Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

BlackStealth

BlackStealth

Well-Known Member
Legendary 10 Years
Hi, Sorry need to ask some simple questions and hope some bro can share some light on this.
Recently made an offer to buy a private unit...and was told by the agent to:

1) Pay him 1% on commission (Thought Seller pays? Whats the normal practice? He "was" my agent and i approached him to view vacant units within specific districts .)

2) Sign on a Option to purchase form that is NOT signed yet by seller. Offered at seller's asking price!! Agent quoted that that seller is ok with it. And the agent can tell me that the owner now has 14 days to decide whether or not to sell me his house. WTF??? Only found out i got smoked after I signed it and gave him the cheque.

I have since told the agent that i am retracting my offer and will like cheque back if owner doesnt sign his part of the OTP within 48 hours.

AM I BEING A CARROT HEAD????

Pissed off.................
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

to the best of my knowledge,

1. the buyer (in this case, you) do not pay the agent anything. unless its pre-agreed because of whatever special reasons

2. as for the OTP, the potential buyer will sign the OTP along with the 1% cheque. agent will bring to seller to confirm if he is agreeable to the sale. As far as i know, it is not a must for the seller to accept, even if you meet his price, not a dollar less. the buyer has up to 2 weeks in this case to exercise the option. Reason why the seller might not accept straight away? if its a sellers' mkt like now, he might get greedy, hold on to the cheque and see if another higher offer comes along within this 2 wks. if its a buyer's mkt, i am certain he will sign the OTP to confirm the deal straight away, for fear that the buyer might change his mind.

as long as u didnt sign any commission letter if the agent, you are safe because there's no black and white that you agreed to pay him 1% for finding you a seller/property. but if you did, its might get tricky.....

stand to be corrected on both points

all the best though
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

joshdway;458080 said:
to the best of my knowledge,

the buyer has up to 2 weeks in this case to exercise the option.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, another query and concerned is, i have show my sincerity by offering my cheque after a verbal agreement of ok.

The "two weeks" only starts as of the date stated on the contract of WHICH I signed and he did NOT.
So i feel , thats like foul play. - Now, i cant offer other units (if arises) while he sits there happy with my cheque waiting on higher offer like you said.

Checked up on website stating that OTP is given in exchanged for a cheque. Guess next time i wont issue any cheque unless i see a signed OTP.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

i'm sorry, but i maybe wrong abt the seller having 2 wks to exercise the option

i think what's correct is that if he signs on your OTP (and cashed in your cheque), which means he agrees to the sale, u have 2 weeks to come up with the balance of the 5% or 10% to exercise it. but a contract has been formed. meaning the property is reserved for u for that 2 weeks, if you dont cough up the balance by then, he has the right to forfeit that 1%

since that agent who 'represented' you didnt not managed to get the seller's signature and all, it probably means your cheque is still with the agent. if you want to get the cheque back, its better to sms (some form of black and white) him to say u want the cheque back since the OTP is not signed hence effected.

i don't see why the agent wont present the cheque hence your offer to the seller immediately to make a sale. unless he has another prospective buyer on the side, so he is using your offer to get his other buyer to better it? which means he might not be fair to you?

as for the 1% he is asking from you, if its a HDB, i think some buyers do pay the agent 1%, if its pte property, not so....

once again, i am not totally sure. hope i am not giving wrong ideas/thoughts
better to check with friends who recently transacted a property to confirm
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

it goes something like this...seller pays 1% commission to agent...if there is 2 agents involved , they share the 1%.

Buyer has to sign cheque with a signed offer to purchase with buyer's own asking price...not determined by agent. This is only valid for 3 days..

if seller intend to bank in cheque, he is legally bonded to exercise the option to purchase...

y not ask Jimmy (Wrx) to be your agent? he was mine...swee swee.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

ok thanks guys for the feedback. Been reading the damn process past few hours.
Should have done it before i even enagage a agent. Its true man, alot of scums out there.

I was thinking of Jimmy too la, but my wife very demanding, sure piss him off one..
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

Hope the one you signed was "OFFER to purchase" and not " OPTION to purchase". the first one is "subject to contract" , the second one is the contract.

1. Sign "offer to purchase" with 1% chq - standard 3 days for owner to accept/reject.

2. Upon acceptance by owner, you will be given the SIGNED "OPTION to purchase". You have standard 2 weeks to consult your lawyer and give the balance 4% or 9% to activate the contract.

Hope it is clear enough for you to act. All the best.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

fire your agent..that is all i can say
that is crap job.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

I just got a screwed deal today. I gave the 1% to the agent and was told seller needed more than the 2 days stated in the OTP to sign as it was the weekend and she was going for her scope on Monday. Then suddenly the agent called to say seller not selling anymore. He returned my cheque and the OTP, not signed by the seller. Now I am stuck! So freaking mad!
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

JC72;458727 said:
I just got a screwed deal today. I gave the 1% to the agent and was told seller needed more than the 2 days stated in the OTP to sign as it was the weekend and she was going for her scope on Monday. Then suddenly the agent called to say seller not selling anymore. He returned my cheque and the OTP, not signed by the seller. Now I am stuck! So freaking mad!
Click to expand...
Think market going up la. Everyone is in a buying spree.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

after u hv sign the "Offer to Purcahse" form.... u hv 14 days cooldown time from the day u sign... still can called off the deal on the 13th day if u wana make a fool of them lol.. maybe its the seller who doesn't wana sign yet, waiting for a better offer... can't blame the agent then lol... cos most agent will wana quickly close the deal and get the comm... dats wat i do lol
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

collin;458787 said:
Think market going up la. Everyone is in a buying spree.
Click to expand...

