Local websites cashing in on the red-hot real estate market

by Jo-Ann Huang Limin

05:55 AM Jan 03, 2011

SINGAPORE - The strong property market in Singapore has now moved beyond real estate and spread into virtual space.

Rising demand for property has spawned several online property portals, which offer their visitors thousands of property listings to help them buy their desired homes.

While most Internet start-ups would be dependent on online advertisement revenues to survive, these property portals have taken a different tack: Most sites have minimised the number of advertisements to add ease in navigating the site.

Their main source of revenue comes from subscription fees paid by property agents to advertise the properties they are marketing.

Property agents typically pay a package fee of 50 listings for about $300 a year, to 100 listings for about $1,600 a year to advertise the properties they are marketing on the websites.

Depending on the number of listings provided in the package, each online listing can cost about 5 to 8 cents a day. "This is much cheaper than the traditional form of advertising the property on newspaper classifieds, which cost $35 a day for a small ad of three short lines," said Mr Steve Melhuish, chief executive officer of the three-year-old propertyguru.com.sg.

Online property listings are also accessible internationally, giving the sellers more options from foreign buyers, he added.

With plenty of properties on sale, as well as approximately 30,000 real estate agents in Singapore, there is definitely money to be made for these websites, market players said. Although Mr Melhuish is unwilling to disclose exact figures, he said propertyguru.com.sg's revenues increased by threefold last year.

Propertyguru.com.sg has approximately 1.7 million visitors a month, with each visitor viewing an average of 15 listings on the website.

"About 70 per cent of our revenue comes from real estate agents; the remaining 30 per cent comes from property developers in Singapore as well as overseas who want to promote new project launches to those home buyers," he said.

The success of the online property advertising subscription model has inspired the creation of other online property portals - a quick search on the Internet rounds up at least nine of such websites.

The latest portal to be launched is the month-old proprietary website propmatch.com. The website has approximately 50 agents registered to advertise their properties for sale.

Propmatch.com was founded by Mr David Zhang, a former employee in a multi-national firm, and Mr Cheo Ming Shen, co-founder of blog advertising platform Nuffnang.com.

Mr Zhang believes that the property portal business is entering a new wave, with the Singapore property market more robust than before.

"This is one of the reasons why propmatch.com was set up - to capture the interest in property in Singapore and the increasing online search patterns that consumers are showing," said Mr Zhang.

Another property portal H88.com.sg has decided to differentiate itself through rampant social media marketing as well as original but tongue-in-cheek property commentaries.

Its property advertising service started only a month ago, said one of H88.com.sg's creators Mr Sandy Yeo, as a result of requests from its online community of about 7,000 members. H88.com.sg charges property agents $300 a year for 50 listings.

"Our community consists of home buyers, potential home buyers, agents and developers," said Mr Yeo, who runs a digital marketing agency full-time.

Source: www.todayonline.com

They had criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty

by Esther Ng
05:55 AM Dec 30, 2010

SINGAPORE - Come Saturday, 210 property agents will not be able to practise their trade. Their applications to register with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) were rejected as they were found to have criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty.

Under the new regulations, it will be an offence for sales persons who are not registered with the CEA to handle estate agency work.

An applicant must also not be an undischarged bankrupt, nor must he have made a composition or arrangement with his creditors.

Additionally, the applicant must not be convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or fraud.

The tighter rules are part of an effort to professionalise the industry which had, in recent times, been blighted by the unethical practices of a few rogue agents.

Some people have questioned whether the new rules go against the spirit of giving offenders a second chance, especially if the offence was committed a while ago.

However, the CEA said that it would assess applicants with criminal records on a case-by-case basis, taking into account when the offence was committed and the severity of the offence.

Manpower Government Parliamentary Committee chairman Halimah Yacob, who had spoken in Parliament previously about more stringent industry standards, suggested the CEA could issue a provisional licence and monitor with input from the real estate firm.

The CEA pointed out that the 210 rejected agents make up less than one per cent of the 27,754 salespersons registered.

In addition, it clarified that there is no fixed debarment period or life-long debarment.

Instead, the length of debarment depends on the nature and seriousness of the offence.

Propnex chief executive Mohamed Ismail told MediaCorp that three of its agents were rejected.

"If the agent has been with us for some time and there are mitigating reasons, then we'll appeal," he said.

In October, it submitted 4,500 names of agents to the CEA - 4,104 have been approved, the rest are pending approval or have dropped out, he said.

Agencies have two weeks to appeal to the CEA.

