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Togoornottogoforpropertyinvestmenttalks

19Feb2012

TheStraitsTimes(InvestSection)

ByJoyceTeo

2012SingaporePressHoldingsLimited

Participantscanlearndifferentstrategiesandgetleadsandupdates,butmustbewarethesales

pitch

SalesmanagerRonaldKoohasnotboughtapropertyrecentlybuthehasalreadyforkedout

nearly$6,000tolearnhowtodothatwell.

Hepaidabout$3,000toattendaZestpropertyinvestmentseminarlastDecember,andwillbe

goingfora$2,800two-dayprogrammewithanotherorganiserMarcoRobinsonattheendof

thismonth.

Heisnotalone.Manyothershavedonethesame.Propertyinvestmenttalksandseminars

seemtohavecaughtonandthereisnolackofpropertyinvestorshere.

HSRPropertyGroup'schiefexecutivePatrickLiewsaysthesecoursesgainedpopularitywhen

thepropertymarketstartedtopickupin2009.

Coursesareconductedwiththemessuchashowtogetrichthroughpropertyinvestmentor

howtobuy10propertiesforthepriceofone,forexample.

Theyrangefromshortone-totwo-hourtalkstoseminarsthatlastaboutthreedaysandcan

costasmuchas$3,000.

Whotheorganisersare

OrganisersofpropertyinvestmentseminarsincludeZestAcademyGroup,ERCInstitute'sMr

AndyOng,AzeaPropertyInvestment'sMsTanYangPoandExecutiveDirections'MsWendy

Kwek.PropNexalsoenteredthemarketlastyear.

MsTanandMsKwekpreviouslyworkedwithconferenceorganiserSuccessResources.

Thecoursecontentsmayoverlap,butdifferentpersonalitiesattractdifferentpeople.

MsTansayshercourseattendeestrustherandhaveboughtunitsinherdevelopmentinDanga

Bay,JohorBaru,evenbeforethelaunch.

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'Alotofpeopledon'treallyknowhowtoinvest,theyjustknowhowtobuylow,sellhigh.They

cometolearndifferentstrategies,'shesays.

MrKelvinFongfromZestsaysitsmaincourseisonerunforpropertyagents,anditkeepsits

propertyinvestorclasssizesmalltofacilitatelearning.Whenitgetsgooddeals,itwillshare

themwiththecourseparticipants,hesays.

Thereareotherswhodoitdifferently.PropNexchiefexecutiveMohamedIsmail,whorunsa

$1,400,30-hourcourse,says:'Weteachconsumershowtonotoverpayforaproperty,howto

seetheupsidepotentialofapropertyandsoon.

'Ourobjectiveistoteachyouandbeyourpartner.Wedon'tpushaspecificproduct.'

MrOng,whochargesabout$2,000forhiscourse,alsosayshehasnotie-upswithdevelopers

anddoesnotsellanythingathisseminar.

'Weareinvestorsourselves,sowearetryingtosharewiththeparticipantshowinstitutional

investorsthinkandhowtoapplythestrategiesweteachthem.'

But,headds:'Iftheylike,Iwillgivethemachancetotakeaverysmallstakeinmycommercial

buildingsthroughmyfund.'

MrEricCheng,chiefexecutiveofpropertyagencyECGProperty,whoconductsproperty

investmenttalksatexhibitionssuchasSmartExpo,saysthespeakersororganisersusuallydo

haveanagenda.

'Idoittoincreasemynetwork.IwasjustinHongKongtogiveatalkatanexhibition.Igotthere

andIsaw1,000people.Igaveoutmybooksandtheygavemetheircontactdetails.Iwould

theninvitethemfortheVIPpreviewsofmylaunches.'

Whypeoplepay

Someseminarscanhaveasfewasabout20participantswhilethoserunbyExecutive

Directionscanhavesome300people.

Thatis300peoplepayingabout$3,000each.Theyareforkingoutthedoughtogainmarket

insightsandfindoutsavvywaystoinvestandhopefullymakebigmoney.

