Kovan Condominium (D’Pavilion) For Sale (TOP 2011) - Freehold
August 18, 2008
Kovan Condominium (D’Pavilion) For Sale - Freehold
This rustic theme development is located Upper Serangoon Road. It will be a good investment and a home for families who appreciate lush greenery at the convenient location. Layouts are only for illustrations, subjected to further improvement.
Location: Upper Serangoon Road
Tenure: Freehold
No. of units available: 50
Unit Types Available: 2,2+13,4,Penthouses
Facilities: Swimming Pool, Children Pool, BBQ Pits, Gym, Theme Gardens, Function Room, Guardhouse
TOP: December 2011
Developer: MCL Land
Who wins with no agent fee rules?
August 18, 2008
Jessica Cheam speculates on real estate… guidelines.
HOW much should you pay your property agent?
This has been the talk of the town this week, and no surprise, given how home ownership issues are tied so closely to the hearts of Singaporeans.
When the Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) first announced the Compeition Commission of Singapore’s (CCS) request to abolish a decade-old fee struture at a press conference: the initial mood all around was: “no biggie”.
IEA’s guidelines were non-binding anyway, said agency bosses. It was never compulsory, so its abolishment should have minimal impact. Many agencies, such as ERA, PropNex, C&H Realty told The Straits Times they will adopt IEA’s fee recommendations as their own agency guidelines anyway so the status quo is maintained.
But as the industry digests the news, it seems that the removal of these guidelines will have far-reaching effects.
Already, the CCS and consumer watchdog Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) has issued statements to alert consumers to their rights.
Consumers should not accept agents “that are harping on the old fee practices” and should be free to bargain, Case said. It encouraged consumers to report any evidence of collusion on the part of the agencies, and advised consumers not to give agents exclusivity to sell their houses.
Already, home buyers and sellers that The Straits Times spoke to said that with the wide publicity of the guidelines removal, they feel their bargaining power has been enhanced.
House-hunter Vivan Wong, for example, said agents used to wave the guidelines in front of her, to justify collecting a 1 per cent fee for HDB transactions. “Now I can wave the CCS statements back at them,” she said. She doesn’t see why she has to pay 1 per cent to the sellers’ agents. “Unless I specifically engaged a agent to hunt for a house for me, then I’ll be happy to pay.”
Generally, the mood on the ground is people are expecting fees in to dip in favour of the consumer. It’ll be interesting to see if agencies’ records on commission amounts will go down. PropNex agents collected $126 million in commission last year; ERA Asia-Pacific agents raked in $166 million. Both agencies are major players in the local property market. This was in the boom-time, of course, so any change in this year’s earnings will be a combination of factors due to market conditions and the removal of fee guidelines.
Agents, however, are quite adamant that they will stick to their rates. PropNex agent Damien Goh, who sells an average of five properties a month, said 2 per cent was “already a very reasonable rate”. Marketing just one property costs about $500 a month in advertisement costs, and another $100 in transportation costs, not to mention phone bills and overhead costs such as renting an office cubicle etc.
“I will show by actions and service, that I deserve that commission. If buyers or sellers still demand lower rates, I’ll have to decide on a case by case basis. But if the fees are too low, I’ll just look for another buyer and seller. I believe people will pay for good service,” he said.
Other agents are less optimistic. Some say Singaporeans, known for their haggling, will demand the same level of service at low prices. “This may lead to more errant agents, who have less loyalty to their customers,” said one agent who declined to be named. Complaints about agents to Case might even go up, he suggested.
PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail pointed out that the fees removal comes at a time where the industry is moving towards greater self-regulation, and agents are encouraged to move towards professionalism. “The impact of the fees removal can have two effects: agents will start to up their quality to be able to charge higher fees. Or two, a consumer-led dip in fees might lead to more irresponsible actions, if agents don’t feel they’re being paid enough.”
On the other hand, home-buyer Tania Goh said unscrupulous agents who have a gem of a property could also jack up commissions if they know buyers or sellers are desperate.
Ultimately, the onus is on the consumer to be informed and educated about what the market rates and decide for themselves what are reasonable rates they should pay their agents.
The CCS move encourages competition in the market, and if agencies or agents can offer the same services for less money, there’s no reason why market-based rates cannot prevail.
