Business Times Interviews - Starting Young

[Zelphon]

There is a huge misconception of investing in Msia, a lot ppl I know here has very negative perception of Msia property. Hence, I think I need to erase that mentality by encouraging them to read on books written by Msian authors.

You are a Malaysian and therefore, it probably makes sense to invest in Malaysia and ultimately, live and spend in malaysia.

However, for Singaporeans, we are faced with two big hurdles:

1) Change in policies and government. The CLOB debacle had shown that foreign investors interest may not be taken care of in time of crisis. How would I able to have any confidence that the Malaysia gov will not do a u-turn in policy or implement some monstrous penalties towards foreign investors when there is a property bubble, financial crisis or even some anti-singaporean policies?

2) S$ appreciation. The rental yield may be high but if S$ appreciation is taken into account for the last decade, the investment return would have shrunk significantly
http://www.x-convert.com/chart/SGD-MYR?period=10y

Lastly, I am not too optimistic about Malaysia economy as competitions from regional countries are coming very strongly,especially Indonesia.

But, that is just me, a Singaporean's point of view

Agreed.

Not trying to pour cold water over here...

I am a Singaporean and my mum is a Malaysian..
She bought a property in Johor Bahru, Taman Daya area about 13 yrs ago for about RM 110,000...

Rental yield sucks, RM 530 a monthly.. Rental is about this level since 13 yrs back for that area..

Rental Yield is thus abt 5% ~ 6% (not taking into account depreciation, repairs expenses etc)..

Till date.. I think the value only appreciated by RM 10,000 since...

Also, tenants may pack up overnight and move away when they do not want to pay rental.. Had a very bad experience twice cos we allowed him to overstay by 3 mths as he said he will pay up... That was during recession in 2008 then when money is hard to come by for most...

A good thing is that the property is freehold lah...

Imagine she use that money to buy another HDB 13 yrs back..

So taking into account the above experience...
Property investment overseas comes with a fair bit of risks even for locals...

Malaysia government is also not very friendly towards Singaporeans too...
Who knows once Iskandar region is fully built up and they come up with some new law to eat up all the money invested by tons of Singaporeans over there...

[piggo]

I am a Malaysian as well, but am not as positive about properties in Malaysia as you are.

Just off the top of my head, housing loans are easily obtainable in Msia. Also the interests rates are not low. The government in Msia is also not as efficient as compared to SG. If anything goes wrong, it'll be a double whammy of high interest rates and depreciation. As a chinese, I am very uncomfortable with the direction the government is moving towards... so it's highly uncertain that 30 years down the road I'll want to "return" to Msia. Local wage rates in KL or Penang is quite low compared to the housing prices. Of course there's the issue of crime rate, if you're unable to get tenants, an empty house is a good target for burglars. The local government also sucks at infrastructure planning (i.e roads, rail networks). Comparatively, even though the capital needed for SG properties is much higher, it offers a much more stable alternative.

[Chess_gal]

Yes, I agree never to buy into an area that you are not familiar with. Likewise I won't invest in Thailand unless I hv a trustable local partner. Again, I stress that to invest with a group of ppl with vast skill and knowledge. Find someone that you can trust on your team before embarking investing in a foreign country.

Secondly, local authorities will always safeguard the interest of it's citizen before others. Likewise in Singapore, the local gets the first priority in hdb and PR only gets to buy subsake. There will always be an element of biasness that skewed towards local's advantage. That is the risk of investment. Same goes for FDI for companies, they would hv to weight all the pros and cons.

Msia is not a perfect country, it has so much of flaws and if you follow Msia politics, we have a lot idiots sitting in the drivers seat. But the political environment will change. The citizen has spoken and it is just a matter of time to start moving forward. I do not advocate investing in Msia purely cause I am a Malaysian, but because it is so hard for middle class Singaporean here to move up to join the upper class. The only way is through investment be it shares or property. Sg government do nor encourage property investment, making the gap between middle class and the upper ones more apparent.