Atseminarsandtalks,theycanaskquestions,unlikeiftheyweretopickuptipsfromabook.

SaysMrKoo:'IlearnthowtodomyownresearchwiththesoftwarefromZest.Myresearch

previouslywasmygutfeel.'

Hesaysitwasalsotogetsomepropertyleadsandlearnaboutinvestingwithlesscapitaloutlay.

'Theywouldhavedonetheirownresearchandchosenthepropertythattheywanttomarket

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gamesandexercises.

Atoneseminar,peoplewereaskedtostandupandsay,'Icandoit'withfistsclenchedand

elbowbent,saysaparticipant.

Withsuchanatmosphere,aconsumermightbemoremotivatedtoactonbuying.

Understandtherisks

TheseminarparticipantwhoattendedtheZestseminarandtheonebyMsKweksaysboth

seminarstaughtsimilarstrategiesonhowtoinvestasagroup,forinstance.

Ifapersoninvestsasagroup,hewillneedasmalleroutlaythanifoneweretobuytheproperty

onhisown.Itisanattractivepropositionbutnotwithoutrisks.

'Thesepeopleencouragedyoutoformsyndicatesbutpropertiesarenotthatliquid,'saysthe

consultant.

'Youarepartneringstrangersandyouareguidedbyarulebookbutpeoplewon'tfollowit

whentheymeetwithtoughtimes.Whatifonebecomesbankrupt?'

Also,thereistalkthatsomeoftheseorganisersmaycreamoffmorethantheytellyou.

Anagentaccusedanorganiserofgivingthecourseparticipantsa5percentdiscountoffa

propertywhenshereceiveda12percentbulkdiscountfromthedeveloper.

Theorganisercanalsonegotiatewiththedeveloperforafreeunitorbulkdiscount.Hemay

thenmarketthepropertiesatahigherpricehere.

AcheckwiththeCouncilforEstateAgencies(CEA)showsthatinvestigationsareongoingfor

someoftheseseminars.

'Wehaveconductedchecksincludingon-siteinspectionsontheseseminarstoensurethe

companiescomplywiththeEstateAgentsAct,'saysCEA'sMsPurnimaShantilal,director

(licensingandinvestigations).

TheActcoverstheconductofestateagencyworkinSingaporeevenifthepropertyisan

overseasone.

'Intheeventthespeakersattheseseminarsarefoundtobeconductingestateagencywork

andoperatingwithoutalicenceorregistration,theywouldbecommittinganoffenceunderthe

Act,'shesays.'Iffoundguilty,theycanbefinedupto$75,000and/orfaceajailtermofupto

threeyears.'

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Whatyoucando

Thereisnoshortcuttogettingrich,shortofstrikingthelotteryatyourfirsttry.

Investorsmustalwaysdotheirownhomework.Donotbuyblindlyjustbecausetheabsolute

priceorinvestmentappearsaffordableandreasonable.

Checktoseeifthatisthemarketpriceandifyouarebuyingatthesameratethatismarketed

intheforeignland.

Alwaystaketimetothinkaboutthedeal.Donotfeelpressuredtobuyonthespot.Therewill

alwaysbeanothergooddealwaitingforyou.

'Bewaryofthedealspresentedandalwayscheckthetrackrecordofthespeakerstomakesure

thattheyareforreal,'saysMrCheng.

Whenbuyingforeignproperties,consumersshouldfindoutpertinentdetailssuchastheir

eligibilitytobuytheparticularpropertyandallthecostsinvolved,forexampletaxes,ifany,

saysMsShantilal.

'Theyshouldconducttheirownresearch,lookattheviability,pricingandtermsandconditions

ofthepurchase,andnotrelysolelyontheadviceofthespeakersorvendor'srepresentativeof

theforeignproperty.'

And,theyshoulddealwithonlysalesstaffwhoareregisteredwithCEAiftheyintendtoengage

onetohandletheirpropertydeals,shesays.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg

SingaporePressHoldingsLimited