Singapore Expats

I am relocating ti Singapore in a few weeks. just wondering about agents fees. How does that work or how are they calculated? For the service or as a percentage of the rental?

I will be looking for a studio apartment (maybe non-existent) or possibly a room, but if i can get someone to do the leg work, it might be better. just wondering if the fees are worth it.

It's linked to the amount of rent you pay, as well as the duration of the lease. Generally, you pay half a month's rent per year of lease when the rent is less than S$2,500,-.

So if your rent is S$2,400,- per month and a it's two year lease, you pay S$2,400,-. If it's a one year lease, you pay S$1,200,-

When the rent is more than S$2,500,- you don't pay any commission, your landlord does.

Having said that, this is not an etched-in-stone rule, more like a general guideline.

Still, if anyone tries it on with you, just refer to above.

NBB2 wrote:It's linked to the amount of rent you pay, as well as the duration of the lease. Generally, you pay half a month's rent per year of lease when the rent is less than S$2,500,-.

So if your rent is S$2,400,- per month and a it's two year lease, you pay S$2,400,-. If it's a one year lease, you pay S$1,200,-

When the rent is more than S$2,500,- you don't pay any commission, your landlord does.

Having said that, this is not an etched-in-stone rule, more like a general guideline.

Still, if anyone tries it on with you, just refer to above.

and 7% GST

nakatago wrote:

NBB2 wrote:It's linked to the amount of rent you pay, as well as the duration of the lease. Generally, you pay half a month's rent per year of lease when the rent is less than S$2,500,-.

So if your rent is S$2,400,- per month and a it's two year lease, you pay S$2,400,-. If it's a one year lease, you pay S$1,200,-

When the rent is more than S$2,500,- you don't pay any commission, your landlord does.

Having said that, this is not an etched-in-stone rule, more like a general guideline.

Still, if anyone tries it on with you, just refer to above.

and 7% GST

Indeedio.

Thanks nakatago.

If the agent is acting for the Landlord then Landlord pays agent's fees whatever the rental amount is. This 2.5k threshold is only something agents have made up and can't be legally enforced.

I have a question. I have just received some information from an agent and I am not sure if it is true. He said that, since agents representing Landlord do not want to co-broke and hence we have to collect our comm. from whom they served. Is this true?

It's true for that particular agent. If you want to save your commission, find an agent who will co-broke. Many agents do co-broke, generally, if the rent is SGD2500 and above. However this is subject to negotiation, for some agents it's SGD2800 and above, SGD3000 and above, etc. I've not heard of any co-broking for below SGD2500 though.

NBB2 wrote:It's linked to the amount of rent you pay, as well as the duration of the lease. Generally, you pay half a month's rent per year of lease when the rent is less than S$2,500,-.

So if your rent is S$2,400,- per month and a it's two year lease, you pay S$2,400,-. If it's a one year lease, you pay S$1,200,-

When the rent is more than S$2,500,- you don't pay any commission, your landlord does.

Having said that, this is not an etched-in-stone rule, more like a general guideline. Still, if anyone tries it on with you, just refer to above.

Can someone confirm the situation for one year leases? I've seen other comments saying the "tenant pays no commission" threshhold doubles to $5000 for a one year lease. And an agent recommended to us by a friend sent us his standard writeup which would imply she wants commission from us for a one year lease regardless of rent level. Is this something we should negotiate with her, is it standard, or should we move on?

Thanks!
(arriving in August)

ottawan wrote:
Can someone confirm the situation for one year leases? I've seen other comments saying the "tenant pays no commission" threshhold doubles to $5000 for a one year lease. And an agent recommended to us by a friend sent us his standard writeup which would imply she wants commission from us for a one year lease regardless of rent level. Is this something we should negotiate with her, is it standard, or should we move on?

Thanks!
(arriving in August)

I would personally find a decent agent rather than be conned by this one. Unfortunately you being a newbie the agent is just trying to take advantage of this, and by the looks of it she managed to get away with it when dealing with your friend.

As been mentioned correctly in this thread, you don't have to pay any fees or commission if the rental is over $3k even for a 1 year TA agreement.

There are NO rules about agent's commissions in Singapore.
Whenever an agent tells you otherwise, it's only because he/she wants you to believe it and accept HIS/HER ideas without questioning.
All commissions should be negotiated beforehand by mutual consent. If no consent was reached, no commission should change hands!

I personally had no good experience with any Singapore agent and can only recommend staying away from them. Doing it yourself will give you a better deal with just slightly more hazzle!

Is there anywhere official that we can site for this? I have already had one agent say that "Oficially" the rules have changed because they do not want to cobroke. Would be good to say according to...........this is not true. Is there an official Real Estate agent board stating legal norms for commissions?

supernena wrote:Is there anywhere official that we can site for this? I have already had one agent say that "Oficially" the rules have changed because they do not want to cobroke. Would be good to say according to...........this is not true. Is there an official Real Estate agent board stating legal norms for commissions?

There aren't any offical rules concerning agents commission rates and who pays, only guidelines. If an agent tries to tell you that legally you have to pay blah blah they are blatently lying!

beppi wrote:There are NO rules about agent's commissions in Singapore.
Whenever an agent tells you otherwise, it's only because he/she wants you to believe it and accept HIS/HER ideas.
All commissions should be negotiated beforehand by mutual consent. If no consent was reached, no commission should change hands!

I personally had no good experience with any Singapore agent and can only recommend staying away from them. Doing it yourself will give you a better deal with just slightly more hazzle!

I always get the agent to comfirm that they are acting on behalf of the landlord and that I wont be paying any commission

I would recommend you just go at it alone, it’s not difficult to find places and you will learn lots more this way.

Or if you are using an agent don’t tell them you are new, just say you are coming back after being away for some time, don’t ask me why they can’t just set some hard and fast rules (although I think they used to a few years ago but they were deemed un-competitive so removed them)

Anyway hunting on my own worked for me