For most Singaporeans, 70% to 90% of our assets are LOCKED in our property. As such, it is incredibly vital for us to be consistently monitoring the value of our properties and ensure that the value has not turned stagnant nor started to decline.
The thing is, most Singaporeans are simply unaware that the roof over their head is also a savings account, an investment, and a huge portion of their retirement funds. In fact, many property owners are simply holding on to the property without realizing that their property's value has already gone past its peak and have started declining.
Being on the ground, I've met a significant number of homeowners who realised that their property prices had been declining for the past few years only when they are downsizing their property to cash out on their retirement.
You see, without first carrying out an analysis on your property, you may be unknowingly turning your assets into liabilities.
Even if you have realized that your property's value is declining, are you absolutely certain that your next property is the right one for you? Do you have the skills and knowledge to identify and avoid overpriced properties when purchasing your next home?
The buying of a property is a long-term commitment and is literally one of the most expensive purchases in a person's lifetime. While we all know and understand the importance of making the purchasing decision with a clear and rational mind, many of us are instead swayed by our emotions the minute we walk into a show flat.
Do you know that the classical music playing in the background, as well as the aroma of the essential oils, are all psychology stimuli meant to influence your purchasing decision? In fact, these psychology stimuli work so well that you might not even recall seeing, hearing, and smelling them today.
This is exactly why we need to be able to conduct a series of assessment on a property and filter out the ones that do not match our checklist even before stepping into the show flat.
As a property owner, you need to be aware of what's happening in the property market and be equipped with real estate knowledge so that you can safeguard your assets for your loved ones and yourself.
As a Property Restructuring Consultant with PropNex's Powerful Negotiators Group, I assist Property Owners in the planning, strategizing, and the restructuring of their property portfolio by equipping them with Real Estate knowledge and Market Insights.
Instead of the usual buying, selling, and renting, I serve a very niche group of clients - Ordinary Singaporeans who wants to ensure that they are making the right move in the property market.
Whether you are a seasoned property investor, HDB upgrader, or even a First-Time Home Buyer, you need to be equipped with these 18 real estate knowledge before making any property purchases so that you can ensure that you are not simply taking a "gamble".
The roof over your head is not just a home, but also an investment. With a large portion of your funds being locked in your property, it is necessary for you to carry out an analysis every 3 to 5 years and ensure that your property is still consistently appreciating in value and outperforming inflation and accrued interest.
On the other hand, if you are looking to upgrade from your current property, carrying out an analysis would also enable you to price your property at the sweet spot so as to reduce the time taken to sell it off, without compromising on your profits.
Understanding your affordability helps you to narrow down the search for your next property. With a budget in mind, you are also less likely to overstretch your finances.
Many clients I've met had the misconception that affordability is simply referring to their eligible loan quantum. However, a detailed affordability and financial calculation will lay out your total upfront investment inclusive of the legal fees, maintenance fees, stamp duties, and so on, as well as the monthly investment,
With these figures, you can then work out your monthly expenses and ensure that you are comfortable with the figures.
Having a list of priorities and knowing what you want to achieve from your property is one of the key factors in choosing the right properties.
Throughout the years on the ground, I have seen clients who focuses mainly on the rental yield of the property, and then choosing to move into the property instead of renting it out. I have also met a family of 5 who bought a 2 bedroom with 1 bathroom simply because it was cheap, only to regret it 3 years down the road.
By first creating a list of needs and goals, you can then build a plan that helps you to attain that goal
Whether you accept it or not, when you purchased your first home, you had already taken your first step into property investment.
Without having an overview of the property market and first gaining knowledge of the real estate industry, you are simply taking a gamble and may be putting your loved ones and yourself in tremendous danger.
Similar to investing in the stock market, you need to understand the various metrics and keep a close tab on what's happening in the property market so as to ensure that you are making the right decisions.
When a new property is about to be launched for sale, the marketing agencies will conduct a series of awareness campaigns which includes flyers, door-knocking, internet marketing, and so on. Having seen the ads, interested buyers will eagerly make their way to the show flat, be overwhelmed by the beauty of it and get pressured into making a purchase.
What if there was another property that was launched a few years back, with a handful of balanced units that's still available for grab, going at a much lower pricing?
Walk into any show flat today and the agent will definitely tell you that it's the best property in the market, valued for money, the safest investment, and so on.
You see, the job of the salesperson is to sell you the property. But it is your job to do your due diligence and ensure that it is indeed a safe investment for you and your family.
The truth is, most property buyers are not equipped with the required skill set to conduct their own research and comparison. As such, they tend to base their decision on the words of the salesperson.
A property's value appreciate the most not when it's already near to shopping malls or MRT stations. But when Shopping Malls or MRT station starts coming up after purchasing the property.
Before 2006, property prices in the Serangoon area were transacting around $400 psf, with little to no growth for the past few years.
However, in 2013 after the North-East Line, Circle Line, and NEX shopping mall was completed, prices almost tripled to $1,200 psf.
Future transformation is one of the keys to identifying properties with higher potential upside.
Do you know that there are 5 Key Growth Areas in Singapore that the government is spending billions to develop?
There is a distinct difference between good debt and bad debt. Knowing how to leverage on good debt allows you to increase your wealth while reducing your risks.
