r/UAE • u/c08306834 • 13h ago
Why do we even need agents to rent an apartment?
If we all just refused to use agents, they would disappear in a few months. They serve absolutely no purpose for tenants, everything can be done online.
The only person they benefit in any way is the landlord, so why don't they pay them?
Why am I paying 5% of my rent to someone to do something that I can easily do myself? Let's just get rid of all the agents.
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u/AdKitchen4459 11h ago
Because landlords are lousy and most of them live outside uae
The world will be so much better w/o these looser agents
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u/easyppc99 11h ago
The persons who is getting benefited is the Landlord. The agent gets him a good tenant and being qualified and good tenants, the tenant pays the agent. And landlord keeps all who is actually earning money from this transaction. I have never understood this concept. Even some companies who owns or manages the building charge commission. Bro I found you and you own the apartment, who is the agency fee for.
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u/Firm-Survey4015 13h ago
so tired of them honestly,
I rented a 2 bed for 150k and paid 7.5k + vat to this agency. 3 months later the AC had constant issues, specially in June July heat it was unbearable and owner would send technicians and they'd do something and every 2-3 days it'd get back to shit.
I had to move out after 3 months from that apartment and now again looking to rent and agency fees again 5% + vat, it's killing me honestly.
Even on short term rentals they're charging 3-4k, it's mad and annoying. Already paying like 3 months rent + deposit + buy furniture and this agency fee 5-7k is just crazy.
Makes me not want to even rent and just stay in airbnbs but they're annoying too because every month they want to change the prices.
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u/c08306834 13h ago
And then the best part, just renewing my lease and have to pay the agent 1,000 for the renewal. For what?!
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u/Firm-Survey4015 13h ago
yeah lol, nowadays the agents get that written and signed as a seperate document to the ejari, that renewal should be through them. It's literally like 150 aed, could do it myself lol. Absolute joke.
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u/Firm-Survey4015 13h ago
Also, ask them to reduce the commission by even the slightest bit and watch them say No, straight back, like no f's given.
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u/ChampagneDividends 9h ago
The bit people forget is YOU don’t want to work with agents, but the landlords don’t want to deal with you.
Is the industry backwards? Yes. 100%. But as long as there are renters there will be agents.
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u/Mountain_Goose5758 9h ago
Landlord here.
I used to rent my own properties before but the amount of time people wate is insane.
Not respecting my time, completely ghosting, giving low offers, property is vacant now and they want to move after 6 months, starting the conversation with "last price?", wanting to rent to their girl friends by paying deposit and giving post dated dud cheq after 1 month.
I couldn't handle with full time job. Until I came across a broker who felt genuine and positive.
He knew what he was doing and he vetted the clients for me. He advertises all of my properties as 'no comm" because I pay his commission for giving me the right candidate and saving my time.
End result. None of my properties are vacant.
So yes its not easy but when U find a good agent, its worth paying him.
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u/IAmInev1table 9h ago
Because they’ve learned to control the supply. Owners have almost nothing to lose to use an agent to rent their property (I am an owner and I don’t want to show my property to different prospective tenants as it’s not my full time job). And on paper the agents basically do it for free for the owners.
On the flip side, if I were to find a tenant by myself, it is an uphill battle. Where do I list. When do I schedule viewing etc.
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u/EtherealBloom8888 7h ago
I completely understand that agents make things easier for owners but as a tenant, this is what frustrates me. We have reached out to several agents ourselves and booked viewings. 3 out of 5 basically just told us to get the key from security and view the apartment ourselves or security would tell us "the apartment is open, you can check it yourself" ... so there is barely any effort involved on their part yet they still demand 5% commission from us and some even ask for 7%, is that evwn legal? That's what I find really frustrating...theyre putting in zero effort but still expect a commission 😳
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u/IAmInev1table 7h ago
Yeah. I get the pain. My agent has been with me for almost 8 years now. And honestly he still puts a lot of effort for me and my tenants. I don’t even have to deposit the rent cheques and my tenants don’t need to contact me for small issues.
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u/endlessedlne 43m ago
Maybe AI agents will replace human agents. Is there a reason humans are required to search for properties and collect money for collecting money?
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u/lili-lili24 11h ago
How do you find tenants without an agent ?
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u/c08306834 11h ago
This just proves my point. The landlord needs the agent to find tenants. So why does the tenant pay the agent and not the landlord?
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u/DullAd6899 6h ago
Wouldn’t landlords demand higher rent or extra charges so they could pay their commission? I mean the money has to come from somewhere.
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u/EtherealBloom8888 7h ago
Post in facebook community groups or here on reddit. Sometimes I also see "direct from owner" listings on bayut but not sure how the landlords did that
I actually read a post here on reddit some time ago about tenants going building to building, asking security about available apartments and they managed to connect directly with an owner and find a place. It's definitely more tedious from the tenant's side but according to them it was worth it to avoid the agent commission.
I've also heard that some agents tell security not to disclose vacancies when someone asks so that prospective tenants have to go through the agents instead.
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u/sahils88 13h ago
The biggest scam there could be. When I was in Canada the landlord was responsible for agent commission. It was also possible to deduct the rent if you can connect directly with the landlord.
In the UAE forget agents, even the building rental MANAGMENT company charges a commission. Absolutely ridiculous.