I read some forum and discussion in other website, realized that many people refuse to pay agent commission, and some of them asking why need to pay the commission to property agent, and even some of them said will look for property agent when view the showroom, but when want to make a booking, they still will look for developer staff.

My Propsocial friends, What do you think?

@boontonglau ... Pity ya property agent? Yes, some landlord refuse to pay our agent fee after we help them done the deal. I personally kena before. 1 case even worse is that both party (seller n buyer) "undercut" agent in order for them to save some money. What can agent do to protect agent ? Haha ... macam macam ada.

Oh gosh! I feel so sorry for you guys. I think property agents definitely deserve their commission for all their hard work running around looking for a successful buyer for the owner. I also heard that some unethical owners or even buyers who caused agents to fight amongst each other due to this issue. But of course, not all are like that. So sad to know that there are some bad apples that spoil the whole basket and ruin this industry being an ethical business.

@Mag ... the cost to pay on my learning curves ... hahaha ... experiences develop awareness and handling skills ! that's all i can say. Anyway, somewhere somehow along the process ... 'third hand' came in, sometimes is kind of hard to believe that issues just happened without i knowing. Look for the better solutions then. Cheers :)

Definitely yes. We are the main driving force of malaysia economy.
We are the middleman for a property transaction. No us no deal!

It is totally alright for owners to get buyer themselves if they got the time and skills to do so , but there are some unscrupulous owners n buyers who just want to take advantage on ppl's effort / advertising fee and get free service.
So if they think they can sell , by all means , no agent services needed.
Same thing Can your boss hire you without paying u salary? Or do u think u can walk out from beer factory without paying after happy hour?

Totally agree with @KY all the services provided should come with return, because they spend their time and resources to serve their clients. However, this really come to both side, some agents also do not provide the good services while some owners just simply like to test / survey the market. Well, i believe if a good agent do provide a good and professional service, slowly he/she will get known by word of mouths. Money will follow too :)

We are providing a service to the properties owner and definitely they need to pay the service charge. Nothing is free service right? They can choose not to use our service but they have to pay us once they used our services.We don't point a gun to their head and force them to use our services also. By the way ,I believe thats only minority of the properties owner refuse to pay the agency in the market.

Not only buyer undercut us. Some developer cheat agent commission as well. We can create another group that discuss which developer in the market not 'steady'.

Good ideal edward

There are responsible and irresponsible real estate negotiators including vendors and purchasers

rony is right, if you are the kind of proffessional and ethical agents, the house owner will still using your services , theres lot of kind and good house owner in the market too..

Started this - http://www.propsocial.my/topic/63/which-property-developer-has-a-bad-reputation-posted-by-magdelin on behalf of @edwardthay :D

I believe we do deserve our commissions...but this industry and profession has not been getting the respect it deserves...probably also because there are many unethical and not-registered property agents out there tarnishing our names..

But to keep it short, I feel that sometimes owners/purchasers do not appreciate the effort we put to look for their 'home-sweet-home' . I have personally experienced under-cut from purchaser & owner as well..Was angry, sad & disappointed.

The board should have more regulations to protect us Negotiators..after all, we are the ones keeping the economy in balance...try to imagine if one day real-estate industry in Malaysia has gone so bad that nobody wants to be an agent...
What would happen to the Buy/Sell transactions in Malaysia? How are Foreign investors gona look for houses? what will happen to our country's GDP?

Additional:
Some people say we earn alot, or too much.. hey come on..If u wana earn our money quit your job and join us..But are u willing to take the risk? Property Negotiators are all risk takers, they all jump into the sea dreaming of finding their own island to settle down but at a risk of drowning...And most often we are doing it for nothing...when buyer decides to buy another property not under our listing OR owner sells it to another agent's buyer..

of cause they deserve their commission and it has been recognized by law.. if the owner refused and/or change their thoughts after close the deal, the agent can sue them for the commission.

Just like any other professions, there are good and bad service providers.
I believe there are experiences or lawyers providing bad service, run away with clients' money, even murdered the client for money....
So, yeah, generally, property agents do deserve to be paid.

I myself as an agent strongly agrees that we should get paid if
1) we are appointed by the owner to assist in selling/letting of a property
2) closed the deal for that particular owner & buyer.

