Property Manager in Singapore.

Lets make a Case Study – Ken.

Listed after a week, and finally, an inquiry. Okay, just one. That’s pretty good. I am presuming that he have attended HDB Resource seminars. So, you know the process, the forms, and the options to purchase templates. You have prepared them well. You have taken some tips from what you learned to stage your house for this one buyer. This prospective buyer eventually came, and he took a quick view and left without making an offer. Now you are wondering why exactly the buyer is not offering.

The Best Offer: Ken thought he would sell the house at a good price, but turning out that the buyer was just window shopping.

Only interested and qualified buyers with a valid HDB flat eligibility HFE can book an appointment.

Ken would be thinking,

“They can see my flat, right? Then you think back, sharks. Any right buyer who qualifies would have gone to see many flats because that’s just part of due diligence. A few more weeks passed, and we are still awaiting a new prospective buyer. All these doubts started to creep in: Is this hdb resale portal working? Competitive, or should I finally lower my price? After all, my flat deserves the top price. But I’ve overvalued it.”

That’s where when Ken would needs to seek help.

Ken’s problem of selling this flat needs to be solved. Now, there are full-service property agents who still charge 2% commissions. Still, you’ve decided to explore a few property portals. You’ve set up with one that charges a flat fee of $1,800 and has good reviews. And the whole cycle have to repeat.

The golden question is how much time and inconvenience do you want to waste before getting into the Professionals?

You must input your application correctly and do fact tracking. But, more importantly, they’ll advise you on how to sell. They have sent down one of their experts to be with you so that the pitch for your flat is top-notch.

Complications with Needs of Doing Contra

You may have needed additional advice. Sometimes, your next buyer may require a Contra, a process where you sell your HDB and buy a new one simultaneously.

You also know that there are a ton of things that could go wrong that would delay the process. Also, it would help if you had handholding and advice for the RES. Everything I’ve told you about is a few years into the future. A few things need to happen first. The HDB portal is still in soft launch mode. I went in, but there was nothing much inside because it required time.

HDB requires one verifiable copy of its Portal. HDB hopes that home sellers will use its Portal because it’s free. The Portal may not work because Most home sellers are lazy. Relying on the few sellers who want a new method won’t get you enough users.

First, you get a lot of data. HDB can make better policies with more data. It also allows better regulation of advertising. This HDB resale portal came about because of this 2 million HDB flats saga. It costs a lot of fun with one verifiable listing. Inside HDB’s listing portal, consumers can fill out false listings. They do this to get leads quickly.

Deal with the seller’s agent. Piggyback on them to ensure all the documents are correct. If she gets it right, the transaction can go through, and she can earn a commission. Note: if you are a new buyer in the current HDB resale market, you must pay the agent 1% of the commission for the buying service. This 1% is negotiable. It’s just the market rate, which I need help understanding. But, it’s up to your negotiation.

Unlike Condo purchases, buyers don’t need to pay commissions to the agent. The buyer agent will cooperate with the seller agent.

After explaining some of the tips and pitfalls, the value of this HDB flat-selling process for the seller agent still makes sense.

And where disruption can come in. It’s going to blow your mind, so listen. This is why a seller’s agent will charge 2% in commissions for their service. They do a lot of work if you are a property agent viewing.

This is not meant to be personal. I’m highlighting what is valuable and what isn’t, which is the most challenging part. The most costly part of their work is in unit acquisition. In this phase, property agents have spent time and effort to acquire you as a customer. You may have seen their flyers, or they may have built a relationship with you over time. All these are efforts to develop customers, which any service business would incur. The property agent is supposed to take very nice pictures.

They have excellent tools now. The tools take 360 videos and post them. They also do all the lead filtering. Note, though, that there’s lots of garbage in the selling process. Property agents make the right buying conditions. This could mean staging the house properly. They also handle viewings, especially if you prefer to avoid being around there and talking to strangers. They are also supposed to be experts in negotiating the best price. Then, in the leg above, you would see that…

Property agents save on costs by marketing on free portals. However, other traffic sources besides HDB free portal can also get you more exposure if you are selling and looking for a good offer.

Conflicts with your Property Agent : Selling your HDB DIY or Selling Agent with new HDB Portal?

In an active voice: Your agent may say, “I cannot advertise for you 100%. I can only buy non-premium spots or something like that. All of this is to keep their costs lower and be profitable. In that case, they prefer an exclusive arrangement. They’ll have fixed costs here. They don’t want to be undercut by you when you sell your flat. The last value comes when the agent handles all the paperwork. They schedule the HDB appointment using their experience.

The fee is 2% for a $500,000 flat to make that process smoother. There’s still value in paying this $10,000 commission. They are a fixed cost for advertising space. But if my home costs $1 million, I am trying to understand why $20,000 is needed for commissions. Suppose the house is $2 million, then $44,000 of commissions. Now, let me show you how value comes back from advertising portals to the agent.

First, at the bottom, there will still be the time and effort to get customers. But, the need to take good pictures remains. Smartphones will get even better. The HDB Resale Portal can solve posting and filtering. That leaves only the bottom part. It is about creating the right buying conditions, viewing, and negotiating. This part is still an irreplaceable part of an agent.

Real estate agents can benefit you with their skills and their people skills.

Then, we move to the part about marketing on the HDB Portal. If the HDB Portal works well and has a good track record, More agents would naturally suggest posting there to save on advertising. The top admin handling HDB appointments can be done better with technology. There can be self-help tutorials, like at the airport check-in, where we scan our e-tickets.

The process can be improved. It’s all up to HDB. With all this said, what used to be good value for 2% of a selling price may now only be accepted by busy or inexperienced people. If HDB’s resale listing portal can get results, it will create a new market. This market will be for consumers who are entirely DIY and those who are partially DIY. They will be willing to film and post the listing themselves and only pay a fee for a new one.