Recently, I came across many sellers who told me that all real estate agents asking for 3%.

They search around and found most agents specialising in their area came from one or two agencies only. No choice loh.

Have to sell it themselves using help from neighbours who are at always at home. Pay them some fees for showing their house.

if u appoint those really pro one that help u market and do advertisement and follow up for u one... i think 3% is really reasonable.
But if those dont do anything just put a sign and leave it be, waiting for fish to sendiri swim in type, u better off just put the sign urself.

Straightaway look for law firm because now lawyer can charge fee for closing deal. Lawyer is more professional than property agent because if lawyer service is bad then client can complain to Bar Council whereas if property agent service bad, client can only cry and complain to underwear

Refer to Malaysia Solicitors Remuneration Order 2023:

You still need someone to sell your house beforehand no? If you dont want to pay the 3% then advertise and sell yourself is the only way. Everyone works for a living. Nothing is free in this world.

Last time, still can find agents accepting 2% when property prices is low.

Now, property prices is high , 3% is very hefty.

I understand everyone have to cari makan. But their mouth very big leh and sellers basically got no other professional to hire.

Neighbour help to open door for RM 1000 only

I'm not siding with real estate agents but it is already the industries' standards.


https://www.miea.com.my/faq/estate-agency-fees

The standard says "A maximum of 3% of the sale price of the property"

It means lower than 3% also can.

But trying to find an agent who are willing to accept lower than the MAXIMUM fees, is like trying to look for a needle in an ocean.

Most agents who specialises in one area came from two companies. Both asking for MAXIMUM fees

They probably knew you got no choice because they've dominated that area

It’s open market if one do not see value in paying 3% then by all mean work out on own

It's like saying, if you don't like UNIFI , subscribe to YES lah.

But your area only got UNIFI.

How?

So, u complain.

"They" tell u it's a "free" market. No one force u to subscribe UNifi mah





This post has been edited by boyboycute: Nov 30 2023, 01:05 PM

Agent very good at talk big.

I listed a property on Mudah, I received 15 + 2 enquiries, all from agents.

Asking me to let them handle the sales.

how we know? thats the problem. nowadays they call themselves specialist. just got retrenched, spm leavers then become specialist. haiz...no honest ppl. i only treasure those u can see willingly work extra miles types.

if there is no so called standard max 3% or market norm, i believe some will even go higher charges.
it depend on how much effort owner willing to do for negotiation or save the cost do the marketing by own.

if wana talk about agent charge higher, then owner selling higher price also will become a senario also. got money who dont want earn?
if you say some agent dont have profession, then does owner themselve got awareness they are selling much higher price also?

This post has been edited by shaoching: Nov 30 2023, 01:17 PM

The real issue is not REA but only one company controls two largest property listing portal in Malaysia. And worse the portals only allow REA to list ads, not owners. To me, it is a blatant discrimination.

I think they should charge based on property type.

Hard to sell property for 3% [Bungalow or cold market area]

Hot area lower than 3% [Condo and etc]

Yes, this is a big issue in Bolehland

Other matters is totally irrelevant

That's why they charging MAXIMUM

this part i can only tell u. As a seller u need to do some homework. They are some really professional agency out there too. Some can help u speed up selling and prevent a lot unnecessary work for the seller.

I am not an agent. I just know there is such agents that really do work. They are also those really useless one, which in the end u urself sell also no need to headache that much.

Can you share how do you identify the good ones from the bad ones?

to you 3% sounds expensive, but think about it from their perspective lo..
you sell 1 house for RM 1m, 3% is like 30k to them..
but then.. what's the effort needed for them to earn?
To advertise - already a cost to them.. need to fork out money advertising before even earning
To bring potential buyers to view the property at the buyer's time, means agents themselves might not have much free time for themselves..
if hot area, many potential buyers but that doesn't mean many really will buy the unit. some just wanna see and compare..

then what about the split in commission between agency and the agent?
out of the 30k, how much will the agent take? if 60:40 split between agency and agent, then agent take 12k.. but yet need to do so much..

still need to help you handle some lawyer things and then liaise here and there between buyer and seller side..

if you think 3% is expensive, then you can do it yourself ma..
but can you keep up with the works and viewing requests from potential buyers?

