PROPERTY BUYING (PART 1)

July 29

BEFORE BUYING, it is always prudent to check the most recent prices of HDB flats or any prospective PRIVATE PROPERTY ...Especially foreigners who come to Singapore to buy property... YEP!!

Anyhow….here goes:

HDB Flats

For checking recent transacted price of HDB flats, please click:
HDB Resale Transactions website

Private Property
For checking recent transacted price of private properties provided by URA, please click:
Residential Property Transactions website

And of course further information is given below................

BUYING (PART 1)

Be in a position to Set the Price

REMEMBER: LOCATION, DEMAND, ECOMOMY!!

What can I say? From experience, the type of houses that always give the BEST VALUE has always been properties located near the prime areas. They are near the CBD, Orchard Road, Bukit Timah, Shenton Way etc.. has rich History and is basically near Town or Sea. These are normally Condominiums or Private Landed properties.

Certain areas however also do enjoy positive returns based on proximity to MRT (Mass Rapid Transit train), bus routes, good schools, etc.

Why are these important? They are, because, in a few years time, when you do want to sell them or rent them, you need to know whether you have a prospective market. And it has always been an established rule for real estate investors that location is important!

Ask anyone…..

In a good time, these would fetch a higher premium. And even in a bad time, the value won’t fall as much as properties in other areas.

For HDB buyers, the make of your flat is an important consideration. Sometimes, the structure does play an important role: whether or not you need to spend another sum of money doing the renovation of your house. And things like: how high your unit is? This is important as the higher the unit, the more money it is being sold out for. And on average: an additional floor up commands at least a $1000 more in the selling price of the unit.

The best way of knowing the true value of your house, however, is to have an independent valuer to give you a valuation. They are skilled professionals who are legally liable for their services and have no financial interest in the sale.

You can use this valuation against the appraisals given by the agents you are considering hiring to see how accurate the agents have been in their assessments. A good agent should be well aware of what similar houses in your area have sold for in recent months and can also access market analysis information that gives data on local properties that have sold or failed to sell, including the asking prices.

Ask your agent to go through this information (usually called a Comparative Market Analysis) with you to show how they have arrived at the price they are suggesting. The agent (and therefore you) will also need to consider market conditions in terms of buyer demand, interest rates, inflation rates and any other factors affecting the economy. If changes in the economy are influencing the way people are spending, the property market is likely to be effected in some way.

Your potential buyers too, should also have a fair knowledge of your house's worth, probably having seen every other house for sale in the area. Be aware however that it is in their interest to get it a lower price; so don't feel pressured into accepting a low offer. It is strongly advised that you check the web-site given above, on the recent price transacted.

One simple way to know the demand is to look at the newspapers to get a ‘rough feel’ of the demand for a particular property. Another is by looking at Future Development Plans.. like government directions, public policies, etc.. And of course, this blog has already detailed a lot of recent developments. One can actually make some, if not, a lot of money by just following through the areas that had been en-bloc, or other areas that were targeted at and sold for a lot of money.

Another good gauge in whether a certain property is a good buy comes from the economy. Besides looking at the newspaper for the GDP figures, sometimes, it is pretty interesting to just take a cab around that portion of the area around your interested property and see whether there is “mechanized cranes around..” or whether there is any “construction” nearby…

This implies that there is demand for that place and is likely to convert to some “traffic of sorts” or some demographic changes in future. People come, people go. One needs to ascertain whether that property has some intrinsic worth. And if your research is done well, you can be assured of a good buy… whether you want to rent or sell in future or not, is really your call. Learning how to assess the value of a property is really the FIRST STEP in acquiring wealth through property.

To go to Property Buying Part 2