Are Property Agents Trustworthy?

[Talking Donkey]

In MONEY we trust...that is the objective!..what a whole lot of bull...:p

Very true...most property agents cannot be trusted..in fact quite a number of them are themselves market speculators causing the prices to go skyhigh,playing a part in in these buying and selling frenzy depriving genuine buyers who want a roof over their head.
buying and selling of one car is another investment bros here must be careful of..there is alot of sharks out there waiting to devour the unsuspected,they will buy low sell high,,tamper with the milelage and claim acc free..etc..
we all must be very discerning in dealing with these,agents,salesman and lawyers..etc

 

[silverfox@]

Dr Tan Tee Khoon is currently the General Secretary of the Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES) and a Local Preacher of The Methodist Church in Singapore. He was formerly on the Editorial Board of The Methodist Message, an official organ of The Methodist Church in Singapore. A popular Bible expositor and writer across denominational circles, Dr Tan holds his Doctor of Ministry in Pulpit Communication and Bible Exposition and a PhD in Marketing. Having worked more than 15 years in real estate consultancy with a prestigious international property company, Dr Tan dedicates his time now to preaching and teaching God's Word to Christian tertiary students in the universities and polytechnics. Dr Tan resides in Singapore with his wife, Li Peng, a freelance training consultant. He is also the author of the recently published book, Give As He Pleases. He can be contacted at Email: [email protected]

There are good and bad agents everywhere. I remember years ago, I wanted to rent an apt from a knight frank prop agt. This agt on the pretext thinking that I did not read their commission scheme, wanted to collect extra commission from me. I told her I would pay her standard commission but not extra. So I wrote in to lodge a complaint against the agent and this Dr Tan Tee Khoon actually stand by his agent and said that commission is up to agents to negotiate even though there is a recommended guideline by IEA. I told the agt and this TTK I am prepared to pay by recommended guideline and not extra. Then they start to twist their words and say Recommended guideline is recommended not mandatory. The agts are free to nego for more.

OK, to me its simple, I can don't rent that apt, they can rent it to others who can pay beyond market recommended guideline. To me, they are using all kinds of excuses to justify what they did is correct. My parting shot to them is why is there is a need for recommended guideline when agents like them are free to negotiate the amount.

I don't deal with unethical agents like them. If they want extra, they can find others.

 

[silverfox@]

property agents??? trustworthy??? used to be one many moons back during the 90's golden age of property. what i can say is, agent all snake. whatever they tell u all got their own agenda and buyer dont even bother to get a agent, why? all agent hope to close high to get higher comm. so even buyer got agent also wont help u to get cheaper property. another thing is, buyers pls dont even bother to pay any comm, why? since the agents already represent owners, they will have to do the paper work and take comm from owners. so buyers just look out when you are signing papers, dont sign blindly! dont sign the comms agreement! y both party must pay??? did he help u in anything?

pls dont go short cuts as suggested by agents! u maybe trapped and at their mercy!!! owners, dont ever sign exclusive. if u sign, make sure come with a expiry date like 3 mth etc. do some homework as buyers or even owners when u want to sell your property. dont be lazy!!! i know a lot of sinkapoorean very lazy!!!

There are agents who are objective and they will highlight to you the pros and cons of each individual property. Very rare but there is.

When you sell via exclusive, got good and bad. The bad is if your property is in the hands of an unethical agent, u don't get the best price but whoever can pay the agent more comm.

The good thing is if you get an ethical agent, he/she will sell the best price for you, n that's bad news for buyers.

 

[peterlth]

Someone call 'Angmohlang' sent me this PM:

------------

Hi

I am new on Sam's Alfresco Coffee and so am still unable to post replies as yet. However, I couldn't help noticed that in your post under the above heading, you had expressed doubts about Templeton University in New York. I happened to come across this university as I have a few employees with degrees from the institution. I did my search and made enquiries to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Apparently there is a Templeton University in Middletown, NY. You can check out this link: http://www.thewebmap.com/ny/middletown/results.asp?page=2&search=t

From what I know, this is not the same as the clearly dubious Nevada outfit of the same name which has been listed on the OSAC's list of unaccredited institutions and degree mills. You may wish to let others in the forum know about this.

Thanks.

Don

------------------

Whether this templeton university is from New York or Nevada, it even do not have its own website. And this Don guy actually believe it exist. Even a 3rd rated elementary school would have a website .....

So who are the professors working in this unversity? Who is its Provost? Or at least show us a simple contact email address ...

In all fairness, I did a search at Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/search.asp
A search on 'templeton university' shows no result.
In another words, templeton university do not exist in CHEA database of legitimate universities.

