Category Archives: General

WE REFER to Ms Kwok Yoke Pui’s letter yesterday, ‘Agents shouldn’t take on dual roles‘. Housing Board flat sellers and buyers need not engage estate agents for their resale transactions, although there are benefits in doing so, such as leveraging on an agent’s network for expeditious sales or purchases.

A buyer and seller in a transaction should be represented by separate agents to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

While an agent should act and collect commission from only one party, the buyer or seller, it is also acceptable if the buyer and seller in a transaction agree to have the same agent represent them.

The agent should preferably obtain the written consent of both parties; the same should apply to two agents from the same company who are acting separately for sellers and buyers in the same transaction.

Both the seller and buyer should be aware and agree to such an arrangement. Continue reading →

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