801142 - Tips for 1st Time Landlords

SURFER'S GIRL TIPS FOR LANDLORD
PROMPT REPLIES TO INTERNET QUERIES ON SINGAPORE HOUSING
Ref: 801142

To: All First-time Owners
From: Ann Brocklebank of Surfer’s Girl Tips.
January 16, 1998 4 a.m.
Prospect: Caucasian American – setting up regional office for UK Company.
Rental budget: S$6,000 - $10,000.

Wife and one-year old son.

Apartments Viewed Jan 5 (by husband) and 15, 1998 (by husband and wife) with Asia USA Realty: >40 units 9.30 a.m to 5 p.m 2 days. Viewing with another agency on Jan 16. Final decision to select on unit on Jan 17.

This article illustrated 2 real cases of getting children to help you rent an apartment.

Lucky Towers, Grange Road 92 units. 4+1, 2,800 sq. ft. $7,000. Vacant on Jan 16.. units in Lucky Towers. Active construction work to re-tile external walls, build new swimming pool and clubhouse. Dust all around. Each of 91 owners presenting contributed S$50,000 to upgrade whole condominium but this will take several months. Location excellent, being 10-minute walk to Orchard/Scotts Road and the Orchard subway. Prospect actually rejected this condo on first impression.

Short-listed for 2^nd viewing for expatriate wife, because of good impression of Owner on first viewing. Owner had to be in Hongkong during 2^nd viewing and had to depend on the son.

Owner willing to renovate maid’s room, provide brand new American-sized washer and drier, living and dining sets and free health club membership at the Regent’s Hotel to compensate for temporary lack of condo facilities. The over 50-year old Owner, with his hair growing from the top of his head and both sides shaved off was also an excellent sales person. He asked for "5 minutes" and drove us to view the facilities of the health club. Although we were late for other appointments, the persuasive powers of the Owner pulled our client to view the health club facilities.

2 follow-up phone calls from Hong Kong to our agent to ensure that his son would be available for 2^nd viewing and that we remember his unit. Son also received fax to help out. Son was not available for January 13 viewing for another expat couple (missed one opportunity) as he had to work.

Son does not want to divulge his pager and handphone. No response to buzzer for apartment in which the Owner and his son live and in rental unit in Lucky Tower although appointment on January 15 scheduled. We left the unit. 2 and a half hours later, the son phoned our agent to say he was in from 10.15 a.m!

Accommodating the wish of the son, our agent scheduled his visit early so that he could go to work but he wasn’t really keen to help his father by not divulging his pager number saying that he received crank calls. The prospects were hungry and tired by 12 noon, being kept awake by the small child, not used to the humid afternoon and having jet lag. Our agent showed the apartment because, being a father himself, he could anticipate that the Owner’s son would get into trouble for being unavailable. The father did phone from Hongkong 3 hours later. Lucky Towers units are not "rentable" at the moment, unfortunately.

Costa Rhu Condo, Tanjong Rhu Road, 737 units. 4+1, 2,000 sq. ft. Beautiful river views. $7,000. Brand new but many units still not available yet. Daughter asked to help out. She took her novel to read.

Being a brand new condo, the private lift (a characteristic of this development) needed an access card which was with the daughter upstairs. Our agent could not contact the Owner by handphone and he did not respond to his pager (till one hour later). Our agent persuaded the American to walk up 10 levels. There was a big door (actually the maid’s entrance). Nobody answered the door despite vigorous knocking. We found a smaller door next to the private lift and the daughter came out. Our agent was not fit to climb 10 levels fast and had to sit down to rest and let his heart rate return to normal. The American was fit and remembered the big door! Usually, most Agents would miss this unit and go to others. Viewing schedules are usually 15-minute/viewing in our agency.

Difficulties of asking children to help. You spent money educating your children to University level and in times of need, your grown up sons and daughters have their own minds and agenda unfortunately. I find that children from the middle class families are not investment minded as you have had provided them with all material needs. The baby-boomers’ children are not street-wise generally.

Housing Agents cannot be trusted with keys to apartment but the son has to work. In the Lucky Towers case, the son should wait at the guard counter since the buzzer and intercom to his father’s unit had malfunctioned.

In the Costa Rhu case, the daughter should be downstairs of Block 3 to receive us. She should be given the handphone since the Owner does not respond to the pager immediately. The daughter had debated but did not go downstairs. She should be instructed to be downstairs within the schedule appointment time..

The customer is king in this rental decline market with >3,000 new units just released between November 1997 and January 1998 and good service helps.

I hope this article will be useful to the fathers and mothers who are coping with high educational expenses to send their children to the polytechnics or universities. Children reading this article must understand that the parents need to rent out their investment apartments fast as they have financial burdens which they may not disclose to you to avoid worrying you.

Parents must instruct and train your new generation to be investment minded and help you. Good luck for 1998.