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pepamint_L

Screwed By Seller's Agent

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What I think is, when the price is mutually agreed, IMMEDIATELY pay 5k check & sign the otp form. U dun want delays and any 夜长梦多. Lock the deal and even someone else offered 45k that greedy seller agent also can't do anything but to honor the otp.

This is what I did. During my time when getting resale flat, only 1 agent which is seller agent. We offer the COV that we want, agent call owner and owner agree. I straight away sign the cheque and OTP to secure the deal. Owner not around that time so agent bring cheque to the owner, luckly this was done fast as hear from the agent that owner wife not very happy with the COV but too bad his husband already sign so she no choice also sign due to need to pay daughter degree school fees. Anyway, after 2nd appt when the wife got the proceed cheque, she keep smiling. :D

Edited by davidbslee
 

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The biggest problem it seems is with the system.

Your/my agent is rewarded with you spending more money. Maybe a better system would be to set the asking price and they get rewarded for every K under that price they can get :D. I am sure it would still be open to abuse but just maybe ........

We had a couple of places with experiences like those above.

Very nice 5 room overlooking Tampines stadium, mid floor, beautiful reno, only 2 blocks over from where we currently live. Wanted around 530K (about 50K COV). We were thinking about it but it would really stretch our cash. Next we heard it was 540 then 550. Last we heard the owner was still taking bids at 80K COV but it seems they were in no rush to sell so just let price go up and up. Can't blame them for wanting highest price but they are also just wasting everyones time if they are not committed to sell. This was just before the new Government rules in Sept.

We also saw another EM, very low COV but 2nd floor, very buy road, door not close to but facing refuse building. Currently occupied by tenants, needs full reno. We offer 12K COV, then 15K told 17K done deal, offer 17K, rejected told 20K will agree, offer 20K told will 100% sign OTP on 22K. Hard to get owners agent, hard to get owner. We say goodbye and by a much more expensive but much nicer unit in a better location.

On the other side of things.... us selling, we had adverts put in the various places with a pic and asking price 350K for a ground floor 3a, nice reno, close to Tampines central. Another 3 room in our block was advertised for around 330K. Didn't expect to get over 300K. Quite a few enquiries, arranged open house viewings the following Sunday. Put a new advert up with more pictures and got more interest (pictures only staggered as I was working like a mad person clearing the property and touching up the paint work). Sunday was fully booked so arranged 8 more families to view on Saturday. Come Saturday 2 people offered the 350K on the spot and another offered 340K. We could not accept as the first people to show interest had not even seen the property so not fair on them. Asked Saturday people to come back if still interested (2 came back). Sunday lots of people came. By the time we returned home there were two families still left and as they had both offered 350K we agreed to have a closed bid. Highest offer wins. We could have had an open bid but then it is more like an auction and can turn in to a complete mess. It worked out very well for us whilst still being pretty fair to the buyers. The big factor in the whole process was that we gave everyone the chance to view and made it clear that the highest closed bit would secure the property on Sunday. No long running bidding war, everyone interested were in the same room together so they could be sure of no fake bids. Not sure how much fairer we could have been considering the amount of interest which really surprised us.

Another suggestion would be to start looking early but be prepared to let that great apartment go if you find it. Get a feel for the market and what is on offer for what sort of prices. Ask your agent for a true list of available properties as the lists on the property internet sites are usually full of bogus adverts. If there are no photos of the property they are usually fake or only photos of the outside of blocks and MRT etc. ERA keeps a list of properties it's agents can search everyday. Get your agent to send the list daily as a lot of them are not on the websites.

RB

 

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...........From my 9 months of flat viewings, the seller's agent would NEVER talk prices in the presence of the home owners. You will find as you go along that home owners are less greedy than the agents, simply because the agent has to work very hard to increase their slice of commission. Thus they either create a bidding war environment or conjure up phony offers telling you that you have to pay more............

i do not blame the seller's agent for doing so. rmb, the seller is paying him commission to act in his(seller's) best interests. so even though seller may be willing to settle for less, agent must also do his bit to try and increase the selling price so as to look after the seller's interests. at the same time of trying to increase the selling price, yes, he also gains but look at this frm this angle, suppose he manages to increase the selling price by $15000. his increase in commission is only $150. for an increase of $150, do u think any good and proper agent in his right mind will take the risk of bursting the deal, and having to hang onto the unit for another 1-2 months, spend more money advertising, spend more time wif viewings, all for the potential extra earnings of perhaps $150? tt's super short-sightedness.

most selling agents just want to close the deal and move onto the next unit. no agent wants to be stuck wif an un-sold unit for too long.

i've met good agents, i've met bad agents in my search for my home. but i still hold a neutral view of them. at d end of d day, we always only hear horror stories of bad agents. but we seldom hear stories of good agents. the % of agents out there who are bad, when compared to the whole population of agents practising in the industry is not high. in fact, it is actually only a few black sheep among them, but cos the media tends to propagate the horror stories, less aware and less calm consumers become super suspicious of all agents. everything tt whichever agent does, to them, has an ulterior motive.

the ultimate protection for oneself is awareness. and if u're inexperienced, the person who can help u wif that, is ur own agent. so when appointing an agent, its best to ask ard for recommendations. recommendations frm ppl u can trust. so tt u knw tt ur agent will be honest and fair in his dealings wif u.

