FB deleted my 56 Property Posts

Yesterday was a bad day for me.

As all of you readers would know by now,

I write about property-related topics in Facebook

almost everyday.

So yesterday I was searching high and low in FB

for some posts which were written past few days.

AND to my surprise .... they were MISSING !!

Here is a screenshot of one of my posts.

At first I thought it was just a Technical Glitch

and thus I just ignored it and waited.  After 2 hours

I searched again .... and those real estate posts were

still not there.

AND that's when I started to panicked !!

Did I do something wrong with my marketing and

branding in Social Media Platforms like FB ?

So finally this morning, my fears came true.

I logged into my Facebook account and this pops up

WOW ... 56 of my posts on property-related content

were removed without my knowledge ....

Here are the screenshots :

BUT what irks me is why does Facebook do this

to me ?  And without giving me any Warning ?

What is worse is that I was NOT even given any

chance to make an appeal to them !!

I am an active member in many property Groups.

So whenever I make a post, I will then click the

SHARE button .

So my question is  ---  if FB doesn't like what I 

write or what I share, then why not just remove the

Share Button ?

Only after I have wasted so much time and effort

in sharing to other groups ... then only they deleted .

There is simply no justice at all ....

As a real estate agent, I need to post about properties

as part of my Marketing & Branding. But by totally

blocking my URL Link to this Blog of mine, it means

that I am losing out on a lot of opportunites.

BUT no worries.

I have 3 Solutions in mind

OPTION 1

===========

Use an Image Post which shows the Blog URL.

Thus if you are reading this now,

please SAVE/Bookmark this URL for your reference

since I will be posting in this Blog almost daily.

OPTION 2

===========

Use a Bridge Page.

A bridge page is essentially a Landing Page

which Re-Directs you to my actual Blog.

Its like using a 3rd Party.

Thus you will then click on the Bridge Page link

which will then bring you to this Blog,

bypassing the FB Lockdown .

Here's a video I created about Bridge Page

OPTION 3

==========

Use a Link Cloaker..

This cloaker serves to Mask/Disguise my Blog URL

to enable it to bypass FB robots.

Take not that a Link Cloaker is 

NOT the same as a Link Shortener e.g Bitly or TinyUrl.

There are Free and Paid Versions of Link Cloakers

in the market. But with advanced in technology by FB,

my personal experience shows that some of these

cloaking software or cloaking service are NO LONGER

effective in penetrating through the Facebook firewall .....

Thus you must be careful on this.

Batu Kawan --- the next Hotspot of Penang

If you are a property agent from Penang,

you would know where is Batu Kawan.

But if you are from other states of Malaysia,

then you may have passed through Batu Kawan

without you even realizing it ....

For those from out-station and going to the

beautiful island of Pulau Pinang or Penang,

once you exit out from the North-South Highway

onto the Penang Second Bridge ( officially known

as Jambatan Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah )

then travel for another 5 minutes .... you would 

have entered into the territory of Batu Kawan.

Batu Kawan is a hugh place and is the 3rd Township

masterplanned by the Penang Development Corporation .

The major developers here are Ecoworld, Paramount Property

and Aspen.

Today it is also the home to many industries catering to

the Electronics & Electrical sectors, plus Industrial 

Automation.

The PDC land available in the areas mentioned is 

Batu Kawan (2,946.7 acres for mixed development, 

industrial park and affordable housing), East Batu Kawan 

(622.6 acres for mixed development, various industries), 

South Penang Science Park (173.7 acres for various 

industries) and Byram (782.7 acres for various industries).

And recently, Lam Research ( the US-based global supplier 

of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services 

to the semiconductor industry )  is investing close

 

to RM1 billion to build a factory, including offices 

and a warehouse on a 138ha site.

The new factory will be the group's 

largest manufacturing facility, among its other facilities

in the US, Austria, South Korea and Taiwan.

