Crazy Agent Stories
Anyone’s who has tried to rent a place in Singapore has had to deal with an agent at one point or another. In my experience, most are unprofessional, uncooperative and about as unhelpful as they can get, all while trying to get your money.
Do you have a crazy agent story? I’d like to hear it. Post it in the comments section or use this link to send it to me and share it online. Maybe if they get the message they will improve their ways? Maybe not…
Best of luck,
David
PS- videos and audio recordings are welcome too- send in a message and I’ll get you the info on how to get the video/audio to me.
Comments: Libel law is strange here, so please don’t use an agents name or company.
Same as me,
I hate those agent, very promptly to you when you in need for a room/unit! 50% of commision is too harsh for the tenant to bear, do they (agent) really think of us …. I have encounter a situation whereby cheated by a fake agent. $1900 just vanish into thin air just like that, up to now we still not able to find him.
We are here to support the slogan of “NO AGENT, NO COMMISSION”
50% of monthly tenure from both tenant and owner as commission is too high.
It contribute to 8.33% of the rental fees over a year.
Agent earn this money from us to drive a luxury car while we only take a pity public transport.
As a smart user we should never go for this middle man … as they will only spoil the market.
I know of an agent who still insist on 1/2 month commission even for short term rentals of 1 month or 3 months. I told him that it should be pro rated but he said it was standard practice. I find that unacceptable.
i hate an agent whom brought a client to my hse for room rental asking for 1 month commission for short terms 3months. Thinking to cheap an owner. Another agent that I dealed beginning of this year 2010, His name was F.(removed) the most horrible agent. Sweet talk and not action done. When I face obstacle he gave me all sort of excuses. Just want MONEY….MONEY….. (sorry, had to edit agents name- afraid of singapore libel laws…)
people are counting single penny also when they go for shoping in supermarket..if they want to buy a fruit also they prefer cheaper yet the good one, but in these circumstances also the same, you have to give half the amount of rent to agents. almost 20%of salary for a month goes for agents fees
I have encouter good agent before. Not all agent are the same and i think if we use thier service its right for us to pay them. Its not easy to be an agent too.
the agent shld collect more commisson fr the landlord and less from the tenant
So many agents showed me so many shit rooms for high price and behaved to me like a street beggar. Like Im depending on their mercy.One showed me room on a building wholly being renovated like dormitory for construction worker at bedok south around may just a common room merely fitted with a new partitioned shower and toilet and just calling it master bed room and asking un imaginable price which i would not stay for free.
so many broken stories..some time I feel just want to be an agent and show how could be a nice agent . to teach those brainless unprofessional suckers…
You try to be an agent one day see how to react such a choosy, ‘don’t know what his budget and what kind he can get’ tenant. I am sure you will commit sucide. I wont serve such idiot like You, unreasonable tenant.
Who ever come up with this website is brilliant! I salute and will support this website..
Totally agree with alan tan’s comments, agent earn money from landlord and tenants to drive luxury cars. In fact they should not even ask commission from tenant who responded to their ads. They do nothing for us and yet we tenant have to pay a half month comm to them. We meet them, they show us around n then when we agree we pay them comm. Easy job is’nt it? Even a 12 yr old can do.. Already we have to pay 1 or 2 mths dep. Even short-term rental comm apply. Not all agents are suckers though but most are desperate for sales but cant do a good job. I had asked 6 different agents to find me a room and none has succeeded in helping me. But all adds are controlled by agents.
I hope this would be a good platform for landlords and tenants n meet the objectives of both tenants n landlords.
this happened to my friend. it seems his senior citizen landlord wanted to rent his whole unit only for 6 months. agent lied to both landlord and my friend, charged 1 month brokerage for 2 years contract and disappeared. truth came to light when landlord came and asked my friend to vacate after 6 months. my friend was helpless with school going kid. he had financial difficulties at that time that he sent wife and kid back home unable to rent a unit again.
So how can you get out of this paying 1/2 months to 1 full month commission on renting a place?? Are there any agents out there who just charge a flat fee? That seems more fair to me. Are there any good agents out there too? It’s really discouraging and frustrating!!
Also, a question- is it impossible to just try to deal with the LL’s agent? Do you need an agent to get the LOI and TA started and done correctly?
Are unlicensed agents illegal in singapore? I’m not sure if my agent is conning me… he is always making up excuses to show me his license number…
Check, he may be fake agent..
The day my tenant moved into our old apartment, it was also the day my agent pressurized me into selling it off to a willing buyer. He made his big commission from both the tenancy and the sale – and that was just on one property. Imagine if they use the same tactic to many property owners
I totally support this website. Most agent in spore is not professional. They only show you the room. And most of the room is not suitable or even not worth to be called a room. An agent showing me a room which turn out to be a duplex partition in the kitchen of an old hdb building and it was damn small to the extend it’s more like a chicken cage or a size of a jail prison perhaps and for that the owner want to ask $350/month!! I won’t even want to stay there for free!!!
