You may no longer need property agents to sell your HDB flat
600 flats are available on a new selling platform for resale HDB flats that doesn't require a property agent.
Million-dollar HDB flats have in recent years been a thorn in the side of the ruling party.
Now there are even HDB sellers listing their resale flats for $2 million in Toa Payoh.
To better control HDB resale prices, the HDB has launched a new selling platform where sellers can directly list their flats and buyers can browse.
600 flats are currently for sale on the new platform. While this is significantly fewer than established platforms like Property Guru, the 600 flats listed are all real sellers, with no duplicates and no fishing attempts.
Sales can be done with or without the property agent.
Advantages for Sellers using the New HDB Flat Selling Platform
Flat sellers must register an Intent to Sell form with the HDB online portal. Then, they will be able to list and market their flats themselves. All this is done without an agent.
When they create a listing, the flat's address, floor area, layout and other details are automatically updated from the HDB's database. So, the pesky details no longer need to be manually updated!
Additionally, the seller can indicate their desire to stay and contra: that is, to extend their stay and align it with the time taken for them to receive their new flat.
Once listed, sellers can set up appointments easily with eligible buyers who have a valid HDB Flat Eligibility Letter. This makes sure that you only spend valuable time with serious buyers.
Advantages for Buyers using the New HDB Flat Selling Platform
Flat buyers no longer need property agents to help them filter and search for resale flats according to the following parameters:
Location
Remaining lease on Flat
Flat size
Ethnic quota based on Ethnic Integration policy
PR quotas
A flat listing will automatically show transacted prices of comparable flats nearby and amenities in the area. This is important as previously, the information of other flat prices nearby was available, but hard to access publicly.
Buyers can also see information on BTO flats and Sale-of-Balance flats in the area. Again, this information is now publicly available in one buyer-friendly portal.
Buyers will get an alert if the listed flat is priced well above the recent transacted prices.
Buyers can also get an estimate of the monthly loan repayments and cash payments. This will help buyers to stay within their budget.
Implications of the HDB Flat Selling Platform
The biggest implication is that only the very busy or the very technically unsavvy will need to buy and sell HDB flats with a property agent.
The greatest advantage of this platform is price transparency and access to difficult-to-get information. This platform allows us to compare prices, and alerts buyers to over priced flats, while providing alternative flats to buy, such as sale of balance flats.
Hopefully, with no need for property agents, buyers and sellers no longer need to pay commissions. Technically, this should allow for lower transacted prices than otherwise would have been, with agents involved.
If only such a platform could be extended to private property buyers and sellers, too.
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