Database of Institutions Accredited By Recognized
U.S. Accrediting Organizations
Search Results: 0 institutions found for 'templeton university'

 

[peterlth]

http://www.closeprotectionworld.co.uk/medic-forum/25006-genuine-diploma-mill.html

Genuine or Diploma Mill?


There are also a few that are quite obviously dodgy. Terms such as “ Course Certificate”, “you can use the letters Dip.*** after your name” and “NAME OF TRAINING PROVIDER Certificate” should give you some kind of warning.

There are also quite a few less obvious ones. The University of Berkley/The University of Berkley Online, Almeda University, St. Regis University, Belford High School, Cranston University, Templeton University, Trident University of Technology, Vancouver University Worldwide, Westmore University and Lee Community College are just a few of the recent headline names for diploma mills that have been exposed and closed. Those who are purchasing these bits of worthless paper are also getting exposed:

 

[scroobal]

No such universitiy. Paper Mill universities tend to change address frequently.

 

[scroobal]

Anyway in view of the high number of fake and paper mill PHDs in the market, genuine PHD holders have stopped using the "Dr" salutation unless they are in academia or in well known institutions. Financial institutions now use the "Dr" as high risk flag in credit assessment unless they are medically qualified or attached to known institutions.

 

[peterlth]

My PhD in Marketing is from Templeton University and you should address me as Dr Tan .... hee hee heee ... and I am the CEO of the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies ... and I am saying that all real estate agents are trustworthy .... you must trust me OK?


Dr Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies

 

[aangsc]

agent are just human being like you and me, you might as well ask is human trustworthy ? Are lawyer trustworthy ? Are MIW is trustworthy ?

 

[Queen Seok Duk]

My PhD in Marketing is from Templeton University and you should address me as Dr Tan .... hee hee heee ... and I am the CEO of the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies ... and I am saying that all real estate agents are trustworthy .... you must trust me OK?


Dr Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies

Good work!

I'm still curious as ever over the name of the University which our Dr obtained his Divinity doctorate.

 

[chinkandoo]

Property agents are just like any human beings.

Some come with two balls...some come with holes...how trustworthy can that be?

 

[angmohlang]

First of all, I don't think I want to comment on the trustworthiness of agents. As chinkandoo rightly said, it's an issue with every human being and trust has to be earned. A generalisation won't help. I don't think anyone can conclusively or imply that someone is untrustworthy just because his academic credentials are doubtful. In 2002, Oxford University's Pembroke College had a scandal when its staff, a very qualified Rev Dr John Platt actually promised admission to the son of a wealthy banker in exchange for an indecent donation. Read this at http://www.btinternet.com/~akme/Broke1.html. Trustworthiness has to do with character and little with academic qualifications. Anyway, I don't know who this Dr Tan Tee Khoon personally and I reserve my comments.

However, I do wish to say something about Templeton University because before I employed 2 very fine managers who have qualifications from that university, I did reasonable due diligence which went beyond just google search and checking the online database of CHEA. I actually corresponded with CHEA in writing and asked 2 very direct questions:

1. Is Templeton University in Middletown NY the same as Templeton University in Nevada? Or are they linked? I knew the one in Middletown NY is unaccredited but I had wanted to verify if it is associated in any manner to the latter as the one in Nevada has been explicity stated to be dubious and a degree mill, especially in Oregon.

2. Is an unaccredited university always a degree mill, and thus anyone that has gone to an unaccredited university has obtained a useless paper?

To the first question, CHEA could not tell me if there were linked but only that they were unaccredited. To the second question, CHEA could not comment except to say that accreditation is voluntary self-regulation towards quality in education and in America, all accreditors are private bodies recognised by the govt but the accreditation is not done by the govt. Also, to access state or federal grants, an university has to be accredited and employers may only sponsor employees going to accredited universities. You can read all this in CHEA's website. In a nutshell, not even CHEA can commit affirmatively that unaccredited institutions equal degree mills.

I have checked out that Templeton University in Middletown, NY is a private independent setup and its address is not a mailbox. It has a small physical campus there and it is in fact 37 minutes from SUNY New Paltz campus. Check it out yourself. The university was setup in 1947 and used to have a website but has ceased since 2005 (if I recall correctly) because of rising numbers of online mills. The Registrar is a Ms Grace Wald.

Now, I don't have any vested interest in the university nor any personal gratification to see this university vindicated. I only think I should share what I know. If i am mistaken about my managers' qualifications, it doesn't affect me because they have been with me for the past 5 years and they are excellent, trustworthy performers.

