# Rental agent in Singapore??



## Aussielad

G'day,

I will be relocating to Singapore early in the new year and have a couple of questions if anyone could offer assistance. I have the kids enrolled in the aus int school and will be looking for a landed house/cluster house in an area which would be convenient to this and transport.
1) any recommendations on location for the family (rental 5-9k)??
1) should I stick with one agent or trawl through the separate listings?
We will be doing a recce trip in the coming weeks to firm everything up but would appreciate any info...

Cheers


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## dvdlin

I did check with multiple agents when I arrived last year July, even tried my luck in local newspapers. But one senior experience agent who drive our families around with his Benz do know what we want and able to negotiate a good price and term on one condo for us. After one year, I still use his service to buy a property. I would recommend stick with senior experience agent. PM me if you need his service I can recommend. David


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## Aussielad

Thanks David,

I have decided to use one agent through another recommendation. Let's hope it all goes well....
Cheers


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## dvdlin

I believe that's a good choice and will help you to save some time. You can also browse the property guru web site and put in your requirements, landed property near school aus intl school, that will give you some idea what kind of property looks like and what's the price range,also where they are. Good luck on your house rental hunting.


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## mummysarah

hi good day,

Planning to move in Singapore,
Many advertisement by agents.
Reliable website. I used to search here and directly contact/call the agents for viewing.
-singaporeexpats dot com website
-propertyguru dot com dot sg website
-stproperty dot sg


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## julebau

Is anybody interested to take over my appartment? i need to move closer to my sons daycare and therefore will break my lease. 

ca 2500 sqft of which 1200 are roof top terrace with private bbq pit and jacuzzi. 
3 min walk to woodleigh mrt and next to newly opened singapore american international school. 

for further details and pics refer to: propertyguru(dot)com(dot)sg/listing/12400235/for-rent-blossoms-woodleigh

note: pls replce (dot) with .


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## Hannahella1

*Blossoms*

Hi,

Im thinking about taking an apartment at Blossoms. Can you give me any feedback on it? I have two girls 3&5 that will go to SAIS.

Thanks
Derek


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## JacobDing

*Renting in Singapore*

The first thing you're going to be concerned with when coming here is finding somewhere to live. It's a decision you're going to want to get right first time, as moving house again and again is very stressful, particularly if you have a family as well. Naturally, scanning the local press and the Internet are good starting points, to give you some idea of the prices you can expect to pay.
To rent a property in Singapore, you should produce a copy of your passport and employment papers. You will also have to pay at least one months deposit.
Naturally, you will have to pay a security deposit and that is often one month rent for each year of the agreement. This is where your good faith deposit will be taken into account and will form part or all of your security deposit.


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## R-PAT

There are many property site to see and it would be best if you can get a dedicate agent so that he know your requirement.



Hannahella1 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Im thinking about taking an apartment at Blossoms. Can you give me any feedback on it? I have two girls 3&5 that will go to SAIS.
> 
> Thanks
> Derek


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## beppi

R-PAT said:


> There are many property site to see and it would be best if you can get a dedicate agent so that he know your requirement.


On the contrary, I'd recommend to go without agent to find the better deals!
Finding a place will take more time and effort without one, but agents have a (well deserved) reputation for shoddy service, (often) dishonesty and are not worth their fee (my opinion).


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## EdisonFoo

You gotta meet up a few to compare, so that you will find that one agent who works for your interest.
And FYI, tenants don't pay commissions, only landlords will pay. So take note of that.


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## simonsays

EdisonFoo said:


> .
> And FYI, tenants don't pay commissions, only landlords will pay. So take note of that.


Tenants don't pay if the rental is above 4K but a few enterprising agents will still find a way to collect money from the tenants.. I assure you on that ...


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## beppi

simonsays said:


> Tenants don't pay if the rental is above 4K but a few enterprising agents will still find a way to collect money from the tenants.. I assure you on that ...


This was the norm until several years ago, when a law change made such an agreement actually ILLEGAL!
Now, the one who engaged the agent first has to pay the fees. Thus, if you ask an agent to find a place for you, you have to pay (and not the landlord whom you eventually rent from). And if a landlord asks an agent to find a tenant, the landlord pays the fee (and not the tenant who answers the agent's ads). This is independent of how much the rental is.
Of course some dubious agents (there are quite a number of those!) will tell you otherwise. Do not believe them - and report them to the CEA (Council of Estate Agents, an industry association regulating the market and issuing agent's licenses).


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## simonsays

beppi said:


> . Do not believe them - and report them to the CEA (Council of Estate Agents, an industry association regulating the market and issuing agent's licenses).


