Daily Archives: 8 Oct 2009

HDB skybridge will make money, so why ask residents to pay?

Posted on 8 Oct 2009 | 1 comment

VISITORS will be allowed to use the skybridge on the 50th storey of Pinnacle @ Duxton, while the one on the 26th storey will be reserved for residents who will be issued access cards.

The Housing Board will charge a yet-to-be-decided fee for its use by non-resident visitors. It will be the first such facility in Singapore to levy a charge, with probably the integrated resort at Marina following suit on completion.

The Duxton skybridge will surely be a national and international attraction, and so generate income for the town council. I am surprised that the HDB has informed future residents at Pinnacle that monthly maintenance charges will be higher than those for other HDB blocks, to cover the higher cost of facilities, apparently to ensure proper use of the skybridges.

Should the HDB not wait and monitor the level of use before deciding on higher monthly charges? What if it turns out to be a constant, healthy revenue stream?

Richard Ho

See Also :  Don’t make applicants pay again and again in futile bidding for Duxton flats

Source : Straits Times – 8 Oct 2009

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Agents shouldn’t take on dual roles

Posted on 8 Oct 2009 | 2 comments

RECENTLY, I tried to buy an HDB flat from the resale market. I found out I had to pay a 1 per cent commission (of the total resale price) to the agent who represented the seller. Even when I said I did not need a property agent as I could file all the documents with the HDB, the seller’s agent insisted that he represented me as well. This means he collects 2 per cent from the seller and 1 per cent from the buyer.

Is this not a conflict of interest? Whom will the property agent represent if there is a dispute between the buyer and the seller?

Some agents try to circumvent this by stating the name of a colleague or partner as the buyer’s agent on the option to purchase form. Is this against the law?

I also tried to buy a resale condominium. The seller’s agent was not willing to entertain my agent as the commission scheme is different from the HDB’s, that is, the seller pays the buyer’s agent, and the buyer does not need to pay his agent.

In my case, the seller’s agent told my agent that if I wanted to buy the unit, my agent would have to ‘co-broke’, that is, share the commission with the seller’s agent even though the latter did not contribute anything to close the sale.

Later, I was shocked to learn that my offer of $690,000 was rejected although the unit was sold for $688,000. This was a direct buyer’s sale, that is, the seller’s agent also represented the buyer and collected the full 1 per cent commission instead of having to ‘co-broke’ with my agent.

In cases like these, how are buyers and sellers’ interests protected?

Kwok Yoke Pui (Ms)

Source : Straits Times – 8 Oct 2009

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