It is up to the Realtor to follow up closely as once the tenancy agreement is signed, the interest of the Occupant may not be included in the terms and conditions. 

The Occupant (i.e. the expatriate whose lease is signed by his or her company) must be diligent too, as the Human Resource Manager may not have time to refer matters to him, in cases where the Landlord wants to deal directly with the Human Resource Manager.

In this case study, the Occupant and the Realtor suffer a lack of communication as the Landlord liaises directly with the Human Resource Manageress.  The email below illustrated that the Landlord now had no time for the Realtor once the deal is almost closed.  There was no response to over 20 paging or messages left.  

Building up a good Landlord-Realtor relationship is important for the long-term, but each Landlord has his or her own way of handling matters and doing away with the rental realtor once a tenant has been secured!

Hi Judy,

I have not had the time to read and respond to your earlier email about the typed up Tenancy Agreement because I have been very very VERY busy these few days attending to Woodlands matters, both on-site and off-site.

I understand from other directors that you were calling them today about the Tenancy Agreement. Actually, there is no need for you to do so as I am already handling everything at my end. I thought that you should already know that since Human Resource Manageress told me that she already told you that she is liaising directly with me. Both of us feel that it is very much easier, clearer and faster this way. If I need you for anything, I will call you, but that is unlikely at the moment.

In the meantime, I hope that you will understand if I do not return your calls because I am very very VERY busy. (Writing this email to you has already taken up a lot of my precious time)---- My top priority now is to make sure that the units are fit for handing over and to settle in the Tenants. As Managing Director has no doubt told you, he is unable to attend to anything at the moment because of his personal family matter.

Regards

In the above-case, it was not known why the Landlord (a shareholder of the corporation) would want to handle the negotiations when the Realtor was paid to do so.  The Landlord pays the marketing fees in Singapore on procurement of a Tenant and may as well let the Realtor do all the leg work.

The Occupant was not informed on any negotiations.  The Realtor had to push hard to get the documents.  By-passing the realtor handling the Tenant may not be a wise idea as the realtor usually has a better relationship with the expatriate Tenant than the Landlord. 

When the tenancy agreement expires, the realtor may have other prospects for the Landlord but since if the Landlord has ignored the realtor, then, it is unlikely that the realtor will recommend other expatriate clientele. After all, there are more rental properties in Singapore in 2001 and beyond while the expatriate tenant pool shrinks!