Owners or buyers often think that our jobs are just simple, but it actually requires some "backstage"hardwork which are not seen & unappreciated- such as, we need to conduct market studies/analysis (area studies, property values, market price ), connecting/filtering buyers and sellers, provide professional services and advice regarding the property, negotiate, write up offers and gather relevant documents for solicitors, handling a lot of adhoc situations upon signing of S&P & etc..

We worked hard, put in much effort, strive to give the best services & yet, we are also human who needs to make a living (Ethically) :)
So, yeapp, property agents definitely deserve their commissions ^^

My personal experience, sign the letter of acceptance from landlord before the client view the unit. In that way, the landlord is legally bound to a 'contract'.

Once after my client view the property, the landlord told me that he is not going to pay my commission. What am I to do when the tenant already like the unit and want to pay the deposit there and then? So I told the tenant what happened and luckily the tenant is quite nice give me ang pao. Not much but at least something.

@jaishin_singh, provide the vendor's details and let's make him/her more famous than ever

Good idea, Rony.
We should have such data base so that we can blacklist those non-paying landlords and vendors

Vince. good. I agreed with you.

But I thought that all owners are supposed to sign an agreement regarding the commission to agents before processing the SPA or tenancy agreement?

@yap_rony, I don't remember his name. It's probably one generic surname like Tan or something like that.

In my case, I was meeting the landlord for the first time, only spoke on phone prior to the viewing. Now days, I always meet the landlord to get their signature first even if it's 10 minutes before viewing.

Totally agree that agent should get commission. But I also of the view that generally agents/negotiators professionalism in the job should also be improved.

When I first communicating with the landlord/owner, after he/she has agreed to list their property with me, I will tell them this is my professional fees, upon their acceptance than only i start to promote for them. So far so good, no issue at all. Those who is not willing to pay, I will not proceed to promote for them "full stop" - nothing is free in this world. Upon closing, I will get them to sign the closing form which clearly stated the amount of the professional fee chargeable to them - no dispute so far

jaishin singh, may i know what letter give owner to sign?

Depending on the work quality, results and actual value added to the clients. Most don't deserve.

Edmend Chua - Totally agree...
I didnt serve rubbish !
I only entertain genuine client.

Think yourself as a stakeholder...tell the owner and buyer you are the stakeholder...tell them why you are important in the dealing...don't mention youself as a middleman (they will think otherwise).. :)

Ppl tend to complain everything...:)...complain may get "additional discount" ..

If you are not willing to pay commission to agents why get an agent to market your property for you?

If you are buying the property you dont have to pay agents anything.

Agent's have family and need to put food on the table as well.

Add value to your client.

www.freemanwooestate.com

Definitely deserving of their commission according to the quality of their work. Its not easy in the present economy climate to match the needs and wants of both vendor and purchaser. Along with other procedures such as the banking and legal aspects during a lease or transaction. 

I am a property owner and I think all property negotiators / agents deserve their commission and I don't mind paying for the commission for all the hardwork they have to go through, from advertising to dealing with the viewings and many more which I am not keen to handle. Not unless some of those property agents who are out there to cheat people's money or not willing to extend their professional service, then of course as an owner, you can choose not to deal with that agent at all. 

I am a person who always there is always some bad apple / eggs in a baskets, but that does not mean that all the apple / eggs are bad. There are some agent that really walk the extra miles for their customer not knowing whether the deal will be closed at the end of the day or not. 

NO doubt, I must admit, there are also agent that perform "hit and run" or "gone with the owner key" when it comes to real estate transaction. But for property owner, I do believe you will be able to differentiate the professionals vs those that wants to just make a few quick bucks by venturing into this industry for a short period of time then gone with the wind.

If u are using their service, u have to give-lah. Times is bad, many are leaving the profession already - susah cari makan!

Thanks James for being professional towards our agents services. Look forward to many more of you. 

Those prospective buyers who act as such may have few influencing reasons...some of which

1) they don't like the agent look/service?

2) they think contacting developer staff will get better pricing ?

3) suspicious of what agent present to them, so go directly to developer hoping to get accurate info?

Well for sub-sale property it is very difficult for the customer to go directly to developer (if the project was built ages ago).

