Property agent wins $438k in fees on appeal

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapor...ry_688723.html

Jul 9, 2011

Property agent wins $438k in fees on appeal

She had helped businessman get $1.4m discount

By K. C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent


A PROPERTY agent who helped a businessman buy all the 11 units in an apartment project for $37 million will get her $437,870 commission, after the Court of Appeal reversed a High Court judgment that she gets nothing.

Businessman Ho Kiau Seng, 65, had argued that the payout was due only if Ms Agnes Foo had gone on to help resell the units to others.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Chao Hick Tin, Andrew Phang and V.K. Rajah, was not convinced and, at a hearing on Wednesday, set aside a High Court decision in January that went in his favour.

Ms Agnes Foo, 46, said yesterday the case had taken her to the brink of financial disaster and 'everything for me would have ended if I had lost the appeal'.

She credited her lawyer Foo Soon Yien, who went to see her just two days before the deadline for the notice of appeal expired in February.

The agent, whose parents and siblings had accompanied her to the Wednesday hearing, was in tears when the court allowed her appeal.

In 2007, she was helping to market a housing project in Buckley Road near Newton when she met Mr Ho, a managing director of a steel products firm.

Three months later, he signed a deal to buy all 11 units in his personal capacity.

He made two payouts to her over a period of nine months, for a total of $165,956. They had different explanations for the payments. She claimed they were partial payments of her commission. He said they were advances for her expenses and made at her request.

She claimed that Mr Ho had agreed to pay a sum equivalent to 30 per cent of the savings she had obtained for him.

This worked out to $437,870.

Her lawyer from Bernard & Rada Law Corp argued that the High Court was wrong to hold that it was unusual for housing agents to collect commission from the buyer of a property, as in this case.

She claimed that the 1.14 per cent of the sale price that was to be paid to Ms Agnes Foo was not unusual and accorded with commercial reality.

The agent had helped Mr Ho get a $1.4 million discount in buying the properties in September 2007 and the deal was a personal one between the two, and not between him and the agency she worked for.

About a year later, when Ms Agnes Foo claimed she had found a buyer for his units, Mr Ho issued her a letter appointing her as the exclusive agent to sell them for $49.7 million, or at $2,000 per sq ft.

But she failed to find a buyer at the time - October 2008, during the financial crisis in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse. The units remain unsold.

At issue was whether the commission due to her was conditional upon her reselling the units after having helped Mr Ho acquire them from the developer.

His lawyer Hee Theng Fong argued Mr Ho could not be expected to pay her a commission when no profits had been realised as none of the units was sold.

But the agent's lawyer said that as Mr Ho had issued the two cheques totalling $165,000 in her name, this belied his claim that the agreement was with the agency she worked for and not with her personally.

The units, which are now rented out, were priced at about $1,550 psf in 2007 at the time they were bought. A check showed their price has soared to more than $2,300 psf - which means Mr Ho will not be a loser for not having the units sold, as the court alluded to in passing.

It is understood the appeals court may issue the grounds for its decision in due course.

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[mm63]

Interesting beginning (back in Dec 2007) to the story..........

http://www.asiaone.com/Business/My+M...204-39449.html

Reward for good service: COMMISSION + TIP + CAR = $1MILLION IMAGINE getting paid $1 million for completing a deal in just one day.
That was what property agent Agnes Foo made when she successfully brokered an entire block of 11 apartments for a businessman recently.
And the block doesn't even exist yet.
Ms Foo got a $400,000 commission from the developer for snagging the $40 million deal.
Plus a generous tip of the same amount from the buyer.
And the buyer was so pleased that Ms Foo had been able to get him the property at a good price that he also bought her a $230,000 car.
She told The New Paper on Sunday: 'It's the highest amount that I've got in my (three years) experience.
'It still feels like a dream.'
It started in September when she spotted the potential in Three Buckley, a block of 11 apartments in Newton, even before the building plan approval was in.
The freehold Three Buckley - consisting of seven deluxe loft units and four superior attic units - is expected to be completed in 2012.
Based on a conservative calculation of $1,600 per sq ft against the total area of 26,500 sq ft, the total price of the development is more than $40 million.
Based on a 1 per cent commission, this translated to $400,000 for Ms Foo.
An agent typically takes home between $70,000 and $80,000 in commissions a year.
Developer Gazelle Land had appointed Ms Foo's agency, REA Realty, to sell the units.
The associate manager, 42, said: 'Given its ideal location - close proximity to more than five schools, including Raffles Girls Secondary School, Singapore Chinese Girls School and Anglo Chinese School, as well as to Orchard - I felt the price was quite a good offer.'
Ms Foo decided to approach her father and his regular group of businessman-friends, some of whom had bought commercial and residential units from her.
After her presentation, one of them was 'quite interested' in getting a unit.
She recalled: 'He asked for more details and while we were talking, he suggested that I contact his younger brother.'
It seemed that the businessman's brother had talked of wanting to invest in properties.
Ms Foo, who specialises in commercial and private properties, was pleased with the unexpected 'bonus'.
She said: 'For us, a new prospect means another chance to seal a deal.
'I'd hoped to sell a couple of units and it looked like I was closer to achieving my target.'
But Ms Foo had no idea what was to follow after the first meeting with her client.
She declined to provide details about him except that he is a businessman in his early 50s.
'When I asked him which unit he'd be interested in, I thought I heard an 'all',' she said.
'I wasn't sure if my ears were playing tricks on me or he was cracking a joke.'
STUNNED
So Ms Foo asked for a clarification and was stunned when he confirmed that he wanted to buy the entire block.
She laughed and said: 'I felt breathless and I could barely contain my excitement!'
Since it was an exclusive development with limited units and the project had not been launched in the open market, there was no rush of buyers.
And with the whole block being sold together, the developer was ready to bring down the price.
Ms Foo said: 'I know the deal was in the bag already but I was also sure that I could help him shave off a certain percentage.
'Making money is important, but more than that is the ability to provide honest service.'
She said some industry players felt she should have waited until the development was placed in the open market.
Said Ms Foo: 'I could possibly earn a higher commission this way, or if I had not gone to the extent of 'bargaining' for a better price.'
Instead, she ended up helping the businessman save close to $2m, which included savings in administration and stamp fees.
She added: 'I guess people think I was really stupid.'
But Ms Foo is having the last laugh. It turned out that the buyer was so pleased with her service that he offered her 'a generous tip of $400,000'.
On top of that, the client asked Ms Foo what she would like as a gift.
She said: 'I said in jest, oh you can get me a BMW convertible.'
That would cost about $230,000.
To her surprise, the client promptly agreed, and now, she is looking forward to taking possession of the brand new sports car, said Ms Foo who currently drives a year-old Hyundai Tuscani.
The mother of two girls and one boy - aged 17, 14 and 8 - intends to keep the Tuscani for her oldest daughter.
Her husband, who also dabbles in property, does not drive.
They also have a Mercedes - a family car - which her father uses.
Of her million-dollar jackpot, Ms Foo said she believed in 'tou zhi bu tou ji', that is staying for the long haul, and not doing business in a hit-and-run way.
She said: 'This way, you can always ensure that you can sustain your success.'
And it looks like she has done her sums right because she will get a second bite of the same cherry.
She has now been appointed to help market Three Buckley for the businessman.
MORE TO COME
Based on a modest calculation of the total sale price at $40m, this means Ms Foo will stand to earn at least another $400,000. She said: 'I guess this is what they mean by you reap what you sow.'