Only 6,600 Out Of 30,000 Agents Applied For Licence

[gnoikj]

Yes, many property agents flip, and in so doing, they will run foul of the new laws. Honestly, the way they take advantage of others, it's devoid of all morals. Like your friend, mike parikh. You seem to support their activities, hence I believe you too will run afoul of the new law.

Oh, FYI, I countered a point you made in another thread about property agents being scums. You mentioned that the seller was stupid for wanting to sell his unit to an interested buyer for 900k, whilst the seller's agent quoted the buyer 1 mil. With the new laws, agents must act according to their client's instructions, else they risk losing their registration.

 

[xebay11]

Yes, many property agents flip, and in so doing, they will run foul of the new laws. Honestly, the way they take advantage of others, it's devoid of all morals. Like your friend, mike parikh. You seem to support their activities, hence I believe you too will run afoul of the new law.

Oh, FYI, I countered a point you made in another thread about property agents being scums. You mentioned that the seller was stupid for wanting to sell his unit to an interested buyer for 900k, whilst the seller's agent quoted the buyer 1 mil. With the new laws, agents must act according to their client's instructions, else they risk losing their registration.

I still don't understand your being hung up on the 900k issue, you also know that the agent's commission is very little difference if he asks for more but he risks losing the buyer, goes against the company's training and incurr more advertising costs, so isn't he going against his self interest for the seller to get $100k more?

For all you know the buyer could be an agent himself but acting in private as a buyer in that case and wanted to sabo the actual selling agent to get a good deal, it is dog-eat-dog out there, so the seller was dumb and he may actually be cheated by the buyer (who is an agent privately) without knowing, well with the new laws you have just also lost the abilities for agent to help seller to get highest price possible, because it has always been the industry practise to go for lowest price seller would accept, close deal and move to the next one, an actual agent did mention this in the thread too.

 

[gnoikj]

Dude, your understanding of the new laws is very limited. An agent who tries to buy from the seller at 900k, without declaring his own status as an agent, is basically committing a breach of the new laws as well...cos he's benefiting from the deal without declaring his own status to the seller...

Your so called understanding of industry practice will have to be thrown out the window...You, and all agents or flippers who have found loopholes to benefit yourselves, you are now officially in the crosshairs of the CEA...

Good Luck...

 

[silverfox@]

If the Seller appoints an agent to sell his house for 1 million and the agent got a buyer for 1mill. The agent goes to seller and tells him he got a buyer at $930K, and persuade the owner to sell and give him the Option to Purchase. The agent got his family member to buy at $930K and before the option expires, he sells the option to the original buyer at 1mill.

In between the agent will think of a very beautiful story to explain to buyer why this is so, and the seller may never find out. This can of worms if opened, seller can sue the agent and win the case.

 

[gnoikj]

If the Seller appoints an agent to sell his house for 1 million and the agent got a buyer for 1mill. The agent goes to seller and tells him he got a buyer at $930K, and persuade the owner to sell and give him the Option to Purchase. The agent got his family member to buy at $930K and before the option expires, he sells the option to the original buyer at 1mill.

In between the agent will think of a very beautiful story to explain to buyer why this is so, and the seller may never find out. This can of worms if opened, seller can sue the agent and win the case.

Yup. Happened all the time. Mike parikh is one good example. His subordinate Jeremy Ang tipped him off about 1 unit and old Mike got his wife in as a buyer, flipping the property for a hefty profit. Best thing, ERA Jack Chua dare to say this happens all the time. Well, good thing the courts ruled against Mike and condemn this behavior.

I wonder if Mike will be able to practice as an agent with all the new laws? I wonder too, if flippers like xebay11 will be able to justify their act? Somehow, I doubt it.

 

[gnoikj]

All too true. However, the angriest people right now are agents who have to stop feeding off those they have been conning. No more easy money for mike n flippers like xebay.

 

[moolightaffairs]

Dude, I was an agent before to cash in on the boom. The group (not the company) I was in alone has more than 50 agents. I also know many other agents personally. I can assure you that almost no agent I know cares about how high they sell to give their resume a boost. A smart agent will certainly try to manage the seller's expectations with a CMA (sometimes doctored to show only the cheaper units). Even in both company and group training, the emphasis is to push the price down.

Why? Because like someone correctly stated, the final selling price makes no significant difference to an agent's commission, especially for HDB flats. A 10k difference only amounts to 1 - 200 bucks in commission. All agents I know will push the price down to close it and move on to the next deal. The total commission from the next deal is worth more than the extra hundreds from fighting for a higher price.

Also the longer you drag, the more advertising costs incurred. And the biggest problem comes from non- exclusive deals. No agent in his right mind will fight for a higher price for such properties. The longer he drags on, the higher the risk another agent will close the deal. Since the owner did not act in the agent's interest by granting him exclusivity, only a stupid agent will act in the owner's interest.

All top performers I know personally have never bothered to fight for the best price for the sellers. At most, they will promise a high price to clinch the exclusivity and then slowly push the price down once they get the exclusive. I was from a large agency and know many agents from other large agencies. All of them do the same thing.

Don't be naive. Any agent trying to push the price up is trying to pocket the difference or at least split it with the seller. You will know this is a common practice if you are really an insider. There are even buyers' agents who pushed the price up in order to pocket the difference. Most agents almost never act in their client's best interest. Almost all are scums except for a few, mostly unsuccessful ones. Period.

hi! i was an agent also in the 90s and that was what other agents do to convince owners to sign the exclusive form by telling them how high they manage to close the deal. anyway thanks for sharing those under table deal which i didnt want to reveal too much.