They will need to provide full details and copies of relevant documents supporting their application. CEA will notify them of its decision after reconsideration. If they are still dissatisfied with CEA's decision, they can file an appeal.

To date, 1,190 real estate firms have been given licences and 27,754 agents have been approved.

From Jan 1, a public register of licensed firms and registered agents will be available on the Council's website. And from March, the register will display photographs of agents for easy identification.

Next month, the CEA will implement a dispute resolution scheme to resolve disputes and contractual matters between consumers and estate agents.

Real estate firms are required to participate in the scheme once the consumer has elected to proceed with mediation or arbitration.

Record of 3 unsuccessful applicants
Case 1 Applicant has a history of criminal/unlicensed moneylending convictions

1992 - Theft in dwelling

1993 - Loitering with intent

1994 - Theft of motor vehicle parts (3 charges)

1999 - Unlicensed moneylender (19 charges),

2006 - Unlicensed moneylending offences (33 charges)



Case 2 Applicant has a history of criminal convictions

1994 - Entering a Protected Place without permission

1998 - Theft in dwelling

1999 - Theft as a servant

2003 - Driving vehicle without lawful authority, licence, insurance coverage and speeding

2006 - Criminal trespass

2007 - Insulting the modesty of a woman (2 charges) and criminal trespass



Case 3 Applicant is a serious sexual offender and was charged in 2004 with 10 counts of having sex with underaged girl

Source:www.todayonline.com

Nod for 1,190 property firms, 27,754 agents; public register on CEA website from Jan 1

By UMA SHANKARI

Property
Published December 30, 2010


THE newly set up Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has approved 1,190 licence applications from real estate firms as well as 27,754 registration applications for property agents, it said yesterday.


Previous estimates from the government - provided before CEA was set up - put the number of property firms and agents at 1,700 and 30,000 respectively. But industry players were expecting the number of firms and agents to fall with the establishment of the industry watchdog and stricter rules.

CEA also said that it turned down 210 applicants who do not meet the required criteria to be agents. The denied would- be agents were mainly found to have criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty.

A public register of licensed firms and registered agents will be available on CEA's website from Jan 1. The register will display the name, licence or registration number, the firm the agent is working for, validity period, and records of offences committed or disciplinary actions taken, if any. Recent photographs of agents will also be available for easy identification from March 1.

CEA has been receiving licensing applications from both new and existing real estate firms since Nov 1. Property firms were also required to register salespersons who meet all of CEA's criteria by Nov 30.

Going forward, CEA will also implement a prescribed dispute resolution scheme - involving mediation and arbitration - in January. Firms are required to participate in the scheme once the consumer has elected to proceed.

The agency also clarified yesterday that estate agency work concerning land banking products will not be regulated under the Estate Agents Act 2010.

Said CEA: 'This is because estate agents marketing land banking products are more likely to provide financial investment advice than to make representations on a property. Consumers should practice caution and exercise due diligence when investing in land banking products.'



Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg

Published December 9, 2010

Industry churns, real estate agents jump ship
Major shake-up sees some firms beef up while others lose top talent

By UMA SHANKARI

(SINGAPORE) Property firms here are jostling for the best agents as enforcement by new regulatory body the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) kicks in.

Under new rules, agents can only work with one real estate firm. This means that those who formerly represented multiple firms now have to pick just one.

This has led to an industry shake-up here, with agents being drawn to firms with a track record of high-profile residential launches that help them earn more in commissions.

Over the past few months, the number of residential brokers at firms including Savills Singapore and Huttons Real Estate Group has climbed swiftly.

Other firms, including Knight Frank, PropNex and ERA, have seen falls in headcount numbers as agents either left to work for competitors or exited the business entirely, put off by more stringent regulations.

At Savills, the residential team has grown from about 35 people two months ago to around 550 brokers now. The group's South-east Asia chief executive Chris Marriott is expanding his team to take advantage of market opportunities.

'There are a large number of projects coming through, both in terms of new launches as well as completions (when projects receive their Temporary Occupation Permit),' he said.

The beefed-up sales team will focus on marketing properties in Singapore's prime districts and handle new launches, sub-sales and re-sales.

Savills' new agents are all experienced, Mr Marriott stressed. According to sources, a significant number of Savills' new agents used to work for Knight Frank.

Huttons is also hiring aggressively. The firm, which was formed in 2002, has grown from a small team of associates to more than 2,000 consultants now. And it is still looking to hire, sources said.

In fact, Huttons' success has even led to a spin-off unit. Last year, a group of its agents left to set up a new firm, Black Diamond Real Estate Group. Black Diamond has since grown from about 100 agents to 300.

