Issue 203

Copyright 2011-2014 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
p2

FROM THE

EDITOR

15 Dirty Secrets of Get Rich Quick

Welcome to the 203th edition of the

Singapore Property Weekly.

Seminar Organizers

Hope you like it!

p7

Singapore Property News This Week

p11

Resale Property Transactions

Mr. Propwise

(March 25 March 31 )

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

15 Dirty Secrets of Get Rich Quick Seminar Organizers

By Gerald Tay (guest contributors)
From over a decade ago, many local seminar
entrepreneurs have ridden the trend of
popular gurus such as Robert Kiyosaki (Rich
Dad) to teach property and wealth seminars
to make money from the masses. Of course,
they want you to believe that they are doing it
to spread the knowledge, but this isnt always
true.

The 15 dirty secrets that will make you

lots of money running a seminar business
The following are 15 secrets that these
gurus use to make

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

themselves (but not necessarily you) a lot of
money:
1. Come up with your own get rich quick
secret in a specific niche market
(property, forex, stocks, etc.), the more
sensational the better. For example, How
to own multiple properties with little or no
money.
2. Coin catchy phrases, for example
Millionaire, Secrets of, No-MoneyDown anything that gives an oomph for
your seminar title to entice your target
market. Why buy a car when you can
buy a hotel?
3. Create a long marketing page filled with
bold and cheesy statements, put up fake
testimonials and unbelievable ROIs. E.g.
Generate 20%-25% per annum from
your investments with proven results!
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4. Get yourself interviewed in The Sunday

Times Invest page for added publicity.
Most reporters desperately need a story
and have no time to verify your claims.
5. Get a ghost writer to write your book.
Get it published and buy out your own
first printing to make it appear your book
was popular. Many "best sellers" used this
tactic to get to the Best Seller status. Your
books dont have to sell like Rich Dad,
Poor Dad. Simply recoup back your
money and time by selling more
seminars.
6. Register several shell-companies to
give the impression that youre also a
successful owner of several businesses.
Or invest $1,000 in each of your friends
businesses and become a co-owner in
name. Or invest in a publicly listed
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

companys shares and claim youre also a
co-owner.
7.

Invent stories to captivate your

audiences at your free previews. The
storyline must include sad beginnings of
how poor you were to invoke
sympathy
from
your
audience.
Bankruptcy is always a good storyline
to start with.

8. Proceed to amaze them about how you

rose from the grave and made
millions in only x years with your secret
strategy.

9. Hire a few people to fake testimonials

to the audience. Promise them a cut from
the number of sign-ups as commission.
10. Price your seminar fees in the 5-figure
range. If its too cheap people will think

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its worthless. Too expensive and your

target audience cannot afford it.
Generously throw in tons of worthless
freebies.
11. Sales Trick-of-the-Day: At your preview,
slash your 5-figure seminar fees down,
first by 50%, then another 20%, followed
by another 20%, and finally offer a price
that ends up looking irresistibly attractive.
Invent silly reasons why the price they
pay is only a small investment versus
the money they can make. Offer early bird
discounts (signup today!) to close the
sale.
12. Get an award. Win some unheard of
business
award,
e.g.
Soul
of
Entrepreneurship. Or simply invent one
yourself. Having some business awards
will help you sell your seminars better.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

13.

Cut deals with property developers

(especially over seasones) and offer
them to your students. For every buyer,
you get a cut of the profits or even
better, a free property unit to add to
your claim of being an owner of 100
properties. It does not matter if the
deals turn out badly you got yourself a
free lunch anyway.
(EcoHouse,
anyone?)

14. Upsell more stuff during your seminar.

15. Remember: Youre the magician and
movie director. The better the stage setup, the more money youll make.

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Get Real
These seminars usually charge somewhere in
the range of $3,000 to $5,000 or more for a
two to three day program. They use annoying
marketing tactics to sell you programs of
questionable value. The truth is, there are no
shortcuts or secrets that will get you there
faster. Hard work is the answer.

