Condo Staff Selling Units

[Tammi]

I have come across a Condo where the staff are undertaking to sell units within the condo in which they are employed and are asking 3% commission for this service. Anyone else heard of this? Is it a widespread practice? Is it legal?

[bangkapiboy]

For some buildings the management allows this, but not all. Everyone wants their cut!

[taxexile]

a lot property agents get their info from the juristic office personel , and add their commission on to that.

if you like the look of a condo block , just go to the juristic office and ask whats available , they will be only too happy to show you any units , and its usually a nicer experience than being shown around by an agent.

you can glean much more relevant info about the block , neighbours etc. than you can from an agent.

often they will let you negotiate directly with and meet the owner.

if you see a well run , organised juristic office with friendly helpful staff , with information readily available , then you can probably be confident that the condo is run smoothly.

with an agent , its a different experience.

[Chopper]

Spot on advice above.

[djinn]

a lot property agents get their info from the juristic office personel , and add their commission on to that.

if you like the look of a condo block , just go to the juristic office and ask whats available , they will be only too happy to show you any units , and its usually a nicer experience than being shown around by an agent.

you can glean much more relevant info about the block , neighbours etc. than you can from an agent.

often they will let you negotiate directly with and meet the owner.

if you see a well run , organised juristic office with friendly helpful staff , with information readily available , then you can probably be confident that the condo is run smoothly.

with an agent , its a different experience.

I bought 2 condos using this method and I promised to staff of the condoes where I would buy more a commission if they give me infos

Commission depends of the service rendered and from the position of the staff.A manager costs more than...a gardener or an engineer

If they put me in contact with the owner and help me to have a rebate on the asked price than it is bingo for them

TIT

[Tammi]

Taxexile and djinn BOUGHT condos and I can understand giving a ‘present’ to a staff if he has been very helpful. But , taxexile, I would be wary about getting honest information regarding block, neighbours, etc.

My question was about SELLING. The staff of the condo I came across want 3% if and when I sell. So, if I were to sell for 10M I would have to give the staff 300,000 around US$8,000. Say the staff was to sell 3 such units in a year that’s 900,000, a sizable sum.

What are the tax implications? Is there tax paid by the staff on this manna from heaven? If tax is not paid, and the Thai authorities decide its time to investigate, would the tax burden fall wholly on the Juristic Person, or would it have to be paid by the Management Committee, or would it fall on the co-owners, or the seller?

[eljeque]

Taxexile and djinn BOUGHT condos and I can understand giving a ‘present’ to a staff if he has been very helpful. But , taxexile, I would be wary about getting honest information regarding block, neighbours, etc.

My question was about SELLING. The staff of the condo I came across want 3% if and when I sell. So, if I were to sell for 10M I would have to give the staff 300,000 around US$8,000. Say the staff was to sell 3 such units in a year that’s 900,000, a sizable sum.

What are the tax implications? Is there tax paid by the staff on this manna from heaven? If tax is not paid, and the Thai authorities decide its time to investigate, would the tax burden fall wholly on the Juristic Person, or would it have to be paid by the Management Committee, or would it fall on the co-owners, or the seller?

"""My question was about SELLING. The staff of the condo I came across want 3% if and when I sell. So, if I were to sell for 10M I would have to give the staff 300,000 around US$8,000. Say the staff was to sell 3 such units in a year that’s 900,000, a sizable sum."""

They want 3% if THEY find a buyer for you, not if and when you sell, which could be through another agent. If an agent in town receives 3% (300,000), there is no reason that the satff should not receive 3% for performing the same function--getting you in contact with a buyer with 10 million baht for the condo. If the staff is able to find three buyers in the year, then they deserve the 900,000 baht. How many 10 million baht condos will be sold within this building in one year? How many staff members are there? What are the odds that one member sells 3 units at 10 million baht? If one of them is able to pull off that stunt, he/she deserves every bit of the 900,000 baht. And, I will buy her dinner and list my last house and my friend's homes within her little portfolio.

The staff is not going to pay tax on the income. Are most foreigners going to pay taxes in their home country on the profit they made on their condo sale? In my 16 years here, I have yet to learn of one doing that.

