zirhk3355

I am glad that you managed handle the matter bravely and not be swayed by those unjustified demand letters and lawyer's letters. Let me narrate a little more about small claim tribunal; the very first question that the Registrar would ask is, "where is the commission agreement?" If nothing, s/he would be very irritated with the agency, and throw the onus on them to prove that you had in any way agreed to pay the commission, eg verbally, sms, emails, etc. End of the day, no matter what services was provided by the agent, there is no established legalities to put a monetary amount to such services; ie not automatic one. They cannot say, "Oh, we provide a service so we deserved to be paid." The basic point is, did the seller/buyer KNOW that a fee was involved, and did they AGREE to pay you? If yes, then must pay. If no, then no need to pay. Period. This is the stand that I can see our Court taking on every of such property agent's cases, which I think is fair and just. Lastly, I must say you are being very honourable too that you at least gave some commission to the agent because after all, he did work for you although he failed badly in his duties. Some Singaporeans would even seek compensation from the agency for misrepresentation. I think you had done more than enough.

I can't find the news? Is it the case with propnex agent and a buyer who refused to pay him comm? I had never agreed with the current "market practice" of one agent representing both the seller and buyer; have you ever heard of a lawyer representing both the defendant and the plaintiff in court?? Those agents who tell you there is no conflict of interest and that s/he will protect the interest of BOTH sellers and buyers, is simply bullsh*tting you. Like abovementioned, buyer want low price, seller want high price. So how to "protect the interest of BOTH parties"?? If I am paying a lawyer to represent me and he tells me that he want to protect the interest of the other fella too, I will definitely sack him on the spot!

I dun think you can opt out for the room/toilet doors because they should have been already installed. I was allowed to choose if I want the doors because I was an enbloc owner. Anyway, the doors are priced at $1900 and this will be added into the sales price (ie even if you remove it, they will reduce the sale price accordingly, not give you cash). The quality is decent lah, so just take lor; why go pay cold hard cash to install your own doors? As for the heater, its a separate arrangement with citygas, nothing to do with HDB. Its not automatic also, you need to call citygas and tell them you want it. However, in the past it used to be free, now I heard you need to pay for it.

Think you can get those insect-catcher light from those DIY stores, where it attaches the insects with the purple light and electrocute them. Otherwise the pail of water under the lights will work fine; the insects will fly towards the other 'light' in the water reflection and get drowned in there...

When its free it means the ID/contractor had already marked up and spread the cost over to all other items so that its 'invisible'.

Resale flat means you buy from open market, deal direct with the current owner. Repurchased flat means the flat was pre-owned, but due to some reasons was taken back by HDB, and HDB put it back on sale again. About the Grant part I am not sure liao...

Its true leh, when comes to seniors in the family cannot keep asking or try to 'confirm' if they are coming. It is seen as a form of 'mistrust' lor; "why you think I won't come ah??" or "you scared I siam to save up angbao is it??" Anyway, relatives one just let your parents and PILs handle lah; dun need to allocate seats or RSVP. You just assume they are all coming as per what your parents say lor...

I dun think its very unconventional, although its looks expensive to me. Try to print out the pic and check out places like life storey, massimmo, air, etc.

Take in-between lor, 35 tables + 2 reserve! Actually need to consider more info leh; did everyone on your 36 tables RSVP already? Who are they? Based on your judgement, who is likely to put aeroplane and who is likely to bring extra guests? Surely you have a good idea of all these...

In a bigger picture, Singapore is really in a sorry state. Many of us do not really bother about being civic-minded, giving back to society simply because they are in difficulties themselves. Remember the Maslow's hierachy of needs? I would agree with TYM, the bus operators are simply businessmen; they just charge you a fee for sending you from point A to point B. They are not childcare specialist, they do not want to be responsible for anything else if they could help it. Adding on to what yoongf said, the govt is taking alot of time to deliberate on this law is because there are so many factors to consider. There are no benefits to put the selfish bus operators out of business, which would seriously impact the society instead. Those who have the moolah to have seat belts on all the seats in the bus would jump in to charge more. Govt might also want to consider subsidies for the operators, but that has to be ironed out because contractors would always take the opportunity to rip off the state's money. Its the same, you see; you care for your kids, the bus operators care for their families too! The bus operators do not see that they are ferrying children and need to be responsible for them; they just take it as their job to earn money for THEIR families. When their families' livelihood are at risk (ie paying more for seat belts and reducing quality of life for their family), they simply CANNOT comprehend why they must be socially-responsible and civic-minded. My family always have to come first, not the society. Just like you and me, isn't it?

Oops - haha done!!

Painting would be the cheapest actually, followed by stickers design like blink or winkplay, then wallpaper. I am not sure what you are referring to, but I suspect you mean texture like raw cement, or uneven finish, etc? I think such are considered feature walls and even more ex lor...