Unless they are conducted by highly

reputable learning institutions or by real
professionals with recognised qualifications,
you should be cautious about overpaying for
these seminars.
There are some down-to-earth seminars by
real individuals with real experiences.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

They are priced very affordably without the
hype.
The bottom line is, you dont need to spend a
lot of money to educate yourself financially.
Never let the scammers steal your hardearned money.
By guest contributor Gerald Tay, who is the
founder and coach at CREI Academy Group
Pte Ltd, an organization dedicated to
empowering retail property investors with
smarter investing philosophy and strategies.
He is a full-time investor with over 13 years of
solid experience in building his wealth
through Property Investment and is financially
wealthy today.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
March HDB resale prices fall 0.8% monthon-month
According to flash estimates by SRX, HDB
resale prices fell by 0.8 percent in March from
the previous month and 6.6 percent from last
year. Prices fell for three-room, four-room,
and five-room HDB flats according to the
flash estimates. SRX sub-indices for HDB
resale prices show that there was a 0.9
percent and a 0.8 percent fall in the mature
and
non-mature
estates
respectively.
Nonetheless, resale transaction volumes
have increased. Data compiled by SRX
showed that there was a 17.5 percent
increase in the number of HDB flats sold from
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1,148 units in February to 1,349 units in

March. However, this is still 5 percent less
than the 1,420 units that changed hands in
March last year.
(Source: Business Times)

HDB resale transactions

improve from March

expected

to

According to Eugene Lim from ERA Realty,

the volume of HDB resale transactions are
expected to increase from March. He added
that if resale volumes improve, the total
number of units that changed hands may
increase from last years all-time low of
17,318 units. He expects that there would be
about 18,000 to 20,000 units sold by the end
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

of the year in the resale market due to a
reduction in Built-To-Order flats. Based on
data by SRX, prices fell by 0.9 percent, 1.1
percent and 0.5 percent in the three-room,
four-room and five-room flats respectively.
Since the lowering of the lending cap of the
mortgage servicing ratio, Ong Kah Seng from
RST Research said that prices of smaller
flats have remained flat. Ong added that
buyers interest will increase around mid-2015
as he expects resale prices to fall further.
Wong Xian Yang from OrangeTee said that
when the HDB income ceiling is raised, more
first-time buyers who were previously
ineligible for property grants may choose a
resale flat over a private property.
(Source: Business Times)

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Winning GLS bids fell between 3 to 24

percent
This year, winning bids for residential sites
sold under the Government Land Sales
programme have fallen by 3 to 24 percent in
price relative to comparable sites sold in the
last two years. This excludes the tender for a
residential site at Sturdee Road. Market
experts believe that land prices will continue
to fall this year. Ong Teck Hui from JLL said
that
developers
are
placing
more
conservative bids as they are more cautious
on the market. Christine Li from Cushman &
Wakefield believes that land prices are
expected to fall further as the cooling
measures had not been lifted and interest
rates are expected to rise.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

The rise in construction cost due to a
shortage of labour has also pushed the price
of land bids down, said Cheang Kok Kheong
from Frasers Centrepoint Limited.
(Source: Business Times)
GCB at Ridout Rd attracts 10 bids and
another at Gallop Rd is sold for $25.8m
A Good Class Bungalow (GCB) site at Ridout
Road has closed for tender. The 73,277 sq ft
freehold bungalow has attracted 10 bids. It is
believed that the highest bid is around $85
million. According to the Business Times, the
land area may be further subdivided into four
smaller GCB plots due to its large size. Also,
another GCB site at Gallop Road has been
sold for $25.8 million or $1,712 psf. The
15,070 sq ft of land area consists of a twostorey bungalow with five bedrooms and a
swimming pool. According to information from
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URA, it was built in 1984.

(Source: Business Times)
More than half of the 920 units at North
Park Residences have been reserved
Since its launch, more than half of the 920
units at North Park Residences have been
reserved. According to the BusinessTtimes,
almost all of the units at North Park
Residences would be up for sale by the
weekend.
Nicholas
Mak
from
SLP
International said that its prime location and
close proximity to facilities such as shopping
centres and Yishun MRT Station would attract
buyers. At its soft launch, 313 units out of the
413 released units were sold. Singaporeans
accounted for 88 percent of buyers and there
were equal distribution of buyers across all
room types, from one-bedders to fivebedders.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

A one-bedroom plus study unit is priced from
$758,000 while a two-bedder costs about
$840,000. A three-bedder costs $1.049
million, a four-bedder starts from $1.496
million while a five-bedder costs about $1.79
million.
Commercial
Colliers: owners of older buildings need to
lower rents to remain attractive
According to a report by Colliers International,
occupiers are moving into newer office
buildings. As such, demand for office space in
existing developments in the CBD area may
be affected. On average, the occupancy rates
of premium grade office space in Raffles
Place has increased by 3.6 percentage points
quarter-on-quarter to 91.8 percent. The
average monthly gross rents for premium
grade offices in that area has remained
unchanged at $11.93 psf in Q1 2015 from the
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previous quarter. On the other hand, rents of

