you are kidding right ? most agents consider rental deals as small money, and they do it to keep themselves busy .. as a 2% of a 1 million property is enough for them to last long .. and longer ..pochari wrote:Hi Aargon,
I was thinking the same thing as this weekend I'm off to see some places who's rents are "negotiable". To avoid having the agent tell me that "in this particular case, it's not possible to negotiate", I was thinking of offering him a commission that is tied to the original asking price (this agent asks for half the rent as commission).
So if he gets me a discount on the rent, he still gets the full commission. That way he might fight for my discount. You end up paying him a small extra amount once (like $100-200) and getting a discount on the rent.
We'll see if it works this weekend
Which means they will take your 'incentive' and still not do the best for you as they want to get the most out of the landlord's part of the commission as wellbeppi wrote:
Sadly, most are too clueless to ever make such a sale. Thus they need to sqeeze every last penny out of small rental deals to survive.
Which is, of course, illegal (charging both tenant AND landlord) - but that doesn't mean it's not done, in a profession as shady as this.ecureilx wrote: Which means they will take your 'incentive' and still not do the best for you as they want to get the most out of the landlord's part of the commission as well
Well, while in my long time here, I had to deal with two agents - rest were all directly dealt and insisted on the fixed 1,000 fee .. for whichx9200 wrote:- the agents also know our budget up in front.
ecureilx wrote:And all others, when enquired, have the habit of 'stretching' the budget .. nonex9200 wrote:- the agents also know our budget up in front.
Never happened to me and I don't think it's a sheer luck. You just need to make it very clear. We can agree on higher budget if there is something really special offered (it happened). Our agent knows we do our homework so although he is still far from being perfect he balances only within the agreed limits.
When we pressed that he need to settle the terms proper with the landlord's agent, he said that so far he has been doing all out of goodwill, And, mind you, this is the only problem we have for the past 2 years .. oh, he did quote us THIS FORUM, for the normal procedures for expats renting in Singapore, despite our reminding that all of us have been here for a looooong while .. and are not fresh, and not the "CONDO' "EXPAT" types ..
Why do you need this agent to negotiate such things especially that you are more than adequately literate in this matter so you would be better doing it by yourself? "Because I paid him" does not sound like a good reason.
Chalk it up to too much of faith in the agent, especially when he is representing us AND the landlord had his OWN agent as well ??x9200 wrote: Why do you need this agent to negotiate such things especially that you are more than adequately literate in this matter so you would be better doing it by yourself? "Because I paid him" does not sound like a good reason.
I call that "lack of moral fiber" but .. well, the essence is the same ..x9200 wrote:"My service is out of Good will only" or similar is a standard, cross-island response of all the *beep* who don't do the job the way they should. Funny they do not realize it makes the whole thing only worse for them but I guess this limitation comes from the same source as the reason for their incompetence and lack of any ethical spine.
Done .. And there is absolute silence ..I hope you responded, no you do this because this is your obligation agreed in the legal agreement (be it verbal or written) and at this point the only way to save you *beep*.
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