Neighbour help you open door, easy money for them la. RM 1k part time job, only open door when requested, who doesn't want?
But neighbour will help you do those purchasing agreement and help you nego with seller or not?
will help you advertise around online or not?
may be help you do some calls around potential buyers?
got list of potential buyers?

last time 2%.. bro last time mcD also only rm 15 max.. now RM 20++

Standard says 3% max, then they go for max la..
if your unit and the surrounding units can sell for RM 1million max, would you sell for RM 800k?
make sense?



Steady, there's always wifi hotspot from your mobile carrier..
and its true, no one pointing a gun to your head forcing you to subscribe to unifi
you can always do the above, or in this case, sell the unit yourself. nobody forcing you to appoint agent/ agency to help sell your unit..
but then appointing an agent may be the best solution, same goes to subscribing to unifi..
better and steadier than mobile hotspot..

It's not the best solution.

It's THE only solution because most agents coming from two companies.

Maybe you don't understand the issue here.

The issue here is, most agents specializing in that area are from 2 BIG realty company only.

They know that. That's why they quote MAX fees on sellers.

It's not about 'all the diversion' which u are trying to create above...

since it's the only solution, then what's the problem?
does that 1% really have such a big impact when the property is worth so much?
all the hassle really worth saving that 1%?

I remember Speedhome tried to provide cheaper services to home owners who wanted to use their platform to sell properties.

They kena sue liou although that would be good for consumer . Cheaper agent commission....

It's like AirBnB versus Hotel...

Grab vs Taxi

Can Malaysia stop the progress of tech using law?

Then, we should ban AirBnB loh

And let the Hotel industry charge u MAX fees lah

No big impact mah...It's the only choice

AirBnB vs Hotel only small savings mah

Pay for Hotel loh

Ban all AirBnb

1% only mah.....Do u know the total value of transacted properties annually?

Not sure why are you complaining, no one forced you to use an agent.

I do not like to pay the 1 month commission for rental as well, that's why I have listed my rental property online and I got it rented out, of course I have to do everything myself but I treat it as a learning curve.

Agents do approach me as well and I told them outright that I want to bring the tenants in myself for the personal touch. I offered him half month commission just for the leads and we closed the deal together. H

Deals are crafted, if you want to save money be creative.

So many agent n popoty , I think 3 pc really jalan

lol.. so because the transacted value is high, they don't deserve to earn it is it?
you think ppl work for free meh?

its like "eh you know malaysia tax revenue from us rakyat is RM 100b eh... we pay so much tax for what? not like got benefits for us also"
then you complain.. x% is too high, I want y%

hotel also got cheap and expensive ah..
wanna ban airbnb, then have to go for hotel la..
nobody forced me to take an expensive hotel.. I can go to those shady cheap 3 stories shop lot 2* hotel also ah..

you dont want to pay the 3%, then find one agency that doesn't specialize in that specific area. 2% charge, but might take a longer time to sell off.. then.. would you be happier then?

these sort of complains, will have a never ending discussion one..
if legally agency / agents are allowed to charge for 3%, then why can't they charge 3%?
if they wanna charge 2% for more volume, also can ah.. that's up to them.. but 2% with higher volume, does that not affect their annual transacted value?
3% sell less, but more money at a time
2% sell more, with lesser money at a time..
in the end also comes back to x amount..
so....

