When An Agent's Presence Prevents A Legitimate Property Deal From Going Through

Source : The Straits Times, Forum, Aug 30, 2007

I READ with interest the letter, 'Why flat buyers should approach sellers directly'.
In some cases, agents become a stumbling block to a successful transaction.

My friend experienced this just a few days back. He went with his agent to buy an executive apartment. He liked the house as it met all his requirements. Both the seller and buyer agreed on the price.

Then the seller's agent dropped a clanger. As this was a negative sale (whereby the seller is incurring a loss and won't get any cash out of the sale), the seller will not be able to pay his agent's commission. Therefore the seller's agent said that an amount of $10,000 had to be paid in cash separately by the buyer and the selling price will be declared after deducting this amount.

My friend's agent was a genuine guy and he turned down the offer of the seller's agent, saying it was illegal. Now because of the presence of the seller agent's in the picture, a legitimate transaction had to be aborted. Both my friend and the seller are disappointed.

The seller's agent told my friend that since the $10,000 was to be paid in cash, there would be no record and no one would know about it. Should we attribute this to agents functioning unscrupulously or is it a genuine case where their efforts have also to be rewarded?

N. Nageswaran