There are still another category of people in the market (known as Broker) which is non-licensed RENs. Some owner / buyer mistakenly think that they are RENs as not all but some of them even charge a cheaper service fee.

Maybe a better question is: “What do you think an estate agent is paid for?”.

Unfortunately, an estate agent is sometimes seen as a glorified tour guide or someone who is paid to open a few doors. To me, what you pay a professional estate agent for is mostly his knowledge of pricing and of the market. And this experience and knowledge could be built over many years. So to judge on whether an agent is deserving of his/her income based only on the work you see him/her physically do is not completely fair, I feel.

Second, some do forget that an agent’s compensation is purely success-based, and not time-based. So it becomes easy to equate an agent’s fees to the time or effort spent by that agent to sell or let a property listing. Unlike some other professions, agents simply do not get paid if they do not succeed. In comparison, you will still have to pay a lawyer if he/she loses your case in court. And you will still need to pay your doctor if he/she is unsuccessful in curing you. But not for an estate agent.

Third, it is important to realize how long it can take to sell or let out some properties. For example, I have taken a listing that took three years to sell. When an agent takes a listing, they immediately have to spend time and money to market it, with zero guarantee of compensation. And when you do manage to fight off all the competition and close the deal, it could be another few months before an agreement is executed and the agent finally receives his fees. If you then divide the agent’s income by the time it can take from listing the property to completion of transaction, you will quickly realize that the fee is not excessive. How many contractors or professionals do you know who you can engage to do work, without any deposit, and is happy to be paid three years later?

So my short answer is yes. I think agents deserve their fees, if you acknowledge that you are paying not only for their effort but their valuable professional advice, and if you consider the risk and time that they have to potentially endure to provide you with their best services.

Oh wow, precise crystal clear explanation, @ukian. And I truly agree with you. You must be very experienced and been in the real estate industry for a long time :) YOU definitely 'deserve all the commission'. 

Nice explanation @ukian! Thank you very much. How is the job demand of estate agents in Malaysia?

Apparently a lot of property negotiators now are getting out of the industry or looking out for 2nd source of income. 

Good day to you

Jessica 01116570010 from Sotiras Design & Construction (1202825-U) Sdn Bhd located in Setia Alam, Selangor

We wish to offer property agents commission of 2 - 4% any renovation referral can pass to us. Payout of commission asap with collection

On the subject matter, refusal to pay the compensation to a property agent for a transaction done by proprietors or refusal to continue the reference to the serving agents by home buyers during a new property launches with the act of deliberate diverting to alternate person/source; are act of deceit, in particular an appointment, mutual understandings and works were in place. Agents, however, require to be professional in their services to clients or home buyers. Notwithstanding to, there are parties out there, unfortunately, do strip the labor and efforts for work done or delivered. This happens in other services industry or many industries (material and labor). Regulatory, NGO and professional bodies plays important role in public education and awareness. Trade agents must be alert to those attempt to strip their hard labor earnings off at. In short, agents are deserved to be paid a fee, full fees or commissions for work or transactions done.

question about how to apply gst rebate property new built uncompletely 

If clearly written contracts and appointment letters are signed between agencies and developers before undertaking the sales process, the developers are obligated to pay the agencies the agreed fees in the manner stated in the contract or face legal action. 

If the process of how buyers are introduced and registered with the developers in transparent manner before the actual viewing of the show unit or the presentation at the sales gallery then there should be very minimal dispute as to who invited or recommended the buyer to the sales gallery. Most buyers (especially those that you cold call upon) are only loyal to type of property suited for them and the value that the sales person brings to them ie. professionalism, knowledge in answering questions, mannerism, service oriented etc.

If the above criteria and expectations are not met, the agencies, real estate agent or negotiator are at risk to lose out.

David Wong (Licensed Agent E2097) Mobile: 0193330573

Foreward Realty Sdn Bhd (E-(1)1909) 

if the developer give the commission discount to customer directly like that, then need to boycott them :) 

In any business, there will always be business risks. In our case, we will bound to meet clients who are trying to deprive us of our hard-earned income. But I believe we should always have to still maintain our professionalism and ensure the best service for all our clients despite a few "bad" hats.