if tech doesn't progress, a developed country will not be produced, that is bad for country's income.
that agency you mentioned, provided service at a much lower price, disrupting market that other providers could not compete, it is also bad..
one must provide service where its reasonable and able to have a competitive market..
airbnb vs hotel - hotel rooms only are affected, but they got other sources of income.. not only from providing rooms to tourists, but company contracts, event halls, banquets.. plenty to earn
also, got cheap and expensive airbnbs..
incomes from airbnbs are also taxable .. so income for government also..
grab vs taxi, honestly if taxi drivers were so shit, they wouldn't be affected that badly... Its only because they provide bad services, tamper with the meter and not reliable that it got eliminated.. Otherwise probably might be able to fight.. or sustain

law will always be a few steps behind the tech as new techs being developed and implemented, law will always be doing the catch up to protect the users..
but if legally ady stated 3% charge, agencies charge 3% as the max that they are legally too.. then what's the issue?

like if Bank Negara Malaysia states all banks are legally allowed to charge interest up to 15% per annum for personal loan, then all banks implement that 15% interest per annum
but you're short on funds and wanna take a personal loan and thinks 15% is too high.. then what can you do?
you don't like, then don't apply or can go find ah long, heck might even be higher than 15% later..
or just don't borrow at all and go broke..
what's your take?

With the main property portals only allow agents to list, I'll say we are forced to use them.

Advertise somewhere else?

Property agent is not essential to close a deal when compared to bank and lawyer. Nowadays you have YouTube, FB, Mudah.my, KOL and so many other medium to advertise your property. 3% commission is to trap all those newbies and water ikan who are either too naive or too lazy to do all the work so sure must pay to get service lor

Willing buyer then willing seller. Most agents especially area specialists could already have ready buyers at hand and most importantly, they know the area really well. When Im looking for a property, I would prefer to talk to these people as they know the way around, rather than someone who knows nothing about that area and property and trying to pull a fast one on me. Professionalism is the name of the game.

This post has been edited by TOMEI-R: Nov 30 2023, 06:45 PM

When dev also already squeeze out the last drop of margin, bottom feeder still think they have 3% is a little naive. nowadays text only CS for hire is just 500+ per mo including scheduling too. The rest is taken care by lawyer firm anyway. All mine and friends that i know of transacted to buyer after seeing ad online. The real market for anything above 900k is 1-1.5 max and subject to kpi.

I would say it's better to remove the law which stop others from entering the market and let others provide property services to customers. Then, it's a fair competition. Otherwise, you're depriving others an opportunity to be innovative. That's how u grow a market. Otherwise, it's just "toll collecting" from the market.

You must understand selling property doesn't need a genius like medical doctors or professional engineers. It doesn't need to be overly regulated.

Don't be like the old Proton lah

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Nov 30 2023, 09:09 PM

U think agent every week sell 1 house meh?

Or every mth sell 1 hse meh?

This 3% maybe is tahan 3 mth one or 6 mth

They should open up the market. Then , you'll see real professionalism in the market. Otherwise, who are u comparing to?

They're all agents...no one else are allowed by the law to do the job

Nobody is stopping you in becoming one. That is how the industry is regulated dude.

if u just want tongkat, and people to spoonfeed you without doing anything, just say it

Then , I really hope the government change the maximum fees to 4% and protect the market kaw kaw thru regulation.

Will owners still sell thru them or own sell, since they just add in the 4% into selling prices...it doesn't matter if it's 2%,3% or 4%

Can increase the fees because "business cost" has increased mah

Then how do the agents sell at 2% last time? House prices has triple and commission has increased to 3%.

Give me contact of an agent who is willing to sell at 2% and not at maximum fees of 3%

Just post his contact here or link his profile here

How will his company/ colleague treat him?

By now, you should understand the issue here

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Nov 30 2023, 09:59 PM

3% is standard agency rate . And this rate agent need to split with company some more .

His life commitment like makan minum also inflation ma

I paid 2.5% for my past sellings..

you know what is inflation right?

last time u eat mee goreng RM 2.50, now RM 5.00 don't know can get or not

yes, what if they co-broke or work with another agent?

Mr. TS you think your 2% very big already?

you sell fast get money fast put FD per year also got 3-4%

u sell slow wait for a year only get buyer how much you lost? since you so good in counting please count and see

seems like TS just a petty person who thought other people earning his money very easy

It also depends on what value you get back from the 3% paid.