Apart from residential, commercial and industrial

components, Batu Kawan is also the home for IKEA,

KDU University College, The Ship Campus, Peninsula

College, and Walta Centre of Excellence.

With so much going on here, Batu Kawan is 

without doubt the next hotspot for Penang !!

How to do Site Visit in Lockdown ?

The lockdown has already started

and is in progress in various stages,

depending on which State you are in.

And to most real estate agents, 

this is certainly BAD NEWS indeed !!

Why ?

Because they find it impossible to go site visit,

and to do the preliminary survey and reccee

of the property and its surroundings.

BUT dont worry .... there is a solution to this !!

Just use Google Streetview and Google Satellite ....

So what is Google Streetview ?

And what is Google Satellite ?

Google Streetview are actually videos/photos 

of the properties ( land or building ) that are shot

and recorded by the 360 degrees visual equipments

perched ontop of the Google Streetview Car.

Of and on, you may have seen such cars on the road

and on the highway, and wondering what is this type

of car used for ?

This car would go to a certain location, travel along the

main road, the side road, the accessible road, the highway

and expressway, etc and take photos & videos of that

location.

BUT of course, these cars do not go surveying everyday.

Probably once every few years to do some updates,

especially for locations that are experiencing very

rapid development.

The same goes for Google Satellites views.

Way high up in the sky are Hundreds of Satellites

that belong to various countries and different

companies that are orbitting and circling round the earth.

What these satellites do is to take photos and videos

of various locations on the earth. And thus we are able

to view our sites with the help of Google Satellite.

To help you understand better on how a property agent

can make full use of the function of  Google Streetview 

and Google Satellite, I have created this video

Now that you understand how it works, 

I wish to highlight that you should always

look at the Bottom of the computer screen

which says ... Map data 2021.

This means that the photo was recorded in 2021

by either the Google Car or the Google Satellite.

In short, it is the LATEST data available.

Of course, sometimes it may be Old Data,

and it say year 2020 .... thus you must be careful

of this as certain signboards of shops or buildings

may be NO Longer there as they have already

closed down or have shifted elsewhere.

ALSO take note that Streetview can only show

the outside view of the property. For example

you can only see the External of the Condominium

and for Gated & Guarded projects, the Google Car

is NOT allowed to enter the project to record.

But overall, both are very useful Tools for any

property agent, especially during this pandemic.

It certainly helps you to do your market survey

much earlier Before even having to go for the

actual site visit.

Thus it will also help you to save on your time,

your petrol, your highway toll and your parking

charges since these tools can help you decide

whether its worth going for site visit or not.

How to cope in Bad Times

Actually i did not want to write about this.

Because the pandemic has caused so much

hardships to everyone, that every day i only

come across Bad News !!

There is nothing positive to read about anymore.

People are scrambling for food, awaiting humanitarian

aids, hand-outs and freebies from the government , 

the NGOs, and the kind public.

Jobs were lost. Salaries were cut. Movement were

restricted. Everyone has to stay at home. So how to

survive then ?

And today is another record-breaking day in

Malaysia because the Covid-19 cases spiked up to

7,654 cases !!

Since the pandemic Movement Control restrictions 

started about 16 months ago, tens of thousand of

real estate agents were also affected.

This is because site visits and viewing of properties

were curtailed, and many property agents resorted

to Online Viewing via photos and videos .

BUT there is only so much that one can do

with doing presentations online !!

Let's be real .

Buying and renting property is a physical thing.

You need to offer a real PHYSICAL Experience

to both the buyer and tenant.

For example a manufacturer who wants to lease

a factory with 150,000 sq ft built-up space, would

want to inspect the property .... to walk around ....

to see the external parking space and turning angles

for their lorries and containers ... the ceiling height

and the eaves height ... the floor loading ... all the

loading docks ... the condition of the Mechanical 

and Electrical installations, etc.

You can't expect him to sign a lease for RM200,000

without doing an actual site inspection !!

