I’m listing the lessons I learned from my 1st purchase. Hopefully you won’t make the same mistakes in your property investment. 1) Don’t just listen to the agent The property agent told me that this was the last batch of high floor 1-bedroom units with sea view. After I bought my unit, there were more high-floor units released for sale. Towards the end, UOB obviously just … [Read more...]
The story of buying my first property (part I)
It really takes me very long to decide to share with you my 1st property purchase. Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem telling everything about all my other properties. But the first one … it just reminds me of all those silly mistakes that I made due to ignorance and inexperience the first time. The feeling is like, you know, an out-of-place ex-boyfriend whom you are … [Read more...]
How I save for my 1st property
After relocating to Singapore, I began taking steps to realize my property dream. Allow me to share with you how I did it some years back. I imagined me as a company and assigned myself as the Financial Controller. My job was to minimize unnecessary spending and maximize profitability. A regular income statement would be prepared to show total revenues and expenses. The … [Read more...]
Problems of a young buyer
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...]
I make money, but I was wrong
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...]