If you have alternative viewpoints, can argue it in a civil manner. Don't have to do personal attack.

Depends on your location also I think. Maybe your property very hard to sell leh, if hot areas will have more competition, then the offered commission might lesser.

and what is this law that you're saying need to be removed?
allowing maximum of 3% charge?
nobody is stopping anyone from entering the market... You wanna enter the market also can ma..
just need to go take the license and course to be a registered REA then can sell ady la.. whether you wanna freelance or join agency that's up to you ..

and its good to be regulated in a sense that only registered REA can help to sell.. otherwise anybody also can sell.. then say kena scam..
at least with REA license, they can't really scam you.. got all the info dy, easy to verify and catch

you also must understand selling property isn't exactly easy like abc
got things that you gotta know and the law behind selling property.. unlike just buying things at a market like 'eh this one how much? rm 500k? okay on lah' then sold..
and the effort bro.. you think taking potential buyers around is easy? you need to move here and there.. with the high chance of getting 0 sales..
like one bro mentioned.. 3% could be their only income for months.. not like they can easily sell few houses in a month's time..
and that 3% is also split between the agency and the agent..

and why the 3%?
one, because they are allowed to
second, they got the tools and skills to sell the house, do you have it?
they got contacts, area knowledge, potential clientele of rich buyers that may be looking to sapu a few units in the area, you got meh?

This post has been edited by technosakai: Dec 1 2023, 09:35 AM

Still can't digest why the extra 1% is such a big deal to you or the sellers you talked to.
there is inflation, things also will go up in price..
even the portals to advertise might be charging more for an ad, the agency's office rental also might gone up, these are things that are incurring costs to the agency already before even having to close a deal.. so to charge they are legally allowed to at 3%.. is that really a big deal?


and like this bro said, willing buyer, willing seller
agents or agency that specialize in area could have ready buyers for fast selling of the property and fast buying process.. so if you wanna sell the property fast, that 1% matters a lot ah?
you can sell off faster, get money faster.. when the property price is still high, easy money wor..
if you try to sell it off yourself, you got no access to ready buyers, and slow sell/buy process.. you get money also slow

this process is just like selling your car to a used car dealer.
you want fast and easy, find a used car dealer, get a quote, satisfy then sell.. thumbprinting and the entire selling process is smooth and easy but the price you get may be lower than expected
you want higher price, then sell it off yourself, but gotta entertain lowballers, ppl asking just for fun, ppl wanna see the car then who knows may be carjack you.. lol.. even if you get to find the right buyer and your target price, you need to go jpj and handle yourself the entire process of transferring ownership.. but it may take months to sell..

also, lol.. I see TS might have selective reading.. wanna reply some dont wanna reply some. kek..
want the best, the expect to pay..
the world doesn't give free lunches..

Supply and demand la

penny wise pound foolish

I think the discussion has gone a bit off track.

Looks like the focus has derailed somehow..

I'm looking at very macro stuff, not that extra 1% or whether agent is competent or not. I am talking about competition and free market.

Let me realigned the whole discussion into a simple story.

Imagine your house pipe is leaking and you want to look for a plumber to fix it. You search around your area, u found 6 plumbers. Those 6 plumbers are coming from 2 major companies only

You asked for quotation and all 6 quoted u , 3%.on house price

No 3% , they won't do. You try to negotiate but they said it's in the Standard and that's the maximum fees they can charge. They know their leverage.

You try to look for plumber from other area who will accept 2%. You found none. To your suprise, most other plumbers in other area are also coming from the big two companies. Suddenly, you realise that you're "trapped" without choice.

No plumbers will accept lower than the maximum fees of 3% because their colleague will pitchfork them. They're from the same 2 big companies.

You don't know how to fix a leaking pipe and to hire plumbers, it's very expensive because none negotiable 3%.

