6 Things I’ve learned When Browsing Properties Online
Honestly, I’ve made so many mistakes when I was browsing online. There are places where it is credible and there are places where it is not. In general, here are the most reliable tips I can share with you after learning from bad experiences.
1. Cheap listings are (usually) too good to be true
When you see a listing online that is too cheap to be true, that’s usually the case. Well, if you really want to reach out to them, then do pay attention to point No.2.
If you are unsure of the actual housing prices these days, it’s probably better to reach out to your friends to see who knows a property agent so that you can inquire. I believe if you state your intention at the beginning of the conversation (I just want to ask some questions), they wouldn’t expect you to be a serious buyer that the time. They might introduce you some units but they wouldn’t put too much pressure on you.
2. Use a non-main phone number (and email address)
Part A: How data can be leaked
Whether you believe it or not, data leaks or data purchase is widely happening in the current world. It’s so easy to get your personal details like name, age, mobile number, and email address by just purchasing from vendors who specifically specialize in this. (This is widely used in Marketing industries.)
Whether by legit platforms or not, your data is also handled by humans. This means that anyone with malicious intentions could easily collect your data and offer to sell it to many different entities. (Why did you think you got so many spam messages and phone calls?) (Oh btw, your data may have already leaked in the deep web too.)
Part B: How did I find out
On one occasion, I have done my experiments using a different phone number that I own. It’s a brand new number which means nobody knows its existence and for about 1-2 years of time, I did not use it for any forms or documentation. During that period, I did not receive any spam at all. Once I started dropping my phone number to property agents on PropertyGuru, iProperty, social media ads and agent-made sites (I’ll talk about this next), I started getting 10++ calls PER DAY. Not only that, property agents whom I did not reach out to had started spamming my Whatsapp. I’m talking 20-30 msg within a day to a week depending on the duration since you gave them your number.
Part C: Phishing Accounts
Another thing I noticed, someone will make a property agent account, whether it is fake or not, the intention was to collect your phone number and distribute it to other agents or even companies. How did I know? One time I reached out to a particular agent’s Whatsapp. I found out that the agent was non-responsive at all after I asked about one property but suddenly lots of other agents from different companies (total strangers, okay) reached out to me saying: “I heard you are looking at this project,”. When I asked how did they get my details, they replied: “you’ve probably registered your interest somewhere and my manager got your number, which he then asked me to contact you.” They even had the exact name I gave to that agent!
3. Unofficial sites
Go ahead and type the name of the latest project, did you see a bunch of different domain names (URL links) of the same name? Good, you got the right results.
Property agents will run and grab the first domain name they could buy in order to create a website that has all the information they want to show you, then when you want to get the e-brochure, they will collect your data before they let you download it. Why should you give them your details when you could reach out directly to the developer and get official documents instead? Besides, the developer side has more information for you at a quicker speed.
Always search just the developer’s name in the search bar and try to find the project page from their official website. If you didn’t know who is the developer, usually Lowyat forums or property sites would’ve already displayed it there. It’s also always good to research about the developer before jumping into the booking form.
4. Your data might still be leaked anyway
After applying for a mortgage loan, I realized my main phone number suddenly gets a few sms about properties and such. I don’t know how they got it but it’s really disheartening. At least it’s not as bad as point No.1. Though the lesson I got here was when applying Houzkey, I should’ve used a non-main phone number too. I did use another email address so I didn’t get so much spam in my main inbox.
5. Agents can be a little bit too pushy
They will bombard you with a bunch of pros about the property so keep an eye on the Lowyat forums and think critically for your situation. Do you really like the place? Do you feel like you don’t mind the cons? It’s all your decisions.
Oh, they will still spam you with new projects and such.
6. Discounts are usually gone
During the early bird / launch, the best discounts from the developers are by then. Once the bookings are gone, you could just forget about discounts from the developer. Maybe they might give you free legal fees and such but you might miss out on 4-10% discount on the unit itself. Usually the good units are snatched and gone, what’s left would be very limited quantity. Some people couldn’t purchase it because their loan didn’t get approved. Some just didn’t want it anymore. Ultimately, you don’t really get to have more choices of the units and tower you wish to purchase.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional. I am merely expressing my genuine experiences.
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