Do you notice that most buyers coming for flat viewings are young couples, retirees, businessmen or middle-age husband-and-wife teams? Since I started looking for investment properties in my 20s, somehow I have to overcome problems of being a young single buyer. Till today, some agents still say, at first glance, I look more like a property agent coming to co-broke. My … [Read more...]

In 2003 and 2004, my strategy was to buy good rental properties at the bottom.The price I bought was often the lowest in the condo’s caveat history. Here’s how I did it: Before I put up my offer, I would check the last transacted price. I would then offer 15% lower than that --- thinking that I still have a 10 to 15% safe buffer in case the market goes further south. And when … [Read more...]

I read the following comment in a property forum today.  The thread started with a question on whether one should sell or keep the HDB flat while buying a condo unit.  The argument gradually boiled down to whether the person can afford it and how much loan he should borrow. "You know Maslow's hierachy of needs? Once you have enough to meet your basic needs, you look for … [Read more...]

A few years ago, I bought a condo unit and wanted to rent it out.  I met a property agent who stays in the same condo. In our 1st meeting, he began by showing off his pile of sales and tenancy agreement.  He claimed that they were all from units in this condo.  In fact, he was the major agent selling and leasing most of the units here.  For the next hour, I was sitting there … [Read more...]