People deserve money for working. When some little person (staff member) earning 5,000 baht / month performs a task of transferring 10 million baht between two people that the one seller is unable to arrange himself, or even get accomplished with the many skilled agents in town, then that little person (staff member) deserves her 3% commission.

A friend of mine paid my gf 50,000 for assisting him with all of the paperwork and changes he made to his house when he sold it. He tipped the two female agents only 1,000 each besides the standard 3% = 90,000 baht. They were not happy about it.

I have sold three houses in the past three years, and have given my gf and my maid 10,000 each on each sale. That is 60,000 and they had nothing to do with the sales.

Watchout!!!! Although most agents charge 3%, a few out there request 5%, stating that they advertise more.

Thai people working within the condo blocks find work outside of their normal jobs AT the condo block by washing clothes, cleaning, painting, cooking, laying tiles, arranging for tilers, curtains, brickwork, kitchens to be built, bathrooms to renovated, awnings to be installed, etc. They deserve to be paid for their work. If they do tile work, they receive tile laying wages. If they do painting work, they receive painting wages. If they do real estate agent work, they deserve real estate agent wages. It happens to be very lucrative pay when a property is sold, but take a look at the RE offices and you will see that the agents are not all rich, as there are at least 100 offices in town and also many dozens of freelance agents who work from their cars.

It is not easy to be the one to find the customer. There is a lot of competition.

I hope that you are able to find a buyer and that you are able to make a good profit from the sale of your condo. I also hope that someone earning 5,000 / month is able to help you with the sale, so that she is able to reap the benefits, as 300,000 will improve her life and the life of her family far more than it will a typical agent whether he/she be foreign or Thai.

Good Luck

[Tammi]

"""My question was about SELLING. The staff of the condo I came across want 3% if and when I sell. So, if I were to sell for 10M I would have to give the staff 300,000 around US$8,000. Say the staff was to sell 3 such units in a year that’s 900,000, a sizable sum."""

They want 3% if THEY find a buyer for you, not if and when you sell, which could be through another agent. If an agent in town receives 3% (300,000), there is no reason that the satff should not receive 3% for performing the same function--getting you in contact with a buyer with 10 million baht for the condo. If the staff is able to find three buyers in the year, then they deserve the 900,000 baht. How many 10 million baht condos will be sold within this building in one year? How many staff members are there? What are the odds that one member sells 3 units at 10 million baht? If one of them is able to pull off that stunt, he/she deserves every bit of the 900,000 baht.

But the condo staffs' function is to do the work the condo hired them to do and that all the co-owners are paying them to do. The co-owners did not employ them to work in the real estate business.

The staff is not going to pay tax on the income.

Why not? I would have thought that income has to be reported.

Are most foreigners going to pay taxes in their home country on the profit they made on their condo sale? In my 16 years here, I have yet to learn of one doing that.

No, maybe not in their home country. But the Thai tax dept would surely want taxes paid on profit made on sale of property that is not the owner's principal residence or has been lived in for a very short time.

People deserve money for working.

No argument there!

When some little person (staff member) earning 5,000 baht / month performs a task of transferring 10 million baht between two people that the one seller is unable to arrange himself, or even get accomplished with the many skilled agents in town, then that little person (staff member) deserves her 3% commission.

I would prefer to stay within the law and use the skilled agent who has a licence to do the work.

A friend of mine paid my gf 50,000 for assisting him with all of the paperwork and changes he made to his house when he sold it. He tipped the two female agents only 1,000 each besides the standard 3% = 90,000 baht. They were not happy about it.

They should have asked for 5%. A deal is a deal.

I have sold three houses in the past three years, and have given my gf and my maid 10,000 each on each sale. That is 60,000 and they had nothing to do with the sales.

Did you pay taxes?

Thai people working within the condo blocks find work outside of their normal jobs AT the condo block by washing clothes, cleaning, painting, cooking, laying tiles, arranging for tilers, curtains, brickwork, kitchens to be built, bathrooms to renovated, awnings to be installed, etc. They deserve to be paid for their work.

They deserve to be paid for the work that the co-owners expect from them for the upkeep of the common property. If they have time to do other jobs then the condo has got too many staff!

Sure, if they want to do tiling or kitchens or real estate work, or whatever, they should go do it somewhere else or definitely outside condo working hours.

