A forumer by the nick of Noranth in HWZ posted the following post...
ERA is the rule not the exception
By Noranth 6 February 2009
A Senior Group Director at Propnex did the same thing to me in 2007 on my sale of a unit at the Berth at Sentosa. I am a former licensed Realtor and developer from US and had nightmares trying to sell my unit from Jan to April 07 near the peak of the market. Had several agents (don’t deserve to be called Realtors), play games trying to double end deals and giving me low ball offers. Even had agents I never met listing ads for my unit in the paper...all at different prices.
I finally hired the supposed top agent at Propnex who sold me on his talking. I was stupid to disclose the best price I would take and that I needed to sell fast to fund my company here. I set my asking price with his advice about 5% above my bottom line. I even offered a $5k bonus if he could get my asking price. After a few showings and bringing in a few low offers verbally he said he had a buyer that he had just sold another unit for and would tried to get my asking price. He came back with a story that he tried hard but could not get my asking price only my bottom line and to make the deal he needed the $5k bonus as the kicker. I needed cashflow for my business so I asked for a bigger deposit than normal and frustrated after 4 months of showings caved in.
The deal was made in April and set to close June 6, 2007. In May I see ads for my unit by this agent for $220,000 above my upcoming sale price. I called him on it and he said my unit was difficult to rent with no services and lots of construction noise at Sentosa and the buyer asked him to market just in case he could not find a tenant as he would not be able to carry the unit as an investment. The market was moving quickly at that point but I figured the soon to be buyer was just fishing. A month after the deal closes for my sale I found out a deal was made at full price within a couple weeks (maybe earlier before my transaction closed). What makes it even worse is that he sold to another client of his.
I spent a month feeling sick about it and spoke to the agent who put me off just saying it happened by chance. The time effort and energy to go to court when I was swamped with setting up a new company and not always in Singapore forced me to just take it. Many people said that’s just the way it is here and I would have no chance in court. Well this verdict sets a necessary and dangerous (for good / against agents) precedent that seems long in coming.
In the US Realtors beyond taking a oath of ethics are licensed and regulated heavily on what is called “Dual Agency”. The agent and his/her Company must meet their fiduciary responsibility to their clients (Both legally and ethically). An agent should not and cannot represent two sides in a transaction unless fully disclosed and mutually accepted in a “Dual Agency Agreement”. Even if both Buyer and Seller agree the agent can only act as an intermediate to allow both parties to fairly come to agreed terms on a sale. They can never act to the benefit of one party and the detriment of the other. Also they can not disclose confidential information provided by a client such as lowest acceptable price without facing both civil and criminal penalties including fines and loss of license. The Company the agent acts as an independent agent for is severally liable for their actions and must insure themselves against such liability.
In Singapore which prides itself on being a safe place to do business, real estate is truly the wild west, dog eat dog, get paid and ask questions later environment. As a foreigner I became a target of getting screwed (not just with the sale but on my purchase as well) even with my years of experience (over $45 million USD in ethical transactions from 2000-2005), I fell under a false sense of security and was taken.
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A forumer by the nick of Noranth in HWZ posted the following post...
ERA is the rule not the exception
By Noranth
6 February 2009
A Senior Group Director at Propnex did the same thing to me in 2007 on my sale of a unit at the Berth at Sentosa. I am a former licensed Realtor and developer from US and had nightmares trying to sell my unit from Jan to April 07 near the peak of the market. Had several agents (don’t deserve to be called Realtors), play games trying to double end deals and giving me low ball offers. Even had agents I never met listing ads for my unit in the paper...all at different prices.
I finally hired the supposed top agent at Propnex who sold me on his talking. I was stupid to disclose the best price I would take and that I needed to sell fast to fund my company here. I set my asking price with his advice about 5% above my bottom line. I even offered a $5k bonus if he could get my asking price. After a few showings and bringing in a few low offers verbally he said he had a buyer that he had just sold another unit for and would tried to get my asking price. He came back with a story that he tried hard but could not get my asking price only my bottom line and to make the deal he needed the $5k bonus as the kicker. I needed cashflow for my business so I asked for a bigger deposit than normal and frustrated after 4 months of showings caved in.
The deal was made in April and set to close June 6, 2007. In May I see ads for my unit by this agent for $220,000 above my upcoming sale price. I called him on it and he said my unit was difficult to rent with no services and lots of construction noise at Sentosa and the buyer asked him to market just in case he could not find a tenant as he would not be able to carry the unit as an investment. The market was moving quickly at that point but I figured the soon to be buyer was just fishing. A month after the deal closes for my sale I found out a deal was made at full price within a couple weeks (maybe earlier before my transaction closed). What makes it even worse is that he sold to another client of his.
I spent a month feeling sick about it and spoke to the agent who put me off just saying it happened by chance. The time effort and energy to go to court when I was swamped with setting up a new company and not always in Singapore forced me to just take it. Many people said that’s just the way it is here and I would have no chance in court. Well this verdict sets a necessary and dangerous (for good / against agents) precedent that seems long in coming.
In the US Realtors beyond taking a oath of ethics are licensed and regulated heavily on what is called “Dual Agency”. The agent and his/her Company must meet their fiduciary responsibility to their clients (Both legally and ethically). An agent should not and cannot represent two sides in a transaction unless fully disclosed and mutually accepted in a “Dual Agency Agreement”. Even if both Buyer and Seller agree the agent can only act as an intermediate to allow both parties to fairly come to agreed terms on a sale. They can never act to the benefit of one party and the detriment of the other. Also they can not disclose confidential information provided by a client such as lowest acceptable price without facing both civil and criminal penalties including fines and loss of license. The Company the agent acts as an independent agent for is severally liable for their actions and must insure themselves against such liability.
In Singapore which prides itself on being a safe place to do business, real estate is truly the wild west, dog eat dog, get paid and ask questions later environment. As a foreigner I became a target of getting screwed (not just with the sale but on my purchase as well) even with my years of experience (over $45 million USD in ethical transactions from 2000-2005), I fell under a false sense of security and was taken.
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