Time will soon tell who will be the real winners: consumers, or agents - or perhaps, both.
Source: Straits Times
Singapore Property Watch - August 2008
August 17, 2008
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Removal of property fee guidelines unlikely to have deep impact
August 7, 2008
SINGAPORE: Market players said on Wednesday that the move to scrap guidelines on property agents’ fees by September 25 is unlikely to leave a deep impact on the real estate sector. However, they warned against rogue agents who may try to cash in on the change in rules.
The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) ruled on Tuesday that the fee guidelines adopted by the Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) should be removed as they are uncompetitive. Under the current guidelines, property agents stand to pocket a commission of 2 per cent of the transacted price.
With the removal of the guidelines, buyers and sellers will be free to negotiate the fee payable to their agents. Real estate agencies are generally supportive of the move, but they are concerned that the lack of fee guidelines could trigger more rogue practices.
Chris Koh, director of Dennis Wee Group, said: “If the owner is not aware of what the market price of his property is, then he may fall into a trap where the rogue agent says, ‘Ok, you want a million dollars, that’s what you said you want, I will get you that S$1 million.
“But if I sell your property at S$1.2 million, then that S$200,000 is for me to keep since there is no guideline that it must be a percentage’.”
Another real estate company, Propnex, warned against agents who offer unnecessary services just to quote a higher commission.
Without any fee guidelines, market players said it is down to the agencies to set their own commission structure. Propnex said consumers must assess their agents based on their commitment, track record and knowledge of the market.
Some industry players said the removal of the commission guidelines will not spark a price war because the cost of marketing a property has nearly doubled in the past ten years, and it will not be sustainable for agents to start under-cutting each other.
On average, about 10 to 20 per cent of the agent’s commission goes into marketing efforts, such as taking out advertisements to promote a property. Paying a lower commission does not necessarily mean a better deal as agents may not put in as much effort to sell a property.
Some Singaporeans prefer to sell their properties on their own. Rosanah Mon helped her mother sell her three-room flat at Jalan Bukit Merah for S$230,000, saving over S$2,000 in the process.
“I don’t see the necessity (to get a property agent), if you know the procedures well and you follow the guidelines,” she said.
In fact, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said it has seen an increase in the number of such transactions – rising from 5.5 per cent of total resale transactions in 1998 to about 8 per cent now.
To boost greater understanding of the sales procedures, HDB holds monthly resale seminars, with the next one scheduled on September 6. More information is available online at www.hdb.gov.sg.
Source: Channelnewsasia.com
IEA to remove guidelines on property agents’ commissions
August 5, 2008
SINGAPORE: If you’re shopping for a new home or selling one, you can now negotiate with your property agent on the appropriate commission.
The Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) will remove its guidelines on property agents’ commissions next month, to fall in line with the Competition Act.
Consumer watchdog CASE has welcomed the move, pointing out that it is not compulsory to have agents facilitate a property transaction.
Property agents currently get about 2 per cent of a property’s sale price from sellers, while buyers pay a fee of 1 per cent of the price. These guidelines were put in place some ten years ago.
IEA said the guidelines were meant to serve more as a reference point for agents, as well as consumers, to prevent over-charging.
But since the guidelines have been widely accepted and practised in the industry, the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) thinks that they may be harmful to competition.
Jeff Foo, president of Institute of Estate Agents, said: “We submitted our professional guidelines to CCS sometime in July 2007 because we were concerned whether our guidelines do or do not infringe the Competition Act. So after over a year of meetings and consultations, they finally came back to us on June 25 and said that our guidelines are likely to infringe on the Competition Act and advised us to remove them.”
With the removal of the guidelines, it is now up to individual real estate agencies to set their own commission guidelines. It is still unclear if this will reduce commission fees paid to property agents.
IEA said the removal of the guidelines actually puts a greater burden on property buyers or sellers to do their own checks on market rates for such fees.
Mohamed Ismail, chief executive of Propnex, said: “With such a move, the industry will find its own footing in terms of the kind of support as well as service. Overall, I must say that this will help the consumer because at the end of the day, the agents do not have a choice but to increase their level of service.”
Last year, the Singapore Medical Association withdrew its fee guidelines for doctors, paving the way for private doctors to set their own fees.
Source: Channelnewsasia.com