---

To add, try to buy into middle to high end condo in prime area. Again and again I stresss the low cost houses is not for everyone. Try the ones between 300 k to 500k and nothing more than that. I hv wanted to play student Market as the yield is better and property are cheaper, but after looking at the number and weight the pro n cons, i decided to full utilize my financial credibility. I earn sgd, instead of starting with low cost but more hassle, why not I play what the rich ppl play? Go high end. High risk but return is higher. Plus, I put in a lot effort to meet ppl and view property. I spent a lot on air ticket to kl when I was property hunting. To the point my parents said I was mad! But these are tuition fee. I am lucky that I meet my mentor after I bought my first property. He was my banker then turn agent. Ever since I met him, my knowledge increases ten fold. I start to analyse things differently and made effort to buy lunch for them. Many are surprise that I ask them out for lunch to talk property. Of course I also get my fair share of dirty old man, but once they start to talk nonsense, I'll excuse myself. Am purely business talk. And damn I encounter one Singaporean uncle yesterday, he wanted to buy the books and map from me but refused to pay! He told me he was single and owns prop etc. I hv no mood to listen and cut short the discussion. Even when I view property, ppl thinks am some rich kid but once I start talking, they will know I know my stuff.

---

And piggo, I agree with you. I cannot blame you as sometimes I hate Msia government as well. We hv idiots governing cause the smart ones move out. Hence, ppl like us need to go back to save the country. Okay am sounding a bit too patriotic but it is true. The country can't succeed cause we have huge brain drain problem.

I agree Sg is good for investment and am saving up for my deposit as well. Just wonder if you guys know any reasonable price EC any part if Singapore? Am not very familiar with Sg prop market yet, analyzing Msia alr take much of my time. But I plan to get one before I move back to kl.

[mrEngineer]

Anyway, the name of the condo is Bukit OUG if you are interested. I have mistaken and my father have not sold the property. It was my uncle's property that was sold.

What you wrote reminded a story from my PRC friend about his friend who was once a prostitute in China actually got rich by investing in properties in HK (during 1997s) and currently own a few District 9-11 condos. She got to know more about properties from her rich clients and ultimately her husband. Thus, morale of the story is everyone has a chance to make it in life, despite how bad the situation you are in now. The difference is whether you decide to seize the opportunity and whether luck favours you as well (imagine how many prostitutes in China and how many actually get out of it). But at least when you tried and luck is not on your side, you know that you probably have not wasted your life. Cheers Chess_gal.

[Jared Seah]

I agree with mrEngineer. It's better to act, than sit and day dream...

Even if we don't succeed, at least we have an interesting life!

I wish I had started out early too... But let's look ahead! I've also shared my reflection on my blog:

http://singaporemanofleisure.blogspot.co...young.html

[wj888]

Indeed. Action speaks louder than Words in Investing. Way to go , chessgal!

However, I hope you do not turn into another guru preying on lazy people who want to get rich without doing their due diligence.

Step 1) Get some media exposure thru straits times/mass media
Step 2) Partner with local guru company (Which you are doing now)
Step 3) Sell malaysian properties to the course participants by virtue of your local expert network and how you have done it and so can they.

Sorry to sound cynical ... but that is the path taken by many who seek to exploit the weak and dumb(yes, i think those people are dumb) i must say in their quest to become financially free. They earned from both the course fees and the referral fees. Such is life... And they(not the students) indeed gotten RICHER.

Oh by the way, quite a few of the malaysian property books are actually available for sale in local bookstores like Kinokuniya and Popular. The one I remembered I see the most is the Iskandar Project author.

[Chess_gal]

Is it so? Cause the author approached me to deal with the bookstores. Unless the Msia branches supplies the book to the Singapore branch as well.

