Well. 1) I aint rich (no need for an "automatic watch winding gizmo" ala dear scoby) and 2) I aint "flipping" the flats...I decided to take on the "considerable" burden of managing a few small, budget, cute Colonial flats that I have bought for a dependable income stream. Coming from a city with nearly 1% vacancy rate (where finding renters was extremely easy due to massive demand and low supply - you could rent an empty grungy garage for a 1-month sublet with 50 prospective renters) to PP where people leave with a few hours notice and almost no Barangs actually "live" here. Plus there is a very high % of nutters, flakes and drunks here = nightmare property management role.RobW wrote:How big are your biggest pads, Dags, and would you consider flogging them on once refurbished?
Good thing you are doing, I say, and having seen some of the art work you posted here a while back, they can only look good.
Yet, I have extensive experience managing and I love creating livable "artistic" spaces and...I believe that the "investment" still has room to grow. Although the sweet spot for the rapid increase of value was during the last 2-3 years where all the riverside prices doubled or more. It will take much longer than that for (or even if) they double again...so it goes...I was a fool for jumping in so late but I didn't really have the means to do so anyway until of late...it is "still" good, just not as good...
I have seen close to 60-70 flats for sale in the last 2 months exclusively in the Riverside rectangle (Palace - St. 104 - River - Norodom) and there aren't any "great deals". "0". There are heaps of rubbish and many compromised and "complicated" flats. Buyer Beware times 1000. But with dogged persistence I found 4 that I was comfortable with and pulled the trigger. That was the fun and easy part. Now the renovation is in progress and while exhausting, it's also highly enjoyable and challenging. See my previous posts for my personal approach and "aesthetic" re: the look and feel of the flats.
One of my major goals is to keep the rent lower than the competition while providing a superior space. I strongly feel that my flats will be distinctive from the herd and the locations are some of the best possible in the area - low traffic and noise and close proximity to the river. This is "le gran experience" and we shall see how all this plays out - all will be "cooked" by Feb. with 1 done by mid-Nov (hopefully).
I aint no mogul, just some hapless punter making boxes for humans to live in "groovier" than they were before...all the while providing better personal funding for more blow jobs. Uh huh.
And then the discontent young (finally) rise up during the next election and PP becomes an urban embattled war zone. Rents will drop rapidly and white people will disappear. And then I will have no choice but to merrily masturbate away...in my various empty flats...So it goes...life in the Kingdom in the early 21st century...