2019 Year of the pig property strategies

I have been running a property strategy seminar at the beginning of the year in the past three years. The encouraging response kept me going.

Since this November, I have been thinking whether I should do it again in 2019. How we can do it differently this time. We need new speakers and more exciting topics.

In early December, I finally plucked up my courage to contact Mr Ku Swee Yong, CEO of International Property Advisor.

Yes, I need a lot of courage to approach someone who is much more knowledgeable than me about the local property scene, and far more accomplished than me in property investment.

We see Mr Ku appear everywhere on TV, in online and print media. His books are displayed at the most prominent positions in the investment section of the bookstores.

I also heard a lot about him. He seems to be the only one in this industry who is not afraid to speak his mind and tell the truth – a big contrast from those company spokespersons or industry stakeholders who only speak with their own interests in mind.

The meeting proved my assumptions right. He is as righteous as he sounds in his interviews and writings.

He said things that you will not hear from any property agent: “How can you not remind the buyer if you know that the seller is selling well above value? How can you hide it from the buyer if you know that the developer has quality problem? … ”

It must be my lucky day. Ku Swee Yong likes what I do for Property Club Singapore. He kindly accepted the invitation to speak in the Year of the Pig seminar and lead one of the roundtable discussions.

I don’t know about you. But I will quickly sign up for the seminar. Then on that day, bring along Mr Ku’s books for his autographs. Carry a phone with a high res camera for a selfie with him. And come prepared with some burning questions to ask at his discussion table.

This is called kill “three” birds with one stone.

But that is not enough.

All the while I am not happy with the availability of data for my property analyses. I am not talking about just transaction prices and volumes, or biased research reports from those industry stakeholders. I need raw data and detail breakdowns to show meaningful correlations and useful insights in order to make better property decisions.

I know Michael Cho, the guy who founded Proptech company UrbanZoom and UrbanAgents, has what I am looking for. His company specializes in AI and Big Data for the HDB and condominium markets. But the users are limited to several government agencies and large property companies.

As an individual property buyer and investor, how can I find out what data and analyses these authorities and institutions have access to?

So I have this idea to invite Michael to speak at the seminar to share some property insights, especially on the hot topic of HDB leasehold problem, using his set of data which is not available to the public.

One more thing: The new URA guidelines will be effective January 17 next year. From now on, the developers can’t cramp us into inhuman shoeboxes anymore. Nobody can force us to pay for jumbo size balconies, bay windows and aircon ledges.

But one thing that bothers me is: With increasingly thin margins for new projects, developers and their contractors are likely to cut corners somewhere to save costs. What are the new tricks of the builders that we home buyers don’t know?

To satisfy my curiosity, I checked with Tan Wee Kwang from Absolute Inspection. He and his team inspect newly-TOP projects for developer defects every day.

How about sharing these with participants at the seminar? What? Are you trying to put my life in danger?

To cut the story short, I managed to talk him into sharing workmanship quality of 2018 residential projects at the event.

There is another speaker Vina Ip. I guess she will share views and strategies similar to her blog posts and youtube videos. Nothing special.

P.S. There are limited seats in each round table. For each speaker, we could only accommodate up to 20 pax at their tables during roundtable discussions – the first 20 people who select this preferred speaker or discussion topic as their first choice during registration and make their payment.

So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and sign up for the seminar now!


Synopsis

After a slight recovery, Singapore’s property market now faces headwinds of new cooling measures, rising interest rates, and buyer fatigue from continuous new supply.

What are likely to happen in this increasingly challenging market? Where are the underlying risks and best opportunities? What data and insights are indispensable for buyers and investors to make smarter property decisions? What home buyers should know about building quality traps of new residential projects?

If you don’t want to waste time attending property talks that share nothing new but sales pitches from speakers with vested interests, sign up for this education seminar to get latest updates and unbiased insights from our neutral speakers. Don’t miss the chance to participate in the group discussions with our speakers and to network with fellow buyers and investors at the event.

Event Details

Date : 19 January 2019 (Sat)
Time : 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Venue: NTUC Centre

Agenda

1. 2019 Property Risks and Opportunities
Ku Swee Yong, CEO, International Property Advisor
– Aftermath of new property curbs and URA guidelines
– Hypes and gems in Singapore’s residential districts
– Hidden gems or hot potatoes in retail, office and industrial sectors
– Opportunities of luxury properties in prime districts

2. Singapore Residential Market- Reflections and Resolutions
Vina Ip, Blogger, PropertySoul.com
– Pros and cons of being a property guinea pig
– When they told you pigs can fly
– How will pigs get slaughtered in 2019
– Property strategies in the Year of the Pig

3. PropTech Ready To Benefit Home Buyers and Investors
Michael Cho, Founder, UrbanZoom
– Leveraging data for property insights (a case study on HDB leasehold data)
– Solving the problem of property agents with bad service

4. Update on Building Quality of Singapore Residential Projects
Tan Wee Kwang, Founder, Absolute Inspection
– Trends in workmanship quality of 2018 residential projects
– Current projects inspected by us: overview and insights
– Owners beware: The same old defects again!

5. Roundtable Discussions
Based on your chosen topic/speaker, you will be seated in round tables with our speakers to facilitate small group discussions and Q&As. Speakers will rotate to another table for the next roundtable discussion.

Discussion topics (group discussion led by):
Group 1: 2019 property risks and opportunities (Ku Swee Yong)
Group 2: Outlook of Singapore residential market (Vina Ip)
Group 3: Finding data sets critical in property investment (Michael Cho)
Group 4: Telling good from bad quality residential projects (Tan Wee Kwang)

For registration and more details, please visit the event page. See you there!