Of course, if you are just selling NEW project launch

for a 1-room SOHO service apartment unit say

somewhere nearby Kota Warisan or Rawang or 

Cheras ... then it is quite possible to close a sale.

WHY ?

Because the showunit is standardised with fixed

template. So you dont need any spectacular video

shooting skill as the developer would already have

given you most of the Marketing Kit and tools.

Also the Booking Fee is usually RM300 to RM1,000.

Some even as low as ZERO booking fee .

AND so all the newbie Real Estate Negotiators 

start posting their joyous moment in social media,

proclaiming a Sale .... a done deal ....

BUT being rookies and fresh to the world of

real estate agency, they dont realise that in any

property transaction .... you need 3 parties to tango.

Seller & Buyer & Banker.

In the current pandemic-devastated economy,

bankers have done 2 things  --- very choosy on your

source of income ( type of job or business ) and

slashing down on the Loan Margin.

So what happens is that the initial excitement of the

newbie agent now turn to sadness .... because the buyer

could not get the bank loan he wanted and the purchase

gets aborted.

In fact for those agents who are handling sales launch 

of new projects ( SOHO, SOVO, Rumawip/Residensi, 

Rumah SelangorKu, etc ) are now in bad shape as the

succesful cases have gone down to 40% to 50% !!

Also because of the loss of income for the past 16 months,

many prospective buyers have also resorted to borrowing

more from their Personal Loans, spending more on their

credit cards, etc.

So what happens is that this INCREASED their total

monthly expenditures, meaning their DSR or their 

Debt-Service-Ratio has now increased.

Thus their loan eligibility is also reduced !!

Feedback from those agents who are doing project

marketing is that it is very difficult to collect their

commissions now .... because the developers have

delayed their payment !!

Thus it is very hard for the agent to survive without

any cash flow coming in ....

Considering all of the above, one can safely say that

it looks good to read in Facebook of other agents 

closing this sale and that sale ... but looks are deceiving.

Be realistic.

Just go do what is Do-able.

Otherwise just go take a rest ...

Why estate agents must have an Opt-in Page

Do you advertize in Facebook or Google or Twitter ?

Do you advertize in online property portals like 

iProperty, Propertyguru, Edgeproperty, Mudah, 

StarProperty, etc ?

And in your advertizements, do you only insert

your phone no or WhatsApp No or perhaps your email ?

If you are .... then you are not alone !!

Countless property agents do this in their ads,

and this is a BIG MISTAKE as they are losing

out a lot on the opportunity ....

Any professional marketer, especially those who

are savvy Internet Marketers or proficient in the

Online Marketing industry will tell you that for any

ads or marketing that you do .... you MUST ALWAYS

have an Opt-in Page to capture your business leads !!

So what is an Opt-in Page ?

It is basically a Landing Page whereby your buyer

or the prospect would type in their Name and Email,

then click Submit , and their info would be listed into

your system or Database.

In other words, an Opt-in Page is compulsory for

you to do any Lead Generation, which you can then

do the Follow Up later on.

Here are some examples of Opt-in Pages 

You must be asking ---  WHY do you need such a page

when your advertisements already have their Name and

Phone No ?

Well the answer is because apart from helping to filter

your prospect, such a page ( with their emails ) allows you 

to MARKET & RE-MARKET to them ( without being

too annoying and irritating ).

Imagine calling your prospects everyday and bugging

them .... do you think they will like you ?

BUT if you send them an email instead, it will be more

friendly and less interrupting ....

SO how do you create an Opt-in Page ?

There are 2 ways ---- the FREE method

and the PAID method.

For the free way of creating your own page, 

I have created this video for you 

From watching this video of mine, you can see that

one can easily create such a Landing Page in 5 minutes

using this website  https://quickpages.co  ... and its FREE !!

BUT the problem is you will need to Download 

all your business leads into a CSV File, and then copy

and paste those emails into your own Gmail or Yahoo Mail etc

to be able to send out your email.

And everytime you need to send out any NEW email,

you will then need to Copy & Paste those emails again

and again .... making it very tedious indeed !!

