This article has been contributed by KC Wong, and edited by Yowchuan.

In the second part of this New House Purchasing Preparation Series, we will look at how house buyers can end up being a victim of speculations by real estate agents.

After examining the various options to finance my new house, I began looking for the property that would fit within my budget. By the way, I am looking for a landed double-storey unit. I have been looking for the past 7 months and still couldn’t make up my mind yet. However, within this period, I have learned quite a few lessons.

Lesson 1: Don’t become a Victim of Real Estate Speculations
As I browsed through the advertisements in www.iproperty.com, I managed to find quite a few units that fit my requirements. The next obvious step is to call up the agent to set an appointment for the house viewing. One particular unit is a basic, non-renovated unit with good condition and well-maintained. The asking price for this house was RM230,000 in Taman Melur. I like this house very much because the price is reasonable and I can move in with just a little bit of touching up. I brought my parents for a second viewing and they like the house too.

Next, I began the pricing negotiations with the agent. I offered RM225,000 initially, RM5,000 short from the original selling price. The agent did not immediately get back to me, and after a few days, the agents replied that the house owner has increased the price to RM240,000 which really pissed me off. I was expecting a discount, but ended up having to pay RM10,000 more from the original asking price of RM230,000.

Then I decided to investigate and here’s what I speculated could have taken taken place behind closed doors:

(i) First Price Check
From what I gathered, the owners were told by other agents that he can obtain a higher price than the original RM230,000. This is the first sign of speculation. I demanded to the agent who I was dealing with that such indecisiveness is unfair to me, but I guess until any black and white documents had been signed, there’s nothing much anyone can do about it. You can’t just take anyone to court with just verbal promises.

(ii) Second Price Check
While I was checking out property listings on The Star Classifieds, I realized that various agents are asking for around RM248K to RM260K for the same property. I didn’t know that a single property can be represented by a few agents and their pricing can vary according to how much the agents would want to profit from the deal. This is another sign where the more agents are involved, the more rampant the speculations become.

After a few more days, the agent called me up and informed me that the owner is willing to dispose off the unit at RM240,000. I thought about it and finally decided not to accept the offer, simply because the owner did not keep his promise. There is also the possibility of the owner changing his mind again. Furthermore, I just don’t like the idea of dealing with someone who don’t stick to their words.

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