Tag Archives: National Development Ministry

Why property agents should act for only one party

I REFER to last Thursday’s Forum Online letters by Mrs Teresa Yao (‘How new rules can protect property agents’) and Mr Teo Kueh Liang (‘Barring same-agent property brokerage not practical’).

Both writers have highlighted the plight of the majority of ethical property agents, whose image has been tarnished by a small group of unscrupulous and dishonest agents.

In any profession, it is impossible to completely wipe out the bad hats. Therefore, after an acceptable standard of practice has been established, understood and made into law, non-compliant practices should be punished.

In any property transaction, the two most important parties are the seller and the buyer. They must enter into a legally binding contract in order for the sale to go through. It is therefore natural that we facilitate the interests of the seller and the buyer first.

The interests of the property agent come after those of the seller and the buyer, as his role can come into being only after he has been appointed.

The terms of appointment, that is, what the agent can or cannot do, for example, must be expressedly agreed between him and the one who appoints him, so that there is no ambiguity that leads to future problems. Continue reading

Barring same-agent property brokerage not practical

I REFER to last Saturday’s editorial, ‘The problem in same-agent property brokerage’.

While I welcome and support the Ministry of National Development’s draft plan to regulate real estate brokerage, including a radical suggestion to prohibit an agent from acting for both seller and buyer in HDB resale transactions, I doubt its effectiveness in practice.

It may delay resale transactions and result in lost opportunities. Besides, there is no guarantee that co-broking or unethical practice will be completely wiped out.

The trade rigidity will inconvenience both parties – the genuine sellers and buyers – as both sides will have to wait for suitable buyers and sellers to seal a transaction.

However, if win-win solutions can be found to expedite genuine transactions, there is no dispute that the public will favour a separation of agent functions. Continue reading