Tan Kin Lian's Blog: RED Portal (3)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

RED Portal (3)

Dear Mr. Tan,

Your website has the additional information of stating the floor of the unit which all other websites do not offer. Of course we can try to make a guess but not quite accurate as knowing the actual floor number.

Another advantage is the comparison you provide with other condos. I wish I had done this before selling my unit. I was a first time seller and naively thought that my agent (who is a family member's good friend!) would have done all that is necessary to get me a good price.

Unfortunately she based her pricing on an earlier sale in my condo and told me that an offer of $X was good. I was quite shocked to have that offer and asked her if the market was picking up. She told me it could a temporary thing and made me commit just after 2 viewings and 1 offer!

I must say that it was my fault in trusting that my agent would get me a good price. I bought the property for $X and sold for the same price. It is a high floor. Later I got to know that the ground floor unit was sold for a higher price.

If I had waited just one month, I would have made 80K. At the current price, I would make 100K. The painful thing is that I was not even in a hurry to sell. I had a wonderful tenant who was keen to extend for another year. Guess this is a painful and expensive lesson that I have to learn.

I suggest that you add a listing of units sold more than 2 years ago or a history page

www.easysearch.sg (Real Estate Data)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...: Mr. Tan

I find the name RED very cool, and also the website is RED in colour. I was a little lost at first but after clicking on Guide, I was able to understand how to use the website. Thanks for making this available.; September 17, 2009 8:47 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Before you buy or sell a private property, do your research. Search for your condo by name, and look at the past transactions. Compare the benchmark price with similar condos in the same sector.

Read the Guide. It explains how to use the various parts of the website. It is written in an easy to understand manner.; September 17, 2009 8:50 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: You can get a more detailed report (showing more than two years) buy buying a printed report for $25 (tentatively, will be available from October). It also shows the summary of price change by quarter over the past five years. And many other useful information.; September 17, 2009 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...: If the author have read the book Freakonomics (Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt), he/she will not be at mercy of the agent. Dubner/Levitt explain why the agent is so keen to sell the house at any price.; September 17, 2009 10:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Its sad that the writer was not given decent advice, this is what our society is all about "eat" up the "weak", uninformed because we are generally trusting people, we trust that our goverment would at least provide us with some decent protection from "vultures"..... there seem to be no recourse now from our controlling institutions.

I am sure our leaders would luv to use that phrase
"you went in with your eyes Big, Big(open)"!

I wish they could use that phrase on their managers at their investment vehicles, and then make them accountable.....; September 17, 2009 10:06 AM
Singapore Short Stories said...: Yup, the bubble is about to be burst soon; September 17, 2009 10:44 AM
Anonymous said...: yes i read the freakonomics, pretty interesting,however you dont have to be a genius to figure out that the agent will always look at their commission first...dosent matter if is a close friend etc..; September 17, 2009 4:21 PM
Anonymous said...: A empathise with the problem faced by the owner, who does not have relevant information and has to rely on the advice (actually mis-advice) of the agent.

With this RED website, consumers can now get the information easily to make a better decision. Even property agents will be using this website to get information for their clients (who can be buyers or sellers).

Transparent information will benefit buyers, sellers and agents and lead to a more informed and fairer price for the property. Thanks, Mr. Tan.; September 17, 2009 4:28 PM