Aunties may not be able to survive pass 2011.

If you really become a Real Estate Salesperson....you'll realise just knowing all the HDB rules isn't enough. Some customers expect you to know everything, if you take more than 5 seconds to think about anything...you may lose them as customers.

Running & Swimming.... Playing Tennis with a newbie...

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.

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

LOL

I feel Location, Level, Condition, View, Recent Transactions affect the valuation more than whether it is near a School... Especially since it is a new school, if it's an old well-known school being relocated nearer to your area, you may get higher COV if the parents desperately want their children in there... Best, Mark

Costs I used to deduct from Annual Rental Income = Maintenance Fee, Property Tax, Estimated Income Tax (from rental income taxable), Vacant cost & Agent Fee Cost added to Purchase price that I included = Stamp duty, Legal fee, Minimal renovation & furnishings (Please let me know if I missed out anything, i'm continuing trying to improve my system to be as realistic as possible, although it will never be accurate for everyone) The only change I made to my formula is lowering the loan amount to 70% (as most investors are likely have more than 1 loan), this does not affect the projected Net Yield much, it is more significant in ROE. Lastly to add a disclaimer: I am not an analyst, this research is all done on my own time & not meant to be investment advise (Please use as reference only) I am not marketing any units in any of the projects above Data is best used as comparison of projects within the table Best, Mark

A couple months ago almost all units in Yishun was asking for $30k COV & above, I had a tough time finding a place for my buyer who was looking for a more affordable place.

Thanks for sharing. Talking about excess supply... If you look at URA site, there is going to be 18,712 units expected to complete in 2013. Comparing to 2011 (6,766) & 2012 (9,149), that is quite substantial. I took a look at some projects that TOP-ed in 2010 the other day, their rental yields & capital appreciation, the only one that is making a loss is also from District 9 & launched in 2007: More can be found on my blog if interested: http://markdwg.wordpress.com/ Best, Mark

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

That's true, they're very efficient when assembling the furniture, took a couple guys minutes to fix up my desk, TV console, drawer & chair!

Came across a cool site which provides tools for users to customize their own home... http://us.mydeco.com/design/

Yeah, few years ago as long as exceed a certain amount theres free delivery, just go to the enquiry counter and order the stuff.... But now its self-service, even for bulky items the consumer needs to carry it to the cashier to checkout and then carry to the delivery counter, feels like they have "outsourced" the delivery or separated the operations Based on percentage: http://www.ikea.com.sg/en/service/store-se...ry-assembly.asp

Totally agree, have to exercise prudence and not overstretch oneself when it comes to investments...

Nice!

I like your suggestions, just to add... 1] this will likely be implemented 2] this will happen quite a lot as around 80% of Agents come from the big 4 Agencies, I always bump into Agents from the Agency i'm with and I have never met most of them before 3] CEA will not limit the service fee as they want fair competition, can be pros & cons for both Consumers & Agents

I feel it is good to buy HDB before upgrading to Private homes, but it also depends on the kind of lifestyle you are looking for.

That's reasonable, if all races eligible should be able to find a buyer soon..

hm...are you asking for high COV?

Yes, I know of Agents who advertise like that....since they earn less, most of them are likely to cut-corners here and there.... btw, I saw your pm, but i'm unable to answer your question right now as your particular estate has no rental data. I'll check nearby areas and see if I can do a proper comparison.