'You're torturing me': Property agent warns against renting to students after 'horrible' West Coast condo handover

One property agent has declared that he will now require students to fork out a higher deposit up front, after a group of them left a rental condo unit in disarray.

Taking to TikTok on Wednesday (May 1), Eric Yeo from Propnex Realty said in a video that he had a "horrible" handover at Parc Riviera on West Coast Vale.

Entering the unit, Yeo added: "I think it is going to be a tough time to pass over to the next tenant".

In the two-minute clip, it showed that the previous student tenants had left several belongings - including a mattress propped up in the living room - behind.

Giving a tour of the kitchen, Yeo briefing panned the camera to a dirty sink and appliances that were still on the hob as well as inside the drawers.

"How can people live in these kinds of conditions?" The property agent said, before showing a half-filled fridge that was supposed to be cleared out during a handover.

"When I hand the condo to you, it's in superb tip-top condition," Yeo added. "Are you now torturing me in this kind of manner?"

Towards the end of the inspection. Yeo said that only the master bedroom was left in a decent condition.

"If any student is going to rent a unit next time, I will definitely charge more security deposit than the usual rate," he added.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@ericyeoofficial/video/7363547707106954514?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7252157227077830162[/embed]

The video has since garnered more than 130,000 views.

Several netizens shared Yeo's dissatisfaction towards the previous tenants.

"The kitchen sink, oh my god. Why so irresponsible?" one of them said, while others shared horror handover stories of their own.

Students' deposit forfeited 

Speaking to AsiaOne, Yeo said that the three tenants were from overseas and are studying at one of the local universities here. 

The agreed rental period was for a year, but he said that they had broken the lease with just a month left in April. 

"The students knew that they would be forfeiting their $5,500 deposit, but they should have done a proper handover by cleaning the flat," Yeo said. "It's about being responsible". 

The property agent of 15 years said that the landlord has engaged a house cleaning service, and has contacted the previous student tenants on whether they would be pay for it. 

"Otherwise the landlord will have to bear the cost through the forfeited deposit," Yeo said. 

He added that he will now request future tenants, who are students, to pay an additional month of rent as deposit. 

Landlords can ask for higher security deposits

AsiaOne spoke to several property agents on how they screen tenants, and how landlords can protect themselves against the troublesome ones. 

From leftover food to damaged furniture, Eddie Tork has faced his fair share of negative experiences during unit handover. 

The associate director at PropNex Realty said that of all the student tenants he encountered during his seven years in the profession, 30 per cent had left their rental apartments in a mess. 

But Tork said he has not blacklisted students as potential clients in the rental market. 

"As a professional agent, we have to be open to opportunities, he said. "If the rental offer is attractive enough, some landlords may neglect the potential poor maintenance [issues that they might bring], and still go ahead with them." 

Michele Cabasug, senior associate vice president of List Sotheby's International Realty, said that it is "tricky" to suss out red flags in prospective tenants.

"You can never tell if a person is going to destroy a place [even with background checks]," Cabasug, who has been working in the expatriate relocation industry for 19 years.

"It would help if the tenant has a part-time cleaner or a domestic helper."

Cabasug declined to name the groups of individuals whom she said has an "80 per cent hit rate" on destroying a multi-million dollar apartment".

Bryan Sim, assistant associate manager at OrangeTee & Tie, agreed with Cabasug's assessment on problematic tenants. 

"Bad tenants don't discriminate, they could be anyone. But they are usually people who enter into a tenancy agreement without viewing a property, which could raise suspicion on their intent of stay. 

"They could also skip town and leave the unit in shambles." 

To prevent landlords from being "shocked" by the state of their homes, Sim recommends that they conduct regular inspections while they are being leased out. 

Landlords can also include a higher security deposit as part of the tenancy agreement - from half a month to three months of the rent. 

ALSO READ: 'The wardrobe is gone': Property agent warns against renting flat to 'wrong' tenants

chingshijie@asiaone.com