<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>No such thing as 'standard' commission in property deals
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to yesterday's Forum Online letter by Ms Medalina Barber, 'Property rules should protect not just clients but agents too'.
We take this opportunity to clarify that there are no standard commission guidelines for estate agency services in Singapore. Commission fees payable to estate agents are a matter for private negotiation between them and their clients.
Often, what the agent means by 'standard' is that the commonly collected commission from the seller is 2 per cent, for example. While some latitude may be given to the estate agent's use of the expression 'standard', it should not be represented that 2 per cent is what a seller should pay for an estate agency's services. There is no prescribed scale of fees.
It is recommended that consumers enter into a written contract with an estate agent only after agreeing on the commission fee payable for a specified scope of services.
Dr Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to yesterday's Forum Online letter by Ms Medalina Barber, 'Property rules should protect not just clients but agents too'.
We take this opportunity to clarify that there are no standard commission guidelines for estate agency services in Singapore. Commission fees payable to estate agents are a matter for private negotiation between them and their clients.
Often, what the agent means by 'standard' is that the commonly collected commission from the seller is 2 per cent, for example. While some latitude may be given to the estate agent's use of the expression 'standard', it should not be represented that 2 per cent is what a seller should pay for an estate agency's services. There is no prescribed scale of fees.
It is recommended that consumers enter into a written contract with an estate agent only after agreeing on the commission fee payable for a specified scope of services.
Dr Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies
