Case
study:
Perseverance is a factor for success.
Closing on a tough Dutchman tenant.
This case study is to educate new
associates of Asia USA.
July 8, 1998
"The Landlord said no" was the
feedback from the co-broking agent after 5 weeks of protracted negotiations and the
persistent calls from a an associate to both the prospective Tenant and Landlord to agree
to the lease. The Landlady had just given birth and was more interested in getting rest
and the newborn.
Issue: Lease terms and conditions
originally from Asia USA Realty had some amendments from the Landlord but all were
"unacceptable" to the Tenant's lawyers.
- The Tenant's lawyer re-wrote terms
proposed by landlord's without a single clause being accepted and this must have upset the
landlord who is a lawyer by profession.
- The Landlord wanted Mr K to be the Tenant
even though it is a corporate lease and Mr K is the Tenant's employee. (Most
Singapore Landlords prefer corporate lease though).
- Assignment of lease had to be the
Landlord's privilege which was not acceptable. The use of "permitted assigns"
from the Tenant's lawyer was not satisfactory as who was to give permission - the Landlord
or Tenant?
- Landlord wanted a 2-year lease with one
year extension option at market rent, but Tenant wanted 3 in order to plan properly for a
start-up company.
- UE Square Condo has only 6 units with
balconies and of the six, not all are 4-bedrooms and none is available except this unit!
Many Singapore Owners think that the
recession will be over in 2 years. In Asia USA's opinion, they do not want to pay the 3rd
month agency commission, hoping the Tenant will renew direct. This is typical of
non-investment minded Singaporean landlords, saving pennies and not realizing that the
Tenant may shift to a newer cheaper condo 2 years later.
It is unlikely that the rental market will recover in 2 years as a new condo is released
every month. The Blossomvale Condo is released this July 1998 and there will be the Aspen
Heights and so many others, leading to a great glut of supply.
(Update: Nov 8 2000. Rentals have gone up compared to the recession 1998 years, but
suburban condos have great difficulty in getting good rentals as there are a greater
supply of downtown condos).
- Landlord said that 2-month security
deposit for 3-year lease as proposed by Asia USA should be 3-month but the Tenant wanted
to give 2 months.
- Landlord wanted the 12-month occupancy
period for a 3-year lease as proposed by Asia USA to be 18-month. The Tenant agrees.
- Landlord gave a furnishing budget of
$5,800 which would be insufficient to cover the cost of refrigerator, washing machine,
dryer, curtains (quotation came in at $6,500 for curtains of Tenant's choice!) and
lighting. $11,600 was asked.
Result: No deal.
Tenant Client of Asia USA: A Dutch
couple wants a low floor condo with balconies, not cooped up in high rise. 4-bedroom, over
2,000 sq. ft, $6,000 partially furnished. No need to take transport to supermarket and
near Suntec City. Ground floor preferred. The wife likes the UE Square Condo which has a
supermarket within 2-minute walk and it would be easy to get food for her yet to be born
baby.
Lease & rental: corporate &
S$6,000/month partially furnished.
Type: Dutch Caucasian couple. Age:
around 40-year old.
Job: husband - starting up a Company.
Wife will be having a baby in a few months' time.
The tenancy agreement from the Landlord was completely re-written by the Tenant's Lawyer
as Singapore does not have a standard residential rental lease and most foreign
corporations refer the lease to their lawyers.
" Does it mean that the Landlord
has rejected the offer?"
" Yes" was the curt answer of
the co-broking agent. Her calls to the Landlord were usually not returned. She
worked long hours, like most active residential housing agents, almost 7 days a week and
had grown weary. However, so much time had been spent by both agents.
There was a need to re-think how to
close this case since a protracted negotiation indicated that both the prospective
landlord and tenant had some interest in each other. Where was the missing link?
The Asia USA associate spent more than
100 hours house hunting with the prospect, his boss on another day and Internet
correspondences and faxes (see one example of Internet correspondence below).
Email correspondence with
Dutch client.
From May 25 until and including May 29 I will be visiting Singapore again with my wife.
This time it is for real and we really have to find a house this time. Also a colleague
will join us and he and his girlfriend will also be looking for a house in the same week.
Please inform me of May 25 is good for you because we like to start as soon as possible
and have decided on a house latest on Friday May 29.
For myself I am looking for a 4 bedroom
condo or (terrace/garden) house with at least a floor space of 1800 sq. ft. A maid's room
is not really needed. Features like fully air-conditioned and partially furnished (with
washer/dryer) are important for us. Because it is not clear if I will have a car or not it
should be rather easy to get to Suntec Tower by subway or Bus.
Our office will most likely be in Suntec
Tower. Anyhow when I have a car my wife will most probably use it the most so I have to
get to work by public transportation of taxi anyhow.
The areas were we really want to look
are: Holland village, East Coast and Pebble Bay/Costa Rhu area, but maybe you have some
other ideas. A location near the Dutch school/club is no longer required. Usage of
facilities like swimming pool, gym and squash/tennis would be very convenient.
My wife and I had a discussion about the
floor which would be most suitable. Ground-level sounds interesting for the kids when a
terrace is available but we heard it might be unsafe and more problems with insects. Can
you give us some advice? View is not that important for us but nice when available.