So its a Manual Process.

If you are a newbie, with very few email leads to work on

in your database ... then this is quite okay.

For this is FREE ... you dont need to pay to use this tool.

BUT if your real estate business is growing bigger,

and you need a Lead Generation system that can 

function automatically WITHOUT using much of your

time and effort .... then i would encourage you to use

an AUTORESPONDER service or software.

Of course its not free, and you need to pay either

on a monthly basis ( based on how many emails or

subscribers you collect in your database ) or it could

be just a One-Time payment .

For example, this is an example of my Opt-in Page 

==>>  https://sendfox.com/lp/3o5k89  

I paid a One-time Payment for it, and i can create

as many Pages as i want to. 

The main difference with a Paid Method is that 

i can create a series of Pre-written Emails in my

software, and it will then send out my emails 

on my behalf ( based on the pre-determined days

and time that I have fixed in my Setting ).

This is what an AutoResponder does ....

it capture those email leads and then send out emails

AUTOMATICALLY on my behalf.

If you are a property agent, or perhaps into other

businesses like MLM, insurance, consulting, ecommerce

and so on .... then it is important to upgrade your

online presence with the latest marketing tool.

What if the Category of Land Use is NIL ?

Yesterday i received a message from a young

property agent asking if I could assist him.

In my country of Malaysia, a newbie or rookie agent

is officially known as a REN ( Real Estate Negotiator )

as prescribed by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers,

Estate Agents and Property Managers.

And every aspiring REN is required to attend a

mandatory 2-days course called NCC ( Negotiators

Certification Course ) before he or she is allowed

to start selling or renting properties.

So what happened is that this newbie REN

told me that he had attended the NCC class about

a month ago, and the speaker mentioned that

under the National Land Code ( Kanun Tanah Negara )

there are only 3 types of Category of Land Use 

( Jenis Kegunaan Tanah ) in Malaysia.

1) Agriculture  ( Pertanian )

2) Building  ( Bangunan )

3) Industrial ( Perindustrian )

In his private message to me via Facebook,

he said his client wanted him to sell a land

in rural Pasir Salak ( where that very famous 

Pakcik PROBOK MRT is from ).

BUT the problem is when he checked the

title deed, the Category of Land Use is stated

NIL ....

So now he is lost and confused !!

The famous NCC Speaker say got 3 types

of Land Use in this country .... yet now nothing

is mentioned in the title of the property that

he is mandated to sell.

HOW ah like this ?

No problem brother .... actually the answer

is quite simple if you understand the process

of Property Development in Malaysia.

To make things simple, I have created a video

After watching this video, you would realize that usually

for very old titles, the Category of Land Use is sometimes

stated as NIL  or TIADA.

So next time you come across this type of title, 

don't worry ....

How to close Big Deals during pandemic

The economy in Malaysia is now in

dire straits. In fact it is in total chaos,

with so much Lock-Down, Semi Lock-Down,

and various versions of the MCO or the

Movement Control Order.

The constant changes in what one CAN DO

and NOT allowed to do has created so much

hardship and uncertainties .

The Covid-19 pandemic has ruined the lives

of many real estate agents or property agents

not only in Malaysia ... but also worldwide.

This is because the physical touch makes the

difference when it comes to viewing and inspecting

a property, whether to buy or to let.

BUT when the government clamped down on

the travel restrictions, this certainly serve a

death knell for my fellow real estate agents !!

Of course, some property gurus have pivoted

to doing marketing online .... via Zoom sessions

as well as conducting Virtual Tours of the 

properties to be marketed, and using Docusign

for signing the documents.

But then again, there is only so much that one

can do online, considering that for any property

transaction to happen .... it will involve 8 parties

namely the Seller, the Buyer, the Agent, the Lawyer

the Banker and the Land Office, the Tax Department

plus the Valuation Department.

