Panic selling may still not work. Sometimes, just decide and move forward.

A few months ago, an owner told my friend who is a Real Estate Negotiator that the lowest price he would ever let go is RM1.5 million. After some research, my friend pointed out the fact that the lowest price in the market at the time was RM1.25 million and even showed him the actual advertisement. The owner replied that his home was by far better since it was renovated. It was a newly completed property and the owner had just completed renovating it, believing that it should sell higher. Anyway, a difference of RM250,000 meant that it was impossible to sell the property at the time. There was only one offer at RM1.3 million at the time which the owner rejected as too low. After trying for some weeks, my friend did not pursue it further. He wished the owner all the best. Yesterday evening (7th Nov 2017), the owner called him and said he was willing to sell at RM1.3 million. No reason was given but after some checking, my friend came to know that this owner’s home was affected by the recent flash flood.
As usual, my friend did some research and found out that there were still a couple of units in the market with almost the same price and some at lower price range. In fact, the advertisements were a few weeks old which meant that perhaps the other owners may also be willing to sell lower today. My friend told the owner that he needs to consider selling lower. Else, it would take sometime to sell. When asked if he needed money quick, he said,’No.’ My friend then advised him that he will still put up advertisements online and the owner can just hope for the best. Frankly, it will not be easy to sell because at RM1.3 million, it would have to wait for the other similar properties at lower prices to be sold first. This is the market demand versus supply. Of course, I think the owner regretted his decision not to sell earlier.
There are circumstances beyond our control but there are certainly many things within our control. For example, if the owner had sold earlier, the money could have been used for other investment purposes too. Many times, if we just take a step back and be logical about it, we can decide better and clearer too. Assuming I am a buyer today, in this current market environment, I hold slightly more power. A seller may have lesser negotiation power but hey, if he could identify another opportunity, he could quickly sell and then become a buyer instead! I think another way is to push for rental but for a residential unit at RM1.3 million? Logically, it will be tough, regardless of the market situation. Even expats from MNCs, their companies do not usually rent RM1.3 million properties for their staffs to stay. Panic selling does not mean that it will work, (unless it is really very low). Sometimes, it’s best to just decide. Happy scouting for good deals today.
written on 8 Nov 2017
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