Robert Kiyosaki at National Achievers Congress 2012, Malaysia

Robert Kiyosaki, famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is coming to Klang Valley on 29-31 May 2012.  This event is the National Achievers' Congress, which Sara, Rohaniah Noor, and myself are planning to go.
But I was flabbergasted when I found out that the "early bird" price is RM297 per person.   Earlier, Rohaniah reported that the promotion through Groupon was only RM197 per person, but the Groupon offer is already over.

Having not received a regular email from the organizer (which I am on the mailing list), I was quite irritated.  How come they did not inform regular customers first?  So I wrote them an email to complain, especially when the staff who answered the phone was curt and not helpful.

Finally I got a reply today.  If I can get at least 10 people to join, we can still attend at RM197 each.  So we are calling on those of you out there who want to join us at this special price, and we register together.  However, this is only valid till end March, so please hurry if you want to join us; leave a comment below and I will contact you.

You can check out their promo price here at RM297.

This is Kiyosaki live in KL, in person.  A chance not to be missed and at RM197, a good deal for 3 days of mind-changing, positive energy seminar!

When Verbal Agreement is Not Good Enough

I was told this story by a real estate negotiator (REN), C.  They were in a co-broking deal.  One prospective buyer wanted to buy an office, and said that after the SPA, he wanted to move in and rent from the owner as a tenant.  The owner's REN said, that is of course not a problem; in fact, the owner would even let him use the office for no rent since he was the buyer and it was only for a few months. Based on this, the buyer was very happy, he didn't even negotiate the price very much, and then booked the unit with his deposit.

Then when the SPA was about to be signed, the owner refused to have the buyer move in with the so-called "no rental" before the completion of the deal. The buyer was disappointed, the owner was adamant with his decision, so much so that if the buyer refuse to sign the SPA, the owner can then forfeit his 2% deposit.  The buyer then confronted C (the co-broking REN, not the one who promised the free rental deal). C then spoke to the owner's REN and asked about this breach of promise. The owner's REN said, "Well, nothing can be done, there is nothing written on the agreement as conditions to the sale".  C was furious, and told him: "Look here, although it was not written, you said it, the buyer heard it and I was there. How can you do this?  Try to persuade the owner."

At the end, the owner still refused to allow early entry into the office, the buyer had no choice but to wait out the completion of the sale (because he didn't want to lose his deposit).
C, from then on, was very careful who he co-broke with, and tried to look after his client's interest rather than go through with any difficult deal.  While there are 2 types of RENs, the ones who don't care about anybody other than themselves, and the ones like C, who would really look their client's interest.
The lesson for all of us here is, whatever is promised, get it down in writing.

Ikea Expedit Bookcase - waiting to get into our new apartment

In anticipation of vacant possession of an apartment, we are now collecting furniture to furnish it.  One of the good deals I got is this Ikea Expedit bookcase, which I have been watching out for one since a few months ago. This is because the studio unit really needs a divider between the living space and the bed, so this is an essential piece of furniture.

New selling price is RM699, I got it at RM300.  It took hubby about 10mins to dismantle it, and then both of us loaded it into the car, in the hot sun.  Buying 2nd hand means we have to provide our own labour and transport. Then again, so is buying new from Ikea.  
I can't wait to start doing up the new apartment, but so far no news yet on the VP.   However, in keeping with the law of attraction, one should behave as if one has already got the keys!  Let's hope that this bookcase would not lie too long in storage.

Financial Mastery Course

This was a great 2-days course full of calculations by Freemen.  A good course to master your financials.
We started with our Financial Freedom Number.  Although I have done this before, it was great to refresh and remind myself what is my pension fund and what is my properties value in order to support my pension cash flow.
This was followed by a session on setting up a company and the accompanying math. The general rule of thumb is to set up a property holding company for properties worth >RM1mio, otherwise it becomes not cost-effective given the costs of setting up and maintaining a company.
Next, we were sent to Bank Negara to obtain our own CCRIS record.  A CCRIS record shows your capability and dependability to service your loan instalments, and is the reference document that banks use to check your loan records.

Photo courtesy of http://www.propertywaltz.com

After lunch it was another calculation session for debt-service-ratio, followed by a good question and answer session by Michael Tan and Sandeep.

Sandeep at the Q&A

On the 2nd day, guest speakers in the form of a regional mortgage banker and a valuer were brought in, to give us understanding on how the numbers in properties are calculated.  At the end, a short lesson on joint ventures and partnerships, including the Deed of Trust and the rules of engagement are also elaborated upon.

This is certainly a great course for seasoned investors to find out more about how credit can be used to work to our advantage.  And clearly this benefited Sara, and our blogger friend who has more details about the course at her blog: Do You Master Your Property Financing?