I have been asked this question many times when I was with my previous company. If I answer YES, then the customer would say, if can sell, I no need to advertise a lot. If I answer NO, then the developer would ask me, why, why, why.
Let me put this in very clear manner, from buyer’s perspective, if I am buying for my own stay.
Location – If the location is within 10 minutes away from my office, even with jams, I will buy. It may not attract others who may not like the location but if I am buying for own stay and it’s just few km away, even if my car breaks down, I can even walk to work! That’s why when you see the land transactions these days, it can go as high as RM3,000 plus per sf for super prime areas.
Price – Developers want the maximum profit possible for every project. Buyers want the lowest possible price. So, we come to demand and supply equation to see which side would win more. Both sides will win some because if developer loses, they will not build. If buyer loses, he will not buy and choose another. So, both sides will somehow come to a price acceptable to all. If every project in the area is selling at RM550psf and your project will be launched at RM450 pdf, do you think yours can sell? Of course. There are quite a number of such opportunities everywhere, especially if the developer may be first time in the market or may not carry so much premium. As a first time buyer, I have no issues with extra 30 minutes drive if I am saving RM200,000 for the same type of property. I did just that with my latest buy; everyone said, ‘very far’.
Timing – Timing is both. The time that you launch should be made known to as many people as possible. For example, 2 weeks before your launch, one week before your launch and the day before your launch and even on the day of your launch. Do enough to make people know. If you have 10,000 buyers who knows about your project, 1% buys meant you already sold 100 units. Second timing is how long will you be selling your project. Today, there are hundreds of developers launching a new project every week all over Malaysia. If your project has not reached the magical % of sales after 6 months, it will get harder each day.
There, truth is, if location of your property is in an area everyone wants, with a pricing lower than everyone else, you can already sell very well. If these two are not met, then when you launch, it should be made known to as many of your target market as possible. If there are just 200 units and you tell 200,000 people, the chances are that it would sell.
Happy Selling.
written on 17th dec 2013.
Suggested next article: Buying property – Too far, Too expensive and too soon.
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