Tag Archives: HDB News

How we sold our flats without using property agents

Posted on 16 Oct 2009 | 1 comment

I AM writing in response to Ms Kwok Yoke Pui’s letter on Tuesday, “Commissions and property agents”.

Ms Kwok said: “I would like to clarify that I am most willing to pay (the 1 per cent commission). The point is, I want to pay the agent who is representing me, not the seller’s agent.”

If this is so, perhaps Ms Kwok should appoint an agent and let the agent take her for viewings before deciding to view any unit. Commissions are agents’ income. If one buyer has to call 15 agents from different property firms for viewings before deciding to put in an offer, can you imagine how difficult it would be for an agent to close the sale and get his income?

Agents make it clear to buyers that they have to pay a commission before viewing. This is better than asking the buyer to pay after the sale has been concluded. Continue reading →

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Flood of bids for flats

Posted on 15 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Flood of bids for flats

Over 20,000 apply for 2,132 flats in HDB’s new Sale of Balance Flats

If you were one of the 1,022 who applied for a four-room flat in Sengkang as of 5pm yesterday, your chances aren’t good – in fact, they are a mere one in 39, with only 26 units up for grabs.

This is an extreme example of the overwhelming response to the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) new Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise.

Just hours to go before the midnight deadline, there were nearly 10 bids for every unit being offered under the scheme. As of 5pm, there were 20,691 applications for the 2,132 flats that range from studio units to executive flats.

The exercise, launched by the HDB on Oct 1, has drawn intense interest because the flats are from surplus stock, which means there is little or no wait for the prospective home-buyer – as compared to the average three-year wait for a flat under the Build to Order (BTO) scheme. Continue reading →

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