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I recently encountered a seller’s agent, who did not present my counter offer for a home I was interested in, as she said that my offer was below her client’s expectations and that the offer would be rejected.

I had an agent representing me as a buyer so she would have to share her commission. Somehow between both agents, they managed to “work out a deal with the owner” such that the owner would agree to a lower purchase price, but I would then have to pay commission as a buyer to my agent, and the seller to his agent.

I wanted to check if it’s reasonable for the salesperson to not present my original counter offer to the seller and for the deal to be worked out in this manner?

Also when putting down a cheque for the 1% option fee, is there any documentation that should accompany that?

Thanks in advance
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2 Answers

Dear sir/madam,

Firstly, I am a little confused what do you mean by original counter offer. Have you made an offer twice prior to the deal where you will pay your agent while seller will pay their agent?

How do you know that your offer was not presented to the owner? In any case, despite many agents claiming that private property buyers do not need to pay commission, it is not the default situation. Many agents say that because they are prospecting for buyers to serve their needs and in most cases, yes, both seller agent and buyer agent will share the commission paid out by the seller, but not all cases are as such. More importantly, your agent must be looking into your interest in securing this apartment for you at a price you are willing to pay with all conditions in. Should you feel that this is not an acceptable deal, you can always move on to the next potential unit. Last but not lease, the agent should not be collecting commission from both seller and buyer as it is considered dual representation.

When you are putting up the 1% cheque as option fee, it is typical to have a document called Offer To Purchase where terms and conditions of offer are being put up in black and white, typically indicating the price of your offer, the option period, completion period and others like vacant possession or with tenancy as well as if there is any inventory involved.

Hope the above helps.

I have been in the real estate business since 2009, with more than 10years of experience serving the Singapore real estate market.

I am very active in the residential segment of Singapore real estate market, having transacted hundreds of deals from HDBs to private condominiums and landed properties in Singapore, and have handled many unique cases in sales and purchases as well as rental deals.

Over the years, I have also established a network reaching out to more than 9,400 expatriates, bringing my market presence to both in and outside of Singapore. This has created an additional exposure when I manage my clients’ portfolios, on top of the conventional on and offline platforms, where other estate agents are relying on. This has allowed me to consistently convert leads into results.

With an evolving market, where change is the only constant, I have also been investing in upgrading of my knowledge and skills sets to improve myself and meet the demands of current and future market.

Please feel free to reach me from my website www.geryllim.com or connect with me directly on my mobile phone at 81577565  .

I look very much to hear from you soon.

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  • MC
    Hi Geryl,

    Thanks for your response.

    Yes sorry for the confusion there - so I made two offers prior to this latest offer where I have to pay my agent and seller pays their agent where I could get a lower purchase price but I would have to fork out commission. Essentially it adds up to about the same amount as my second offer, except that both agents no longer have to share comms. Am ok with that but I just wanted to be sure that this is not an unusual practice.

    I was informed that my second offer (prior to this latest offer) was not presented to the client as their agent thought that the offer was too low from what her client expected. But the third offer (this current arrangement) was presented to the seller and seller agreed.

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