When you're looking for accommodation in Singapore

So recently I've had a really stressful time with my accommodation situation due to a mixture of a bad agent (ours), the landlord's arse of an agent, a rather suspicious landlord, ungrateful/selfish/uncaring/misunderstanding/uncooperative bad housemate(s), and my virginity to house hunting in the "real" world. So, for the new house hunters, pushovers and the naive, here are a few pointers for when you're looking for a place in Singapore:

1. If your new to house hunting (like I am/was) it's important to fully understand that property is where people can get a lot of money from, fast. Yes Singapore is a lovely country, and yes, Singaporeans are generally lovely people too. But when it comes to estate agents, they're money grabbing whores they're still after a sale and will do what it takes to get it. So Just keep an eye on your agent and don't be afraid to ask for exactly what you want. Some will tell you lies about the landlord's position, some will disclose information from you, and some will try to push you to sign things. How you deal with your agent will depend on which one of the above you come across. You're incredibly lucky if you get a nice agent or even one that does everything well and then disappear after the contract is signed and after you pay them their agent fee (because they're not much use after that anyways). Which brings us to the next point.
   
   
2. The agent fee. This is only paid if they successfully find you a place and you agree to sign the contracts. The agent's fee is normally half the property rent. Make sure you check with them first as some do charge a full month's rent.
   
   
3. Negotiate negotiate negotiate. 1st thing to negotiate is the rent price, this is just so you get a better deal, even if you think it's cheap compared to what you're used to back in your home country. If they won't budge, try to get some other deals instead. You're paying the agent half your month's rent, make them work for it! That's if they're not doing their work properly in the first place. If you're a student, a good one to ask for is that you're deposit will be used to pay for the FINAL months rent. Only do that if you don't need the deposit at the end. Make sure you get this in writing in the contract, or if not, speak to the landlord and see if you can have a mutual agreement on this. (This is where most of my problems came from)

4. Read the contract carefully. This may sound like common sense, but sometimes the wording of the contracts are so formal and archaic with lots of "herein to" appearing two or three times in the same clause with some other old fancy sounding words that confuse the hell out of you and detracts your attention away from the main point of the clause. So under confusion you end up agreeing to it without understanding fully what it means.
   
   
5. The biggest estate agencies in Singapore such as ERA are not necessarily the most reliable. My agent was an ERA (Electronic Realty Associates) representative and she was nice... at the beginning. Then she turned sour when things got complicated. But that's not to say all ERA agents or general estate agents are like that, I know some students had great agents and delivered everything that was asked for. It's easy to think that because they're from one of the largest realty companies in Singapore they should be more reliable. WRONG! You should be aware that their representatives can be any Tom, Dick or Harry because they accept and hire pretty much anyone.
   
   
6. Make sure you have housemates you can rely on. Not exactly relying on them in the sense that they'll take a bullet for you, just rely on them enough so that they'll pay rent (the right amount of rent) and that they understand that a shared house means shared responsibility. I found that this is something that is personally very important to me, not only from the past year but from the past 3 years since living away at University.
   
   
7. Speak to your landlord. Not only after you've moved in but during the negotiation and pre-moving in stage too. Sometimes agents may say straight up that something is not possible without even going to the landlord, but if you actually ask the landlord yourself, who knows you may just get what you want. A friend had an agent who would tell them stories about the owners such as their landlord was some big shot guy who bought the house for his son but his son didn't want it so is now renting it out and doesn't really need the money anyways. Turns out their landlord worked in a store in Sim Lim and actually does need the money. Make sure you know your landlords so you know who they are and building some sort of relationship can be helpful especially if you're gonna have to deal with them in the future anyways. They're the ones who have the final say, so it's better to go straight to them and try your luck.
   
   
8. It's o.k. to be a bitch/arse. After all, these are the terms and conditions that you'll be living under. Might as well be selfish and make sure they're the terms you're happy with. Obviously don't be too mean or too aggressive because that's just general bad practice and you might lose out in the end, and obviously don't make too many requests or be plain uncooperative.
   
   
9. Get everything in writing. Everything that your agent says you can do or should be able to do, get it in writing or have it in the contract.Well this should have been done in my case but it helps for future reference.
   
   
10. If the building is old, check that it's not going to be demolished after a few months. This happened with a batch of Fall 2008 exchange students where they found a place at Killiney Road only to be told that it was to be torn down after 3 or 4 months... Singapore has a tendency to build over old things to keep the island modern.

If you're an SMU exchange student and you're not looking to stay in the student hostels and want a place of your own, then do refer to the white list of agents you'll be given by the international office before you get here. Take note of the ones on the black list too, just in case you might come across them as they might represent your landlord. (Both our agent and the landlord's agent made it on the black list, but our agent no longer works for ERA now so who knows if she's still in real estate).

For hassle free accommodation then stick to the hostels that are suggested by your school. They're recommended for good reasons!

So don't be too naive when you're house hunting (like I was), and stand your ground when you need to. Don't let the greatness of Singapore cloud your judgements and remember that not ALL Singaporeans are nice.

Hope this helps and good luck! =)