Property Investment Book by my good friend

I have always admired the spirit, tenacity and curious nature of my fellow property blogger at www.propertywaltz.com. She is willing to go out of her comfort zone to try new things and embrace life.  This week, her new book on property investments is published.
I am one of her fans who have pre-ordered her book and got a personalized autograph for it.
The book is simple to read, of a great size to carry around, and I love the colour printings and many photos shared by the author.
If you are a beginner in property investments, I would recommend this book for all the basic knowledge and calculations.
Well done, Anie, you are an inspiration to all young aspiring investors.  Dreams do come true!

Apartment Hunting 2015

One of my favorite past-times, apartment hunting.
Checking out this lovely old apartment. I'm excited and over the moon again!

This unit has not much to boast about, but one must be able to see the potential to turn into something worthwhile with some cleaning and touch-up.

Rented Out Fast and Furious

Below chronology of events and I consider myself so very lucky.  I count my blessings.

31/03/2015 - Letter notification from developer on vacant possession
16/04/2015 - Due to work commitments, unable to get to handover office until today to settle balances and get the keys.

And then it is a long waiting period for defects rectification and doing nothing because.... CCC (certificate of completion and compliance) is not ready.
From VP to CCC - 3 months - paying the bank installments and bleeding.

01/07/2015 - Informed by one of the real estate agents that the CCC is ready.  Agents got the news faster than I receive the letter from developer.....

04/07/2015 - Ordered furniture to be delivered on 11/07

11/07/2015 - Exasperating!  Furniture lorry did not come.  Due to the coming Raya, too many orders, didn't get prioritized.  Meanwhile, lights installed.

16/07/2015 - Took leave specially to wait for furniture delivery, luckily it arrived.
                   - Discovered more defects, complained to developer for rectification.

27/07/2015 - Appointment for defects rectification (drainage problems).
                    - One super-agent came to see my unit.  Super hard-working.
                    - Gave him 1 set of key as he has arranged viewing the next day.

28/07/2015 - 04/08/2015  Viewings, viewings, viewings, but no takers.
05/08/2015 -  Viewing and rented!
06/08/2015 - Tenant moved in!

All this thanks to one Super-Agent!  Fantastic.
From CCC to rental - 5 weeks!  Fast and Furious!

Keys Handover

My sifu, Renesial Leong, once said, there is no excitement greater than when you hold the keys to a newly acquired unit and you open the door.  Well said.

And now, sending the vibration to the universe that I could attract my next good tenant asap.

Facelift at my Unit

Due to inconsistent rent payments, I gave my tenants at one unit around 3 months' of notice and asked them to move out.  After they left, the condition of the apartment unit looks very shabby and had to be repainted and repaired before I could attract new tenants.  This is not the fault of the old tenants, in fact they had been very tolerant of the unit condition when they moved in 2 years back.

The worst part was the peeling paint from the balconies and the less-than-white ceilings.

So, a facelift had to be given to the unit and I managed to get the painters' contact from my blogger and property investor friend, propertywaltz.

Here are the after-results.  Wall colour changed from white to beige.

Looks so much brighter and cheerful now with the new colour.

Full House at Domain

Finally, finally, after the improvements, the last tenant booked my apartment's last room for rent.  It was empty for about 5 months!  Lesson well learnt and well remembered.

Long-awaited Tenant

I think I fell into the trap of complacency as a landlord.  Gone were the days when property rental is hot and fast, and I was too slow to note it.  Indeed, I was puzzled why viewer after viewer rejected taking my room, and then I consulted my fellow blogger, investor and good friend at Property Waltz.

True, the rental market has slowed down for that area due to emerging competition, but she also pointed out a few points when she saw pictures of the room that I sent her.
1. Walls unpainted and dull
2. Bed too close to window
3. Curtains not put up  (I already bought new curtain but I didn't put it up, wanted to let the new tenant have 1st hand new curtain).

Before the improvements

So I listened to her room improvement pointers and here are the results:

Add a picture to brighten the walls

Repainted the wall and moved the bed

Moved the Ikea wardrobe so one wall doesn't look so empty

Hopefully, I am that much closer to attracting my next clean and responsible tenant.