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 ...
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