Jul 31, 2008

Agent blurbs..

So, how are agents describing our estate when trying to sell units?
Example of an advertisement placed by an agent who was involved in our failed en bloc attempt:-

From his initial but now deleted blurb:
.
For SaleCondominium
Tampines Court
Tampines Street 11
S$ 750,000Price on Ask
For Sale -Tampines Court (D18)
S$ 750,000 Price on Ask S$ 441.18 psf 1,700 sqft (158 sqm) 3 beds 3 baths
Tampines Court is a PRIVATE APARTMENT in a prime and superb site located in the heart of Tampines Town and is strategically located in the North-Eastern part of Singapore along the Tampines Street 11 residential area. The 23 year old former HUDC development which was privatised in the year 2002 comprises of 560 units -- a mixture of 128 low-rise 4 storey walk up apartments in 8 blocks, and 432 Maisonettes in 6 blocks of 12 storey apartment blocks. The immediate vicinity comprises mainly public housing developments and it is well-served by many facilities including a market, hawker centre, Century Square and Tampines Mall Shopping Complexes, the eastern Regional Financial center, Community Club and a sports complex. IKEA, Courts and Giant supermarket are also located within the 2 KM radius. It is also in close to primary as well as secondary schools nearby and well served by transportation links along Tampines Avenue 2, Simei Avenue the Pan Island Expressway and TPE. The site is situated in between 2 MRT Stations, the Tampines MRT Station and the Simei MRT Station each a short walking distance away. Major Expressways like the East Coast Parkway leading to Ayer Rajah Expressway, and the TPE/SLE also renders it easy access to the Airport and to the north towards Woodlands.
.
The truth at last!
.

To his new, truncated, less glowing blurb:-

S$ 700,000 View to Offer S$ 411.76 psf 1,700 sqft (158 sqm) 3 beds 3 baths
Tampines Court is a PRIVATE APARTMENT located in the heart of Tampines Town and it is along the Tampines Street 11 residential area. The 23 year old former HUDC development was privatised in the year 2002 comprises of 560 units -- a mixture of 128 low-rise 4 storey walk up apartments in 8 blocks, and 432 Maisonettes in 6 blocks of 12 storey apartment blocks. The immediate vicinity comprises mainly public housing development and a market, hawker centre and Shopping Complex are also nearby. It is also in close proximity to primary and secondary schools and Expressways. The site is situated in between 2 MRT Stations, the Tampines MRT Station and the Simei MRT Station.

I take the point by the owner who left a comment that the agent is doing his job and making a living same as the rest of us. I actually wish him luck and hope he sells the property at the higher price. Though he shouldn't be shy about advertising with the former description - it is more accurate and attractive than the latter. I am happy to see it advertised this way.

15 comments:

  1. Anonymous31 July, 2008

    True let them put the price high and see if anyone buys it, Why should we be sellinh our large units cheap even at 700000 for other enblocers to buy. Sell high for there are noy many apartments wnich has the size that we have,,Any way its a free world. Sue the chap if you think it is the right thing to do,,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous31 July, 2008

    I don't think theres any harm to let him try again for another round of enbloc afterall he knows ours estate better than other agents. I guess he also wants the enbloc to be successful instead of wasting his time again. He should be more learned, experienced as well as more motivated than new agents.

    Only thing is this time we majority has learn to be more careful and not leave everything to the SC and Agents. We should organise our own regular meeting to get update from the lawyer and agents rather to leave everything in the their hands.

    Everything must be transparent and above board. I suggest we give it a shot but we may have to engage another lawyer to explain to us in detail on the CSA before we signed it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have only recently been visiting this bloc, and I just want to thank itshometome for all the updates and info. I am an owner, (previously belonging to the majority) but have not been receiving email updates from the agent. I was wondering if you know how I can get updates, is there a general mailing list that I need to be on?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi

    if i am not mistaken we were told that no sale no need to pay the lawyer fees as they will be deducted from the developers interest. Please advise on this

    ReplyDelete
  5. I cannot advise, as indeed 'no sale, no pay' was what everyone was told and it was repeated even at the STB under cross examination.

