Call it condo, make it proper.

I viewed a ‘condo’ today. Location wise, very near to a famous noodle restaurant. It is also near to an expressway which meant accessibility is good. Pricing wise, attractive too and is cheaper than a few other condos which are within a 10km radius. However, there are three things I would like to remind the developer about.
Staff’s attitude. Regardless of whether it is nearly fully sold or just starting to sell, that attitude better be positive. Unless of course this is the only development that you (developer) will ever have. If it is, then I will remember NOT to buy from you and I will tell another 50 friends about you too. It is so easy for the staff to smile, to say hi and and to ask questions like, ‘are you buying to stay? How many pax in the family?Let me introduce you to the right unit’ Today, when I visited, the showroom had just one staff. Totally okay for me since it is a Sunday. She did not smile, did not give us a brochure and did not even tell us about a show unit at the back of the showroom. Haha.
Car Parks. TWO, please. Else have enough of them so that people can buy an extra one if needed. Seriously, I could not remember any of my friends with a family that has just one car today. Regardless of whether MRT is next door or not, a car is a convenience which is a must. Today, the ‘Condo’ I visited, the sales person said that all units come with just one car park and to my question of whether could I buy another unit, she said, ALL SOLD OUT. Haha. Anyway, this particular condo’s car park are around the condo and there is not even covered walkways to the building. In other words, get ready to be wet when there’s rain. I know some would like to argue that the driver could let everyone get down first and ….. well… then stop calling this a condo!
Design, security and facilities. There are so many reference points these days. View 10 different CONDOs to get some idea. Use the good ones and discard the bad ones. Briefly, it’s called BENCHMARKING. Security post would reveal a lot about the developer’s philosophy. If it’s a very badly designed one, get ready for the fact that the remaining facilities will be based on ‘available’ and not ‘desirable’. Yes, I have viewed enough condos to note the relevance between the guard post and all the other facilities. All these are usually related. The next time you view a proper condo, take a look at its guard house and see if ONLY the guard house is poorly equipped while everything else is top notch…
Lots of other stuffs but I guess these three major reasons are enough to put me off. I did not even take a brochure this time. Yea, the brochure look nice though. The fortunate thing? It’s nearly fully sold if the stickers are true. The workers were already doing final touches. The current show unit would soon make way for a gym which will be facing a small swimming pool. Wishing the developer all the best. Perhaps they will improve in their future project. Happy viewing and buying.
written on 27 Aug 2017
Please LIKE kopiandproperty.my FB page or Sign Up for free to get daily updates about the property market.
Next suggested article: Think long term lah, when it’s property