To let: by agent or by yourself? (part II)

1) Why waste the time to advertise, to arrange viewings, and to take the risk of showing strangers around, when a professional can do it for you?

2) Your tenant (especially in a company lease) is mostly likely represented by his/her own agent. You need to pay your tenant’s agent commission anyway. So why not pay your own agent who represents ‘your’ interests?

(P.S. For rental above S$2,500 per month, the tenant is not obliged to pay his/her agent any commission. But the landlord has to do so.)

3) If your agent can advertise, screen tenants, arrange viewings, check tenant’s background, draft the TA for your approval, arrange the handover, collect the deposit, get TA stamped with tenant’s passport copy filed for you … why do you have to do all these by yourself?

4) After renting the place, if your agent can liaise with the tenant, arrange repairs, chase rental/late payment charges, arrange renewal/replacement before end of tenancy … all these services only cost one month’s rent for a 2-year lease, why save?

5) If your tenant asks for early termination, isn’t it more legitimate to ask your agent to chase the tenant for the return of the pro-rata agent’s commission?

In fact, for tenancy renewal, I also don’t mind paying commission to my agent if:

1) She is the one who helped to rent the flat in the current tenancy.

2) At least two months before the tenancy ends (to avoid my loss of rent if we need to find a new tenant), she initiates to contact the tenant for his/her intention for renewal and negotiate the new rent according to the market price.

3) She checks the condition of the place, prepare the tenancy renewal document for both parties to sign.

4) After renewal of the tenancy, she continues to be the main contact of the tenant. In case of any dispute (e.g. late payment, complaints from neighbors, etc.), she will
consult me before settling the matter on my behalf.

When I sell my properties, I also engaged my agent in the process. Honestly, she deserves the humble 1 to 2 percent commission (compared with my profit) for all her hard work.

The only exception was when the place was not rented by my regular agent. I would be there at the 1st appointment to inspect the place before handing over the renting/selling job to my agent.

Now it’s your turn to share with me your experiences or what you think about letting by agents versus by owners.


Since 2006, my property agent has been helping me with all the leasing and selling of my properties. If you also need her help for your property matters, you can send me a request here.