It happens to be very lucrative pay when a property is sold, but take a look at the RE offices and you will see that the agents are not all rich, as there are at least 100 offices in town and also many dozens of freelance agents who work from their cars.

It is not easy to be the one to find the customer. There is a lot of competition.

Yup. It's the same the world over. The best survive, the rest go under.

I hope that you are able to find a buyer and that you are able to make a good profit from the sale of your condo.

Thank you. Hopefully, I shall buy and be so happy I won't move until I die. (Shakespeare)

I also hope that someone earning 5,000 / month is able to help you with the sale, so that she is able to reap the benefits, as 300,000 will improve her life and the life of her family far more than it will a typical agent whether he/she be foreign or Thai.

We will see. We will see.

Good Luck

Thanks, again

[djinn]

Some interresting points in the previous posts.

From my experience here,

-Condo staff deserves their 3 % if they find a buyer.True PROVIDING they make the same job as a real estate agent.Showing the condo,buyer ready to pay asked price.... Else for only a hint (phone of a potential buyer.....) a tip is enough in my opinion (a big one but not 300 000 in the hypothesis mentionned hereover) after the sales is realised

-Condo staff helping an owner (painting,reparing airco,plumbing......) deserves a compensation.He avoids the owner the search (and the wait ) of an outside contractor

Sometimes the condo manager will not allow that...because he will be tipped too

[Tammi]

Some interresting points in the previous posts.

From my experience here,

-Condo staff deserves their 3 % if they find a buyer.True PROVIDING they make the same job as a real estate agent.Showing the condo,buyer ready to pay asked price.... Else for only a hint (phone of a potential buyer.....) a tip is enough in my opinion (a big one but not 300 000 in the hypothesis mentionned hereover) after the sales is realised

-Condo staff helping an owner (painting,reparing airco,plumbing......) deserves a compensation.He avoids the owner the search (and the wait ) of an outside contractor

Sometimes the condo manager will not allow that...because he will be tipped too

But why should they be allowed to show the condo, and do all the things a REA does such as phone calls, fax, during the time they are working for the common interest of ALL the co-owners. And as for doing (quoting eljeque)

painting,find work outside of their normal jobs ATthe condo block by washing clothes, cleaning, painting, cooking, laying tiles, arranging for tilers, curtains, brickwork, kitchens to be built, bathrooms to renovated, awnings to be installed, etc. They deserve to be paid for their work. If they do tile work, they receive tile laying wages. If they do painting work, they receive painting wages.

- I just can't fathom the condo manager and management committee allowing it within working hours when the staff should be working for the common good. As I've already said, either too many condo staff - or the condo is a mess and to the detriment of the condo owners except for the ones 'using' condo staff.

[fourbaht]

Tammi

You are in Thailand dear.. thats the way it is here if you feel it is inappropriate then dont let them sell it for you, you have been advised by many long standing residents that it is common practice and nothing to be worried about, however you seem to be concerned more about the staff not doing their jobs properly.

Are you sure you are actually selling or miffed because some one else is and using staff that you feel should be giving you more TLC?

Relax, remember where you are and why you came here in the first place..

I am sure the block won't fall down if one of the cleaners make a few phone calls when they should be polishing your brass knobs.

[Tammi]

Tammi

You are in Thailand dear.. thats the way it is here if you feel it is inappropriate then dont let them sell it for you, you have been advised by many long standing residents that it is common practice and nothing to be worried about, however you seem to be concerned more about the staff not doing their jobs properly.

Are you sure you are actually selling or miffed because some one else is and using staff that you feel should be giving you more TLC?

Relax, remember where you are and why you came here in the first place..

I am sure the block won't fall down if one of the cleaners make a few phone calls when they should be polishing your brass knobs.

Thank you for your input. I'm not selling, I'm looking to buy a well managed condo so, yes, how the manager manages the staff is important to me. And how the Management Committee manages the manager is important.

A condo will most certainly deteriorate and lose value if there is poor management of the staff. Instead of scrubbing floors, clearing rubbish, etc. etc.the staff will get up to all sorts like painting, tiling, etc. etc. for co-owners who have no concern for the common good probably because these co-owners are 'churning' properties,

So, good idea, I will inspect the brass knobs!

Does anybody out there know of a well managed condo?