Real Estate Woes: Company Assigned Agents

Whilst it’s common for corporations and companies to have agreements with a few agencies to keep consistency and cut costs, if you find yours isn’t up to scratch, ask first if you can change to another agent within the agency or see if your company deals with anyone else. Most MNCs or SMEs will have two or three agencies they have agreements with and some will allow their employees to choose their own agent.

Some people find the service levels from some company assigned agents to be poorer than they expect. This is often because the agents are selected on the basis of the FREE services given such as airport pick up, visa service, orientations etc. rather than the level of service and experience of the agent. In order to recover the costs of these so-called FREE services, they then rely on cheaper junior agents who often don’t have the experience and understanding of expat’s needs and aren’t that skilled at negotiating with often fickle and wealthy landlords.

One other problem that comes with agency agreements is that the agent knows the client is stuck with them and many won’t make efforts to get the best deal. Given they are quite poorly paid and rely on commissions, cutting down rentals or adding extra items can adversely affect their payments so they are reluctant to do this.

Advice
If you are stuck with this kind of agent and there is no way out you will often have to manage the deal yourself. Below is a little advice to help you through the worst of times and into your new home.

*Ask any fellow expats in your company to assist/advise as they will have on ground knowledge
*Draw up your own terms and conditions in an offer letter
*Put in the offer a list of MUST HAVES and WOULD LIKE TO HAVE
*Think about some creative solutions to problems and check with others if they are feasible
*Source advice from other trusted agents, colleagues and expat forums like Shanghaiexpat

NOTE: Adrienne Farrelly, manager of Shanghai Properties, is one of Shanghai’s most experienced expat agents. http://www.shanghaiprops.com