Posted by
dannyboy77
16 yrs ago
Yet another example of why estate agents have such a dreadful reputation.
I recently agreed a price on a property in DB. I was told by the agent that I must hand over the cheque quickly and sign on the dotted line otherwise the property would be snapped up by some other mug. After handing over a cheque today for more than 350k and signing the prov agreement I received a text from the agent saying that they had received another offer (they have continued to show the flat after getting my cheque).
I was also told that they couldn't get the landlord to sign the contract till monday (after a long, sunny weekend trying to get any offers bigger than mine)
I'm sick to the stomach after fronting up the deposit. I'm sure this post will be deleted if I mentioned the agents name so i wont.
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I would be sceptical about these sort of tactics. It is pretty unprofessional.
The agent, however, will sometimes be playing a game for the landlord. It has happened to us, coupled with a dodgy contract we didn't agree with. It may or may not be true, all this.
The next communication might be to ask you for more rent.
Be very careful not to lose your deposit (or any part of it) if the landlord does not agree for you to rent the property.
If the landlord is worth dealing with, then this will get resolved.
The agent sounds a pain and cannot be trusted. They, of course, get a percentage of the deposit, so if the offer is higher then its better for them.
At present there is no 'rush' on rental properties (many vacant properties with rents dropping) so I would not be entirely convinced this is all above board.
Agents will try anything but the oldest one trick in the book is this sort of stuff.
Do you believe that someone else really exists and is wanting to rent the place at a higher rental?
If this turns out to be the case, I would tell the agent what you think and get another agent and be better off without it.
Landlord should be lucky to rent out the place in the current market !
I would do nothing until Monday and, in any case, don't be fooled by this hype.
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Speak to the estate agents authority. That should sort them out quick smart!
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This post is not about the letter of the law, it is more about the attitude of agents in Hong Kong. The sequence of events was:
1) I made an offer (only 1.5% below the asking price)
2) Offer was accepted by the owner
3) I signed the contracts and wrote a cheque but insisted on only paying 0.5% commission to the agent (who only showed me 2 properties and will still receive over 100k in commission)
4) Agent tried to sell the property to absolutely anyone else even after we (the owner and I had come to an agreement). We very almost pulled out of the deal on Saturday (and told the agent this in no uncertain terms)
My problem is with an agent who in no way represented the interests of the owner or me. He was prepared to screw me and the owner just to get a little extra money for him self!
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I agree with you dannyboy77. It's dirty.
As a property agent, I have to deal with other property agents all the time, and some can be very aggravating. With some agents getting rather desperate, it's not surprising to see what lengths they will go to, and what their managers will ORDER them to do. The fact that he can make twice as much from another buyer prepared to pay the standard fee is a big incentive.
"a little extra money for him self!"
No. It's not just a little money.
You're clearly thinking that the agent 'had a bird in hand' whereas he's thinking that he has no signature (not a deal), and there's another 0.5% in the bush, which is a lot more than two birds.
Dirty?
Yes.
Understandable?
Well... Yes.
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I totally disagree. I run my own company and if I tried to screw every customer who negotiated with me I'd be out of business in a month.
This agent is a total scum bag who after agreeing terms did everything he could to sell the flat to someone else. If he'd focused some of his efforts on selling one or two of the other properties on his books he may have a better business and would certainly have a happier customer.
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I wasn't made to sign anything until the day of the prov agreement. I told the estate agent long before we got to that stage I would only pay 0.5% which I feel is fair compensation when purchasing a high value property.
Thankfully the agent was unable to sell the flat to anyone else and I got the provisional contracts back (signed) yesterday. I certainly wont be using that agent again!
Thanks for all your comments
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I've been flat hunting and we've engaged 3 agents in showing us around.
We've dealt with Agent A for ages and we (my husband and his family) have bought 8 properties through her in the 7 years I've been here. We've just sold our flat and are looking at properties but we found that she was not as keen in taking us around as she used to be. She's probably more "popular". Needless to say, we won't be going back to her.
I found Agent B quite rude. We nearly signed a deal for a property she took us to see. Before signing, we wanted a day to think about it. During this time, we contacted the banks to get their valuations and spoke to a few real estate agents. The price we offered was 15% more than the valuation of 3 banks. We decided to pull out because we were offering too high a price. The agent then said to us, "Oh, if you are looking at cheaper prices, then I will take you to see cheaper properties with uglier views". I was deeply offended. I said to her, "With all due respect, we would pay a higher price IF and only IF the property is worth that. I said nothing about wanting only cheaper flats".
We loved Agent C, the one who was representing a buyer for our property although the deal didn't go through. We saw how he hard he was working for his customer. He took us to see a few properties and by the end of the day, he understood what we wanted. He could tell us exactly what he thought we were looking for and this weekend, he's found 1 that he wanted us to see. I mean, that's good customer service. I think we'll probably not go back to Agent A despite years of giving her business.
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cd
16 yrs ago
Agree with Huggy, i have walked out of many shops here due to pushy sales people. I hate walking into a shop and being 'tailed'as I go round.
As to the commission fee, we have moved 5 times in HK and have never paid an agency fee, have always managed to get the landlord to pay it.
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FKKC
16 yrs ago
cd you have never pay any agency fee even when moving 5 times! Unbelievable!
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cd
16 yrs ago
We told them up front that we couldn't afford to pay it, and they've always managed to negotiate with the landlords, have also got 1 months rent free in 2 places. This usually works better for individual landlords as opposed to big corporations.
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FKKC
16 yrs ago
I'll never try that but I think if I go to an agency and said I wanted to rent a place and I wouldn't be paying any commission.....do you think I'll get the same service I am used to or having to put up with sour faces otherwise? Just wondering.
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The only problems you'll face, if you refuse to pay an agency fee, are a limited choice, and more work. It is very common for agents to co-operate with each other, to give you a greater list of options, and find the right place. Deals done in this way will see your agent paid by you, and the co-op agent paid by the other party.
If you refuse to pay your agent, you're only going to see the properties on their books. If you want to see more, you'll just have to be prepared to do all of the leg work yourself. Not everyone has time for this.
Some people suggest that the landlord will pay the commission in your stead, if you refuse to pay. This is simply not the case. If the agent has agreed to deal with you for no commission, then he has just agreed to cut his salary in half. People who think that a Hong Kong landlord is going to pay for their tenant's tight arse, truly underestimate how tight Hong Kong landlords are.
Would you agree to work for half your wages?
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cd
16 yrs ago
Actually, have always been perfectly happy with the servive we've had from HK agents, mind you we've only ever used NT based ones, maybe its different on the Island.
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