About

With 18 years of experience in the financial industry and licensed by SC and BNM, I’m also a property owner. Like many others, I bought my first property without any knowledge or experience. I walked into a property showroom and immediately was approached by a property agent. The developer soon joined, extolling it as the best deal: cheap price, free gift, free SPA and promised various attractive facilities plus free car park and then I was ushered to a board with many stickers and was told those are units sold and booked. Urged to pay a deposit quickly before prices rose with the upcoming new block launch. I must admits people make decision with optimistic perceptions and confident out of own limited knowledge, experience, ambience and sweet talk and I’m no different from any ordinary person; I don’t know what I don’t know then.

It was my first property, and I frequently visited the construction site after work to monitor progress while the bank released mortgage loan stage by stage. After years of anticipation, the auspicious day arrived to collect keys to my brand new house. Shockingly things seems to be different, many defects and poor workmanship, most facilities printed on the flyers and advertised on news paper is gone, no cleaning, no water, no electricity. Yet, the developer began charging full maintenance fees and markup all invoices. This was my first lesson in property ownership - a painful learning experience driven by my own confidence and decisions.

It is common that most people are like me, never thought of getting a proper property education and it never come across my mind too. I thought I had made a wise decision after visiting several new projects, comparing flyers, sizes, locations, price per square feet, conveniences, public transportation, connectivity, price, loan and etc. - what I considered "doing my homework". In reality, buying property isn’t simple; it was my simple mindset and naivety at the time that led me to believe otherwise.

Another lesson was that developers and property agents take no responsibility of what they had said, promised and even their marketing materials and advertisement, their goal is closing a deal, not providing education. In fact it is easier to close a sale of a buyer who know less and have no experience. They speak the buyer's language to secure sales and earn income.

While every buyer knows new properties come with 24-months defects liability period, the reality of how it works is another story. Upon discovering defects, I contacted the SPA lawyer only to find they represented the developer - a harsh lesson that there is no such thing as free lunch.

Property once purchased, offers no return or refund. Imagine the developer assuming property management right after vacant possession under Act 757. Quality of property management has a sequential impact on property attractiveness and value, akin to how some malls attract more crowds. This is another lesson, a mistake in purchasing did not stop right there instead it is a continuation into property management and snowball gets rolling.

Whether good or bad, not all residents move out overnight; rental and price will adjust gradually. Understanding factors influencing upward or downward price adjustment is crucial to avoiding being caught off guard.

Financial knowledge is essential; many property owners face bankruptcy due to lack of awareness, underestimating economic changes. Some tragic stories end in lives lost. I wish more people understood how economic shifts affect owner and property market. China the world's 2nd largest economy with property sector constitute 24% of GDP would resonate well because they are experiencing property downturn now and I bet some Malaysian do remember 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and 2008 US Subprime Crisis. Even without crisis, property owner does have some challenges such as servicing a mortgage for decades without a house and still have to pay rental to continue renting a place to stay. Some landlord are servicing a mortgage without generating any income from the property and some have property expenses far higher than rental collected. I believe every property owners, investors and buyers has their stories to tell, challenges to face and issues to address.

Not all challenges needed to be tackled head on, it is best to identify potential challenges in advance and avoiding it. Always take financial resources, time and effort into consideration and you'll would agree that avoiding trouble isn't a cowardly act instead save you tons of money, time and effort for a better use. More so it's unlikely to get out of pitfall or overcoming a challenges without a scratch.

Join us to understand the value we offer firsthand. Early learning translates to greater benefits. Come with purpose—meet us and experience the difference we can make. See you at the top!

Best wishes,

Alfred Yew, Founder of 101 Property School

Welcome to 101 Property School!

Kindly be reminded that property education, solutions and lifelong support differ from promotional and sales talks about property, each serving distinct objectives.

101 Property School is specifically designed to provide comprehensive property education, solutions and lifelong support to homebuyers, investors and property owners. It covers everything from A to Z about property, from pre-purchase considerations to property ownership and disposal (selling/inheritance), presented in chronological order. This approach helps audiences foresee future needs, consider various aspects and plan accordingly to align with their goals.

These are just my views and not to be relied upon for any decision