Another agent intentionally hiding the facts that the owner is only able to rent the room for 3 months coz after that the owner’s son will be returning from overseas study and need that room to stay. So after two months they give you one month notice ask you to out and vacate the room at the end of the 3 months by giving dozen of excuses such as we have diferrent cleanliness concept, etc. At the end you found out that from beginning they only intend to rent out the room for temporary 3 months until the son coming back from overseas. But fear that you won’t rent their room if they tell you the truth. and the agent was cooperating with the owner to hide the fact from you.
Heard to many bad stories also from friend that the agent suddenly become unresponsive and not helpful once they have sealed the deal and pocketing the big fat commission. It’s like a hit and run away transaction.
I HATE SPORE PROPERTY AGENT!! I find that giving 50% of your rental fee to an agent for just SHOWING YOU A ROOM is TOO MUCH and OVERPRICED.
Honestly, how is this system so broken? How does it make sense to pay someone just to open a door for you or just maintain a database?
Don’t get me wrong, I am completely fine to pay for a service if its valuable. The agent is supposed to take effort to perhaps take pictures, show them to you, match your preferences to the owners.
The true question is why aren’t owners more inclined to just deal with the tenant directly? With such high internet usage in Singapore, there is something stopping them from posting on Craigslist, etc.
I spent four months looking for one apartment. I’ve dealt with too many bad agents to even single out any particular one, the experience was just terrible.
Find a nice place, nothing too fancy, hopefully not too expensive. Sounds simple, right? It was the hardest four months of my life, filled with wasted time and disappointment.
Agents are often misleading on ads and usually what they promise is a wonderful apartment most of the time turns out to be a hellhole, and as everyone mentions, wouldn’t even stay in it for free. Windowless rooms barely fitting one person, and the agent insists it’s worth $700 and it’s the “best you can find in this market”. Do they think we’re stupid? “It’s perfectly acceptable. You come home, you turn on your aircon, you go to sleep.” Do they know how they sound?
I don’t understand why tenants have to pay 50% of the commission for answering an agent’s ad. There was no work done by the agent on your behalf except unlock the doors for you to see the place.
Some agents post numerous ads and don’t even bother to respond to your calls/smses. When they do, it’s to spam you with another apartment you were not interested in, and try to show you other places you never asked for. All the while, never answering your query regarding the property he posted. This has happened more than once. One never even bothered to remember my name, so upon showing up to a “mass viewing” to what again turned out to be a shitty hellhole, couldn’t even remember that she made an appointment with me.
And lastly…I don’t want to see that damned agent’s face when I click on an ad that says, “With photo”. I want to see the unit, damnit!
I just want a place of comfortable, nice, quiet and neat enviroment, but it because all the agent are need want to take them high agent fee to lead our tenant can’t rent someone cheaper house.
Just last day, I got view one cheaper house but it cause want pay 2 month deposit to owner, one month in advance for rental and important another need pay 1 month also for agent fee. How can I paid all within short period, I’m not the one high income job even all my friend join with me to rental it. If I have many more money like that, I think no need to rental house and come singapore here to working on.
When them agent also not side our tenant also just with owner discuss them all profit and benefit, all the agent totally don’t thinking our tenant what that need or give one better way to us can get low price housing. The agent only thinking them poket money, never care all the people die or not.When them get commission is never care about of you again. So damn it.
Stayed in Singapore for last 8yrs.
Same as the case here. Once happened, agent from leading board cheated by creating fake documents & fake owner. Lost 1 month advance + agent’s commission.
Tenant agent will never support tenants. Also paying 1/2 month rent every yr during contract renewal is nonsensical.
I once used agent for my earlier house. I denied using agent during contract renewal and went in direct agreement with owner. Immediately saw agent’s true face, he talked to owner to increase rent price by 400, thus indirectly forcing me to move out. So that he can get new tenants and again agent fees. I am tired of paying agent fees.
I strongly recommend both owners & tenants to avoid agents (first time may be to gain trust, but not for every renewal). This is spoiling market.
i do believe using agent to rent a place is not a mandatory requirement from legal point of view. However.. How could it be possible to deal without agent? Can anyone here share what can be done ourselves such as documentation, legal paperwork etc? how can we be sure the “owner” of the unit is a genuine owner?
So poor agents in Singapore who just can do like that ..Not sufficent industry structure of Singapore drived such poor people. Singapore government need to help them to get other jobs. They don’t have any right to get free money such as renewal contract and so on in legal. But, more sad thing is Singapore government does not have any plan to make stop them to get such “free money” from international people in Singapore. Because, they can not control unemployeement issues…