Prospective buyers, including foreigners who have never been to Malaysia but fishing for investment opportunities in its real estate, may want to surf to the “wish list services” on the propertrack.com portal to help them narrow down their property criteria and other services they require when buying.

For foreigners and expatriates, the wish list services can also assist them in setting prior appointments before they arrive in the country, said propertrack.com team principal Stephen Hodgson.

The portal’s wish list services are offered in collaboration with its in-house property centre duty negotiators based in Kuala Lumpur and related property service providers, he said, adding that with the tighter credit, propertrack.com also refers buyers to specific financial institutions to ease their frustration of having to go door to door to shop for suitable home loan packages.

“We’ll see an overstock of property listings in the market over the next few months and for buyers, finding the right property will not be an easy task. The bidding wars of the must-have properties will be long gone.

“To close a deal during this period of time is like looking for a needle in the haystack … sellers will try their best to provide multiple incentives to grab buyers with the right price and hone their negotiating skills as tough as possible.

“There’ll be too many similar properties out there. As property buyers, you’ve to watch out for aggressive pricing changes to include what incentives are provided by the sellers for their specific properties,” he cautions.

Hodgson figures that with real estate negotiators dominating the local market, there will be overstock of properties in their bags which needs to be transacted fast, noting “without proper planning on what, where and how much, you next property purchase will pose a difficult task for the negotiator as well as for you to choose”.

“The wish list services will help narrow down your property criteria and other services required,” he added.

He related his first visit here and experience in buying his property and how it was one hassle after another as he neither knew where to go nor which apartments were within his budget.

“With an umbrella in hand, I walked from Bukit Bintang to Jalan Tun Razak and towards KL City Centre to survey the areas”.

“Now with the wish list services, even my brother who’s planning to buy a home here before visiting us during the next summer school holidays will be able to narrow down his needs, instead of requiring me to explain to him which areas and places are expat-friendly.”

His advice: “Buyers should look for value, which is not only reflected in the price they would rather pay but with Ringgit in their pocket. This will carry more weight when buying during this period.”

by Zoe Phoon

Source : NST - Property : Saturday, December 27, 2008

Source : http://www.propertymalaysia.my/index.php/2008/12/31/a-helping-hand-to-find-the-right-home/

| More...