Is it possible to send me the list of
viewing in advance so I can look on the map where they are located and prepare a bit on
what we are going to see.
The budget I have is between S$5000 and
S$6000. Do you think that is feasible with the above wish list?
My colleagues want to look at two
bedroom condo's. Also in the same neighborhoods as account for myself but maybe added the
Orchard road area. Their budget is between $3500 and $4500. Cars and public transportation
is for him the same as for me.
As mentioned before, we all like to have
found a nice place to live by the end of that week so I hope you can support us fully. For
us it is fine to go all together with you. For instance go Tuesday and look specifically
for my place and Wednesday go an look for the place of my colleague. Thursday and Friday
can then be used for maybe some more viewing or repeat viewing. Maybe you have a
colleague/partner that support us on the last two days? Well probably you have more
experience with this than we do so maybe there is a better way of doing it.
Well I hope that this is enough
information and I am looking forward to your response. If you need more info do not
hesitate to contact me (e-mail or phone.)
Best regards,
Tenant
Comments:
Knowledge about Singapore rental housing: Some info from friends and had inspected few
condos in 2 earlier visits to check out market rentals by himself and with boss. Knows
what is happening in Singapore's declining rental market.
A prospect who knows what he wants, has
Type A personality (wants things done quick and efficiently) and has done good knowledge
of Singapore housing.
Solutions
1. Go look for another unit in the
UE Square condo but none was available.
2. Look for other condos. There were few other 4-bedrooms in the vicinity of the
River Valley/Orchard Road area but they are usually high rise.
The Client would not have his first
choice - low floor, balcony, convenient to supermarket and a free shuttle bus to the City
Hall subway.
The best solution for the housing agent representing the Tenant is to find out what the
Landlord wants, since the Landlord's agent had surrendered.
Give up now and you would really lose a
lot of time. You would need to spend more time sourcing the other alternatives. Your
client might lose confidence in you and go for an outside realtor.
Closing was effected by Asia USA
associate asking the co-broking agent to connect with the Landlord and asked her to state
her terms.
The Landlord (being a lawyer), produced
her own lease agreement with essentially the same terms she wanted, viz. 3-months' deposit
for 3-year lease and gave $11,600 furnishing allowance and relented by agreeing to a
corporate lease (Most landlords in Singapore love corporate lease but this was an
exception).
The co-broking agent had an excellent
relationship with the Landlord. She had done an excellent job but had given up as she was
exhausted too. The Tenant was back in the Netherlands. He accepted the terms and
closing was done around July 1, 1998, nearly 5 weeks later.
Corporate lawyers can be a main source of delays in closure. The letting agent can
only persevere and hope that the Landlord had no better offers. Time is of the
essence but corporate lawyers may or may not find that time is of the essence as they
still get paid whether the case is closed successfully or not. Sometimes, it is the
Landlord who does not give priority to the early reply from the Lawyer. Once, a
tenancy agreement takes more than 3 weeks to be returned to the prospective Tenant for
approval, the Tenant may have changed his mind and the Landlord has lost a lot of rental.
Do not assume that a good faith deposit means that the tenancy is going to close.
BE KIND TO PETS is a community education
service using photos, supported by Asiahomes Internet.
9439Singapore dog hair skin problems pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers,
excerpts from The
Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by AsiaHomes Internet.
 Mr and Mrs Adair are a very cheerful couple in their fifties.
They have no children. The Bischon Frise dog is their child. He would sit
under the table while Mr Adair does his work, painting gold over little statutes of Buddha
and welding some other tourist medallion souvenirs for sale. Fine paint dust and
other metallic chemicals would spray onto the little dog as Mr Adair finishes his
handicraft for delivery to the shops on his trusty scooter.
The Bischon Frise felt itchy all over the body. When he could not stand it anymore,
Mr Adair would bring him on his scooter to the veterinarian. The coat was clipped
and the dog recovered.
However there were two areas on the back which became itchy again.
Mr Adair said: "The dog had been clipped and had recovered most of his hair. I
rubbed brandy onto the back area to relieve the itch. Why is it dark brown?"
"Of course, the brandy will not promote hair growth and the skin area became brown
and pigmented owing to prolonged application and rubbing." Dr Melissa Chua
said.
There are many causes of hair loss in the older dog. It is best to work closely with
your vet to solve the problem. In this case, it would be an allergic reaction to
chemical dusts onto the top of the body.
 The rest of the body was not itchy when the owner brought in the dog to the vet
for examination early in the start of the allergic reactions. A few red rashes would be
seen on the back, above the spinal region. Most likely a protective coat over his
chest would have prevented contact with the chemical dust.
If the dog continues scratching, the whole body will get itchy in a few months' time.
A visit to the home of some cases may reveal why the dog has recurrent hair shedding and
itch.
 Some
anti-itch drugs given on a regular basis may help as most Singapore owners dislike putting
on protective vests for their beloved pets. A Bischon without skin itch has a thick
white coat, like a lamb. However, such drugs may become ineffective or need a larger
dose over the period of years of use.
|
direct, may save you over $5,000 in agency or
co-broking fees. Email your ad to: judy@asiahomes.com,
visit Asiahomes Internet