Other property firms muscling in on established firms' turf include ECG Property. The firm, which was set up last year, has more than 1,000 agents.

Firms that have seen a fall in headcount admit that some of their ex-agents have left to join competitors. Also, some inactive and inexperienced agents have chosen to leave the industry, they said.

ERA, for example, registered some 4,800 salespeople with CEA during a recent registration exercise. This is a drop from the 5,800 agents the firm had at the beginning of the year. But ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim said that before the registration exercise, just 3,800 of the sales team were 'performing agents'.

PropNex has around 4,500 agents now, down from 6,000 at the beginning to the year. And over at Knight Frank, the number of property agents tumbled from 1,250 at the beginning of the year to just under 700 now.

Danny Yeo, group managing director of Knight Frank, said that most of the agents who have left were inactive.

'Some of our agents shifted around to other agencies, but we have also taken some from other firms,' Mr Yeo said. 'The bulk of the agents who left had low trading volumes and were inactive.'

Explained CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) executive director for residential Joseph Tan: 'The recruitment drive is now focused on hiring experienced agents. There is some movement across agencies. We are very selective in hiring as we operate on a slightly different business model.'

The number of agents at CBRE has dipped by less than 10 per cent, he said.

The industry shake-up has also hit some of the smaller property firms in Singapore, such as Sotheby's International Realty.

Sources said that the owner of the US-based luxury property firm's Singapore franchise is looking to sell the franchise. According to the sources, the value of deals handled by the firm has fallen since the 2007 property boom, when the brand was first introduced to Singapore. Some of Sotheby's agents have also left.

Property firms here submitted a list of about 32,800 existing salespeople who satisfied all CEA requirements at the Oct 22 cut-off date.

And over the past month, the firms have also submitted applications for licences to operate and registration forms for their agents. But the total number of firms and agents is not available yet, as CEA is still processing the applications. Previous estimates put the number of property firms and agents at 1,700 and 30,000 respectively.


Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg

The stigma of being called a real estate "agent" has led to many renaming themselves as "marketing directors, sales consultants, etc" to avoid being associated with some of the agents who demonstrate questionable knowledge and dubious sales propositions.

I shared many of these perceptions prior to joining OrangeTee. However, after having worked at close quarters with some agents in the past months, I am beginning to re-evaluate my perception. The headline-grabbing superagents show that, if you are good at the job, you can get rich, very rich. While the payback is good, how many of us are willing to spend our weekends and evenings running from apartment to apartment, rain or shine, to stand at showflats for weeks and repeating your sales pitch five to six times a day, to bring a buyer to 20 apartments, only to see him or her buy from another agent?

Many are trying to make a decent living by selling a product and, as with every sales job, there is a reasonable boundary that any good salesperson will not cross and many do not. However, the unethical and unprofessional practices by a small minority have tainted the whole industry.

As such, the introduction of the new regulatory framework with the formation of the Council of Estate Agents is welcomed by many in the agency with open arms. Under the new framework, the entry requirements to be a salesperson (agent) will be raised. To ensure continued ethical and professional standards, the estate agency now has more teeth to weed out unethical agents, who will find it extremely difficult to switch agencies when faced with disciplinary action among many other requirements.

With the new regulations, expectations of better practices have probably been raised and rightly so. The next step will be how to handle such expectations. Getting higher educated and better trained people is no guarantee of ethical practices - just look at what unravelled during the last global financial crisis. Even locally, black sheep have managed to sneak into professions which have been regulated for years. Thus, the best protection remains with the buyers, who should expect themselves to play a role in helping to police the salespersons, as the agents will be referred to under the new regime.

Firstly, buyers need to realise that it is not reasonable to expect "good" advice from a seller's salesperson because that salesperson is contracted to sell by his client, the seller, to get the highest possible price. It is just like any profession with a client-agent relationship; lawyers, accountants, investment bankers - which is to take care of the interests of the client.

Thus, as long as there is no misrepresentation or provision of false information, buyers should be expecting the seller's salesperson to highlight all the good points about a property and downplaying the bad, and evaluate the proposition themselves. It is no different from buying anything.

Secondly, no amount of regulation can help buyers who choose not to do their homework and find out the correct questions to ask. There are many websites that provide excellent content to help buyers in this. Comprehensive data are widely available, least of which from the Urban Redevelopment Authority's website. Why quibble over paying $80 to get access to the vast information in the URA, including detailed past transaction records when buying a $1 million property?

