Mogul SG Review: New property website helps you sell your house at a $150 flat fee

From successfully marketing, selling and handling all the paperwork of your property transaction… sounds like a tall order to most of us! According to a property website MOGUL.sg, yes, it’s totally possible for sellers to DIY. The question is: can you, and should you?

For most of us who want to sell our property, we’d almost definitely hire a real estate agent, even though it will cost us a pretty penny.

Property Agent Singapore Commission: 1 to 2%

Commission to an agent for a successful transaction is 1 to 2 per cent of the transacted price. That’s $10,000 to $20,000 for a $1 million property.

If you are feeling cheap and want to save yourself the commission, you could advertise for buyers on your own, either through word of mouth, taking out an ad in the Classifieds in the Straits Times, or in recent years, posting it on property portals.

Take Real Estate License, Be Your Own Agent

We’ve even heard of extreme cases where sellers sign up for the Real Estate Salesperson course, so they could handle their own transaction.

One got his license to handle all his property sales and purchases, but doesn’t actually practise as a real estate agent to serve clients.

“It will save me tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, in commission over the years. So, why not?” he chuckled.

The problem is, how many of us have the head knowledge to know how to price your property fairly, market it properly, and settle all the paper work efficiently?

More importantly, how many of us have the time to manage all the enquiries, arrange viewings and negotiate with low-ballers? How do we know what’s the right price and time to make that sale?

Mogul.sg - A New Property Website

According to MOGUL.sg’s CEO and founder Gerald Sim, his property portal will transform the way the real estate industry has operated for decades. Touted as Southeast Asia’s most advanced property portal, it aims to “democratise property selling by giving users free digital tools that empower them with rich data insights and providing a property concierge who delivers a full range of personalised services for no sales commission.”

That’s a mouthful for saying: “Sellers, list your properties with us and save your money”.

How does Mogul.sg work?

For those of us used to using DIY portals to say, make your investments, their tech tools will seem pretty intuitive and easy to navigate. But there is definitely a learning curve.

List your own property on Mogul.sg

You can just shoot pics or videos on the go and upload them on the portal, along with relevant info like the size of your unit, age, address. It’s pretty painless, and just as easy as say, putting up an Instagram or Facebook post. You basically follow the instructions.

How to decide your property's selling price?

MOGUL.sg’s technology uses interactive 3D map listings, AI keyword searches and Geospatial Analytics. The main technologies to help sellers decide on a realistic asking price are:

1. DataSuite

This one-stop search solution designed for home buyers, sellers and property agents. It is powered by geospatial data, which aggregates past property transactions to provide in-depth search results. This allows users to better understand the transacted values near their property, eg. why a unit is selling at a higher price compared to the others, such as it being on a higher floor.

It can be a little overwhelming to use it at first try, though the interactive filters and dynamic data visualisation help to make things a little more layman- friendly. This tool is free to use.

2. An Automated Valuation Model named “M Value”

“Harnessing the power of hedonic regression mathematics, MOGUL.sg will analyse multiple property values, historical transactions and environmental factors to provide a pricing estimate known as ‘M Value’ (MOGUL Value).”

Basically, you key in all the right info, like age of flat, your unit’s level and address, and you will be offered a valuation. You can then decide how much higher or lower you want to list your property.

According to MOGUL. sg, the fastest lead they have generated is just 17 minutes after a listing was posted. And the fastest they have sold a property was in 9 days.

Mogul.sg Flat Fee: $150 for admin & agent

There is a small admin fee of $150, and you do get some support from an assigned agent. For this price, MOGUL’s property concierge service will connect the customer with a real estate agent from a partnered agency. Your agent will be able to advise you on the best suggested selling price, along with settling the paperwork for you, at the fixed price of $150.

But do be aware that this is an assigned agent, not your preferred agent with a proven track record; their primary role is to help you settle the paper work. You’d have to do all the first cut of the valuation, analysis of your unit’s potential etc on your own.

$150 Refunded if your property didn't sell

If your unit has been listed at your preferred price and you don’t get an offer at that listed price within three months, you get a full refund, promises Gerald. Sounds more than fair to us. But then again, how many of us have the time to ‘waste’ three months on listing a property without closing a sale?

The most practical thing to do is thus, to use the tools wisely and set a reasonable asking price, instead of shooting for the sky and then not getting any offers at all, in the false hopes of being guaranteed a $150 refund.

Mogul.sg Review: Customers can DIY, but stressful

After experiencing the portal, we have to say we’re happy that we can now DIY our selling process. But we’ll also admit that we are probably more property-savvy than most Singaporeans and are used to doing research, analysing data etc. For a property noob selling their BTO flat for the first time, it can still feel scary to market your biggest asset on your own. We imagine that for older sellers trying to right- size their property, this can be very stressful.

So, for now, we don’t foresee that Mogul.sg will have enough ‘clout’ to control the market yet. There is still a time and place for real estate agents and for sellers who simply don’t have the time, knowledge or patience to DIY everything.

After all, you are selling your biggest asset. Paying a little commission, even if it’s $10,000 of $20,000, to get you a higher desired asking price, may well be worth it.

How to sell my HDB without a property agent?

So you’ve decided to DIY all the way, including handling the paperwork. Well done, brave soul! Fortunately, HDB’s Resale Portal has a step-by-step procedure that simplifies the process.

1. Register your intent to sell

What you need: The particulars of all the sellers of your flat, before you begin. This step will take about 10 minutes to complete.

2. Submit your HDB resale application

What you need: The particulars of all the sellers of your flat, before you begin. This step will take about 30 minutes to complete

3. Acknowledge HDB resale documents

What you need: All sellers must accept the terms and conditions of all the documents for the sale of the HDB flat.

4. Pay legal fees, stamp duty

What you need: Make payments for the legal and stamp fees for your resale transaction.

5. Wait for HDB to approve

What you need: Wait one week for the resale approval to be granted, after both sellers and buyers have acknowledged the required documents and paid all necessary legal and stamp fees if applicable. You will receive a notification via SMS after the flat application is approved.

6. Attend completion appointment at HDB

What you need: Attend your appointment punctually at HDB Hub @ Toa Payoh and meet your buyer to complete the transaction.