A one-bedroom with a air conditioned study room for rent at $3,500. A balcony, clear city and river views, maroon marble flooring, TV cabinets.	Marble flooring - 2 types. One is much darker than the other.
Views from the bedroom from higher floors.	A small study room opposite the kitchen of this one-bedroom apartment.
Typical kitchen of The River Place condos.	The main complaint is that many of the kitchens is dark.

Education of asiahomes.com realtors

Case study:  Will the American Doctor get his waterfront beauty?


On Sunday July 9, 2000, an American expat doctor liked a ground floor River Place apartment just beside the green and clean Singapore river as shown in the image above, after a grueling hot house hunting trip in which he downed at least three 500-ml bottles of water, topping up the bottles at Aspen Heights and Mirage Tower apartments visited. 

I thought he was polydipsic (drank a lot of water more than normal. I asked whether he had had a diabetes check up by his doctor? "No," he said. He drank to prevent dehydration. 

This River Place condo was love at first sight.  The sea breezes wafted a salty aroma from across the Robertson Quay promenade at 5.30 p.m.  We were soothed by the slow flow of the crystal clear river flowing into the mouth of the Singapore River to the sea passing the historic conservation shophouses where coolies in bum boats plying the Singapore River, traders and immigrants worked very hard spending most of their lives to eke a livelihood and in the process built up a modern Singapore.

Joggers, mainly young Caucasians jogged along the river banks. Mothers cross a bridge spanning the Singapore from the condo (not seen, but left in picture) to get to supermarket, Robertson Quay pubs and food joints. There is an underpass to jog to Clarke Quay (far left of picture). His practice which caters exclusively to Caucasian expatriates,  at Raffles Place was less than a 5-minute drive, across the road. 

However, the American wanted to see more apartments and houses on July 13 when he would be back to Singapore. He saw more condos but none caused his heart to flutter with joy.    In the evening, he decided to take this direct water fronting River Place apartment at $6,000 rent as advertised by the Owner via his agent on July 9th.  He had to fly back to America again.

On July 14 at 9 a.m, I contacted the co-broking agent representing the Owner offering to hand him personally the Letter of Intent and a good faith deposit of $6,000.    All he had to do was to bring the Letter to the Owner with a $6,000 cheque and get it signed. 

"Wait..wait..wait, let me hear your terms and conditions and talk to the Owner," said Realtor Kerry.  He said confidently that there would be no problem.  He was busy and had "no time" to follow up. 

At 4 p.m, I contacted him to find out what was happening.  He then contacted the Owner.  The co-owner was agreeable to the offer.  Within 30 minutes, the Owner called him to say that he had a better offer of $6,500 from another realtor.

Realtors representing Owners who do not give exclusive marketing rights must know that time is of the essence.  You rarely get Letters of Intent and cheques for most apartments you take the risk to advertise for tenants.

If there is a bona fide offer with a good faith deposit cheque ready, you should act promptly.   Give priority to this case as you are self-employed and you don't earn any cent if you don't close a case. 

July 2000 was a peak season for rentals. The River Place apartments were hot and the low rise apartments by the Singapore River are few and therefore, decisions must be prompt. 

Co-broking realtors representing Owners on a non-exclusive basis would be wasting time and money if they were not nimble and fast enough. What was better than a written Letter of Intent accompanied by a cheque giving the $6,000 rent which the Owner was targeting? There is no loyalty from the Owner if you can't perform.

Obviously, the Owner was waging a bidding war.  How about $6,700?  The Owner was not interested and wanted to give the other agent an opportunity to bring the good faith deposit the next day.  The co-broking agent was so sure he was not the type. Why shouldn't Owners get the highest best offer for their investment condos?

"How do you know, when he has rejected your offer?" I asked him.  Just because the Owner was a professional, it did not eliminate him from waging a bidding war.   My point was that he should not have played a waiting game.  He ought to have seen the Owner, gave the good faith deposit rather than  use the telephone.  

Time is of the essence really has a deep meaning once we lose such a case by 30 minutes.  

Even the act of giving a Letter of Intent and a cheque would make the Owner remember you above all other realtors as it is not every day that an Owner receives a cheque too.   It shows you are "good" at your profession and that you have the "expat" clientele or know where to find them. 

Get to know your priorities and be proactive  if you want to be successful in your profession. Relocating expats may need to be decisive if they walk into an apartment and liked it. Assess whether the condo is really popular if you do not trust your realtor.  There's a big demand for "great location, brand new, direct water frontage and ground floor apartments". The ground floor units form a handful in any condo development hence the demand exceeds supply as many Caucasian expatriates dislike living in higher floors. 

A letter of intent is just the beginning of a bidding war, as in this case.   If the expatriate had been decisive earlier, there would be a closing at $6,000.   Now, this bidding war had upped the rent by more than 10% as the Landlord knows that ground floor units are in demand by Caucasians.  He could afford to wait and see who gave him a better bid.   

In this case, the doctor outbidded the other prospective tenant and got his condo. If he had decided one week earlier, he might have saved some rental money. 

Time is of the essence in any high demand property transaction.  You have to be aware of the dynamics of the situation as each case is different and each co-broking agent has different degrees of professionalism.