Better-off buyers who get a headache from doing their own research might want to consider hiring a "buyer" salesperson to help them source for a property. This practice, which has caught on in some of the more developed countries, offers many benefits.

Firstly, it establishes a clear client-agent relationship which ensures that the salesperson takes care of the buyer's interest and the buyer can expect and demand good advice.

Secondly, it removes the motivation for the salesperson to "sell" one house over another and to be able to show all properties that are available for sale, not just properties which will provide a co-broking fee.

Lastly, these agents could help secure a better price, being better versed in the negotiation process. Having a middleman can help to remove the emotive aspect of buying a house and this could be important in preventing the buyer from over-paying.

The bottomline is that, while the industry has been shaken up for the better, the buyer's role in the transformation is also important. Buyers need to get better informed or be willing to pay for information and advice, as the property is probably their single largest investment of a lifetime.

by Tan Kok Keong

05:55 AM Oct 22, 2010

The writer is head of the Research and Consultancy Department at Orange Tee.


http://www.todayonline.com

Published October 22, 2010

By UMA SHANKARI


PROPERTY firms have begun the process of registering their agents as the new statutory board set up to regulate real estate agents here, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), begins operations today.


With CEA up and running, new and existing real estate firms can apply to the council for new licences from Nov 1.

The firms are also required to register their agents under the new regulatory framework, which states that anyone doing estate agency work must be registered as a salesperson before he/she can practise.

Under a transitional arrangement provided by CEA, firms have until today to submit a list of existing agents who have passed an industry examination or have completed at least three property deals over the last two years.

After this, agents will have to apply as a new salesperson and satisfy the full registration criteria - which includes passing a new CEA examination - to practise.

BT understands that as of yesterday, a few hundred small property firms have submitted lists of their agents who meet the transitional criteria.

But most of the larger property firms have yet to make their submissions ahead of today's deadline.

Agency bosses here have estimated that the current pool of more than 30,000 agents will shrink by a third to about 20,000 once the new rules kick in.

They also hope that the government's move to set up CEA will ensure that property firms and agents have the knowledge to provide professional service while working ethically.

Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said yesterday that the establishment of CEA is a major milestone to raise professionalism in the real estate agency industry and protect consumer interest.

Added CEA: 'The immediate focus for CEA is to prepare the estate agents (property firms) and salespersons to meet the higher standards of the enhanced licensing and new registration framework.'

The council will be headed by executive director Chionh Chye Khye, who was previously executive director (designate) with the Ministry of National Development.

The Business Times had earlier in December 2009 reported that he had been picked to helm the new statutory board.

Greg Seow, chairman of AMP Capital Investors (Singapore), has been appointed as CEA's president.

Other council members include representatives from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Housing and Development Board, the Consumers Association of Singapore, and the National University of Singapore's real estate department.


http://www.businesstimes.com.sg

Published October 6, 2010
Chia Boon Kuah.


THE compensation structure for real estate agents here remains a hindrance to making the industry more professional, panellists at a congress said yesterday.

Most property agents in Singapore get a lot of their income from commissions, which can drive them to try to close sales at the expense of customers' interests, the panellists said.

'As long as the compensation package drives you the other way, it is very hard for you to be professional,' said Far East Organization's chief operating officer Chia Boon Kuah.

Leong Sze Hian, immediate past-president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals and a Wharton Fellow, agreed.

He reckons a minimum wage system would help somewhat.

'As long as you have a lot of people who don't earn enough to make a decent living, or who have to make a decent living in a way that loses the trust of the customers, then how can you be professional?' Mr Leong asked a room full of estate agents.

Mr Chia and Mr Leong were part of a panel on developing world-class real estate professionals in Singapore at the inaugural International Real Estate Congress.

The congress is jointly organised by the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV) and Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA).

The other two panellists - PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail and ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim - said growing the public's trust in the profession is crucial.

Most panellists and real estate professionals are hopeful that the government's move to set up a statutory board - the Council for Estate Agencies - to regulate the industry will ensure that property firms and agents have the knowledge to provide professional service while working ethically.

They noted that this is especially important as the real estate markets become more globalised.

In recent years, foreigners have shown an increasing interest in real estate in Singapore and other Asian cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, said Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu at the opening of the congress yesterday.

'To serve an increasingly diverse global clientele, the role of the real estate professional will have to evolve to encompass regions beyond the local market,' Ms Fu said.

'With a global real estate market, real estate practitioners will need to possess the requisite knowledge on legislation and policies of many countries.'


Chia Boon Kuah.
Far East Organization's chief operating officer

Source: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg