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Why buy a property I DO NOT like
Written on 14 Feb 2022 - Happy Valentine's Day!
2 years ago, my wife and myself decided to buy a property for investment.
After viewing a few properties, she bought a condominium in D9. This is a studio unit about 624sqft. But the thing was, she DID NOT like the property at all!!!
So why did she buy the property then?
Simply because this is an INVESTMENT property. Many may ask, what is the difference?
As a salesperson who has been in the industry since 2004, the first question that I have always asked my buyers is: Investment or Own Stay (Use)?
When it comes to investment, buyer do not need to like the property, they just need to understand the figures.
Purchase Price, Rental Rate, Maintenance Fee, Rental Returns
My wife's property is tenanted for $3,300 per month and cost her slightly below $1.3 Million. That will give her a rental return of 3% (which is higher than interest rate), including the Maintenance Fee, she is paying $300 per month to support the property. That is a grand total of $3,600 a year, Less than $10 a day!
Fingers crossed, the particular unit is now in discussion for en-bloc with the Reserved Price at $1.75 Million!
So the next time when you want to buy an Investment property, ask yourself the same question, do I need to like the unit? The answer is NO.
Common Questions from Buyers
Many of my buyers will more often than not, ask me the same questions.
Will my property appreciate?
Will it be difficult for me to sell in future?
I will always jokingly answer, if I am able to give you an accurate answer, I will not need to be a Real Estate Consultant. I will give talks and people will pay thousands to attend the talk.
Jokes aside, the advice I will always give is, Your future buyer will consider all the issues that you have now.Â
If you cannot accept certain factors like facing, noise or layout, these will be the issue your future buyer will have.
You will be answering your own question if it is going to be difficult to sell.
As for appreciation, a good guide will be the future development in the vicinity. There are many avenues for buyers to study before making the decision.
Should the buyer not able to access the information or are not sure about theses, this is where people like myself come into the picture.
As a Real Estate Salesperson, it is my job to provide advices to clients based on their individual needs. Therefore, recommendations will differ even with the same requirements of location and budget.
Buying a property, especially in Singapore, is a very costly exercise. So before you decide to proceed, always do talk to your trusted salesperson to get a professional guidance.