Whether you will need to buy, sell, rent or lease a property in Singapore, high chances are you will engage a property agent’s service. Often, this agent would be a relative or friend of yours, or even come highly recommended by a trusted contact. Perhaps you have little knowledge in engaging or interacting property agents because you have not transacted or invested in a property before. Imagine you want to purchase Florence Residences for your own use and it is your first time engaging real estate agent services, this article will guide you as an important education of the actions that your property agent is allow or not allow to do. 

Before engaging your agent’s service, make sure to ask for their estate agent cards and ensure their name is on the cards. They must wear their cards at all times when they meet their clients.

1. Your property agent cannot represent for both sides

In every property transaction, there must be at least two parties where each of them represent a buyer and a seller, and in the case of renting, it is the tenant and landlord.

Do remember that your appointed agent cannot represent both you, and the other party in the same transaction. Your appointed agent can only represent you in one single property transaction, what means is that he cannot receive commission from both you and other party in the same transaction as doing so is an offence as it is known as dual representation. 

Similarly, if you are a buyer who has identified the property to buy, the seller’s agent cannot ask you for commission since the agent is already representing the seller. 

2. Agents are not allow to handle certain monies on your behalf

While some may trust their property agent to handle all transaction matters relating to property, your property agent cannot handle certain monies relating to transactions. There are some examples like when you are paying the down payment for a property, you should make the required payment directly to the rightful owner of the property rather than getting your property agent to pass the monies to the owner on your behalf. Similarly, if you are selling a property, your agent is not allow to receive the amount paid on your behalf.

3. Real estate agent cannot introduce a moneylender to you

As we all know, property transactions usually require large amounts of financing. Here’s a classic example, while you may have purchased a new home while your property agent was still in the midst of helping you to sell your existing home. You may also need some funds to renovate your new home. However, knowing the tight cash flow situation that you are in, your ‘helpful’ agent may recommend and introduce you some moneylenders (ah long/loan shark) you could have high chances to borrow money in the interim. You thought your agent is kind and thoughtful. 

Under no circumstances should your property agent be allowed to introduce you to a moneylender, even a legal one which also applies even if your agent stands to receive no personal benefits (commissions) for introducing and genuinely dong it to provide you with the help that they thought you needed. 

4. Agent cannot advertise your property without your consent

Agent is not allow to copy an advertisement from an owner, or from another agent and pass it off as their own. If they do not have permission to advertise, they cannot market and advertise it with below market value in order to attract potential buyers to contact them. On the other hand, if they are given permission to advertise, do note that your agent should ensure all information listed in the advertisement is accurate. 

Words or phrases that go against your best interest such as ‘no co-broke’, ‘no agents’ or ‘buyers pay commission’ should not be used in the advertisement. Reason being these phrases will limit the pool of potential interested parties. An agent must always act in the best interest of the client that he/she is representing. 

Now that you know some of the important things that your property agent should or should not do. Not only you will protect your own interests but also receive appropriate service that you should expect from a registered professional. This is also to ensure that both parties with agents do enjoy a pleasant experience as you buy, sell, rent or lease with the help of an agent.

We often hear from seasoned property investors how much they have throw their investments into renovation and refurbishment of their properties in hope to increase their property value. With all the monetary, time and effort be put in the renovation works, whether it is terrace house, bungalow or condominium, the profits is readily to be harvest. However, not all renovations or refurbishments should be done blindly because when the works are out of control, your pocket may hurt. At the end of the day, it is all about budget and money based on your affordability as well.

Here’s how to effectively furnish your investment.

1. First impression matters

There is a common saying that goes ‘you never get a second chance to make good first impression’. People tend to make quick judgments and that also applies in property viewing. To ensure your property unit give good impression, you could concentrate on the decor and designs to offer an impressive first view from the door entrance. There’s no need to spend exorbitantly on the featured lights, photo frames, shelves, wallpaper to build a good first impression.

2. Avoid unnecessary renovation expenditure on plaster ceilings

You can avoid spending unnecessarily on plaster ceiling, unless you are looking to target the luxury or upper middle class market like expats. Though it is commonly known that plaster ceiling with indirect lighting look fantastic and elegant but to be honest it is something else that grabs the attention. It is like the walls, the furniture and colour scheme of the entire room that grabs the attention of the potential tenants, right from the moment they enter your abode. 

3. Utilize loose furniture

What do we mean by loose furniture, it means that it can be easily replaceable. We have to stress again that the allocation of the budget is very important as you would want to invest that is worth for the money. It is advisable to invest in things that are more resistant to wear and tear which includes the air-conditioners, lights, curtains and electrical appliances. Do take note that nothing last forever as the nature of tear and wear depends on the reasonable utilization of the tenant. Meanwhile for the furniture, use something affordable and decent looking for the house. At the end of the day, you will have security deposits which will come in handy for unreasonable damages on your furniture towards the end of the tenancy.

4. Fill up your rooms and walls

What I have learned from my previous experiences is that people will find faults or petty issues on the flaws if there is nothing in the room or the walls. When they find the flaws, your unit will always be remembered as the one with flaws. The kind of flaws we are referring to are cracks on the walls, the uneven paint job, misalignment of your doors and everything that anyone can’t see eye to eye in it. The best way to distract them is to decorate and furnish your room by filling up the big empty walls with wallpaper, shelves and decor. All these items can be easily found in local furniture and decor stores with decent price.

5. Plan and neutral colour curtains

Curtains not only works as blocking the bright lights or sound proof but it also works as the house visual attention and focus. But, if you want your property for viewing, we suggest plain and neutral colour works better aesthetically, apart from being affordable. What we notice is that curtains with motifs and patterns may not appeal to every individual. One life hack we advise is that to get curtains with full height as it makes the interior look expensive, visually. Besides, you are going to cover the windows anyways and it won’t cost much going all the way. 

6. Maintain the walls, electrical points and water inlets

Due to every occupant or owner’s lifestyle, they are always tempted to hack the wall, relocate the electrical points or add power points. Well, you can save the works and your money from doing those because it’s not effective for your budget and time since you are going to sell or rent your property. Instead, work on those existing points and get it fix. You could shift your focus to provide something higher value to your customers such as additional wardrobe or television in the bedroom.