DIY Buyer woes

Now, you're all ready to start on your hunt. So, where do you begin?

The easiest re-course is to engage an agent, but as a Buyer, you are able to do much of the paperwork yourself - it just requires some literacy skill and diligence on your part. You can arrange for your own viewings and not be stuck with those arranged by your agent. And you get to save $4000+GST (If for example your prospective purchase costs you $400k) which you can then use to splurge on either the renovation, some electrical/furniture OR a well-deserved holiday. You don't have to worry about being co-erced into a price by your agent who is tired of you refusing the flats they are showing. You don't have to be limited to flats they've picked out. And you don't have to be worried if they have got things right, as I've heard of scare stories where the agent actually dropped the ball! Yes!

It won't be easy to be a DIY Buyer, but if you have the time, confidence and the ability to carry it through, why not? I'm sure you've carried out projects more daunting and time-consuming than this before. And most viewings are in the evenings or over the weekends, so why not?

House viewings can be exciting, fun and insightful too.

So you've alleged yourself to be a DIY Buyer, what now?

The Straits Times on Saturday is the all time favorite, but I am more of a ... visual person.

So I trawl through Property Guru. It does allow me to preview photos of prospective places, and allows me to look at floor plans (and dream of possible renovations).

I do a lot of my own legwork (literally) by looking up units on Property Guru

However, I get irritated when some houses only show minimal house pictures, and lots of estate photos. Well, most of these advertisements are fishing for buyers though, I found out. Then there are those adverts that indicate floor plans but what is shown is the agent's calling card, or another picture from the photo series, or better still, the location map (which is often indicated already on the page.)

Warning: Too much net surfing can lead to detrimental effects like the Blue Screen of Death... I crippled my browser a few times while surfing for listings. Clearing history and cookies helps to dejunk.

The good things about Property Guru? It has a long (maybe the longest) list of properties, even after all the baits are shifted through, and they have interesting and helpful features like Ask Guru which is an excellent glossary to discuss issues you may have.

Be careful of listing your personal number as it is like an instant junk sms and calls magnet. Some agents verge on the extent of harassment. And be careful not to agree to engage an agent before viewing. Often enough, the advertised flat is actually a dummy flat, meant to fish for buyers, either because the flat is on a lower floor, or because the property market is slow. Then the agent would bring you around for viewings of 'other' properties nearby (which are kept within agents' inner circles), and in the course, you've engaged a buyer agent. Remember to answer, "NO" to the question of whether you'd like them to represent you/be your agent. I understand that this response to engage them has to be given verbally and that is why many insist on speaking to you over a phone. They are also more convincing over the phone. This is especially if you'd like to be a DIY Buyer.

Other places you can look at is SRX Property (a close 2nd to PG, and I like that they have $350k limit unlike PG that list every $100k), STProperty, iProperty, 99.co, PropertyHub, EzProperty, and H88.

Take note that there is no lower price advertised for the property you are considering as some tend to be marketed by a few agents. Google the block number once you are sure. One flat I noticed had about 10 listings under 10 different agents! About 4 of their agents got back to me though I emailed all. Also, request to hear back from many listings. Out of about 10 enquiries I send out, only about 3 may email back. 1 of these would often tend to be a 'dummy' listing, or just not my luck or in time. If I am really keen, I'll find a way to call them though I avoid that. Agents much prefer a contact for ease of communication and negotiation.

Finally, if you have doubts, ASK. Go down to HDB Hub to clarify any issues and to ensure you have got all your documentations in place. Don't mess up the sale... it is bad for many sides.

I'm glad to see that HDB has a Tampines Branch as there are some clarifications and appeals I may need to be writing. Yes, stringent qualifications especially for Grants...

All the best!