Asked by Marcelo Rodriguez
Hello Property Guru,
I am still searching. A major problem I encountered is that listing realtors do NOT indicate the size of bedrooms, living rooms, etc. Consequently, a lot of time is wasted by both parties in scheduling property showings only to find out that the property/unit isn't sufficiently big for my needs. Another problem you ought to seriously consider is asking the listing realtor to post a specimen tenancy contract on the website so the prospective tenant can look through the terms and determine if the lease contract language is fair and acceptable. All too often, the contracts are written 100% in favor of the landlord. Knowing this up-front helps both the prospective tenant and landlord's listing agent by eliminating those interactions that will not lead to a successful negotiation. Yet a third challenge is that the square footage of the units advertised is overstated. I actually measured the ACTUAL LIVING SPACE of some units and found the actual space to be 15%-30% smaller than what is shown on the listing. Most realtors could not provide an explanation for the discrepancy. They simply state that square footage information comes from the builder. Either way, the explanation is deficient and does nothing to address the mis-information of property listings.
There needs to be greater transparency in the listing/advertising process in the marketing of property in SG. If you benchmark against other leading real estate market platforms around the world, you will find that property listings disclose more information that leads to better decision making, less unexpected surprises at closing, and more productive & harmonious relationships amongst the tenant/buyer/seller and reale real estate professional.
Since your email asked for feedback, I hope you will use it to improve your service and enhance the buying experience for all your clients in Singapore.
Best wishes in your efforts to enhance your platform if that is truly your intention in seeking user feedback.
Marcelo Rodriguez
I am still searching. A major problem I encountered is that listing realtors do NOT indicate the size of bedrooms, living rooms, etc. Consequently, a lot of time is wasted by both parties in scheduling property showings only to find out that the property/unit isn't sufficiently big for my needs. Another problem you ought to seriously consider is asking the listing realtor to post a specimen tenancy contract on the website so the prospective tenant can look through the terms and determine if the lease contract language is fair and acceptable. All too often, the contracts are written 100% in favor of the landlord. Knowing this up-front helps both the prospective tenant and landlord's listing agent by eliminating those interactions that will not lead to a successful negotiation. Yet a third challenge is that the square footage of the units advertised is overstated. I actually measured the ACTUAL LIVING SPACE of some units and found the actual space to be 15%-30% smaller than what is shown on the listing. Most realtors could not provide an explanation for the discrepancy. They simply state that square footage information comes from the builder. Either way, the explanation is deficient and does nothing to address the mis-information of property listings.
There needs to be greater transparency in the listing/advertising process in the marketing of property in SG. If you benchmark against other leading real estate market platforms around the world, you will find that property listings disclose more information that leads to better decision making, less unexpected surprises at closing, and more productive & harmonious relationships amongst the tenant/buyer/seller and reale real estate professional.
Since your email asked for feedback, I hope you will use it to improve your service and enhance the buying experience for all your clients in Singapore.
Best wishes in your efforts to enhance your platform if that is truly your intention in seeking user feedback.
Marcelo Rodriguez
208 views
