I have been nosing for a new property to invest in since 2020,
Covid not-withstanding. When Covid struck, my first thought was the quote attributed to Baron Rothchild, one of the richest man of his time, “when there’s blood on the street, buy, even if the blood is your own.” So I waited, and waited… A year after the first circuit breaker, still no blood on the street which boded bloody well for Singaporeans (and I was glad for it). But it also meant there were no minor fortune to be made for investors with liquidity. Instead, the property market boomed and prices rose to pre-covid levels, and even higher for landed properties.

So the question on everyone’s mind is: Is it still a good time to buy property? (now being June 2021)

From the talks and webinars given by many agents and agencies (and I diligently attended some of them), they will have you know that ‘now’ is the best time to buy and they will have arguments why this is so – low interest rates, Singapore’s reputation as a safe haven for the ultra rich, and every agents’ favourite buzz word ‘urban transformation’, in particular, the ‘Great Southern Waterfront’. It doesn’t matter that the property is like 5 or 10km away! While the data they proffer may be real, how they use and manipulate data to convince buyers is another story.

The fact of the matter is: a property can be a good or bad buy depending on why, when, where and how you buy it.

For example, if you are getting married or getting a home for yourself, the moment you need the home is the best time to buy. However, you can arm yourself with more information and knowledge about where, when and how you buy the home. Is it in a good and convenient location (be it close to your relatives or to transportation, schools)? Is the pricing reasonable for your affordability? Is there a unit you like for its space and facing et cetera. Many still do not know that there is a tonne of information available in the URA website and many agents hope to keep us in the dark. 

For example, a basic research I feel any buyer should be armed with is: what is the psf (per square foot) average for the development and area/district you are buying into? Many rely on agents to tell them. However many agents only extract the data that best serve their purposes. Secondly, many first time or young buyers buy into the hype and the sleek advertising, the gorgeous showrooms that they visit. And just as many felt a bit let-down when they are confronted with the unit they finally got. 

Another basic research is to study the orientation of the various units and their facing and lay out the pros and cons of each unit that you shortlist rather than just relying on the agents to share their views. For example, is there a building coming right up outside your window in a few years’ time? Will the promised view be blocked? Will the garden view turn out to be a sewage disposal view too? I am not saying that these units should not be considered but go in with your eyes open and negotiate for a superior price for an inferior facing.

A property is about the biggest spending you will ever make. I know many people will compare and research on pricing say between NTUC versus Cold Storage and buy from the former. So for a property, shouldn’t you be 100 times more thorough?

When it comes to investment, that’s another story altogether, one which I will deal with in a later post. For now, happy house-hunting!