A few property guru did approach me, asking me to sell their seminar courses. To be very honest, I just attended a few introductory courses but since I have mentor that I trust, I did not pay for any expensive courses. I think the courses are good for beginners to expand their network. But for myself, I created my own network by participating in forums, organising property meet up and attending property launches to meet people. I think no harm for property guru to charge the participant, they do have bills to pay and cant be doing it for charity. Property gurus gone through the up and down, learnt their lesson the hard way, so I do not see any harm in them charging for their consultancy. Same goes for accountant and lawyer, we pay for their advice, so why different treatment for property guru?

Business is about supply and demand. When there is demand for such courses, there will always be property guru out there trying to sell their courses. Some do it cause they have nothing much to do anymore, they have enough passive income but dont mind to share their expertise by organising seminar. And it cost money to organise such event. Look at them as job creater, they gives business to advertisement, printing company, PR companies, hotels etc. A lot ppl benefit when a business is created. Don't judge property guru as blood sucker, they are afterall professional investor, see them as professional doctor, accountant and lawyer.

---

Bukit OUG, I know that condo. There were several suicide case there, it has good location but due to it's old facade and past history, prices hasnt been appreciating much. Unless the JMB decides to do up the place then it may drives the prices further.

---

http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=g...18617&ap=1
This is my Singapore network. Mostly Msian with a few Singaporean that invest in Msia. Some of them invest in Singapore as well. Just wonder if you guys keen to join us for coffee or dinner someday. I think I will organise one meet up soon.

[d.o.g.]

Property gurus gone through the up and down, learnt their lesson the hard way, so I do not see any harm in them charging for their consultancy. Same goes for accountant and lawyer, we pay for their advice, so why different treatment for property guru?

Accountants and lawyers make their money from serving clients. So they have no need to charge for seminars. Any seminars they do conduct are viewed as part public service and part advertising.

Property gurus do not have any clients. So they have to make their money from seminars.

I don't deny that some gurus might have so much money that they are not interested in making money any more and are happy to share their knowledge. But if they truly want to share then why do they need to charge for their seminars?

After all, if you are worth millions, why are you trying to collect $100-200k from organising a paid seminar? A free seminar would get you a much larger audience if you were really keen on sharing your knowledge.

So far the property guru advertisements I see in the papers do not appear any more legitimate than those advertisements for forex/options trading courses i.e. the "trainers" and "speakers" are making their living from running these seminars rather than the properties/forex/options that they are touting. IMHO Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen and Clement Chiang are all birds of the same flock, living off books, seminars and CDs instead of their properties, forex or options.

As usual, YMMV.

[Sampling]

Someone msg me about a forum on channelnewsasia on my feature, it was really bad. The comments were so rude and disgusting. No doubt I am seeking publicity but it was for my business, Alpha Marketing, hoping I could get some bookstore attention to display the books that I represent. Bookstores in Singapore were somehow skeptical on Msia real estate books. They gave me 101 reason why they wont take my books. Hence I turn to Business Times, but it focuses on my real estate instead. I used to visit a lot Msia forums, be it realestate forums or investment forums, I realised there are huge contrast between a Singapore forum and a Msia forum. In Msia forum, we do get a few rotten apples that criticises one's achievement but usually the positive feedback surpases the negativity. Somehow, I dont feel such vibe here in Sg forums, Hardwarezone, Channelnewsasia and even here where forumers are in in my opinion the enlighten ones. Singapore forumers probe a lot, tend to judge and doubt one's ability and achievement. And some were really rude as well. Having no compassion to one's feeling. Sorry for pouring out here, I just had a bad day, a business deal gone bad and bad comments at channelnewsasia.

Cheer up girl... I think you're doing good... you're on the right path... Stay positive and prove em wrong...

[pianist]

I agree Sg is good for investment and am saving up for my deposit as well. Just wonder if you guys know any reasonable price EC any part if Singapore? Am not very familiar with Sg prop market yet, analyzing Msia alr take much of my time. But I plan to get one before I move back to kl.

hi chess_gal, if I am not wrong under the new ruling, you may have to dispose your private properties in malaysia or overseas if you are eyeing a EC in singapore (which is meant for public housing) for rental income after your return back to malaysia.