The Edge Real Estate Investment Forum (428) 2012

It was 630 in the morning and I was woken by crying sound from my 5 months old daughter. Instead of continue my sleep, I took a shower and changed my mind to leave my house earlier than my actual plan. Of course, my concern is traffic condition to Mont Kiara due to Bersih 3.0. Out of my expectation, my journey from Kajang to Mont Kiara was extremely smooth. I reached Sime Darby Convention Centre at Bukit Kiara in less than half an hour via Besraya Highway, Federal Highway & Kerinchi Link. Along the way, I saw police had already started their roadblock in front of Mid Valley (on the lane leading to KL).

I was among earliest participant to arrive at the convention centre. I took a cup of Milk Coffee (some people like call it as latte) and start checking out Facebook for Bersih’s update.

I would like to share speaker’s profile and some key points that I gathered from this forum.

Previndran Singhe, CEO of Zerin Properties.

Previndran has broad experience in property industry; having work for leading international property consultancy firms, a short stint in Tenggara Capital Bhd as Commercial Manager and Head of Marketing & Sales (Property) as well as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in hospitality management company Signforce. Previndran set up Zerin Properties in 2002.

Previndran Singhe

Here are some of the key points from Previn:

In average, agriculture land increase more than 50% in 2011 alone; in line with growth in commodity prices. However, ones need to consider ability to manage & harvest the commodity.

To his surprise, free Wi-Fi in Penang attracts talents. New start-up likes Penang because of the free Wi-Fi

Malaysia has great asset; which is young & hardworking population

Li Ka Shing spent more than RM800mil to buy malls in Malaysia

He is bullish on kajang due to the 3 upcoming MRT Station

Sell your property only if its meet you targeted ROI, IRR or if you later found your property in substandard location or substandard product (after completion)

Maintain “Buy Call” because of low financing cost and he foreseen price will continue to inching up



Raj Yogan Pillai, MD of Jthilagamraj Auctioneers Sdn Bhd.

Raj the second speaker, he suppose to talk about “buying auction properties”. However, he was not able to turn up in the forum due to some challenges on the road. I’m not sure whether he is wearing yellow.

Ho Chin Soon, Director of Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd

Without much introduction, I believe most of the property investor heard of his name. As “household name” in properties scene, he is also known as “map maker” or “map king”. For me, he is the most entertaining speaker that I ever know; let’s not compare him with stand-up comedian.

Ho Chin Soon

Ho emphasis on impact of infrastructure spending toward property prices. His tip in buying property is to follow the trend in infrastructure spending. Below are some of the infrastructure projects that he touched:


Upcoming MRT and LRT lines
DASH: Damansara Shah Alam Highway
SKIP:  Serdang-Kinrara-Putrajaya Expressway
SUKE: Sungai Besi - Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway
He also mentions a study by Royal Institute of Survey Scotland – Different property prices in an area without MRT and with MRT. Check it out!

Christopher Boyd, Executive Chairman of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE Malaysia)

As Executive Chairman of a well known property consultant and based on his presentation in The Edge Real Estate Forum 2011. I would expect his presentation for be filled with interesting facts and analysis.

Christopher Boyd

Christ is bullish about landed properties in surrounding Taman Melawati, Setapak & Wangsa Maju area. He said the prices there is still low (despite good location and amenities). Investor should start invest there before the prices increase further.

He foreseen over supply in office properties. His advice to those buying SOHO for investment, ones should look for SOHO that having good criteria as residentials instead of offices.

Think long term in investment strategy. We must look 10 years ahead.

Don’t buy on price alone; low and medium low cost units are cheap but they do not offer much upside in long run

Dato Ahmad Zaini Othman, CEO of Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB)

Dato Ahmad Zaini Othman

In approving a mortgage, financial institution is considering:


Affordability of the property
Debt service ratio of the borrower
Net disposable income of the borrower
Reputation of developer

Daniel Lim, COO of Property Development Division, Sunway Group

Daniel has more than 25 years of experience in property development. Before joining Sunway Group in January 2011, he was the COO of TA Properties Sdn Bhd.

From left: Daniel Lim, Christopher Boyd and Dato Ahmad Zaini Othman

Daniel started his speech by trying to convince participant that developer is NOT making a lot of money primarily due to land cost and construction cost. He shows chart on property price index versus developer’s cost index. He insist that developer do not jack up property price to make more money.

Property speculation has slowed down due to new lending guidelines from Bank Negara. Speculators are now required to paid more down payment for new launches

In answering a participant’s question about his view on property bubble. Daniel said “No bubble, Bank Negara has done their job. No bubble”

I would like to stress here that I only capture points that interest me. For full report on The Edge Real Estate Investment Forum 2012, please check out The Edge @ 7-May-2012.