At the end, you are wondering what will happen when the Standard increase fees to 6%. They said it's due to inflation but forgot the property prices already increased and linked to inflation.Yes,that's double counting.Maybe it's time to quit your professional job to become a plumber. Finally, u learnt your economics lesson on price fixing.

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Dec 1 2023, 10:40 AM

dont fret
lawyers also give discounts
Even doctors also can give discounts for cash paying patient.
in highly competitive fields, everyone has to give discount. Unless able to create sole provider or monopoly

I guess is a monopoly / cartel market out there that tries to protect property agent's right at the expense of vendors. I work in the legal industry and even with the solicitors remuneration order we are expected to lower our fees below the prescribed rates for "competition reasons". I guess what I'm trying to say is with more players in the market or platform to advertise property sale hopefully the rates will be negotiable.

nowdays i see split commission also worth it.
the real estate group many incentives.
subsidize u to buy house, buy luxury cars, trips etc.
My niece bf 23 years old only, baru joined them 1 year saja.
company subsidized him RM250k to buy a RM380k BMW 5 series, then each month additional RM1000 installment.
then i forgot how much they subsidized him to buy a RM800k condo.

They're hardworking. Nothing wrong with that. I truly appreciate people who dream big.

i didn't say anything wrong.
Just just amazing how these millennials earn money.
as long rezeki halal, not tipu/scam people then can la.

The title of topic itself already controversial.

Commission is mutually agree. As muture people, willing seller willing buyer. Not need to speak any just to evoke emotions.

If I am subsale agent, I will just reply sorry if it 2% I can't make it, you can try finding other agent for help. Thank you.

Why want to evoke like childish sell it yourself lah.

A professional know what is they paid, but a non professional (majority 1st time seller) of course have their right to judge a people professional and their pay.

Now a day, the Ren entry is lower, spm leaver can be Ren it's true, so if TS facing those newbie bad attitude agent like to evoke emotion talk then I cant help them.

But for real professional specialist they worth the 3%, because their salary paid at 2 (find unit) and (sell unit). Somemore they have valuation of the area, ready customer (keen follow up for long) for that area. And a lot of connection (banker & lawyer) that are efficient & not too far form that area (easier to both part to signing) can help the seller and buyer transection the house and make both party peace of mind.

If the seller think ready want to save the money 1%. Then can liaise with other agency agent to sell via property search engine portal. You can ask the agent to sell and offer 2% at whatsapp.

But for those agent meet infront of you they are putting their effort drive to the taman and inquiry your unit to sell of course they will request 3%.

Of second if you want to save 1% money, you can set target to agent lah.

Example 700k property 1%= 7k extra.
So you set if selling 700k 2% commision, selling above 720k 3% commission lah. It's cover your loses and it's also increase your revenue.

This post has been edited by Aldo-Kirosu: Dec 1 2023, 10:54 AM

Wah, I already re-hack the issue into plumber story, still you wanna linger around micro issues.

Please focus the discussion on market competition and free market concept.

Well, time has changed...

Now you can see the tactics being employed by real estate agents...

Hence now you can see they even advertised for you to contact them if you have something to sell. It is like a network nowadays, the agent who found a seller will get a part of the commision, and the agent who found a buyer will also get a part of it. You can start to see why it is getting inflated. I think it wont be long before it went up again.

[quote=andrekua2,Dec 1 2023, 10:59 AM]Well, time has changed...

deleted

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Dec 18 2023, 11:15 AM

Lets say you engage an freelance REA who will take up your case for a much cheaper rate at maybe 2%. But he is not affiliated with any regulatory body (does not have a REN/REA license) and he is not working under any reputable Real Estate Agency. As a buyer or prospective buyer, would you have the confidence to nego with this said Agent or pay your booking fees to him or his company?

A flawed comparison. Internet service you cant provide yourself. House you can sell yourself.

In reality, you can no longer find any agent willing to do his work below maximum fees. So, your scenario doesn't exist at all

No one can legally provide real estate services except for licensed professional.

