Hello again, dear readers!

After the last two articles on how to market your property in a challenging market and case studies on how I achieved record-breaking prices for my seller clients in 2014, we finally have something for readers on the buy side! 

If you’ve been actively house hunting, you are probably familiar with and perhaps rather jaded by the marketing terms, “Value Buy!”, “Star Buy!” and its variations – these catchphrases have been overused and misused far too often. So today, I’d like to demonstrate what a true value buy should look like.

Value Buy Doesn’t Have To Mean Below-Valuation

Firstly, a sound investment doesn’t have to mean buying at a steep discount. (Although this is everybody’s ideal! ) Most buyers (and their agents) seem to think that simply checking past transacted prices for the particular development and then slashing the price by oh, say 10-20%, is The Way to getting a “value buy”.

That, my friend, is more likely to get you a rejected offer and disappointment. Sellers have access to the very same transaction data, so barring severe cashflow problems, a haunted house, or insanity, they’re unlikely to agree to getting ripped off.

A more sensible, realistic approach is to seek out properties that are undervalued, with good latent potential. This definitely takes more brain work and research, but less is left to luck and chance. So let’s get cracking!

Cashew Heights

Nothing like a live example to illustrate a concept, so let me use an exclusive listing I have at Cashew Heights as a case study. Based on my price of $905psf for a mid-floor 1,658sft unit, I consider this a stellar example of a “Value Buy”, for reasons I shall subsequently explain. Continue reading “How to Identify a Value Buy – Cashew Heights Case Study” →