NOT many people are fascinated by the prospect of buying a haunted house. But you can actually get some decent deals on such units.
If you are brave and lucky, you may be able to get a tenant for your haunted property and the monthly rental will help pay for the instalment.
However, a major refurbishment and “cleansing” is required before you market the property.
Swhengtee Group president Datuk Seri Gavin Tee shared a true story about an owner of a haunted house.
The owner made 10 times the rental amount of the ordinary house by renting it out to a “right tenant”.
“The retiree... rented it out to a temple (management) which was very happy with it. The ghosts cannot stay with the ‘gods’ so they moved out!” he said.
Tee also said properties in the countryside would one day fetch higher prices than those in the city centre, as people move further away from the town centre for a healthy lifestyle. It would also no longer be necessary to stay in the city or near a hospital due to advances in infrastructure and technology, he said.
“Online medical care and remote working plus fast public transportation will make staying away from the city centre a feasible and practical solution,” he said during the Annual Swhengtee Forecast Talk 2019 in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Tee said whatever disruptive changes faced by the property market, a few principles would always stay the same.
“Every property boom starts from the best location and then spills over to the surrounding area.”
He advised property owners to sell high demand houses properties first and buy unpopular ones at low prices.
“The logic behind this is the timing factor. Timing, which is one of the three factors to look into when investing in a property, should be given a lot of weight this year. The right timing is not at the bottom but just before hitting the lowest. You should not wait too long.
“If you dispose of high-demand properties now, you will get a good return as you will be supplying what the market wants. You can then use the proceeds to buy unpopular properties at a low price. This is because the unpopular properties will eventually be sought after again as property investing is a cyclical game.”
The other two factors are location and potential for adding value through refurbishment, renovation, remodelling or repurposing.