Do You Agree? Timing of Property Purchase is Irrelevant

[sheiwah]

hi i was reading an article written by Robert Kiyosaki...you can read it here...
http://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/R ... TopicID=49

but i just want to highlight this...
Lately, people have asked me how I feel about real estate now that the market has crashed. My response is the same as always: if you can find a deal that provides good cash flow, go for it. Don't worry about whether prices are going up or down—worry about the cash flow. Remember the age-old slogan: What goes up must come down. Markets boom and bust. A financially intelligent person doesn't try to time the market so much as take of advantage of booms and busts to increase cash flow.

==Do you agree or disagree? If agree, why, if disagree, why?

[Dennis Ng]

hi i was reading an article written by Robert Kiyosaki...you can read it here...
http://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/R ... TopicID=49

but i just want to highlight this...
Lately, people have asked me how I feel about real estate now that the market has crashed. My response is the same as always: if you can find a deal that provides good cash flow, go for it. Don't worry about whether prices are going up or down—worry about the cash flow. Remember the age-old slogan: What goes up must come down. Markets boom and bust. A financially intelligent person doesn't try to time the market so much as take of advantage of booms and busts to increase cash flow.

==Do you agree or disagree? If agree, why, if disagree, why?

Loads of Crap.

No difference? Imagine buying a property at price of S$1 million vs S$500k, saying it does NOT make a difference, Robert Kiyosaki must be joking.

He seems to suggest that Cashflow is the MOST important factor. If that is the case, then NO ONE should ever buy any property that is not-completed, since such properties have NO Rental Income and is negative cashflow, since in meantime you have to pay Mortgage payments (Housing Loan instalments) while there is NO Cashflow (rental income).

So don't buy The Sail when it was launched in year 2003 at price of S$900 psf. Only buy The Sail in year 2007 when property is completed and you can rent it out, but by then the price was S$2,700.

Many of the things Robert Kiyosaki teaches are wrong and Loads of Crap (this I only realised after I became Financially Smarter). Sometimes I wonder, maybe he didn't get Rich through the Concepts he Preaches, but through other means (eg. the huge success of Rich Dad, Poor Dad).

[djwongdj]

hi i was reading an article written by Robert Kiyosaki...you can read it here...
http://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/R ... TopicID=49

but i just want to highlight this...
Lately, people have asked me how I feel about real estate now that the market has crashed. My response is the same as always: if you can find a deal that provides good cash flow, go for it. Don't worry about whether prices are going up or down—worry about the cash flow. Remember the age-old slogan: What goes up must come down. Markets boom and bust. A financially intelligent person doesn't try to time the market so much as take of advantage of booms and busts to increase cash flow.

==Do you agree or disagree? If agree, why, if disagree, why?

This is Spin 101. How to answer without answering!

[Dennis Ng]

hi i was reading an article written by Robert Kiyosaki...you can read it here...
http://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/R ... TopicID=49

but i just want to highlight this...
Lately, people have asked me how I feel about real estate now that the market has crashed. My response is the same as always: if you can find a deal that provides good cash flow, go for it. Don't worry about whether prices are going up or down—worry about the cash flow. Remember the age-old slogan: What goes up must come down. Markets boom and bust. A financially intelligent person doesn't try to time the market so much as take of advantage of booms and busts to increase cash flow.

==Do you agree or disagree? If agree, why, if disagree, why?

This is Spin 101. How to answer without answering!

It's impossible to time the market in the short term.

It is possible to roughly gauge the stage of the current market cycle, and be a Market Cycle Investor. If Robert Kiyosaki does NOT know how to do this, does NOT mean it cannot be done. I know how and I'm teaching others.

Like I say, the more I increase my Financial Knowledge, the more I think Robert Kiyosaki has very limited Financial Knowledge, based on what he wrote and says.

[lootster]

I used to think highly of Robert Kiyosaki when I read his first book only to find out he only beat around the bush on all the subsequent books. He always say a lot of things in general but never really go into the details.

I doubt he really does what he teaches and can't believe he said the above

It's the same as saying it doesn't matter what price you bought a particular stocks as long as it is paying dividends!

Remember the saying goes...... "Its Always About Timing!"

[daringd]

definitely agreeing with the sentiments towards RK's books! Can't believe I actually have so many of it. One thing though, he's good in creating the brand ... and I must say, without reading his book, I wouldn't have known Dennis in the first place. So his book has other ripple effect to me. But content wise ... it's merely an eye opener that financial freedom is possible. But the know-how = zero.

[Stradlinz]

I strongly agree with Dennis view. What a "RUBBISH" when he said timing is irrelevant and just focus on positive cashflow.

In property investments the two most critical factors are "TIMING" and "LOCATION". There are lots of other factors such as URA master plan for the area, population growth, plot ratio for en-bloc properties, transport and food facilities and even owner/tenant mix. All these will greatly impact the future prices, so not so simple as to just look at cashflow which is a lazy and "short-sighted" way of investing into property.

Using cashflow can be misleading. In Singapore context Freehold Luxury properties generally have low rental yield (2-3%) while 99yr mass market will generally have higher yield of like (3-5%). While some Geylang properties can yield as high as 6-7%.

Now Let's go back to year 2002-2005 where Prime Freehold properties in Orchard are selling only ard $600-800 psf. I remember some properties can be rented out for ard $1500-1800 only (for a Orchard 3-bedder apts of 2000 sq ft). That's very low yield, some even in negative cashflow after factoring bank loan interest and maintenance. Now those negative cash-flow properties in Orchard are selling at least $1800 psf

hi i was reading an article written by Robert Kiyosaki...you can read it here...
http://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/R ... TopicID=49

but i just want to highlight this...
Lately, people have asked me how I feel about real estate now that the market has crashed. My response is the same as always: if you can find a deal that provides good cash flow, go for it. Don't worry about whether prices are going up or down—worry about the cash flow. Remember the age-old slogan: What goes up must come down. Markets boom and bust. A financially intelligent person doesn't try to time the market so much as take of advantage of booms and busts to increase cash flow.

