my neighbor engaged a company to sell their flat and a whole bunch of agents came to view it. on propertyguru i saw that my neighbor's flat has been advertised 20 times by 20 different agents (from the same company). i mean, whats the point, i dont really understand. does that increase your chance of getting your flat sold? for about 4 months the flat remains unsold and it has been relisted and relisted. nobody came for viewing either.

when i sell my flat in future, should i also do this open house thingy for all these agents? seem rather gimmicky and unnecessary to me.

Depends on whether the flat is in a desirable location, whether the asking price is reasonable and of course, market demand. Not necessary imho.

I understand from my agent that there are many "fake" listings on the property portal, when I was hunting for a flat. I also personally sms-ed a few of the agents but didn't get a response whereas a few would say oh sold already. They use it to boost profile, awareness of their availability and portfolio, maybe? I dunno.

Depends on whether the flat is in a desirable location, whether the asking price is reasonable and of course, market demand. Not necessary imho.

I understand from my agent that there are many "fake" listings on the property portal, when I was hunting for a flat. I also personally sms-ed a few of the agents but didn't get a response whereas a few would say oh sold already. They use it to boost profile, awareness of their availability and portfolio, maybe? I dunno.

thanks so much for the input! wow i didn't know there are fake listings out there. on propertyguru it seems like most agents' listings are condo ones, or HDB rental. i seldom see HDB for sale.

anyway i read that its better not to engage those "specialists' who so-called specalize in your area because it means they will several units from the same area on hand. they will bring buyers to see those units at one go and in short, those are actually your competitors so the chances of your unit getting sold will be lesser. what do you think about that?

Edited March 1, 201511 yr by matchalatte

depends on your sale strategy, if there more agent marketing for you, the higher chance for you to make a sale. but some will think that it cheapen your property. sellers should talk to their agent on how they wants to market their property. good agents should make the effort to discuss with the owner. nowadays with internet, sellers will be able to closely monitor how their agents are working for them.

when i was trying to sell my property, i specifically told my agent where do i want to list my property and how much to list as a selling price. and i personally make checks on the listing everyday. there's once, the property got de-list and i immediately called my agent to get him to wake up his idea.

although we are paying the agents to do all these things for us, i do think that owners should take a more active role as our stake is alot higher in the sale than the agent.

Don't know about area specialists much as I didn't approach one. My upstairs neighbour whose whole extended family lives in our neighbourhood in various flats and have moved around (e.g. 4 to 5 room, daughter moved to to buy a 4 room, 5 to 4 room etc.) all used one of the area specialists, who stays in a unit in our block too, actually. All have been very happy with their selling pricepoint and purchase flats.

But like the other user posted, this is the age of the internet so sellers should be better informed and can keep tabs on what's going on too.

To gauge the demand of your area and expected selling price, you can refer to the HDB resale prices registered in the past 1 year. They're recorded on a daily basis now so can see how the prices go. It doesn't share on COV and race of buyer though. In areas with ethnic quotas, the variance can be very very large.

Also monitor similar listings in your neighbourhood on propertyguru and see how long and how much they are selling for for sometime. If you have the time and are curious enough, you might also want to try visiting some of them just to be clued in and see how their agents sell and market on their behalf. If you have the time that is

For my area I did monitor for a few months before offering for a resale unit that I knew was going at a good price. The sellers were also the first owners so did not expect a huge markup like PRs or newer home owners did in the neighbourhood. Their agent didn't know how to market and sell and do market research too.

I think it is not necessary too. Quality rather than quantity!

i HAD AN AGENT WHO BROUGHT OTHER POTENTIAL BUYERS TO VIEW SAME FLAT.SUDDENLY BOTH US LOOK AT EACH OTHER WANTING TO KNOW IF WE ARE ALSO INTERESTED ON THAT SAME FLAT. WELL BOTH OF US REALLY LIKED IT.I HAD GIVE WAY AS THE OTHER PARTY ASKED THE AGENT TO A CORNER AND TELL HI THEIR INTEREST.

i GAVE IN AS WE DIDNT WANT THE OWNERS THE UPPER HAND BY NOT GIVING IN TO REQUEST OF DISCOUNT aLSO THEY COULD EVEN ASK FOR THE HIGHER BIDDER.

SO IF YOY PLAN TO HIRE AGENT DO TELL HIM YOU WISH TO VIEW ONLY BY YOURSELF NOT WITH THE REST OF BUYERS.YOU ARE NOT PAYING THEM PEANUTS

It is necessary too...