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In this issue:- 7 Tactics to Maximize Your Investment Property Returns- Singapore Property News This Week- Resale Property Transactions (January 14 – January 20)
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CONTENTS
p2 7 Tactics to Maximize Your Investment
Property Returns
p7 Singapore Property News This Week
p11 Resale Property Transactions
(January 14 – January 20 )
Welcome to the 193th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly.
Hope you like it!
Mr. Propwise
FROM THE
EDITOR
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 2Back to Contents
By Property Soul (Guest Contributor)
As an investor, you have two major objectives
when you own property:
1. To generate an optimal return from your
investment; and
2. To increase its value to be sold at a good
profit in the future.
To achieve that, you have to maximize the
rental income and minimize the costs at the
same time. In other words,
Maximizing the return of your property =
cost savings + value creation
7 Tactics to Maximize Your Investment Property Returns
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 3Back to Contents
Below are seven useful tactics that you as a
landlord can use to save money while adding
value to your property.
1. Ask for early completion
You have submitted the cheque with the last
payment to your lawyer. Instead of waiting for
twelve weeks, you can request for an early
completion of the sale in ten weeks, so that
you can get the keys earlier and rent out your
property faster. Your lawyer should be able to
liaise with the attorney of the seller to make
the necessary arrangement.
2. Start your work early
Once the seller hands over the property to
you, you need to rent it out as soon as
possible.
If it is agreeable by both the seller and the
existing tenant, you can request for one or
two timeslots before the handover date for a
short viewing. This is meant for your
renovation contractor to inspect the place and
give you a quotation.
However, except for cleaning a vacant flat,
resist the temptation to begin any renovation
work at the place before you collect the key
— in case any accident happens during
renovation or the sale can’t be completed for
some reason.
3. Avoid festive seasons
Take note of the completion date of the sale.
Try to avoid Christmas, year-end or Chinese
New Year. This is the time when the
renovation contractors go for home leave and
potential tenants go on holidays. It
unnecessarily prolongs the vacancy of your
property and affects the return of your
investment.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 4Back to Contents
4. Compare before committing
Get at least three quotes for all planned
expenditure, including legal fees, mortgage,
insurance, renovation and repairs. Contacting
different vendors may be time-consuming but
you are most likely rewarded with better
options and more savings.
You don’t have to use the one that submits
the lowest price. But you can use the lowest
quotation as a reference to negotiate the
price with your chosen vendor.
Never let those negligible numbers add to
up a considerable sum.
5. Look for savings constantly
When interest rates have decreased, take
action immediately to refinance or reprice
your housing mortgage.
You can specify in the tenancy agreement for
the tenant to pay for minor repairs and routine
maintenance under the cost of $150.
Before the tenancy starts, tell your tenants to
notify you if they spot anything wrong or
anything out of order. Many repairs in the flat
are simpler and more cost-effective to do if
they are done earlier, especially leakage of
water, gas or electricity.
Similarly, if your tenant complains about a
loose window, fix it the next day. Don’t take
the chance to let any accident happen in your
property.
6. Raise the rent
Remember to increase the rent regularly.
Tenants are more likely to accept it with
moderate increases every year rather than a
big jump after three years.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 5Back to Contents
When negotiating for a raise, an initiative from
you to fix or upgrade something in the flat can
give you the upper hand. It makes the
increment look more justified and you will
receive less resistance from the tenant.
You can also consider signing a lease with
progressive rental increments from your
tenant. For example, a three-year lease can
specify a fixed increment on the second and
third year.
If it is a month-to-month contract or a short-
term lease that lasts shorter than a year,
always propose a rent higher than the market
rate to compensate for the hassle of finding
the next tenant.
When I first started as a DIY landlord, I made
the mistake of befriending my tenant. That
makes negotiations on rental increment
difficult. Maintain a cordial but business-like
relationship with your tenant so that you can
win the cooperation of your tenant on
inspection, maintenance, flat viewing, etc.,
but won’t make it awkward to discuss a rental
increment.