Edited by manutd1972
 

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suppose he manages to increase the selling price by $15000. his increase in commission is only $150. for an increase of $150, do u think any good and proper agent in his right mind will take the risk of bursting the deal, and having to hang onto the unit for another 1-2 months, spend more money advertising, spend more time wif viewings, all for the potential extra earnings of perhaps $150? tt's super short-sightedness.

most selling agents just want to close the deal and move onto the next unit. no agent wants to be stuck wif an un-sold unit for too long.

i've met good agents, i've met bad agents in my search for my home. but i still hold a neutral view of them.

This is very true, I had wanted to write the same reply...but reckon no one will believe me.....since I'm an Agent :unsure:

Edited by Plastic3
 

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I have to get this off my chest...

My fiance and I have been viewing flats almost every weekend for the past 3 months, finally saw what we liked, a 5 room flat in AMK Ave 3 2 weekends ago.

First time we met the seller's agent, a middle aged man by the name of Lawrence S*** from Pro***x, he wasn't even wearing his agent's badge, seemed to not know alot of the procedures. He was very nice and friendly to my agent, acting like he's really glad to meet my agent who verbally advised him on all the procedures. He also claimed that he wanted to close the case as quickly as possible since he was going overseas for a week.

Anyhow, he told my agent he's very keen to sell to us, said someone already offered him 30K but if we offered 35K COV he would try his very best to close the case. when we finally did 3 days later, he said someone else offered the same but had yet to get HLE. He claimed he did not want to start a bidding war, won't consider our bid anymore, even if we increased our bid!

....Then after a while, he suddenly changed his tune and said, if we offered 38K, he claims 'owner will close deal'. Then he 'went overseas' for 1 week..We should have smelt a rat by his sudden turn-around, but we were so keen on the flat that we ignored the warning signs...On hindsight, he was actually just waiting for the other party to get the HLE, to start the bidding war!

Finally, just before he returned from his 'overseas trip' we offered 38K, and he smsed my agent, to say it was a 'done deal'. The buyer had agreed, so even if someone else called him now, he would said the deal is closed. After his return, we were in fact arranging with him for the time to sign the option to purchase (on saturday) when he suddenly changed his tune again, claiming the other party offered 40K and we have to offer the same or higher!

In the end, we had to give up totally, firstly because the COV was really out of our budget and secondly, we finally saw what he was trying to do...In this whole process, we were led by the nose, the Lawrence **au was manipulating us and using us as a pawn to raise the COV...

Very angry, sad, disappointed, was so looking forward to it and now left feeling played out and used....

Don't worry lah, you aren't the only one who's gone through this. Count it as a lesson learnt and luckily you didn't end up paying through your nose for that unit.

I really hate it when seller / agent keeps asking for more when we have already agreed on the price. My hubby and I turned down one unit which did this to us, we told them to sell it to the other buyer "who was offering a higher price". 2 days later the agent asked us if we are still interested and we gave them one piece of our mind - that we do not buy rejected goods. They even wanted to drop the price slightly but we firmly said no. We told them that even if they wanted to sell below valuation we were also not interested already.

Btw, we took 6 mths to find a suitable unit and saw more than 30+ units. Don't give up!!

 

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hey guys,

thank you to all for your kind words and advice!

You're right, we were very inexperienced and naive.

As for my agent, well, she's actually my friend, I engaged her because she's really a nice and honest girl, plays by the rules, very ethical. This is usually a good thing, but in this case, bad because, she wasn't shrewd enough to deal with the other agent, nor negotiate a better deal for us.

As for the seller's agent, I understand that seller's agent should act in the seller's best interest, and they should try to get the highest price, but I prefer it if he did it all above board, not by lying and all....

Seriously, I will read through all your inputs again (like exam revision :D ) before I go view another flat, so as not to commit more mistakes and put myself up for disappointment again...

But first, I'll need to find another agent, coz my fiance was rather pissed off with my agent-friend, he felt that she is too inexperienced and in that particular episode, wasn't able to help much at all...and i do agree with him...

Edited by pepamint_L
 

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As for my agent, well, she's actually my friend, I engaged her because she's really a nice and honest girl, plays by the rules, very ethical. This is usually a good thing, but in this case, bad because, she wasn't shrewd enough to deal with the other agent, nor negotiate a better deal for us.

But first, I'll need to find another agent, coz my fiance was rather pissed off with my agent-friend, he felt that she is too inexperienced and in that particular episode, wasn't able to help much at all...and i do agree with him...

May I ask how new is your Agent exactly?

I feel after this episode she would probably learn and improve and be able to serve you better in future, hopefully you can give her another chance :)

Not all Sellers' Agent are going to be like this one that you met, there is a good number of ethical Agents...I closed my last 3 cases happily with very ethical Agents.

