Excuse Me....Are You a Property Agent? ......(10)

When my mobile rang, I saw the name. It was a surgeon who had come to view my Mirage Tower unit some six months ago.

"Yes, Doc.?"

"Hi, is that Choo.? You still have the unit at Mirage.? At $1.75 million I think it is a good price."

"No, Doc. I had sold it some six months ago, and in fact the buyer had already sold it off at a handsome profit. Now, the units of this size are transacting at $2.1 million."

"Please let me know when you have another unit like this."

As an agent I am very particular in qualifying my clients, otherwise I will be wasting a lot of time and energy. There are brilliant people like the doctor but when it comes to property investment, they are not so brilliant. The tragedy is that they think their brilliance applies to every field. They forget that patients go to them because patients do not know much about medicine. As such when they want to buy properties they should also realise that they are not experts in the field of real estate. Hence the best thing is to trust a reliable agent. As for me, I am not so knowledgeable in the area of stocks and shares. Hence, if I want to buy some stocks, I would seek the advice of my stockbroker.

I remember distinctly that when the doctor came to view my client's unit, I had told him that it was a reasonable buy, and that the price of properties would go up. But he kept complaining that the price was still quite high and that he believed the price of properties would go down! Now six months later, he called me and even asked me if the unit was still available at the same price!! I guess after having seen so many units, it only dawned upon him that indeed he should have bought the unit when it was offered to him six months ago!! In a buoyant market, how could a property be still available at the same price tag?

Anyway......we are living in a beautifully imperfect world. At times like this, I do not know whether to laugh or cry. This is what makes my work as a real estate agent so interesting.

Gan Chau