Originally Posted by
gfoo
Dude, i've never professed to be a guru, or good at timing, or rich, or privileged or anything.
All i emphasize is what common sense is already telling many. The economy is still floundering, fundamentals are still shaky, and the developers are aggressively clearing their stock and not replenishing their landbanks. Even the stock markets are like trapping water, trying to be above sea level. Look at how fragile confidence is - one tax scare and property stocks drop like a rock and friends start MSN-ing about whether to dump their property or not. Imagine a scare that is a little more substantial - will property owners start dumping too?
And then you have cheap-shot marketing tactics from developers and agents trying to market properties previously and historically deemed as non-ideal and discounted, to be a property more than what it really is by putting terms like 'Tanglin' in ang suah, 'city centre' in a cemetary, 'luxury living' in a hobbit hole.
No one knows when property will drop to the lowest or go to the highest - esp in Singapore when things are driven by sentiment and confidence and not fundamentals. I bought in Feb not because indicators like PMIs, baltic dry seemed to hit bottom, but mostly because for the first time, TS hit launch pricing. I emphasize - i bought because the price of my property hit 2005 launch price. I couldn't care less about other areas because it was not within my focus.
So i tell you this - nobody needs to be a seasoned investor to buy at the right time when its so obvious that an iconic property is going for a price set 4 years ago, 2 years before the last property boom, and 1.5 years after the last property bottom. All you need is to put in the effort to have agents working for you, and to read sat's papers regularly.
My advice to those who are looking at properties out there: focus on the type and location you want and shortlist, then do price comparisons and see how much current price have risen above launch, or surrounding levels. Then go for the best price performance. Buy because that property or area you shortlisted has hit your price target, don't buy because there are queues outside a place, or your friend/family is jumping in, and the newspapers/agents/developers are all saying it's sunny outside.
I've recommended to a forummer and friend here on a locality that is more prime and prestigious in terms of living and potential than ascentia sky, at less than half the psf. Proud owner and others have recommended areas that they are focused in. There are many ignored older properties out there that are still very good value. There's even more landed out there that represents even better value.
Don't get suckered by marketing-speak.