House hunting East Coast condos $5,000 - $8,000.
An exploratory tour with a difference

HOUSE HUNTING report  Mon Dec 12  2002. Exploratory tour. A German expatriate with regional responsibilities. Phoned asiahomes.com from overseas. Arrived last night. 9am Meet at The Fullerton 9.30am Camelot 4+1 3000 sq ft $9,000. Blk 112, 18th floor. Waterfront views. Construction of expressway seen. 10am Pebble Bay 4+1 2600 sq ft $8,500. Lobby H, 8th floor.  Low floor. No waterfront views. 10.30am Costa Rhu 4+1 2239 sq ft $5,500. Blk 9, 10-09. Waterfront views on left. Pebble Bay condos in distance acrss the field.

11am The Waterside 4+1 2411 sq ft  $4,000. Blk 11, 3rd floor. Green tree views. Dated bathrooms and kitchens. 11.30am The Sovereign 4+1 3305 sq ft $7,500. High floor with sea views .....-02. Dated bathrooms and kitchen. 12noon Mandarin Gardens penthouse 4+1 3500 sq ft $6,000. Blk 7.  ...-56. Too many built in cabinets. Dated.  CONCLUSION. The favourite is The Camelot but it has construction next door.   The floor plan of Pebble Bay suited this expatriate but it had no waterfront views.  The sea views of the Sovereign were fantastic but the bathrooms and kitchens are dated.    Details are at: Subdivisions (condo details).  This was an exploratory tour with a difference in that the expatriate assured the asiahomes realtor upfront that he would not be using any other agent and would contact him in March or April 2003.

TIPS FOR NEW ASIAHOMES REALTORS

The "termination clause" was ineffectively executed by the Landlord's agent?

"I will never do such a thing," said Realtor Rebecca, a lady in her fifties, matronly, prim and proper. A lady scholar who loved arts and philosophy and studied in a Chinese-language school generation which respects elders and for whom proper procedures, responsibility and ethics are paramount.  "I don't want to be taken for a ride by expatriates, ferrying them around to see condos for free." I had told her that I made a living by showing expatriates rental housing on a non-exclusive basis, competing with other agents. 

She adjusted the string of her spectacles over her ear and neck, wrinkled her nose, arched her eye brows and gazed out at the drizzle marring the panoramic city views from the window of a well renovated 27 Balmoral Park condo. 

She was responsible as she spent over 15 minutes hard selling the benefits of living in this fully renovated apartment. It had upgraded swimming pools and was a 15-minute walk to Orchard Road. The disadvantage was that it had a "run-down" dated facade and there was active construction of a condo on the left side.   

Other realtors would have said everything in less than five minutes. 

My expatriate client who contacted me while surfing the internet was a trim tennis-exercise-fit Australian with an intelligent face and white hair, in his sixties. Now he spent over an hour checking out this apartment for the second time with his Korean girl friend and holding a private discussion with her. Other expatriates would take no longer than 15 minutes. His first visit lasted over 30 minutes.  

I handed the letter of intent on the kitchen table for the expatriate to read and sign. He took a cheque out of his pocket and gave a good faith deposit of $3,500. The Landlord was asking $4,000 for this new white-ceramic tiled living and dining area, new parquet floored bedrooms, new baths and kitchen, 1800 sq ft apartment.   

The Australian expatriate said, " I want only a one-year-lease." Realtor Rebecca proposed a 2-year-lease with a "lease termination clause" of 12 months plus 2 months' notice or rent in lieu of notice.  He was agreeable to that. 

"Well," Rebecca said in her prim and proper manner. "Should you not fulfill two years of the lease after 14 months of rental, you will have to pay the Landlord the pro-rated agent's commission. This would be around $1,160 at the maximum."

"No, definitely not," the expatriate exposed his real intentions of not wanting more than a one-year-lease and now he had committed to 14 months with a "termination clause" which he might not exercise since he liked this apartment so much that he requested me to show him another time and agreed to pay more than his $3,000 target.  No way he would pay any agent's commission. 

Rebecca said, "This requirement is required by the IEA (Institute of Estate Agents) tenancy agreement. 

The Australian said, "I read thousands of contracts in my work." He was a President of a multi-national oil company overseas and meant that contract terms are negotiable.

This looked like a dead deal. The expatriate stood his ground as he had more than one choices from various agents. A Tanglin Park condo for $3,200 from one asiahomes realtor I referred to. A Palm Springs condo at $3,000 from a competitor. He had too many choices and exploratory tours were free if any realtor wanted to offer such services. 

Rebecca would not want to give way. She spent a lot of time on this expatriate. 

"Let's forget the IEA." I intervened to break the impasse. "The agents would reimburse the Landlord the pro-rated commissions." 

It was not easy to get this Australian to write a good faith deposit and he had seen over a hundred  condos with various agents. He always struck a hard bargain and one asiahomes realtor had lost the Tanglin Park apartment as she failed to match the demands from the prospective tenant and landlord.  Would I fail too?

Rebecca agreed but her face displayed intense
blackness. "This wily old fox," she said to me in Chinese. "He is at the top of his profession and yet he begrudges a small amount of payment of pro-rated commission to agents (who work so hard). It was already seven p.m and we were at the apartment for two hours.

She swept the letter of intent and good faith deposit into her large black handbag as she hurried to pick up her children from school. She said, "I cannot promise anything. I have to see the Landlord before he flies overseas."

A short-message-service message of rejection from the Landlord bleeped on my mobile in the evening and I should collect teh cheque from her the next day.   

"Was it due to the fact that I objected to the payment of the pro-rated commission?" the expatriate asked me over the mobile phone.

I said I did not know although in my heart, I thought it was. Many deals are closed when the Landlord's agent is happy to recommend and in this case, Rebecca was no more the sunshine realtor she was at the beginning.

The expatriate said that the good faith deposit cheque could be just torn and thrown away. Rebecca would not do so and posted the cheque and the rejected letter of intent to me. 

By registered post. Proper procedures were followed. No short cuts for this thorough agent in this business. The expatriate rented another condo with a competing agent. 

The "termination clause" was a great idea from Rebecca who had decades of experience, as it resulted in the tough Aussie bringing out a good faith deposit cheque. But all great ideas will not bring bread to the realtor's table if it they are not properly executed! 


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