A reason for the price rise…

27 Apr, 2008  Real Estate

One thing that really gets to me is inflation when it comes to real estate and accommodation. A lot of people want to put the blame on one factor; landlords. While I agree that landlords are increasing the price of both, I want to emphasize a bit on real estate agents (a.k.a resellers; a.k.a “price jacker uppers”).

First of all I want to point out that they might be very nice people, but as we’re all human, one of the easiest sins to fall for is greed. Now when I run any of my businesses, I think about the economy, I think about making a profit reasonably, and I also think about customer services. Most of these issues can be solved by quality control and more competition but that’s a different subject.

Now let us look at one place called HomeStyle on C-Ring road. Very professional office, very nice models, and a cheery attitude, however they overcharge! In one case I was looking at a flat and the woman said “I charge 3% from the buyer and 3% from the seller”. Wait.. so she takes 6%?! I brought it up to her saying that it’s too much since standard practice is 1% from both ends, and in most cases it’s 2% from the seller. Her reply was “No there is no such thing as standard practice, and I usually charge 5% from both sides.” Wait what? 10%?! So for an apartment that costs 2million QR, she gets 200,000 just to introduce me to a seller?

If that wasn’t enough, a lot f these sellers pull another lovely trick. Let’s say that I have an apartment for sale which costs 1.8 million. The sales woman will market it at a higher rate of around 2million and make it ‘look’ like she’s getting you a discount. That in itself bumps up market value. If we look deeper into this, you’ll notice that some will offer it for around 2million; lets say that as a buyer I’m fine with that and I don’t try to negotiate, what the agent does is he/she BUYS the apartment for 1.8 (takes his/her commission), then re-sells it to the buyer at 2 million and takes a juicy profit. Fair? Not at all.

My advice to the government is to try and impose a public and transparent general guide to properties. These estate agents are harming the economy. No matter how much oil money we might have in Qatar, we’ll suffer as individuals.

Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.