7. Shorten the vacancy period
If you are buying a property with an existing
tenant, get a copy of the tenancy agreement
to check the actual expiry date and the
renewal clause. If the tenancy is ending soon,
negotiate with the existing tenant to adjust the
rent upwards to match the market rate.
If the tenant is not renewing the contract,
have your agent to look for a replacement as
soon as possible to avoid any loss of rental
income from a vacant flat.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 6Back to Contents
If the tenant wants to terminate the contract,
he/she should give your agent sufficient time
to find a replacement. To avoid any rental
loss, you can ask the tenant to continue
staying and pay a pro-rata rental on a daily
basis until the handover of the flat to a new
tenant.
By guest contributor Property Soul, a
successful property investor, blogger, and
author of the No B.S. Guide to Property
Investment.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Singapore Property This Week
Page | 7Back to Contents
Residential
Higher home vacancies expected to push
prices down further
Property values are falling following the
government’s implementation of cooling
measures. These measures include a stricter
restriction on property loans. After a spike in
property prices in 2013, the government tried
to regulate the market by capping borrowers’
total debt repayments at 60 percent of their
income. With such measures, Singaporeans
found it harder to refinance loans. Besides
that, the government had also implemented
additional property taxes on purchases made
by foreigners. These cooling measures had
been effective in reducing home prices by 4
percent in 2014. However, the cooling
measures had weakened the rental market.
Vacancy rates for private residential homes
increased by 1.6 percent from Q3 to Q4 last
year, according to data from the Urban
Redevelopment Authority. The data also
showed that rental prices had fallen by 3
percent last year. Other signs that the
property market is weak include increased
sentiment that property prices will slip further,
according to the Business Times. Not only so,
the number of repossessed homes that are
on auction had increased about 10 times to
118 in 2014 from 2013, according to Mok Sze
Sze from Jones Lang Laselle Inc.
(Source: Business Times)
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 8Back to Contents
Non-landed private home prices slip by
1.2%
From November to December last year,
prices of non-landed private homes fell by 1.2
percent according to flash estimates from the
National University of Singapore. This is well
within expectations, said Ong Kah Seng from
R’ST Research. In December, resale prices in
the non-central region and the central region
had also fallen. The sub-index for the central
region had fallen by 1.7 percent month-on-
month in December last year, while the sub-
index for the non-central region had fallen by
0.8 percent within the same period of time.
Ong believes that the continued loan curbs
and decreased interest in resale properties
are reasons for the fall in resale prices.
Nonetheless, prices of small apartments and
condo units that are up to 506 sq ft had
increased marginally by 0.5 percent in
December last year.
(Source: Business Times)
NUS-Redas Real Estate Sentiment Index
falls by 0.3 from Q3 to Q4 2014
According to the NUS-Redas Real Estate
Sentiment Index, the overall market sentiment
in Singapore had fallen by 0.3 from 3.7 in Q3
to 3.4 in Q4 last year. Sing Tien Foo from the
National University of Singapore said that the
weak residential market had dampened
market sentiments. Particularly, sentiments
about the residential sector had been mostly
negative. The proportion of respondents who
picked positive options and those who picked
negative answers were a net minus 59
percent for the prime residential sector.
Nonetheless, the current net balance for
office properties was a positive 38 percent.
Not only so, 43.5 percent of respondents had
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 9Back to Contents
indicated that they would want the
government to review its property cooling
measures in 2015.
(Source: Business Times)
Commercial
Tuas site launched for tender
Under the Industrial Government Land Sales
programme, JTC Corporation has launched a
0.8 ha site at Tuas South Street 11 for tender.