Best,

Mark

 

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May I ask how new is your Agent exactly?

I feel after this episode she would probably learn and improve and be able to serve you better in future, hopefully you can give her another chance :)

Not all Sellers' Agent are going to be like this one that you met, there is a good number of ethical Agents...I closed my last 3 cases happily with very ethical Agents.

Best,

Mark

She's a part-timer, in this line for about 1 year only. Yeah, I hope she can learn and improve also, but will need more time. Ultimately, we're still friends..

Even if someone asks me for agent recommendation, I'll still recommend her, because she is really an honest girl...but I would just tell the person asking for recommendation to be a bit smarter/shrewder, to deal with seller, and not rely entirely on my friend for all the negotiation then...

 

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May I ask how new is your Agent exactly?

I feel after this episode she would probably learn and improve and be able to serve you better in future, hopefully you can give her another chance :)

Not all Sellers' Agent are going to be like this one that you met, there is a good number of ethical Agents...I closed my last 3 cases happily with very ethical Agents.

Best,

Mark

just wondering, what would you have done differently if you were in my agent's shoes?

 

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that's why i would think is a matter of heng/suay thing.... the playground is always skewed towards sellers and their agents..... depending on their character, they can cook up all sorts of nonsense to artificially inflate the COV.... which i think even the most season buyer agent oso can't do much....

 

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just wondering, what would you have done differently if you were in my agent's shoes?

For me after viewing the unit I usually will have a target COV amount that I feel is reasonable for my buyer to pay according to current market conditions, once the Seller or Agent raises the COV over my target i'll advise my buyer to walk...whether my buyer accepts my advise is up to them.

Some of them tell me they really love the unit (or cannot waste any more time viewing other units) & are willing to pay, then of course I follow their instructions.

In this case, always close the case fast...preferably on the same day.

Best,

Mark

 

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Hi Mark, if you were a seller's agent, would you negotiate pricing on behalf of the seller in the presence of a prospective buyer? If you do, my respect to you for being honest and aboveboard about it. If you don't, perhaps you can share why you do not do it?

 

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Hi Mark, if you were a seller's agent, would you negotiate pricing on behalf of the seller in the presence of a prospective buyer? If you do, my respect to you for being honest and aboveboard about it. If you don't, perhaps you can share why you do not do it?

If Buyer requests to speak directly to Seller, and Seller is agreeable..I don't see why not, I don't hide anything from my Sellers so there is no reason to prevent them from meeting.

In fact it is better, if Buyer & Seller can talk before they officially close the deal, I have had Buyers lie to me several times but end up the Seller thinks I am the one playing tricks.

Trying to be an "honest" Agent has its pitfalls, because of all the negative publicity & customers' personal experiences with other Agents, some people have this image that all Agents are lying b**tards, makes it frustrating to serve them when they have doubts about what i'm doing very step of the way...

Edited by Plastic3
 

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in our current societal climate, a lot of times, it doesn't pay to be an honest salesman in our business dealings cos most of our customers, through past experiences, either doubt us, or try to "makan" us.

but think about it this way, we're the ones who will have to live with how we do our business. so do we wanna have a clear conscience and conduct ourselves ethically and honestly? or do we wanna cut a few corners so as to try and level the playing field a bit?

i know my stand. and as the chinese saying goes, i won't tremble in fear when there's a knock on my door in the middle of the night.

 

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May I ask how new is your Agent exactly?

I feel after this episode she would probably learn and improve and be able to serve you better in future, hopefully you can give her another chance :)

Not all Sellers' Agent are going to be like this one that you met, there is a good number of ethical Agents...I closed my last 3 cases happily with very ethical Agents.

Best,

Mark

I agreed with Mark, I think you should give your friend another chance to serve you. At very least you know that she will not "gang up" with other unethical agent to smoke you. From my house hunting experiences, most of times the seller are the problematics one, seldom the agent or maybe I have a good agent. :D

Sometimes the house chooses owner as well and it is all about timing. You want fast prepared to pay more.

I hunted my house for 9 months, saw this unit A, overbudget, seller not realistic. Saw unit B within budget, go into bidding war, seller not realistic lasted 1 month. Unit sold by another seller's agent. Waited 2 weeks, hopefully don't execute OTP. Unit sold. :bangwall: Waited another 2 weeks, no more units selling in that area, ask agent to check unit A. COV falls within budget, view unit A again. I asked agent to fight for the price I want, even a cents more I can't pay. Tell agents we can end each other agony, buyer agent's 9 months and seller's agent 2 months. When signing OTP, seller ask seller's agent infront of us, thought there is higher offer, why didn't waited for them ? Seller's agent tell seller, it is up to him, the higher offered buyer still waiting for HLE and all other buyers talk only and did not offered check, don't even know whether if they will even come back, but this buyer went all the way back to take check and come back after you agreed to the pricing. All parties smiling, happy ending, all transparents. Other buyers come back with HLE to seller's agent, but unit is sold. FYI, seller's agent is from Pr*****.

Get all the documentations/checks ready and happy hunting for your dream house ! Cheers.

 

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