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Do I have to pay a fee to realtor if he was hired by the property management?

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  1. #11

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    Only the agent the landlord is advertising with will be able to rent to you, even in case of multiple agents you pay only 1.


  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by jaykay:
    Only the agent the landlord is advertising with will be able to rent to you, even in case of multiple agents you pay only 1.
    Sorry, for my many questions, but since I only recently started looking into renting apartments in HK, this is all new to me.
    So, you mean that even if I hired an agent to go apartment hunting with me and he finds me a place that is advertised with another agent, my agent won't get anything (I won't have to pay him)?

  3. #13

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    Dude! You pay the agent who introduces you to the property, it doesn't matter how many agencies the landlord has signed up with!

    The situation you describe is completely normal, not just in Hong Kong, also in Australia, the UK, Denmark and Sweden - this knowledge makes me suspect that it's just like that in Canada also.....


  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Dude! You pay the agent who introduces you to the property, it doesn't matter how many agencies the landlord has signed up with!

    The situation you describe is completely normal, not just in Hong Kong, also in Australia, the UK, Denmark and Sweden - this knowledge makes me suspect that it's just like that in Canada also.....
    Ok, first off, if at all, then I'm a "dudette"...

    Secondly, it's not the same in "every" country, as in Canada, the tenant or the property buyer does not have to pay the agent any fees at all. The landlord/seller pays a set fee to both agents - the tenant's/buyer's AS WELL AS his own agent. That's why it makes much more sense in Canada to go apartment or house hunting with an agent, rather than doing it all by yourself, as it doesn't cost you a penny!

    So, I hope you now understand why I wanna clarify all my questions in this thread before I contact any agent and then get unpleasantly surprised afterwards if I am being presented with a big realtor bill...
    Last edited by travelbee; 01-02-2012 at 12:03 PM.
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  5. #15

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    Dudette, let me break it down for you, most property for rent is advertised by property agents, once you go in and ask to see properties they will make you sign an agreement that you will pay them certain amount of commission once the transaction is completed, if you use multiple agents, refrain from seeing the same property with multiple agents as if you do rent it, you will have to pay all those agents that showed you the same property. Keep a list of property that you saw with which agents this will help you from getting confused.

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  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelbee:
    Ok, first off, if at all, then I'm a "dudette"...

    Secondly, it's not the same in "every" country, as in Canada, the tenant or the property buyer does not have to pay the agent any fees at all. The landlord/seller pays a set fee to both agents - the tenant's/buyer's AS WELL AS his own agent. That's why it makes much more sense in Canada to go apartment or house hunting with an agent, rather than doing it all by yourself, as it doesn't cost you a penny!
    Please accept my apologies. I'm wrong.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Please accept my apologies. I'm wrong.
    No problem, Dude. Apology accepted!
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  8. #18

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    Alrighty, it's much clearer now how the system works in HK.
    Thanks everyone for your comments. I learnt something new today and your replies definitely helped.

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  9. #19

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    If you use an agent you pay the agent, if you don't use an agent you don't. Unless you tell the agent upfront that you're not going to pay a fee and he agrees to work with you on that basis and only takes commission from the landlord, but bear in mind that, even if he agrees, obviously he will most likely give priority to those of his clients that are paying him and prefer to get the flat for them.

    If there is more than one agent involved (ie. if the landlord has given sole rights to an agent and you're using a different agent) then that doesn't affect you, you pay your agent as normal and the agents will agree amongst themselves how to split the fees between them.

    If you don't want to use an agent that's entirely up to you, you can do the legwork yourself, but obviously not after you have engaged the services of an agent and he has already shown you the flat. There's nothing to stop you doing what the agent does and scouring the newspapers every day for listings and contacting the landlords directly or even looking for empty windows, working out which flat it is and going to the land registry and finding out who the owner is and contacting them to see if they want to rent. Obviously it's entirely up to the landlord whether he wants to deal with you directly or insists on using an agent.

    If a landlord (or a developer of a particular building who is doing direct rental) insists on using an agent and you don't want to then you are of course free to avoid paying agent fees by renting from a different landlord or in a different building.

    I think that about covers it.

    In summary, we are free men (and women).

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  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelbee:
    No problem, Dude. Apology accepted!

    He (actually she) is a dudette too...
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