The land parcel is zoned for business
development and its tender will close on
March 24. The Tuas site has a maximum
permissible gross plot ratio of 1.0. Eight other
sites will also be launched under the
confirmed list for the Industrial Government
Land Sales programme in the first half of
2015, according to the Ministry of Trade and
Industry (MTI). Another five sites will also be
added onto the reserve list during the same
period of time. This would mean that a total of
14 hectares of land will be made available by
H1 2015. Of the 14 hectares, the nine sites
on the confirmed list will make up 6.46
hectares while 7.62 hectares will be yielded
from the reserve list.
(Source: Business Times)
AXA Tower acquired for $1.17b
AXA Tower will be acquired by a consortium
of investors for $1.17 billion or $1,735 psf of
net lettable area. The AXA Tower, which is 50-
storeys high, has a total net lettable area of
about 674,000 sq feet. Its total gross area is
about 1.03 million sq ft. The building is
currently made up of Grade A office spaces
and other retail spaces.
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 10Back to Contents
Located at Shenton Way, the building has a
99-year lease from 1982. Investors in the
building say that they will look into optimising
the value of the property by utilising the
additional 212,000 sq ft that is currently not in
use.
(Source: Business Times)
SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 193
Page | 11Back to Contents
Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Jan 14 – Jan 20
NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property
transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser
signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.
Postal
DistrictProject Name
Area
(sqft)
Transacted
Price ($)
Price
($ psf)Tenure
1 RIVERWALK APARTMENT 1,259 1,580,000 1,255 99
3 TANGLIN VIEW 1,464 1,510,000 1,031 99
4 TURQUOISE 2,777 4,550,000 1,638 99
5 VENTANA 1,518 1,675,000 1,104 FH
8 KERRISDALE 1,485 1,488,000 1,002 99
9 THE METZ 1,023 2,300,000 2,249 FH
9 ST THOMAS SUITES 2,605 5,100,000 1,958 FH
9 MACKENZIE REGENCY 1,087 1,250,000 1,150 FH
10 ST REGIS RESIDENCES SINGAPORE 4,941 9,500,000 1,923 999
10 MELROSE PARK 1,292 2,060,000 1,595 999
10 BALMORAL GATE 1,259 1,700,000 1,350 FH
10 TANGLIN REGENCY 1,259 1,470,000 1,167 99
11 PARK INFINIA AT WEE NAM 1,464 2,854,800 1,950 FH
11 CUBE 8 1,335 2,000,000 1,498 FH
11 MONTEBLEU 1,475 2,180,000 1,478 FH
11 SUFFOLK PREMIER 1,001 1,180,000 1,179 FH
12 CASA FORTUNA 506 738,000 1,459 FH
12 BALESTIER PLAZA 1,625 1,600,000 984 FH
15 NATURALIS 646 800,000 1,239 FH
15 BUTTERWORTH 8 1,313 1,570,000 1,196 FH
15 MANDARIN GARDEN CONDOMINIUM 1,001 1,080,000 1,079 99
15 THE BECCAGAYLE 1,475 1,520,000 1,031 FH
16 CASA MERAH 1,550 1,680,000 1,084 99
16 AQUARIUS BY THE PARK 1,324 1,270,000 959 99
Postal
DistrictProject Name
Area
(sqft)
Transacted
Price ($)
Price
($ psf)Tenure
16 THE BAYSHORE 980 930,000 949 99
16 THE CLEARWATER 1,356 1,150,000 848 99
16 STRATFORD COURT 2,034 1,480,000 727 99
17 BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,281 920,000 718 FH
19 KOVAN MELODY 1,313 1,435,000 1,093 99
19 THE FLORENTINE 958 1,000,000 1,044 947
19 CENTRAL VIEW 1,206 1,060,000 879 99
20 SIN MING PLAZA 2,971 2,680,000 902 FH
22 LAKEHOLMZ 1,249 1,050,000 841 99
23 HILLINGTON GREEN 1,356 1,360,000 1,003 999
23 REGENT GROVE 1,163 855,000 735 99
23 PALM GARDENS 2,336 1,580,000 676 99