Let's go back to our discussion on free market and market competition.

Let's say one day , legal firms consolidate into three big players only, and they asked you pay the maximum legal fees on their services, you will think very differently and not so defensive

This is not a question about professionalism, security, etc

This is a discussion on free market and market competition.

Don't go on other path discussing micro stuff

You can apply the same scenario to engineering services, medical services, education services, internet services, etc

Who knows, maybe one day, plumbers may consolidate and charge max fees...

You should get the picture now

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Dec 1 2023, 11:59 AM

there is also SST of 6%

TS are you willing to pay?

The problem of monopoly is ironically a problem of the free market mentality. Big fish with big capital to start up will have a far bigger advantage than someone with small capital. Small fish will eventually gather together with other fish for survival, or get eaten by big fish.

To bring up example with famous local ride for hire service, why do you think we ended up with Grab taking over Uber? Uber (a foreign non SEA brand with an already established structure of fees) couldn't compete with Grab (SEA based startup, initially charge super low fees) so they exit.

Mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers will eventually consolidate entities to large entities, because operating under a single large brand is easier to market rather than trying to burn money to out compete bigger brands. Then once they have sufficient market dominance, they can control the pricing. Again, bringing up Grab, they're no longer as cheap as they used to be because they can afford to charge to start making a profit vs in the past where they take losses to market their business.

If you want government to prevent monopoly, that means it's no longer a "truly free" market, because agencies will be forced to not expand beyond a certain limitation. This will cause another issue of not enough economic growth because how to grow when there is a growth limit.

Ironically the "max 3%" is protecting the seller because agency cannot charge higher than that. If there's no such ceiling agencies will probably happily charge much much higher.

In Singapore there is a minimum fee structure but no maximum, so commissions demanded by agents do not really have a ceiling. They have a "standard practice" of 2% but I've seen 4% before.

This post has been edited by DragonReine: Dec 1 2023, 02:22 PM

there's no need to even talk about companies consolidating into 1 big organization
when there's needs/demand, people will always take advantage of it..
you wanna use plumber, i give you same example..
nowadays doesn't matter which plumber you ask, come to fix a leak easily is ady rm 120 and above.
just an inspection ady rm 80
whether is the job shitty or not, that's to be judge later..
and these aren't even from '2 companies that are only in the market/area'
they know what's the current market rate, then they follow... its that simple..
even if you find someone online like fb marketplace or mudah or wtv portal that provides plumbing services, they will follow the market rate..
cuz why go cheaper when that's what ppl are paying for now?
unless they are totally new company, wanna get some free advertising while earning lesser for a few months, then okay maybe they'll fix leaks for you at RM 80 instead of RM 120..
after some time, they got their existing client base, they'll fix for RM 120 as well..

like you said, free market and market competition..
market rate is at such rate now, they charge the same la..
why? cuz they can... and nothing regulates the max price for services like these..
willing buyer, willing seller

that bolded sentence, in the end, its still a regulated market. It's not free. It might be more competitive but what makes the companies can't be owned by the same person / group right?
then in the end it comes down to same bosses, controlled by a big few big shots in the industry. Honestly, no matter what industry to be used for comparison, there's no exactly "free market".
You only think it's free, but in reality it's not. Companies will always follow market rate whenever someone starts something.
Will only be cheaper when they are new and trying to penetrate into the market competing against existing players. Once something has been dominated or able to have a large enough customer base, they will follow the market rate.

Aiyah, don't lah gaduh-gaduh. Just spell out the name of the property agents who charge 3% then boycott them like McDonalds. Sure market will re-adjust back to REAL market price

Plumber who charge RM80 for inspection also just let us know the name here so other plumbers can charge RM75 to boycott that LCLY plumber

We're not fighting about fees here.

We're discussing about free market and market competition for healthier property market.

I like some of the constructive comments.

But once the big companies control the market, there's no longer market rate. It's just pure "toll collection" to strangle the cow.

