Tag Archives: Property Agents

Poor service is top grouse against real estate agents

Posted on 19 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Poor service is top grouse against real estate agents

UNSATISFACTORY service from property agents is the top complaint consumers have about them, says the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).
Unsatisfactory service from property agents is the top complaint among consumers. — ST PHOTO: JOYCE LIM

New figures released to The Straits Times show about four out of 10 complaints in the past three years were due to agents failing to give proper advice or to carry out duties for consumers, such as submitting relevant documents.

The next most common type of complaint was failure to honour agreements. This made up 15per cent of complaints from January to September – up from just 3per cent of complaints in 2007. Continue reading →

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Fix commission for buyer’s agent based on ‘bargaining effort’

Posted on 17 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Fix commission for buyer’s agent based on ‘bargaining effort’

MS KOH Siew Buay made a good point yesterday in her Forum Online letter, “How we sold our flats without using property agents“.

The current debate over having one agent represent both seller and buyer has often been overshadowed by the discussion of the potential conflict of interest that can arise.

The point is that any seller or buyer can handle the transaction on his own. The law does not compel anyone to use an agent to sell or buy a house. It is probably more effective for sellers to engage the services of a property agent. This is because agents help facilitate the advertising needs of the seller. And it is best if an agent represents only one party.

If an agent does represent a buyer, however, his commission should not be pegged to a percentage of the sale price. This is because a lower price benefits the buyer, but will result in a lower commission for the agent. Naturally, this does not encourage the agent to seek a lower price for the buyer. This makes it difficult, too, for the agent to demonstrate that he had acted in the best interest of the buyer.

If an agent represents the buyer, his commission should preferably be fixed in a manner that rewards his effort at getting a lower price for his client.

Patrick Sio

Source : Straits Times – 17 Oct 2009

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