Haha...I know, but how else would you describe it?? Believe me I tried and this seemed to be the most accurate way to point people to the correct place...

Credit card you cannot bargain down the price too much lor, cuz they got to pay the merchant's fee. And if you are looking for that 0% instalment plan, not many of these stores have it, because I think they also need to pay some fees.

I created a map on Google: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp...008626&z=17

Your contractors should know what to do. They will engage a PE to submit their plans to HDB for approval.

Yes yes!! Come for THUM! Now its still on every Sat, 3pm at the coffeeshop near the open carpark (behind rubbish dump).

Just wait for their reply, dun be too depressed lah. Call up the account dept and make sure someone got your email, get his/her name + contact and sit back to wait. The point is, you are disputing the payment so of course you dun hab to pay anything until they get back to you. They would be more worried than you about the payment, so like I said, dun need to be depressed.

Hehe, I sense that question coming up. I am not a property agent, but I was one sometime ago. I got so disgusted with the industry, so I quit and with my knowledge, now I am sort of like a nemesis, esp to those "chao agents" who try to 'snook' innocent people (read my other posts). Let's just put it that I am still in the real estate industry but definitely not in an agency or commission-based. I must qualify, I do believe in the existence of property agents, and I still believe, if done the right way, an agent is very important in any property transaction. Just like lawyers, you can go to court and defend yourself without a lawyer, but everyone would agree that it would be better to have a lawyer to represent you. Which is why sometimes I would defend the agents, esp if they are in the right. But I must agree, the real estate agents' industry is now in a complete mess; totally unregulated, so many "chao agents" running around, ill-trained and there are complaints everyday. They still have a VERY long way to go to consider themselves as a professional middleman like lawyers.

You need to really calculate all the stamp fee, grant, first month instalment, etc - cannot just take the downpayment as a ballpark, its very inaccurate. There are alot of other upfront payments as well. There's a financial calculator at HDB website for you to check on all these.

If private transaction, the agency's OTP is used and such clause are incorporated. But if HDB transaction, you use HDB's OTP and such clause is not inside. Thus the agents will have to make you sign commission agreements or exclusive agency agreements, which will have such clause. If nothing is signed, please go buy a kite and give it to the agent., and recommend him/her to go east coast park or marina south to fly it.

About representing clients with or without licence, the agents simply work as an employee of a licensed agency. BTW there is no such thing as a "licence" for an individual agent in the context of our law; there is only licence for housing agency. Further, the agreement between the agent and the agency is that of a "contract" basis, and carefully worded such that it minimise any implications to the agency should the agent get him/her into a lawsuit. As for registering an agency, the regulations are so surprisingly lax that anyone with CEHA (non-bankrupt) can register an agency by paying a minimal fee. As for CEHA, IMO its quite a joke. All it takes is three papers, with MCQs and short essays, to pass.

I think you duo got to calm down and do more research; its an sad fact of our real estate industry and I am not surprised that few people knows about it. Unfortunate but true, just try call up an agency and ask how to become an agent. You will be surprised. Even for big names like ERA, Propnex, DTZ, etc - you just pay for their in-house course with no tests/exams, not certified by any govt bodies; just pay and go thru the course. You dun even have to attend it fully, attendance is not strictly enforced. Next, print your namecards and you are an agent already. You can start closing deals for private properties, sales and rental, on behalf of the agency, using their forms and template agreements, and and you will be paid your due commissions. For HDB transactions, only agents with Certificate of Estate Housing Agents (CEHA) are allowed to use ResaleNet to register a resale transaction. But agents without CEHA can simply ask their colleagues to register for them, or submit hardcopy by dropping into the box at HDB hub. HDB does not regulate the appointment of agents and they deem it as a private agreement between the sellers/buyers and agents. There are associations formed to try and regulate agents, but just like CASE, they are merely toothless tigers. The onus of regulating agents, for now, still lies on the agencies themselves, but sadly, they too are more concerned about their bottomline than having a good reputation.

Erm, if the agent is under a licenced real estate agency, he is considered to be a contract staff of that agency and thus it is legal for him/her to demand for payment in accordance to the signed commission agreement. If a commission agreement was signed, then all you have to fall back on are the terms stated therein. Usually there is a clause stating that in the event of a voluntarily aborted transaction, a partial payment is warranted. You need to take out the agreement and read the small prints carefuly...

I agree, but in a more light-hearted way, how can we resolve this?? Get more neighbours to join us in Renotalk or THUM!! You see, if you are on good terms with almost all the units on the same floor; would you (or your neighbours) throw rubbish and dirty the public spaces? Some of our forummers here know their neighbours left-right-centre; I am sure they would be more careful when wanting to throw rubbish. People becomes less civic-minded when they do not feel a sense of belonging; just like you would just rinse your office's cups but wash those at home thoroughly. When disgruntled, it becomes worse - why should I care for something that I hate so much? Once they feel inclusive, they would naturally care for environment like their own.