We can argue about the legality but the truth remains 9 out of 10 agents still manage to psyche the tenants into at least partial commission, and most tenants end up paying, especially if they are on expat terms, so a month rental thrown to the agent is peanuts (or so the agent will claim ..)

And for reporting to CEA, CEA will not act unless you provide all your details in full, and such details will be revealed to the offending agent, and that's mighty incentive to report any agent 

Having made something illegal is one thing, but when the agent plays the magical "willing seller, willing buyer" tune, CEA will not go the extra mile to punish the offending agent, and just warn him.

Enough said 

Ps, minus personal information, CEA will not act on any compliant, they will just send a letter to the agent and that's it. After all, a fair number of property agents are folks who lost their jobs, unemployable, and lack skills to find a good job. Like insurance agents and taxi drivers here , there is no joy in punishing them, is the general attitude


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## sometimesiam25

Remember to negotiate like crazy. Those agents will take you for as much money as possible if you let them.


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## blissfulhome

Nowadays is easier to search online via property portal or even newspaper to find landlords that advertise themselves. For rent by owners. In this case, both parties do not need to pay agent commission. You just need to get the tenancy agreement stamped to legalize it.


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## simonsays

blissfulhome said:


> Nowadays is easier to search online via property portal or even newspaper to find landlords that advertise themselves. For rent by owners. In this case, both parties do not need to pay agent commission. You just need to get the tenancy agreement stamped to legalize it.


But you are missing the point, those advertisements that do not have agent are like 1 in a thousand or so.

And the fact that a lot of private property is owned by non-residents ensure the agents have more than enough business to share around.


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## Scottish86

sometimesiam25 said:


> Remember to negotiate like crazy. Those agents will take you for as much money as possible if you let them.



You mention to negotiate like crazy... I am considering moving to Singapore (have a job offer)... On the websites, such as property guru etc, are the guide prices normally under expectations of the landlord to attract interest, or are they over inflated and can be negotiated down, or are they normally spot on?

Thanks for the help.
R


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## beppi

Everything is negotiable - and you don't need to pay an agent fee if the agent advertised the property (and thus was engaged by the landlord).


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## BBCWatcher

I don't have the link handy at the moment, but the government has an online database that you can search to get information on comparable rental rates. The database works really well for big apartment buildings and condo complexes with large numbers of similar units recently rented, but it can also still be useful for smaller properties. The database tells you what the units actually rented for.

I think it's the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Web site that has this information, so I'd check there first if you're interested.


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## charlietaylor

Scottish86 said:


> You mention to negotiate like crazy... I am considering moving to Singapore (have a job offer)... On the websites, such as property guru etc, are the guide prices normally under expectations of the landlord to attract interest, or are they over inflated and can be negotiated down, or are they normally spot on?
> 
> Thanks for the help.
> R


It really depends. I suggest getting an agent to represent you. Landlord agents will usually do their best to convince you to rent their unit, and provide you with biased info, especially with regards to price. Just pay the commission and have a peace of mind. Too many horror stories of landlords and their agents taking advantage of unrepresented tenants...especially during their tenancy.


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## simonsays

charlietaylor said:


> It really depends. I suggest getting an agent to represent you. Landlord agents will usually do their best to convince you to rent their unit, and provide you with biased info, especially with regards to price. Just pay the commission and have a peace of mind. Too many horror stories of landlords and their agents taking advantage of unrepresented tenants...especially during their tenancy.


unrepresented ?

Come trouble, the agent who represents you will be the first one to vanish 

No kidding !


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## beppi

Property agents in Singapore are not usually very helpful - and have a well-earned reputation for dishonesty and shady dealings. I recommend doing it without, if you can!


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## Diana Zhao

Hi, welcome to singapore. Its really a beautiful place to stay Honestly. 
Everything starts with a hard beginning. It is not easy to find a suitable house by urself. For my suggestion is you can find an agent to help you, they are better knowledged with rental a property in singapore. *<Snip>*


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## beppi

What the h***ll is Pre-Spam???


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## simonsays

beppi said:


> What the h*ll is Pre-Spam???


building posts etc, preparing to spam / PM the board members, is pre-spam


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## Asian Spirit

beppi said:


> What the h***ll is Pre-Spam???


The moderator also enforces forum rules on language usage --take note ..


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## marcmawerz

It's quite easy to do your own renting without an agent, it's true that agents are usually biased. They will try to close deals as fast as possible and get both parties to pay the respective agents on both sides of the deal. Honestly, I find the Krib.It blog very useful for information on dealing with my own rentals.


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