SINGAPORE — On the floor, it might appear nice to have a trusted shut good friend as your property agent. After all, the property market could be a troublesome place to navigate, particularly when you have no insights into value actions and market charges.
However, mixing business with friendship brought about Anne Lee (not her actual title) a valued shut relationship. The analyst in her late 20s had engaged a good friend to assist promote her father or mother’s Executive Condominium (EC) in northern Singapore.
When Lee’s mother and father first thought-about promoting their home after its Housing Development Board (HDB) Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) lapsed some two years in the past, she urged enlisting the assistance of her “actually shut good friend” who was a property agent. The household was not acquainted with the property market and wanted somebody they might belief to search out patrons. However, a number of pink flags arose all through the method.
Property itemizing was ‘underpriced’
“When we first engaged my good friend, we did not understand how a lot was excellent to cost our property. We trusted his recommendation,” Lee instructed Yahoo Finance Singapore.
“We thought that he was the professional, that he understood the market and had what it took to assist us negotiate a greater deal. So, we went together with his suggestion of pricing the unit at round 14 per cent greater than the acquisition value,” mentioned Lee, including that her mother and father had purchased the property for over S$1 million.
Shortly after itemizing the unit, nevertheless, Lee suspected that one thing was amiss with the pricing when she spoke to a number of mates who have been acquainted with property valuation. They instructed her that the property was price rather more. She then determined to do her personal analysis and located that the market valuation for her mother and father’ unit was not less than 36 per cent greater than the acquisition value.
Lee then went to her agent good friend and requested for an adjustment to a value that was greater. He promised to recheck his personal estimated valuation. He finally got here again with a purchaser’s supply for the minimal quantity that Lee’s household needed.
“I’m undecided how the market worth strikes, it would differ from month to month, however I simply really feel that it was his duty to tell us if our property may fetch a a lot greater worth. That, to me, is working in the very best curiosity of your consumer,” mentioned Lee, who thought that her good friend may have tried more durable to get a greater value for her household.
Lashed out at good friend’s mother and father
There have been already warning indicators earlier than this, in response to Lee. When he was first engaged, Lee’s good friend requested her mother and father to signal an settlement that barred them from participating different brokers to promote their property.
According to Lee, her mother and father have been detached about whether or not the property ended up being bought or not, as there was no urgency to maneuver out. Lee’s mother and father have been upfront with the agent that if the property was not bought within the three months, they’d think about renovating the unit as an alternative.
When the three-month settlement lapsed, the agent had but to discover a purchaser. Lee’s mother and father determined that they now not needed to promote their property. Lee’s mom then made a name to the agent to tell him of their determination however was stunned by his “nasty” angle.
“He truly scolded my mom over the telephone, saying that we could not again out, and that he had spent loads of money on advertising supplies. My mum was on speakerphone on the time, so I heard the change. I took over the telephone over and instructed him off for being disrespectful to her,” Lee recalled.
The scenario quickly subtle, and Lee’s good friend apologised for his behaviour. Despite the incident, the household later agreed to proceed with making an attempt to promote the property by way of the identical agent. “I made a decision to ‘let it go’ and continued with the deal,” mentioned Lee. About two months later, the property was bought.
Further stress between agent and sellers
After the deal was closed, Lee and her household started the method of on the lookout for a brand new home. Scarred by their expertise with the agent, they determined that they have been going to search for a brand new home by themselves by way of on-line portals with out participating any brokers. The course of was gradual, and to make issues worse, it was troublesome to do home viewings given the restrictions that have been in place in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We did ask my agent good friend some very basic questions, just like the paperwork required for the shopping for course of, however he mentioned that if we needed his recommendation, then we would want to interact him as a shopping for agent,” mentioned Lee. This created one other level of stress throughout the once-close relationship.
Please additionally rethink if you’re participating a good friend as an agent… if issues go mistaken, there goes your friendship as nicely.Anne Lee (not her actual title)
The household finally discovered an acceptable HDB flat, which they supposed to renovate earlier than shifting in. Coupled with financing timelines, the household sought their agent’s assist in asking for an extension from their EC purchaser. Again, Lee shared, the agent was not useful in negotiating for extra time from the brand new house owners.
“We requested to push the handover date additional, however he stored emphasising that the client needed to transfer in as quickly as doable,” mentioned Lee. Although they finally bought a three-week extension, Lee felt that her good friend was not performing of their curiosity, contemplating that he had already earned his fee. In the tip, the household needed to filter out regardless and have been left having to lease an residence for a number of months.
Lesson discovered
“The friendship won’t ever be the identical once more,” mentioned Lee of the entire expertise, including that her good friend has since blocked her from his social media accounts.
Lee has vowed to not interact mates as brokers sooner or later.
“It was partly my fault for not doing extra analysis or talking with extra property brokers,” Lee mentioned. “It’s crucial for home sellers or patrons to do their very own analysis and converse to a number of specialists.”
“Please additionally rethink if you’re participating a good friend as an agent… if issues go mistaken, there goes your friendship as nicely,” Lee added.
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