Why do Thai condo owners trust their condo in the hands of an agent

[Justanotherone]

an agent that seems super lazy to not reply messages even written in Thai for requests of information.  

 

Why do people not put their for rent condo in facebook market for free.

 

Farang cannot buy houses, condos yes, but why do people give a month away to an agent ? Or 3% for the sale of a house ?

 

Greedy agents is what makes the property market more and more expensive.

[ezzra]

Not all agents are lazy, also, property owner can't stop and drop everything each time someone want to see the property as well as handling all transfers and paper works between both parties and there are more chores to Proform when selling a property and that's why people are happy to pay 3-5% to an agent to handle all the above. Capiche?

[Peterw42]

I think you will find a lot of properties are already not with agents, and informally advertised via facebook and similar.

As for using agents, many expats are used to buying/selling/renting through agents back home, and will keep doing what they have always done. Others are not in a position to sell/manage their properties, working, out of the country etc. If an agent gets a property sold or rented, that otherwise wouldn't be, then the expense is justified.

Personally, I think its great, i have bought, sold, rented out several properties here, with minimal, if any, dealings with agents.

 

[worgeordie]

Because some people don't know how to sell or rent their property,

like when you take your vehicle to a mechanic ,because you don't

know anything about fixing things ,and other people don't want the

hassel , showing people around , contracts , etc etc ,

 

Others like myself ,been retired have plenty of free time to do it,

, plus i want to see who i am putting my property in the hands of.

 

regards worgeordie

 

[scubascuba3]

Yeah owners should just advertise on Facebook marketplace unless they're out of country. Save loads of money.

 

As a landlord in UK i try to minimise contact with the agent by me and tenants as they can be a liability

[sikishrory]

I guess people use them so they don't have to do it themselves. 

I think the term "agents" is a bit loose. To me an agent should have an office with email etc. However I noticed it's normally just some Thai Jo Blow with no office or business. So if there are any problems yo're normally stuck chatting in Line hoping they will reply because you wouldn't even know really who they are or where to find them.

I met some chick on Tinder about a year ago. She was something like 21 and living in Issan with no job and not much education. I saw she moved to Phuket and was into the Party scene. Then I was surpised to see her listing 2 properties on Facebook groups for rent as an agent. 

I think agents are ok as long as they have a shopfront and some kind of business

[OneMoreFarang]

I think the problem in Thailand is the definition of "agent".

It seems we have many agents in my building. One is a hairdresser, another has a shop, another a laundry, and then there are the "agents" who work for the building but still like to get 3% commission if they tell anybody that a unit is for sale.

Somehow it would be nice if all those people who don't do any real work would just get a tip commission and not more. But obviously TiT and I won't hold my breath that that will change anytime soon. 

 

 

[CanadaSam]

Because a great many owners are not in Thailand! 

 

You would be surprised at the amount of condos owned by Chinese etc., who are not physically in Thailand and leave it to agents to rent/lease them out.

[smutcakes]

Screw doing it myself... I just use a good agent and give them sole agency to do it... They can handle sub agents if they want but i only deal with my agent who i know and trust. I have no real interest in meeting the tenant, just want to know their profession and who they work for. Agent handles everything including requests from the tenant in the tenancy..

[sikishrory]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think the problem in Thailand is the definition of "agent".

It seems we have many agents in my building. One is a hairdresser, another has a shop, another a laundry, and then there are the "agents" who work for the building but still like to get 3% commission if they tell anybody that a unit is for sale.

Somehow it would be nice if all those people who don't do any real work would just get a tip commission and not more. But obviously TiT and I won't hold my breath that that will change anytime soon. 

 

 

Yeh they basically do nothing and expect 1 months rent as payment for bringing a generic contract to a signing and not much else

[OneMoreFarang]

40 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

Yeh they basically do nothing and expect 1 months rent as payment for bringing a generic contract to a signing and not much else

Or 3% of a couple of millions from the sales of a unit. 

[billyo]

Good agents are also useful for setting up finance - we are selling a condo for 1.15 and I am using Facebook Ads to push their listing and including their number. But they can get 90-100% finance so a much better chance of getting a buyer with a good price. Cash buyers are often looking for a bigger discount.

[RayWright]

I suppose it depends on the Landlord / Owner. Always used an Agent, so still use an Agent.

My 1 year 2021 rental  contract was coming up for renewal end of 2022, explained to the Owner needed to return to UK to "'Ave a word" with my Estate Agent to hurry-along / complete sale of a property. Said all being well, I'll be  back in 3 months and would like to rent from him again.

After 2 months of chasing him for my deposit, (matter of principle), eventually he transferred the monies. Within minutes, then e-mailed & TxT'd for details of what he's got available. (I know he has 22 apartments within the block that never sold, hence he rents). So far nothing, despite sending numerous e-mails and messages, even asked the Jurastic Officer to nudge him. I've seen my old Condo being advertised, so currently looking to book through an agent.

His lost, as he'll end up paying a second commission. Whereas I would have been happy to engage direct to save him time and money. 

What gets me is he employs a Sales Rep / Manager who does most of the engagement work, yet they also don't return e-mails and Messages. Obviously not on a  commission wage.