Know transaction prices before negotiating? Possible.

Someone shared with me that in future, one trend that will surely happen is that no one would have information monopoly. In other words, information transparency would be the norm and everyone would have more information to base their decisions on. This would bring with it another issue. Decisions would have to be faster or else we will lose out. Just 10 years ago, not many people would know the prices for a certain area or even development. That was when everyone would just buy areas they are familiar and have more information about. Fast forward to today, we can use property sites to search based on price range. From this search, we get to know about all the areas which fall into this price range. We can then evaluate each area and development separately. Moving one step further, we can even search the rental for that particular area and development before we invest to rent.
Well, the prices stated in these property portals may still be slightly different from the actual transacted prices. So, how do we get more information on transacted prices? Where can we get more real time information so that we can negotiate better whether we are the seller or the buyer? Is it free or do we have to pay for it? With just a few clicks? Well, it’s free for basic information or pay for more details.  Here’s one place.  brickz.my Usually, these sites would have information for the Klang Valley. I wonder if it would have enough information beyond just the Klang Valley. So, I searched a condo project I am familiar with in Penang and it showed me the information I needed. Take a look at the image. We get to see the usual price per sq ft. We get to see the median price which is MORE important than average prices which would normally mean nothing because the highest and the lowest prices may be very wide. We also get to see the transactions that has happened and the sq ft of those units. Neat information, right?
What about even further away? Say in Sandakan Sabah? Well, it has the information that I needed for one particular condo project. Take look at the image as well. Number of transactions are as updated as November 2016. This is very recent information. Useful information indeed. Note that the actual unit information is hidden? So you would not know if this is swimming pool facing or if the unit is facing east-west which may mean a hotter unit or even if the unit is a low-floor unit which is usually cheaper than a high-floor unit. Well if you must know, then you can purchase a report for this particular development for RM30 or pay RM450 to subscribe to all the information you need for a period of one year. Here’s the pricing structure and information. Will you be able to negotiate better because you have more information? I believe so even though if the unit is a choice one, I still think the seller can command a premium compared to the rest. Need to sell your unit faster? Some tips here. 
Sorry, no special price even if you mentioned kopiandproperty.my’s name. Haha. I happened to speak the same event as its founder last year. Was recently reintroduced to it again in a networking event by iProperty and I think I should share since more information is always better for everyone. Happy ‘property price’ hunting yeah.
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written on 25 March 2017
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