apartment wheeling and dealing

[humid climes]

About to get started with our first Singapore apartment search and need advice please.

How do you deal with agent on price?  From discussions on this board it sounds like there is room for negotiations on price, etc.  In the US, there is usually no bargaining on apartments.  You pay the asking price. When buying a house, you may tell your agent you have less money to spend than you actually do so that they don't give you away to the seller.  So, in Spore, do you tell your agent everything and trust him to negotiate in your best interests or do you lowball him?  Do you look at apartments only in your range or do you look at slightly more expensive ones, figuring you can negotiate them down?  If so, how much more (%) expensive?

Thanks for any help you can give.

[landlord]

your best bet would be to narrow down the areas you want and to investigate the rental market/prices yourself first. do your homework. that way you will know if you are being taken for a ride.

i don't think agents always act in your best interest, nor in the landlord's.
their bottom line is to close the deal and get their commissions fast so they can move onto the next sucker.
imo, they will not bargain hard for either side for any paltry sum like ($500 less or more) because it doesn't really make that much difference in their overall commission level.

good luck house-hunting.  

[Alyssa]

You decide what areas you would be interested in living in and then let the agent know. You can always look at places that are little more then you are willing to spend and then negoiate the price. Contact the boardmanager at this website. He is very honest and looks out for your best interest. Also remember that if you decide to live in a place that is right in the heart of the city the apartment maybe smaller and more expensive then a place 5 minutes outside of downtown. Some of the highrises are nice and they have all the extra amenities, but are usually smaller square footage wise.

[Rob]

Remember that the agent is working for himself first, then the landlord and then foryou. His comission is based upon the amount of rent you pay. That said, it is also in his interest to get the place rented out as quickly as possible

I don't think there is any hard and fast rule about negotiation, it all comes down to the personal situation/view of the landlord. Some will be very inflexible, others may be desperate to rent.

There is little to be lost by pitching your bid low at the start and then working your way up. As westrners we tend to be inexperienced/emabrassed about negotiation, but remember it is the Singapore way. Just don't come across as too aggressive. To some extent, it is a game and should be played as such. You may even find your initial low bid is accepted. Which of course leaves you wondering if you offered too high.  It also helps if you are not too too keen on the place ad the willingness to walk away is a key negotiating tool

[This message has been edited by Rob (edited 25-03-2002).]

[justmovedin]

Having just gpone through a similar experience - I found that we where able to neg. in a new stereo and the servicing of the air cond. for term of the lease (1 yr) - that was on a full furnished place.

If we where going to look a t a 2 yr lease, we could have neg. the price as well (but on by a couple of hundred p/m).

Like most things - you never know till you try!!!!!

[BoardManager]

Remember everyone is doing his bit to look after his own interest - the boss offering the job, to the person seeking to relocate and to rent a property, to the landlord seeking the best tenant/rental he can realistically obtain, to the estate agent offering a service. There is nothing wrong as such as everyone is doing a (genuine) bit as part of a business. All parties must come together to make the deal work.

Yes, there are realtors who are crooks. But there are bosses and employees who are crooks too. There are realtors who are professional, who spend time to set up appointments, take time (2-3 days) and incur costs (petrol, wear & tear, phone bills, weekends, skip lunch) to show prospective tenants around only to be screwed real bad.

As in any venture we should seek to be honest and forthright. Low-balling your rental rate may just end up frustrating you as the tenant since the agent will show you stuff within that price bracket - sometimes these could be 'crap' to the uninitiated tenant. On the other hand, asking to be shown higher price units in the hope that one can optimistically squeeze rates real low to meet one' budget may also end up in much agony since it may not always work. And benchmarks get set much higher leaving the tenant miserable, feeling that he has had to accept the next best place and he had to make great compromises.

As in most projects, setting clear perimeters and specifications will ease the process for most people.  

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 25-03-2002).]

[CIndy]

From my experience 10 months ago, the agents will tend to show you places in the high end of your price range anyway. Generally I found that when I commented "this place is nice, but it is about $500~1,000 outside our range", they would respond "you can negotiate". So, be aggressive on price. Once we found a place that we really liked we offered a rental that was 15% less than listed price. The landlord said yes. Of course you always wonder if you could of gone lower, but you never know. We got the place we wanted, for a price that we were happy with.

[KatyF]

BM - I just wondered if you have agents who find apartments/houses in a lower price bracket than the ones you offer in "Property Listings"?  Reason being our lease is up in August and we'll be looking for a place near the Australian School, though obviously it's too early to look yet.  Still, we were thinking of something more in the $3-3500 range than the places you have listed.  Cheers.

[BoardManager]

Yes, KatyF
Yes, we do have a very comprehensive list of properties. Please email us and we can certainly come up with a list.

cheers
BM
manager@expatsingapore.com
Tel : 6226 6062

[KatyF]

Many thanks, BM - will give you a yell in June.  Cheers!

[humid climes]

Thanks for your input.  It is all very helpful.  I feel like now I have an idea how to go about dealing with our agent and the negotiations.  It sounds like the process for buying in the US rather than apartment leasing here.

Special note to the BM:  My husband and I agree that most agents are honest and the negotiations should be straight forward.  The agent we're using has good marks from previous clients we know.  We just want to make sure we understand the rules and norms of negotiations in Singapore.  Otherwise we would be operating in the dark and couldn't set reasonable expectations for ourselves and our agent.  We think it's best to do our homework so that we save everyone a lot of time.  Again, thanks for your help on this and other threads.

[BoardManager]

HC
Yes, note your statement. Good on you.

I personally (strongly) feel that we deal with different people in everyday life. It is best to maintain one's integrity in all our dealings. That way, we will always be able to hold our heads up, keep our name above reproach. There is no need to second guess others. And there is certainly no need to get the best deals for ourselves at someone's expense.

All the best,
Cheers.

[Julie from Croydon]

Agree with CIndy on the scale of discounts possible through negotiation.

I personally know someone who has just taken a 2-bed flat on the East Coast, for which the asking price was $2,500 per month.   She had other options, so flatly said she would not pay more than $2,000 per month and the offer was accepted.