Grade A offices in that market have increased
by 1.6 percent to $10.41, while rents of Grade
B offices have increased by 1 percent to
$8.74. Rents of Grade A offices are expected
to increase further, according to a report by
Cushman and Wakefield. Owners of older
buildings should offer better incentives or
more competitive rents in order to retain its
tenants, said a report by Colliers.
(Source: Business Times)

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Mar 25 Mar 31

Postal
District
1
1
3
3
5
5
8
8
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
11
11

Project Name
MARINA BAY SUITES
THE RIVERSIDE PIAZZA
TANGLIN VIEW
THE ANCHORAGE
ONE-NORTH RESIDENCES
WEST BAY CONDOMINIUM
CITY SQUARE RESIDENCES
KERRISDALE
HILLTOPS
ONE DEVONSHIRE
THE TRILLIUM
WATERMARK ROBERTSON QUAY
LANGSTON VILLE
8 NAPIER
ARDMORE II
TANGLIN PARK
BOTANIC GARDENS VIEW
DUCHESS MANOR
WATERFALL GARDENS
NATHAN PLACE
PARK INFINIA AT WEE NAM
MANDALE HEIGHTS

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Area Transacted Price

Tenure
(sqft) Price ($) ($ psf)
2,691 7,932,750 2,948
99
947 1,180,000 1,246
99
872 1,220,000 1,399
99
1,765 2,100,000 1,190
FH
1,615 2,228,000 1,380
99
872
770,000
883
99
1,238 1,490,000 1,204
FH
1,270 1,315,000 1,035
99
1,593 4,840,000 3,038
FH
1,324 2,800,000 2,115
FH
1,798 3,780,000 2,103
FH
1,324 2,250,000 1,699
FH
936 1,300,000 1,388 999
2,777 8,575,376 3,088
FH
2,024 4,700,000 2,323
FH
1,119 2,000,000 1,787
FH
1,755 3,100,000 1,767
FH
1,033 1,750,000 1,694 999
2,196 3,320,000 1,512
FH
1,367 1,500,000 1,097
FH
969 1,830,000 1,889
FH
570
835,000 1,464
FH

Postal
District
11
11
11
12
12
12
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
16
16
18
18
19
19

Project Name
THE LINCOLN MODERN
THE TREVOSE
MINBU VILLA
DE ROYALE
BALESTIER PLAZA
ST FRANCIS LODGE
THE BELVEDERE
IMPERIAL HEIGHTS
THE MAKENA
COSTA RHU
PARADISE PALMS
IDYLLIC RESIDENCES
OLA RESIDENCES
CANNAVILLE
VILLA MARINA
THE PROMINENCE
COSTA DEL SOL
FAIRMOUNT CONDOMINIUM
MELVILLE PARK
EASTPOINT GREEN
KOVAN RESIDENCES
KOVAN RESIDENCES

Area Transacted Price

Tenure
(sqft) Price ($) ($ psf)
1,410 1,950,000 1,383
FH
1,733 2,200,000 1,269
99
2,519 2,400,000 953
FH
1,281 1,620,000 1,265
FH
1,023 1,068,888 1,045
FH
1,238 1,060,000 856
FH
1,302 1,930,000 1,482
FH
1,033 1,360,000 1,316
FH
1,152 1,500,000 1,302
FH
1,841 2,335,000 1,269
99
915 1,120,000 1,224
FH
850
970,000 1,141
FH
1,442 1,440,000 998
FH
1,216 1,200,000 987
FH
1,249 1,230,000 985
99
1,324 1,050,000 793
FH
1,324 1,750,000 1,322
99
958
880,000
919
99
936
752,000
803
99
1,184 920,000
777
99
1,765 2,075,000 1,175
99
1,259 1,390,000 1,104
99

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 203

Postal
District
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
23
23
23
23
26

Project Name
THE SPRINGBLOOM
THE QUARTZ
THE QUARTZ
PIN MANSIONS
COMPASS HEIGHTS
NOUVELLE PARK
RIO VISTA
THE GARDENS AT BISHAN
PARK NATURA
TREE HOUSE
THE MADEIRA
REGENT HEIGHTS
CASTLE GREEN

Area
(sqft)
1,130
1,044
1,066
1,249
1,550
1,550
1,238
1,152
1,410
1,249
1,055
1,163
1,410

Transacted
Price ($)
1,165,000
1,050,000
1,060,000
1,220,000
1,300,000
1,300,000
960,000
1,268,000
1,490,000
1,310,000
950,000
1,040,000
1,160,000

Price
Tenure
($ psf)
1,031
99
1,006
99
995
99
977
FH
839
99
839
FH
776
99
1,101
99
1,057
FH
1,049
99
901
99
895
99
823
99

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property

transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser
signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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