Concluding deals even if you can't meet your clients

Many have despaired at the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) from March 18 to May 12, followed by the Conditional MCO (CMCO) from May 13 to June 9, because their incomes have shrunk. However, with desperation being the mother of invention, the close-to-three-months of movement restrictions have forced many to discover survival skills they didn’t know they had.

For real estate negotiators, they have learnt to stay agile and constantly engage with clients to stay relevant in the industry.

Centricity Realty real estate negotiator Lydia Sim for instance, had continued to engage with potential buyers and sellers via messaging applications when staying at home during MCO.

“Photos and videos were important tools as no viewings were allowed. By sending the buyers the photos of the properties, it gave them a better idea of how the property looked like,” Sim tells EdgeProp.my.

Through constant communication, she managed to seal a deal for a shoplot between May 9 and 12 by sending the booking form to the buyer and seller to sign separately using a delivery service.

“Currently, the deal is pending loan approval. I felt gratified that a property deal could actually be done even during MCO,” says Sim. The sale and purchase agreement was signed in mid-June.

Nevertheless, she notes that investors of commercial properties are more willing to buy without going through a physical viewing.

In this deal, the owner of the 3-storey shoplot in Sg Long, Selangor measuring 22ft by 75ft, cashed out with RM1.75 million for the 10-year old freehold unit which was purchased from its developer a decade ago.

As for Richland Properties senior real estate negotiator Kumar Arumugam, time was not wasted when he was forced to stay home.

Compiling and updating his listings’ information helped him find a buyer for a double-storey semidee house in Saujana Impian, Kajang. He had previously failed to secure any takers despite having put it up in the market for over two years.

“The buyer is a couple who rented a house two rows away from this semidee. They have been looking for houses around Saujana Impian and approached me on May 4 when they saw my updated listing,” says Kumar.

Kumar brought the potential buyers to view the property on the first day of CMCO, and after one week of negotiations, the semidee was sold for RM885,000 (asking price was RM980,000).

Meanwhile, for IQI Realty senior real estate negotiator Wennie Liew, who specialises in high-rise residential deals, her focus shifted from finding buyers to finding landlords and collecting new listings.

In fact, she ended up receiving quite a number of new listings from property owners. “Many have terminated their tenancies as their businesses or incomes had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, even before MCO started,” she says.

Besides new listings, there are quite a number of “solid” enquiries from tenants who are looking for accommodation near their offices, friends or families, for fear of the possibility of another MCO, she adds.

“MCO has made some renters rethink their needs, especially those who are staying far from their offices or friends and family members. I got a tenant who decided to move to a condominium close to his office,” Liew says.

The tenant who worked at Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, decided to move from Subang to a unit in I Residence located at Kota Damansara which is 1.5km from his office in Sunway Giza Mall.

The 579 sq ft studio unit was rented out for RM1,300 a month, says Liew, adding that the tenant who approached her during MCO immediately signed the agreement after viewing the unit in May at the start of the CMCO.

More serious buyers looking for good bargains

Centricity Realty’s Sim was surprised to receive more enquiries on commercial properties during the MCO period, against the general perception that the market is weak.

“With so much negative news on the property market, I think people get the impression that property prices are dropping. Hence, interested purchasers were doing some scouting and ‘shopping’ when they were staying at home,” she says.

No doubt, when times are slow like now, property owners who are willing to reduce their asking prices will have a higher chance to dispose of their properties. For instance, in a deal which she concluded recently, the shoplot owner was originally asking for RM2 million although transacted prices of similar shoplots in the area have decreased to RM1.8 million in 2019 compared with RM1.9 million a year before.

“After explaining the current market conditions and past years’ transaction prices, the seller eventually agreed to adjust the price. After all, he purchased the unit at around RM600,000 a decade ago so, although the profit may be less than what he wanted, he is not selling at a loss,” she emphasises.

Kumar from Richland Properties shares about a landed house that had failed to get a buyer for years because the owner had refused to reduce the asking price.

“It’s a nice landed house located next to a golf course. The environment is superb with green views and cool air. However, with increasing supply of new launches nearby, the owner will need to wait longer to see the property price appreciate. For those who can’t wait, they must adjust the asking price,” he points out.

IQI Realty’s Liew concurs, adding that rental rates also need to be reduced to attract tenants.

“In fact, many owners have realised it’s unrealistic to expect high rentals. Many of them have reduced their asking rental by around 20% to 30% to get tenants,” she says.

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This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my e-Pub on July 10, 2020. You can access back issues here.