 

[angmohlang]

Oh yes, I forgot to add that I also consulted MOE then and it did not have any policy on accreditation or verification of foreign academic credentials. Employers were told to exercise discretion. The CPE is the most recent setup particularly after the Brookes College's RMIT fakes were exposed.

 

[SIFU]

Angmorlan,

Its your 1st post but dunno y I 1OO% believe :

1. U have nothing to do with tan tee khong

2. Templeton uni is not a degree mill

3. U r very honest.

I believe u very much.

 

[commoner]

it is difficult to believe none of knight frank's staff, methodists, and christians in FES etc etc in this forum did not come out and defend this guy,,,,,,,,

 

[Queen Seok Duk]

it is difficult to believe none of knight frank's staff, methodists, and christians in FES etc etc in this forum did not come out and defend this guy,,,,,,,,

Because they're 'studying' in the same University ?

I'm still curious where he obtained his PhD in Divinity. Or is he one of those with 'direct entry' ? No bachelor degree but can obtain PhD ?

I applaud Angmonlang's stance because as an employer he did not practice discrimination like the PSC and most other snobbish employers in Singapore.

 

[scroobal]

You can dream all you want. There is no university by such name. There never has been. Degree mills cover all sorts of setups from completely non-existent entities to legally registered entities. Some work online with no campus and some actually have a sprawling "campus" and even with actual "faculty" . Nearly all have a person like Grace Wald who acts as a registrar.

Even today, there are many places that call themselves universities and colleges with functioning staff and students but no one accepts them as a tertiary institution. Even Singapore has such entities either cheating the gulllible or facilitating someone to masquerade as someone qualified in a discipline.

You can smell the bullshit and call it a perfume but no one accepts it. Amazing that you ended with 2 staff from the same perfume mill, oops sorry degree mill. What are the odd?

I however do like your novel comment about voluntary registration to CEHA for accreditation. I suppose you engage lawyers who are not registered with the bar and see doctors who are not formally recognised. Did you attend a primary school that did not volunteer to be part of the Ministry of education. How about your house? Did you volunteer to register your ownership.

Once again, degree mills cover all sorts of setup. You probably got yours from one that is 37 mins from the campus of a genuine University and got a registrar. Luckily it is not 38 or 36 mins, you might have rejected it as not qualifying under your standard.

By the way, Property agents like degree mills have the same problems and thus end up being associated with the rubbish and untrustworthy individuals in a higher proportion than most industries. They are not not regulated. Get the picture. Now you know why registration and accreditation is so important.

I have checked out that Templeton University in Middletown, NY is a private independent setup and its address is not a mailbox. It has a small physical campus there and it is in fact 37 minutes from SUNY New Paltz campus. Check it out yourself. The university was setup in 1947 and used to have a website but has ceased since 2005 (if I recall correctly) because of rising numbers of online mills. The Registrar is a Ms Grace Wald.

 

[scroobal]

Lets no skirt the issue. No need to worry about other degree mills. The fact is PSC does not have Templeton in its list and all other government entities therefore would not accept its degree as a tissue in its toilets.

Employers exercise discretion when it comes to grey area and usually refers to certain disciplines within a recognised univerity. Nothing to do with qualifications from degree mills.

You are throwing up other dubious and fake entities and they are no different to Templeton.

Oh yes, I forgot to add that I also consulted MOE then and it did not have any policy on accreditation or verification of foreign academic credentials. Employers were told to exercise discretion. The CPE is the most recent setup particularly after the Brookes College's RMIT fakes were exposed.

 

[scroobal]

Phd in divinity comes from colleges in Oxbridge to basically in-house colleges that are rubbish. Most are from bible colleges and have no bearing on you and me.It has been said that most "PHD" holders come from the Divinity discipline 99% of which are not recognised. It has been so tarnished that real tertiary institution has stopped offering it or have rebadged it.

Because they're 'studying' in the same University ?

I'm still curious where he obtained his PhD in Divinity. Or is he one of those with 'direct entry' ? No bachelor degree but can obtain PhD ?

I applaud Angmonlang's stance because as an employer he did not practice discrimination like the PSC and most other snobbish employers in Singapore.

 

[angmohlang]

The point about accreditation as self-regulation is in CHEA's website. If someone wishes to see bullshit all the time, I won't want to engage such a polarised perspective. Besides, an argument which takes the point entirely out of context in making comparisons with lawyers and doctors is extreme. I suppose very soon we will need accredited taxi-drivers, accredited tuition teachers, accredited retailers, accredited mediums, etc.