Sharing: Purchased Emerald of Katong for $2.5m
This is a sharing on the sale of a unit during Emerald of Katong booking day. It is a special sharing since I am the agent closing the sale, while the buyer is my wife 😉 I will be sharing our property investment journey, and what other projects we missed/gave up, and eventually landing EOK.
Please watch the video.
In addition, here’s some important tips & tricks in words.
Don’t FOMO on booking day
Booking day is much about luck – you need good queue number to secure well priced units. For sly developer, you might not have many good units to start with.
We walked away from Chuan Park as we have set a limit on the PSF and quantum. Plus I prep my buyer on the other opportunities – be it existing launches, future launches or resale market.
These are homework that must be done before booking day.
For example, it don’t make investment sense to buy Chuan Park when their #01-34 (3-bedroom) is selling at $2.4m ($2,608 PSF). Compared to EOK, which was expected to sell their 3-bedroom starting at $2.1m ($2,300+ PSF). How could the PSF of Serangoon be higher than Katong by that much?
How to get loan beyond TDSR
For my buyer, she is buying under a single name, and can only loan $900,000 from the bank due to TDSR.
At 75% LTV of the $2.5m purchase = $1,875,000, there is a shortfall of nearly $1m.
She uses pledge/unpledge (aka show fund) to supplement the shortfall. You might need to borrow from family, sell shares/crypto (good while it is at all-time-high!), or take margin loan.
Property debt is good debt. But you must make sure you can service the monthly mortgage, and tide through any economy downturn. Do not overstretch. Always make sure you have that safety net.
You need an agent for new launch
As an agent, I am bias to say this, but do hear me out.
I once also said: You don’t need an agent to buy a condo. Yup, I sound contradictory. But when I said that, it is more applicable to resale.
For new launch, the buyer NEVER pay any commission to the agent. The agent earns the commission directly from the developer.
Hence, you should always engage an agent for a new launch, and you better get someone who will really advise for your best interest. Someone capable of helping you choose your unit wisely, and savvy enough to shortlist on the hectic booking day.
While I only do this part-time, I can tell you realtor work is not my livelihood; it’s fine not to close the sale. It is more like a hobby for me 😁