Thus if  one party is under lockdown and forced to

work-from-home, then the entire chain in the said

transaction will be jammed up !!

What's happening on the ground right now

is there are more property listings available

for sale or to let, as many owners are jobless

and retrenched, or have their salaries reduced,

and many too have to shut down their business !!

There are less property buyers in the market.

And even if they want to buy, the problem is to

get the bank loan at the margin that they want.

https://youtu.be/V8HjWxUwMKE 

Considering all these mis-matches, I have decided

to create a video that has been published in Youtube

sometime ago. Hope this video can help you in your

marketing of properties.

16 months have passed, and the Pandemic is still

ravaging with new variants coming in. Thus if you are

a property agent, I would encourage you to re-look 

into how you are going to sustain and generate income

in the months to come.

The Mapping King of Malaysian Real Estate

 

If you are a Real Estate Agent or a Property Agent

in Malaysia, and you are like me ( specializing in land,

be it Agriculture Land or Development Land or perhaps

Industrial Land ) , then you would most likely come

across the name Ho Chin Soon from Ho Chin Soon

Research Sdn Bhd ).

For he is the un-disputed King of Maps !!

Yes.... he produces all types of maps for the 

real estate fraternity. His maps cover most of the

states, and focus on Land Use and Land Transactions

which are very useful for any Real Estate Agent .

Then too, his maps are also widely used by the

property developers, as those maps offers a macroview

of whats developed in any particular location. 

Thus it allows the developer a clear insight into the

surroundings as well as the competition for their

market survey and market research.

I met Ho Chin Soon in 1991 when I was still a

Business Development Executive with the public-listed

Selangor Properties Bhd.

Back then he has just started his company, and was

eager to sell his FIRST set of maps.

And that was how I managed to get a copy of his maps

( Ampang Road East & Bukit Bintang Master Plan ) 

which was published in October 1990.

Frankly,  his maps were VERY UGLY  indeed !!

Actually they were not maps but rather black & white A4 size 

compilations in book form.

The initial release was a fiasco ... coz the property agents 

would buy 1 copy & then photostat to share among themselves !!

So the ever-smart Master Ho changed his format 

from black & white to a darker grey and red background. 

This means those cheapskate agents only end up with

REALLY DARK photostated copies which are NOT readable.

As the years progressed, the quality kept on improving 

until you get to see all his colorful glossy maps today !!

Of all the maps in my vintage portfolio, 

the best ones are from his 1992  Klang Valley Master Plan series  

( Central, North, South ). 

These 3 maps were of immense help to me

 in my forays into land deals.

Dont believe ? .... just look at their torn 

& worn-out condition from my over-use !!

Here are some of his other maps produced

during the early days ....

These days the King of Maps has retired,

and the firm is now headed by his son Ismael Ho.

With the new young blood, Ismael has now infused the

modern technology into the mapping business, using

drones, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality too.

Personally i have bought about RM40,000 worth of maps

from them, and these maps have really helped me a lot

in sourcing for land, analysing the surroundings and

doing marketing proposals.

Of course, many property agents don't even know that

such types of maps exist. And so they end up just using

Google Maps or buy those tourist maps from bookshops

like Borders, MPH, Popular, Kinokuniya or from the

petrol stations like Exxon, BH, Shell and Petronas !!

Also most property agents or Real Estate Negotiators

prefer to use the app Waze .... when moving around.

But if you are doing out-station site surveys or have

to visit sites located in rural locations, then I would

suggests using those maps from Ho Chin Soon instead.

So what is their secret of success ?

Back then there was no Joey Yap or Lilian Too 

or Kenny or Joe or other masters.

BUT  Ho Chin Soon was already practising feng shui 

..... his address was the very lucky and auspicious

LOT 4.88,  Wisma Central ....

And in March 1995 ... 26 long years ago ... 

Master Ho was already zooming in on South Johor

yet you fellas are only talking about Iskandar Johor now 

...  that's the difference between a VISIONARY 

Master Mapper and a layman ....