Singapore, 13 Mar 2023 THANKS to a rental market that started heating up in the last two years, tenants who use the services of an agent to help them lease a home are now expected to pay these agents a commission. This was not the case in the past, as the tenant’s agent usually shares the commission with the landlord’s agent, who in turn collects the commission from the landlord he represents.
“Nowadays, the first question the landlord’s agent asks is ‘are you collecting commission from your tenant?’” said Karen Wong, a senior associate director with OrangeTee & Tie who has acted for tenants for 15 years.
“Today, the bar has been raised, and in some cases, even if the rent is S$5,000 or S$10,000, the agent doesn’t want to share commission with you if he is getting a lot of enquiries,” noted Wong.