I came across certain area which is dominated by one agency. The agents are setting the asking prices and asking rental at sky high.

Market got no supply already because developers slow slow launching to control supply .So, market paid the sky high asking selling price. Bankers and valuers kautim the loan for buyers.

Brickz databases showed a few transactions. Market believed the transaction data. The game rolled on.

Amazing stories

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Dec 1 2023, 02:50 PM

As I said, there's no free market without eventually reaching a stage where there's monopoly by people who have more money, and by then you have to pray to higher power that either the owners of the monopoly are ethical enough to not squeeze for max profit, or government step in to set limitations which will slow monopoly at the expense of broader economic growth (via capitalism). The boardgame Monopoly demonstrates exactly this, with how when it comes to buying property, you're only limited by your bank balance.

I don't know how old you are and how long you've been observing market, but if you're complaining about the property prices now, you have not seen how bad local market got 10 years ago. Current prices are actually on average contracted/down from what they were in 2018-2019.

And if you see greatest oversupply now, it's the "regulated" projects that cannot exceed certain price range set by government. Meanwhile because there aren't much buyers for 2nd hand units on the market due to cost of living and stagnant wages, both buyers and sellers are playing wait-and-see, so what you will be seeing is low supply, high prices, low demand. That 3% fee means nothing if no properties are being sold often.

This post has been edited by DragonReine: Dec 2 2023, 12:01 AM

Property price goes up because of inflation will already increase the total amount for that 2%
Your comparison makes 0 sense. Are you a property agent by any chance?

U pay for the service worth, the 3% is justify provided the REN is capable of advising.

Don't forget the REN specialize at XX area because they have database on the transacted value in the past 10 years, so when u sell they will advise to set at certain price to get the right price.

Secondly, they have to advertise it with their own cost, be it website iproperty, mudah, property guru, physical banner etc. All this come out with their own cost.

Thirdly, the hassle of viewing, the agent has to entertain many viewers and follow up the case, imagine 20 viewers within a month, all this come with a cost.

The whole process will take at least 4-6 months to get it done, unlike rental whereby the deal can be close within a month or two. Most importantly for a seller is, whether the agent is able to sell it higher than transacted price for u.

3%? Penang Seller 1% Buyer 1%

3% reasonable la, iproperty, propertyguru, mudah, facebook, newspaper ads fee keep increasing , every year only iproperty renewal acc ady 4k-5k not yet plus the credits and feature credits and other platform like propguru also 4-5k, and every week have spend credit readvertise, and feature the ads all is money, futhermore seller usually appoint 2-3 agents if the sale not close by him all efforts he spend is zero return, sometimes feel they quite pity

This post has been edited by versace3325: Dec 3 2023, 03:46 PM

Deal directly with developer's agent. Property agents will promise you the stars but deliver to you the sucks

3% are the maxed they can charge. Find other agency that can lower it to 2%

Report that agent! No such thing on charging Buyer agent fees.

Agent fees are based on the SPA. The advertising, miscellaneous fees etc will be on separate billings. This must be agreeable when Seller appoint an agent

all agents in penang practice this

If your property is hot cake, can sell easily, then 1% also got agent willing to handle.

3% commission is a max, if you only offer 2%, they will not give priority to your unit, unless your asking price is lower compared to 80% of others' asking price

Why agent charges you 3%, not only they need to handle many viewing, they also need to find the potential buyers, and promoting your unit, also have a room for negotiation, once the buyer asking price is very close to own asking price, agent can cut their commission to 2% in order to close the deal.

Same to my case, my agent only earn 2% commission after a price negotiation, some more is a co broke with other agent, because she need to close the deal faster instead of next buyer might not from her customer.

If you think few k to let neighbor open the door is cheap, just let your neighbor to handle, after few months still unable to sell , your neighbor will get mad if still many ppl come for viewing.

Myself also view more than 40 units only can find the suitable one, i don't think others can simply make decision unless your asking price is relatively low, then maybe can sell easily.

