In a recent webinar, PropertyGuru Malaysia’s country manager, Sheldon Fernandez, revealed that property transactions were mainly driven by investors in 2020.

This was based on an analysis by MyProperty Data that showed 82% of total transactions last year were made up of investors, an increase of 38% from the previous year.

The webinar, entitled “Property Investment in 2021: Are you ready to kickstart your property portfolio”, was held to guide new investors and those seeking to learn more about property investment.

The panel consisted of Ahyat Ishak, founder of Pejuang Hartanah; Vincent Lim, chief sales officer of The Makeover Guys and Darren Ho, general manager of mortgage at Hong Leong Bank.

The three panelists were keen on imparting various insights during the webinar.

Ahyat kicked things off by pointing out that the market will soon go into recovery and that he expected to see a long flat or medium-term flat. He added that in investment, clarity on the end goal is important.

“Human beings tend to visualise a lot, and if you do not have a clear picture of where you want to be when you retire, then you will lose the whole game.

“Buying a house is not as simple as buying a phone or a car. There is the issue of eligibility and affordability to think about and understand fully,” he said.

Refinancing for reinvestment

Ho on the other hand agreed that 2021 is the year of rebound as there was a notable increase in transactions.

“For those who are interested in property investment, there are currently good packages being offered either by developers or by the banks as the interest rate is now considerably low.

“If you have an existing property and are thinking about refinancing, there are many options to choose from such as an easy entry package,” explained Ho.

He also added that there are several factors to consider when one decides to switch banks during the refinancing.

“One of the key considerations to bear in mind when you move from one bank to another is that there are costs involved, which include things like legal fees, stamp duty and valuation fees,” he explained.

He emphasised that it was important to know the cost versus the benefits from the refinancing option, recommending the audience to consult with a mortgage specialist before carrying out refinancing.

Tips to boost your home’s valuation

For those who are planning to opt for cash out refinancing, Lim cited several ways to use the refinancing gains to increase the aesthetic, and subsequently, the valuation of their homes that would affect potential cash out value.

Colour schemes

For colour schemes, there is a golden ratio rule. Choose three colours and use them in a ratio of 60:30:10. The primary colour is 60% of the house, the secondary colour is 30% and the remaining 10% is for highlighting.

Lighting

The right lighting can boost aesthetics by a long way, hence it should be used to one’s advantage. Consider installing downlights if you want to create shadows; T5, T9 and light tubes blend well with wallpaper.

Walls

Leaving the walls empty would lower both the aesthetics and valuation of any property, as they make up for more than 50% of a house. This also reduces the chances of evoking emotional impulses to a prospective tenant or buyer.

Curtains

Keep it tall, simple and in a single minimalist tone. Never go floral and don’t choose glossy curtains because they are hard to match. Try to avoid using half flag curtains too as they are not enticing.

Decorations

It’s important to create the right emotional impulses especially when you’re entertaining a prospective tenant or buyer and the right decorations can get the job done at minimal cost.

Instead of spending RM20,000 to 30,000 in renovations, decorations might only cost you around RM500 to RM1,000.

You can get reasonably-priced good quality decorations like photo frames, artificial flowers and vases if you know where to go.

To sum up, property investment is not something that can be done on a whim.

It requires careful planning, especially where refinancing is involved. Find out how much you can potentially get by refinancing your home by checking out Property Advisor’s Refinance Calculator, before deciding on the type and location of the property you are planning to buy or invest in.

This article was written by Adlene Hanna of PropertyAdvisor.my, Malaysia’s most comprehensive source of property data, property analytics and insights.