For example, assuming that after selling off your current property, you have a total of $600,000 in cash and CPF combined. Purchasing a $1,000,000 property, most Singaporeans will choose to pay off $600,000 from their available funds and take a loan of just $400,000 instead of the available $750,000 loan, since the monthly mortgage will be lower.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances where you are unable to pay the monthly mortgage, it doesn't matter whether the monthly repayment is at $3,000 or $6,000. Your property will still be repossessed.
While taking on a bigger loan increases the monthly amount payable and cost of the property, it reduces your risks as you still have available funds to prolong your holding power.
Many of us find it fascinating when we read stories or come across property investors who are able to expand their portfolio by turning one property into two.
The truth is, they were able to do that not because they were lucky, but because they had an in-depth knowledge of the property market, spent hours, days, and even months to research on and pick out the right properties, as well as crafted a plan that will help them achieve these results.
There are a number of different strategies that property investors utilize, depending on the goal that they would like to achieve.
However, the key is adopting the right strategy. As the needs of each individual varies, the strategy has to be tailored accordingly.
Freehold properties are highly sought after and usually comes with a premium price tag compared to its leasehold counterparts in the same vicinity.
Before forking out an additional 20% to 30% to buy a Freehold property, you need to understand if Freehold properties are really as good as the hype.
Between 2009 to 2019, Freehold properties have appreciated by 90% whereas Leasehold properties have appreciated by more than 130%. Why is this so?
Contrary to popular belief, buying cheap does not necessarily equate to buying at the RIGHT price.
Price is a very tricky subject and there are several factors involved when determining the right entry price.
In order to assess the right entry price, we need to analyze the price of the property at both a micro and macro level.
While it's impossible to know when the property market will be at the lowest and when it will be at the highest, knowing what's happening in the property market and analyzing the polices implemented or lifted gives us an idea of where it's headed.
Although the best profits comes from buying during market low and selling when the market is at its highest, do you know that based on the past property cycles, every high is higher than previous highs, and every low still being higher than previous low?
With the implementation of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio and the adjustment of the Loan-To-Value Ratio, private properties seems to be out of reach for the majority of Singaporeans. However, there are actually many LEGAL techniques that property investors are leveraging on to increase their loan amount while reducing their monthly mortgage payable.
To add on, in the event of unforeseen circumstances where you need access to a large amount of funds, there is also a technique called gearing, where you can simply cash out on your property without even having to sell it off.
In 2009, Private Properties were averaging $700 psf. Many claimed that a bubble was forming and that the market was about to crash. Today, Private Properties are averaging around $1,500 psf, more than doubled of what it was in 2009. Based on a unit of 1,000 sqft, the profits would have been $800,000.
The fact is, most of the people who claimed that a bubble was forming weren't even property investors themselves.
Most people are not aware of this, but the banks in Singapore often conduct researches and releases reports that gives us a glimpse of future property prices.
With close to 10 cooling measures being introduced since 2013, it may feel as if the property market is about to crash.
What if I could help you discover the main goal of the government? Wouldn't it make your investment even safer?
Regardless, even if property prices were to drop, all the government needs to do is just lift any one of the ten cooling measures.
To add on, when is the best time to enter the property market? When property prices are exorbitant, or when prices are down?
Stephen Covey once said, "Start with the end in Mind".
And this is especially true in the property market. Your exit strategy is as important as your entry strategy.
Without doing your due diligence and ensuring that you can liquidate your property, you are putting yourself in a very dangerous situation.
Furthermore, if your goal is to make a profit from your property, do you know when your property's prices will be peaking? In 5 years? 10 years? or 15 years?
While it is not possible to predict the future, having a clear idea of your exit strategy keeps you prepared when the opportunities arises.
There are several distinct differences between Public Housing (HDB flats & Executives Condominiums) compared to Private Properties.
For one, owners of public housing needs to fulfill a Minimum Occupation Period of 5 years, which starts from the date they receive the keys to their new home.
For Private Properties, the owners can sell off their property at any time and are not subjected to any minimum occupation period. The only drawback is that should they choose to sell off the property within 3 years of getting the property, they will be subjected to the Seller's Stamp Duty. Another thing to note is that the 3 year period starts from the date that they exercised the option and not the date that they receive the keys. As such, most would have cleared their 3 year window even before getting the keys to their new home.
Supply and Demand is one of the most basic fundamentals of economics.
Given the amount of properties that were en-bloc in the past 2 years, coupled with the fact that there are more than 50 new properties scheduled to be launched this year, it does indeed feels as if there's an oversupply in the market. But is this really true?
To add on, supply takes years to be introduced into the market whereas demand can easily be increased over night. If there is a need, the government can simply lift its cooling measures to introduce demand into the market. But what if supply were insufficient instead?
Every property purchase is a long term investment, with the majority of your funds being locked in it for the next few years. The right property can change your wealth, but the wrong one can rob you of future opportunities.
Just to be clear, this is NOT a get rich quick scheme where I will be teaching you secret formulas to owning tons of property, nor is this a course preview where I eventually up-sell you to attend a seminar that's going to cost you a few hundred or even thousands of dollars.
The main purpose of the consultation is to empower you with real estate knowledge so that you can make a more informed decision when purchasing your next property. It is simply to ensure that you are not putting your loved ones and yourself at risks.
If you are looking for ways to get rich quickly, then this isn't for you.
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