Selling Resale and buying a new Resale Flat

As a homeowner, here are a few questions I would ask myself:

• How familiar am I with the current market?
• How often do I buy or sell property?
• How do I avoid overpaying for a unit that doesn’t align with its true value?
• Do I have the time to arrange viewings and handle 20+ enquiries on WhatsApp every week?
• How can I reach genuine buyers without relying on property portals that agents have access to?
• How do I keep emotions in check and make objective decisions without professional advice? (Many people get caught up in emotions during this journey.)
• Am I fully aware of the process and legal aspects of the transaction?
• Do I understand the financial details and timelines involved?

If you're confident in all of these areas, you might not need an agent. But my take is this: Why not hire a professional you trust to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience?

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As the saying goes, don’t be "penny wise, pound foolish." Saving a few thousand dollars upfront could cost you tens or even hundreds of thousands if you make the wrong move.

Sell might be harder unless u can do all the coordination (timing where ppl come for viewing), put up nice photos/videos on carousell/other platforms, put out your mobile no. out there for ppl to contact etc.

paperwork I dun think would be hard coz it's HDB. buy just go for viewing arranged by agents/paperwork on HDB - not hard lah.

Buy without agent is ok - just need to go view houses under the property sites, the process/paperwork is triggered under HDB - rather straightforward, just need to follow and watch the timing closely. I won't describe it as loss/profit but more like instead of someone helping u to keep watch, you have to watch it carefully/have all the paperwork in place.

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Buyer's end I not so sure as the buyer's agent was doing it.

• Loss / Profit part I see it just on the sale / purchase of the flat. Simpler to think this way.
• When selling, profit to me = The price buyer pay - the cost I bought the house for+renovation cost+loan interest. it's not the best measure as renovation depreciates, lease decays etc... but at least something to measure.
• When buying - there's no such thing as profit or loss to me. One can measure the price from recent transaction to ensure not to overpay... but that is not profit or loss la.

The agent fee is an expense/cost to the one who engage the agent (% of flat price)... so cannot use profit / loss to measure. It's like you employ someone to work for you, you must pay for the service - e.g. when agent take photos, advertise, bring ppl to view your house, when he handles the handovers, administrative.

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I have bought before without an agent ... paperwork was tricky but seller agent was kind enough to help a bit. never sold without an agent before because it can be quite troublesome I feel. If you're concerned about the agent fees... can negotiate a bit first before engaging the person I guess.