Now i am screwed..
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

the 14 days grace period is for the buyer not the seller.:fineprin:
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

JC72;458727 said:
I just got a screwed deal today. I gave the 1% to the agent and was told seller needed more than the 2 days stated in the OTP to sign as it was the weekend and she was going for her scope on Monday. Then suddenly the agent called to say seller not selling anymore. He returned my cheque and the OTP, not signed by the seller. Now I am stuck! So freaking mad!
Click to expand...


Why stuck? Used the method suggested by other bros (with chq), work harder abit, ther r still good buys around.

? 1 , owner withdraws for higher price? or for personal reasons ie don't know if ever up for sale again in the near future?

? 2, or maybe agent got better offer and better "benefits" which he/she dare not tell u?

Getting the real picture may just put you in the game again. But you will hv to find out now. Good luck.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

acidburn;458853 said:
Why stuck? Used the method suggested by other bros (with chq), work harder abit, ther r still good buys around.

? 1 , owner withdraws for higher price? or for personal reasons ie don't know if ever up for sale again in the near future?

? 2, or maybe agent got better offer and better "benefits" which he/she dare not tell u?

Getting the real picture may just put you in the game again. But you will hv to find out now. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Its a matter of being too nice to people and getting played out..but nvm lah..I just made an offer for a place i have not seen (inside) but seems ok from the outside. I am leaving it all up to the HIM..so see how it goes.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

now i am just pure pissed...just wanna pull out! tear the otp and queue. And ask agent to F off.
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

Guys,

All I can say is - most property agents had DEGENERATED to what we used to know as the old BloodSuckers 2nd Hand Car Dealers or Durian Touts equivalent!!! I had Totally Lost Respect for this profession, if it can still be called a profession, as most of them had No Consience and No Honour. All they can think is Money, Money, Money and More Money,.... Just earning a comm is not good enough nowadays.

My experience : came across a property 2 months back calling for $880K, made contact, saw the unit, was told by agent that the deal will be closed by end of day after all interested parties to make offer to owner and Highest offer secures. So broke for lunch and called back with offer within 2 hours. Guess what, was told unit sold !!! I found out later that unit was sold $865K, way below what I was prepared to offer, and guess what, THE AGENT BOUGHT it Himself with a partner, so made the SUCKERS out of the OWNER and the BUYERS,... and just last weekend, he was trying to sell it for 1.2m...
And Optima, guess how many units were actually bought by agents ready to flip? I am considered Early Bird but was told the stack I wanted all sold - only to see on Advert next day advertising to sell a few units in that stack for a profit of course.....
Guys, please do not FUEL their Greed, read the Sunday Times Column "Hold Firm, First Time Buyers" by Jessica Cheam.
Personally I am Ok with paying a commission for their luck to be able to find the seller and buyer and the effort they spent on closing the deal, BUT when it comes to CHEATING for their personal gain, unfair privileges, self interest only, then NO, NO.... Property developers should disallow this too!!!
Just to think of it, Sellers pay a comm so that agents take care of the Sellers Interest, but Reality is not so, as Agents will negotiate on sideline most of the time to see which Buyer offer the agent higher comm and Not Higher Price to the Seller !!! That's just my few experiences, I guess I can write a column of Mal-Practices should I include those of my friends and colleagues.

Everbody wants to make a living, but to cheat without any Honour, come on !!!
Guys dealing with property agents, just be careful, too many are really making a very bad name for themselves !!!
 
Re: Question on ethical??? housing agent's practice

That's possibly one of the many in for a quick buck who entered from a different door....

So everyone with a stake, Developer, Real Estate Agencies (eg SAVILxxxx, HUTTxxx, PROPxxx) even Garmen and Media is cooking it till the Bubble gets bigger and bigger then Garmen got to prick it.
Look at the one in AMK, or even Tanah Merah at that kind of price??? Who in the right frame of mind will buy it from you later ??? What is your expected return on investment ??? Even if you buy to live in, you gonna pay for it the rest of your life, heard of the term "Negative Equity" which was prevalent just few years ago ???
Really perplexed, Rental market is still poor, economy is still weak, there are no influx of new immigrants, not forgetting the lots that are leaving because contracts had run out,... where is the fundamental ??? I can tell you for sure that - there is a lot of Liquiditly Re-generation, people who make money 1st round, enter 2nd then 3rd round in Bigger Gamble as market goes higher thinking that it can only go up, not unlike the Stock Market, throwing caution into the wind till "POP" , bubble burst. Note, this time around, Mostly the Locals are frying it, uhmmmm....
It is coming, Mr Mxx going to wait till economy stablise then he is going to prick it .... very soon.
So Please Look Before You Jump.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 102 (members: 0, guests: 102)

Forum statistics

Threads
82,747
Messages
1,019,309
Members
78,039
Latest member
pg88comim

Latest posts

Back
Top