Last time my unit want to sell, also took more than 1 years, in the begin i offer market price, then reduce to 5% lower than market price, in the end someone offer 15% lower than market price, only can let go. 3% commission easy to earn?

This post has been edited by chainyong: Dec 4 2023, 02:21 PM

Some part of Malaysia is using this way, sell and buyer share the commission ， 1% from buyer, 1 to 2% from seller

The below kena all agency/agent in Penang really fun.

Subsale are stupid in Penang



This post has been edited by stevenryl86: Dec 4 2023, 11:23 PM

penang and i think jb also like this

you can try report and try. no action based in feedback from.many. There is a loophole I think, they issue the receipt differently to buyers..not stated comm.... maybe disbursement charges and also have a signed copy buyer will to pay those charges.....

but it is acceptable in my opinion since seller also pay mostly 1%>

Only few property company follows such. But majority are not. As buyer, check before you sign anything.

Everything I ask upfront and show them this, thereafter they will admit cannot charge buyer and followed by this usual practice in Penang.

Some agents are smarter. They will tell u that they have found the buyer/tenant who is willing to pay the price/rent BUT the "manager" also wants a cut before introducing your property to his Boss.

It's like "wang kopi" for the manager on top of the commission u give to the agent. And all payment must go thru the agency and it's legalized thru a letter of undertaking to pay above and over 3% commission.

So, are u going to pay or leave your property longer in the market? Is the 'story ' true or not?

This post has been edited by boyboycute: Dec 5 2023, 09:20 AM

Have been dabbling in real estate for a couple of years now. Accumulated quite a number, with hope of touching double digits in a year or two. My interactions with agents with regards to my own properties, have been close to zero. Only for my first sale and my first rent out, I engaged real estate agents. Thereafter, the subsequent transactions (buy or sell), all done on my own.

Yes, I acknowledge there is some work to be done by agents, but 3% (in most cases, where the absolute amount of the transaction is high) is way too high for me. Likewise, 1.25 months gross rental is also very high.

After doing it myself once or twice, there is alot that can be learned. For one, whatever savings that I save, I pass a huge chunk of it back to the buyer and this is highlighted. This can be very significant in dollar terms, to reduce the price by 1%. For a RM1mil property, that's RM10k, which is a nice sofa and huge TV for the living room - FREE.

Buyer has saved this money and I always make it a point to remind them of this. By removing the middle man, both parties save money. This isn't just for the real estate industry, but for any other industry. Transportation, FMCG, financial, insurance...etc.

So how do I sell or rent the property without a real estate agent? Simple, if you ask me. Key is always the property itself. Make it different, make it attractive, make it stand out from the crowd. By mentioning that this is direct owner deal - less hassle and savings upfront from commission markup, is a benefit itself. If the property (regardless for sale or for rent) is already attractive, it can stand on its own, any successful deal by an agent is just a step to complete the process. Likewise, if the property is crappy (not attractive, not realistic asking price), it will be almost impossible to sell, regardless of how many real estate agents one engage.

I spend bare minimal on marketing to be hoenst. The platforms that I advertise on, are all free to use. The likes of Mudah, Facebook Marketplace and SpeedHome, that's how I get it done.

Any real estate, regardless of which town, city or state in Malaysia, am confident that I can easily market and sell it on my own. The notion that an area is dominated by a specific agency or two, and that one has to go through them, is utter bull$shit to me, sorry to say.

So, that brings me to my next question - are real estate agents still relevant? Well, it's a willing buyer, willing seller. Or in this case, a willing customer, willing service provider. For those who know nuts about the process or simply don't have the time, then yes, real estates are there for a reason. And there's a cost to their service, which although is on the high side (as what I've mentioned), is still regulated.

No right or wrong on this topic, but for me, nah, it's OK, I'll like to do it on my own. Faster, cheaper, better. :-)

Just sharing my two cents and experience. Peace.

This post has been edited by DrPitchard: Dec 6 2023, 09:06 AM