==Do you agree or disagree? If agree, why, if disagree, why?

Loads of Crap.

No difference? Imagine buying a property at price of S$1 million vs S$500k, saying it does NOT make a difference, Robert Kiyosaki must be joking.

He seems to suggest that Cashflow is the MOST important factor. If that is the case, then NO ONE should ever buy any property that is not-completed, since such properties have NO Rental Income and is negative cashflow, since in meantime you have to pay Mortgage payments (Housing Loan instalments) while there is NO Cashflow (rental income).

So don't buy The Sail when it was launched in year 2003 at price of S$900 psf. Only buy The Sail in year 2007 when property is completed and you can rent it out, but by then the price was S$2,700.

Many of the things Robert Kiyosaki teaches are wrong and Loads of Crap (this I only realised after I became Financially Smarter). Sometimes I wonder, maybe he didn't get Rich through the Concepts he Preaches, but through other means (eg. the huge success of Rich Dad, Poor Dad).

[sheiwah]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

So the question remains, will you invest in a pte property today?

[Dennis Ng]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

So the question remains, will you invest in a pte property today?

My opinion is that the only residential property worth buying currently is Landed Properties, while condos would face over-supply in the next 2 to 3 years.

[sheiwah]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

So the question remains, will you invest in a pte property today?

My opinion is that the only residential property worth buying currently is Landed Properties, while condos would face over-supply in the next 2 to 3 years.

so you are saying dont buy residential pte condo until 2 to 3 years time, but buy landed now? i mean your opinion.

[Dennis Ng]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

So the question remains, will you invest in a pte property today?

My opinion is that the only residential property worth buying currently is Landed Properties, while condos would face over-supply in the next 2 to 3 years.

so you are saying dont buy residential pte condo until 2 to 3 years time, but buy landed now? i mean your opinion.

I'm not saying buy Landed now, I'm saying that if one wants to buy residential property, "Landed properties" is the ONLY property type safe to do so now. This is just my personal opinion, I might be wrong. My No. 1 question is what if I'm wrong, will I be financially ok?

[andy chan]

Here's my two cents, hope I phrase what I want to say correctly.

I agree with Dennis that landed is the safer bet.
In terms of Singapore, how much land is given to HDB and condos? 80-90%?
How much is allocated to landed property? 5-6%?
Landed property will always be a better investment as that is only so much land out there.
However for landed please do check as well if they are 99, 999 or freehold as there are landed properties out there that are 99 and 999.
It will not be really worthwhile if you pay the same psf for a 99 compared to a freehold.
Certain condos actually have a higher psf than landed property so why are people buying condos compared to landed? Maybe factors like location, amenities or affordability?
Let's say you paid $2700psf for a 1600psf condo project, for that price you can get a terrace or even a semi-d in D10/11/14/15.
This is an extreme example, most new condos now will cost about 900k to 1plus million and psf wise is still more expensive than some landed properties out there.
With the new influx of condo and hdb projects the price I believe will drop, whereas the landed sector will not be affected much.

[moneyisfreedom]

My opinion is that the only residential property worth buying currently is Landed Properties, while condos would face over-supply in the next 2 to 3 years.

so you are saying dont buy residential pte condo until 2 to 3 years time, but buy landed now? i mean your opinion.

I'm not saying buy Landed now, I'm saying that if one wants to buy residential property, "Landed properties" is the ONLY property type safe to do so now. This is just my personal opinion, I might be wrong. My No. 1 question is what if I'm wrong, will I be financially ok?

Hi Dennis:

Generally, the `buy landed' mantra has been echoed by many property experts including Mohd Ismail and yourself.

The problem is that landed properties require huge outlays to purchase. Many of them also require significant sums to repair and upkeep. Generally, they are also located in less convenient locations, especially the slightly more affordable ones.

Those that are in the prime districts, or convenient locations, are priced at condo psf prices already i.e. the entry point is prohibitively high for those which are attractive.

I remember at your seminar that you were also saying that you would buy one if the price was right. Ironically, if everyone is touting the `value' of landed properties, then when will the price ever be right ?

I remember another expert (Dr Tan Kee Wee) suggested to lay off property purchase for at least another few years, and to rent in the meantime. Would waiting for a couple of years (for interest rates to rise, a possible new economic downturn, and over supply of new properties to finally bring prices down) be the way to go ?

Your views would be much appreciated.

[wemakebread]

My personal opinion is to first consider 2 questions:

1) Am I buying property to stay? Or as a form of investment?
2) What can I afford?

If I am considering investment, then I ask
3) Should I choose property OR other instruments (eg. stocks)


I have noticed that HDB has been releasing a lot housing projects as well as land for residential projects. I expect supply of HDB and condos to increase over next 2-3 years. Based on simple law of Demand/Supply, the tendency is for prices to fall, especially if there isn't so much Demand in the first place to soak up the surge in Supply.

Based on this reasoning, I agree with Dennis that if really want to buy property at this time, buying condos has higher risk of seeing prices fall, whereas buying Landed Property has relatively lower risk in this aspect.


Personal preference, I rather put money in stocks now instead of property.

[djwongdj]

Timing of the property cooling measures and anticipation of more possible measures after election, has caused me to do 2 things -

1) shelf the idea of buying investment property in Singapore in the immediate future.

2) launch the first of many an investment in landbanking for the near future.

So IMO, timing is everything whenever possible.