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Guide on buying/selling your property without an agent
This is a guide on when you should DIY, and when engaging a property agent will make more sense.
I am providing this guide because, once upon a time, when I was looking to buy a resale condo, I had many viewings together with my property agent, but all without success. Then I decided to DIY, and I found my dream home at a right price.
Equipped with the knowledge and experience, I now understand the industry much better (and got a property license).
It is entirely up to you to choose your property journey:
In this guide, I want to help you understand which route you should take based on your scenarios.
If you’re certain of what and where to buy, you can search for properties yourself using portals such as propertyguru.com. In fact, that is the same portal that agents will use to shortlist for buyers.
You can contact the seller agent’s directly, and they will be happy to set up viewing for you (extra happy as they don’t have to co-broke).
You can be your own salesperson, bringing buyers to view and pitch by yourself. Who else knows the house and the surrounding amenities better than you?
The only issue with DIY selling is the lack of platforms to advertise your house. Only Oh-My-Home provides a platform for non-agents to post. But most buyers/agents still use propertyguru, hence you will not have enough eyeballs.
Marketing is a major issue for DIY seller, so an agent is still largely needed.
Selling HDB is slightly better, as the government wants to make it fair for DIY seller. HDB provides good overview of the process for buyer & seller, and even launched their HDB Resale Portal for legit sellers to post. But so far, very very few uses the government website to search. Marketing is still a major issue.
This is one exception where you should always use an agent.
This is because it doesn’t affect your purchase price – you don’t pay commission to the agent (they get commission directly from developer)! In addition, an agent can help you compare with other launches and provide guidance on unit selection.
As such, always engage an agent before going to the showflat.
A property agent shouldn’t be just a middleman helping home buyer with searching, arranging viewings, chauffeuring, and relaying prices to offer.
A good property agent should be able to do wealth planning for home buyer, utilize property as an investment effectively. Properties are great investment assets, especially for Singapore. It is true even if you set out to buy one for own-stay.
It is vital to plan well in relation to your life stage eg. family planning, needs for primary schools. Or if you could be planning for retirement, a rental income would be good to support your lifestyle.
Understanding your affordability and your overall investments, a good property wealth planner will be able to give you advise that can change your life. But agent doesn’t charge you just for this planning, and instead rely on any commission when you engage them to buy/sell.
For renting, it has the same issue being that you cannot post on propertyguru. But another avenue is posting on Carousell for DIY landlords. That has worked for me without using agent.
Read this for a complete guide on the steps and procedures.
Similar to buying resale, a tenant is better hunting without an agent.
We have discussed the scenarios where you might want to DIY.
You can also read the 5 reasons why you should not use an agent
In most cases, you can DIY, except for new launches, as it doesn’t cost you to engage an agent. No reason not to find a capable one to bring you to the showflat. I would love to.
Every agent is different. One might be a hard seller who makes you FOMO all the time, while another might be genuinely trying to make right for your biggest purchase.
A good thing is that property agents only earn a commission when there is a successful transaction. As such, it doesn’t cost a cent to talk to them. Talk to a few, and choose wisely who you want to work with.