    But, I don't trust them not to try and recoup some of their losses. We shall just have to wait and see. Costs were awarded to the Applicants at the STB, somebody has to pay them......

    ReplyDelete
  6. This could probably be a good piece of news .....

    I have chanced upon a news release from the website announcing that United World College of South East Asia would be setting up a 2nd campus in Tampines (St 73 opp Pinevale Condo) in Aug 2010. The campus will have the capacity to accommodate 2,500 students from K1to G12, including boarders.

    That could mean a demand for accommodation in Tampines for expats. An expat I know has indicated he would shift to anywhere that is near to this school for the convenience of his kids.

    Hopefully, closer to the date, our TC plot of land would be in demand for developers and an enbloc exercise would stand a good chance with attractive price. Don't forget, just look around Tampines, I could proudly say TC is the only location that is near to most amenities.

    So, guess we still have hope .....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I read thru the tape transcripts of 3 days hearing and I noticed this very funny behavior of our ex-enbloc property agent.

    When he is selling individual unit for TC now, he is acting for the seller and thus he described all 'positive and plus' points of TC and trying to bring the price up.

    While he was our enbloc PA, it seems that he was acting for the buyer and thus he described all 'negative and minus" points about TC and tried to bring the price down.

    Regards

    ReplyDelete
  8. comment on:
    "I read thru the tape transcripts"

    I entrusted my property to be sold by the agent.
    If you dont want to use him is your business.
    I asked him to sell initially at $750K then now $700K, is this your proiblem?
    He is trying to sell my unit, if you can sell higher I could even pay you the commission.
    The problem lies is there is no buyer and I'm stuck, is this your problem? Of course not.
    So stop HAUNTING him.
    He is trying to do his job.
    He has to make a living.
    I SELL MY PROPERTY HE MAKE THE COMMISSION IS A WIN-WIN FOR BOTH OF US, NOT YOU, SO WHY YOU BOTHER.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I went to the PA website he has lowered his price to $700K
    I think he has encountered problem in selling if not he would not have lowered the price which would not benefit him
    He is doing his job at least trying to sell for individual owners who wants to sell
    Whether he sells positively or negatively the end result will shows whether TC can be sold and at what price
    Its nothing personal its just business and its upto individual whether to engage him or not, or to sell at the price they want, so let it be and it would not be nice to disrupt with negative thoughts and input on the PA, like I say its all individual judgement and he is doing his job
    If I could sell $800K and above I would be very happy but its far stretch at least for now
    I was told that a unit is selling at $630K on the high floor
    If that was sold its also individual decision but it would look bad on TC as awhole

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thot that:

    "No personal attacks on named individuals through comments will be published"

    Why all the comment?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Re: Thot that:

    You are absolutely right. Things got a bit out of hand there for a while, lost my bearings with the flood of comments etc. But I'm back on the ball now and will moderate like hell from now on and limit my own opinions.

    I apologize to the named agent, it will not happen again

    ReplyDelete
  12. To: 'I entrusted my property to be sold by the agent.'

    From: 'I read thru the tape transcripts'

    I do not know the agent and I have nothing against him.

    When you are selling your unit thru agent and if you find that the agent is not acting on your interest, you can change the agent easily.

    What I wish to highlight is that if the agent is not acting on the interest of owner for enbloc sale, there is no way to change the agent once CSA is signed. It must be resolved at STB level.

    TC is an example and the STB verdict was that "the sale was not done in good faith".

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lately, I found some flyers in my letter box from agents claiming to be TC specialist. However, on the heading of his flyers he tagged TC a HUDC instead of as a private condominium which is misleading. The price of a private property for sale in the market is different from HUDC like Eunosville. If we allow such misinformed agents to continue distributing such flyers which is misleading the public and prospective buyers they will destroy the resale market of TC. We must now allow this to happen. Our security should be stringent with outsiders entering our estate and sloting flyers in the letter boxes.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dont blame security. This estate has alot of Property agents and they are the ones putting the flyers in. Do not assume unless there is proof.. thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. The new University will be in Changi.. Tampines Court is not far away...

    ReplyDelete