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pemAlmost everyone of usnbsp; dream of havingnbsp; to own a property, be it aa href=http://www.singaporepropertyexchange.com/propertysearch.php target=_blank Singapore condo, HDB for sale/a flat, EC, mass market suburban condominium, luxury apartment or a piece of valuable landed property. But what is your guarrantee of earningnbsp; profit even if you do decide to buy into the market? Is it all about timing and location? Is there a best time to buy? /em/p
pAn old friend in the real estate business once said that a ratio ofnbsp; one in four investors made any money out of investing ina href=http://www.singaporepropertyexchange.com/home.php target=_blank Singapore property/a. Although he had a pulse on the market for the past four decades, I ~considered that his estimate was absurdly low. Dreaming of havingstrongï#187;#191;/strongstrongï#187;#191;/strongnbsp;strongï#187;#191;/strongstrongï#187;#191;/strong a home of our own is inherent innbsp; our blood, and it would befoolishnbsp; for anyone to want to own a piece of a highly prized real estate on our crowded island if it is only a money-losing proposition. As a matter of fact, until the Government enter into the picture bringing a host of anti-speculation measures, there wereample tales about investors who let go of nbsp; their property for a quick profit by selling the newly acquirednbsp; propertynbsp; to another buyer./p
pStill, with the manynbsp; ups and downs in the private residential market through the years, I doubt if there is some truth to the observation made by a friend, far-fetched though it may seem. Like the stock market, the a href=http://www.singaporepropertyexchange.com/home.php target=_blankSingapore property/a market moves in cycles. Finding oneself at the wrong end of the cyclenbsp; resulted to more long years before you get to see the price you paid for a dream home again./p
pAt a recent reunion with a group of old friends, I noticedthatsomeof them had sold their properties while the red-hot market was on a roll. Remarkably, they prefernbsp; to downgrade to a smaller apartment or HDB flat. Some chose to kept the cash proceeds. Being anbsp; middle-aged investors, traditional outlook are the name of the game. Though, it can be discern that thenbsp; roller coaster ride innbsp; the local property market in the past 20 years had a big influence in the decision making./p
pMaking money in the property market is not all beds of roses. A friendnbsp; invested in a swanky Orchard Road condominium unit four years ago. Unfortunately the price plummetted down soon after the onset of the global financial crisis. Glad as he was to get out, even though henbsp; only hadnbsp; break even with his investment. Another friendnbsp; remarked , it would appear that he had made a hefty gain on a condo unit he had bought for investment 15 years ago. But after deducting the interest paid on the mortgage and the sums spent over the years on repairs and maintenance, the returns worked out to a paltry 3 per cent a year./p
pIn hindsight, it is simply not a risk worth taking, considering the large outlay involved. We argued that his returns would not have been so low if he had included the rentals he had collected in his computation. And there lies another twist to his story: He said that unlike the current tight rental market, where landlords can pick and choose their tenants, there was a period between 2002 and 2005 when condo rentals plunged so badly itnbsp; was not practicalnbsp; for owners to let out the unit. It is a cautionary tale aboutnbsp; potential hazards in the property market that a neophytenbsp; investor may want to consider./p
pTalk to any seasoned property investor and he will tell you that the key to making money is lsquo;location, location, locationrsquo;. But like the equities market, investing in the property market is also about getting the timing right. My friendrsquo;s returns on his investment were so low because he bought the condo in 1996, when prices were at a record high. It took 10 years before property prices regained those lofty levels ndash; and another five before they rose to a level where buyers could comfortably get out without incurring losses./p