Property Hunter Magazine October Issue 2014 | Page 34

18  19

/// East Malaysia Property News

Sabah’s Estate Agents Move Up Against
Illegal Brokers

SHAREDA Confident Commercial
Property Demand in Sabah Still Strong
own perception as to what they
can find at any respective mall.
“For example, Low Yat Plaza has
been branded as a place to buy
computers and IT (information
related) products,” he said.
On the company’s joint venture
Wisma Tiong Hua project with land
owners, Sabah United Chinese
Chambers of Commerce (SUCCC)
and United Sabah Chinese
Communities Association of Kota
Kinabalu (USCCA), Goh described it
as a ‘boutique mall”.

SABAH

Property Hunter, Sabah’s leading
property magazine recently hosted
a talk for local property agents and
negotiators, focusing on the topic of
establishing a leading edge against illegal brokers. The 2 hour talk attracted over 80 property professionals.

PROPERTY NEWS

Keep track of the latest property and real estate news
plus reviews in the property market in Sabah

The talk was held in Celyn Hotel,
and industry leaders such as Mr
Siva Shanker, President of Malaysia
Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA), and
Mr Enoch Khoo, Vice President of
Property Hub, an award winning real
estate agency.

Government to Re-Allow DIBS?
“In the event of an economic
downturn, banks saddled with too
much DIBS end-financing could
collapse as the losses from such
DIBS end-financing will erode the
banks’ capital,” he added.
On the other hand, MKH Bhd’s
Group Managing Director Tan Sri
Eddy Chen is hopeful that DIBS will
be reintroduced but with limitations
to prevent abuses.

A residential project in Kota Kinabalu which previously offered DIBS scheme

The government is open to
lifting the ban on the Developer
Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS)
in the housing market if there are
compelling reasons, according to the
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local
Government Ministry.
“There are some suggestions made
by the industry, we will look into it.
There are pros and cons, there’s
no hard and fast rule on this. If it is

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not abused, it’s a tool for everybody
to sell their houses and to make it
more affordable for the people,” said
its Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman
Dahlan.

“If there are some indicators that
DIBS can be reintroduced we have
no problem with it but the most
important thing is we must be
flexible and nimble,” he added.

The housing ministry will look into
this on a case-by-case basis, he
told the media at the 17th National
Housing & Property Summit held
recently

But Chang Kim Loong, Secretarygeneral of the National House
Buyers Association, stands firm
on his belief that DIBS should be
permanently banned as it promotes
speculation.

Notably, Prime Minister Najib
outlawed DIBS during his Budget
2014 announcement. However,
some property players suggested
that first-time home buyers should
be allowed to participate in this
scheme.
This story was first published by
www.propertyguru.com.my and is
reproduced as part of an editorial
partnership between Property
Hunter and PropertyGuru Group.

According to the organizer, the purpose of hosting the talk is to reaffirm
the publisher’s commitment to stand
in line with the industry to combat
against illegal brokers, who are
damaging the age-long trade in an
unprecedented way.
Siva Shanker, President of MIEA
pointed out during his presentation that whilst it is important to
eradicate illegal real estate brokers,
it is more important for the licensed
practitioners to upgrade their services and professionalism, which
will eventually be the most effective
means of differentiation between
the two.
Enoch Khoo, a Sandakan born Sabahan who runs an award winning
agency in KL, shared enthusiastically
about his journey in the property
industry. Khoo emphasized that
modern day property agents have to
embrace the change of technology
to their benefit. According to him,
the internet and social media are
effective and free platforms to assist
them to market properties. “I have
successfully closed property deals
via contacts in Facebook, without

even meeting the person. All these
were done at literally zero cost!” said
Khoo.
According to the organiser, Michael
Hiew who is also the publisher of
Property Hunter, the purpose of
organizing the talk is a gesture of
appreciation towards the agents.
“We would like to appreciate them
by giving them something valuable in
return, which is ‘knowledge’. We see
the importance of growing and improving together with the industry.”
During the event, Property Hunter’s
director Elson Kho introduced the
latest marketing platform offered
by the media company – the mobile
version of PropertyHunter.com.my.
This addition is an extension to the
portal’s existing website, making it
more convenient for agents to post
listings, and be more accessible to
the public.
PropertyHunter.com.my is now accessible via both laptop as well as
any mobile devices. “We are not
launching an app because there are
too many mobile operating platforms out there. Instead, we decided
to launch a mobile version of the
portal, so the same portal is easily
accessible via the web browser of
any mobile devices.” Said Kho.
The talk, aptly named as “Establishing a leading edge against illegal brokers” is the first of a series of talks
targeted at property agents and
negotiators. Property Hunter plans
to organize informative talks and enriching events as such on a quarterly
basis to facilitate the advancement
of the real estate industry.

Francis Goh, President of SHAREDA

The RM300 million project will be
constructed on 2.7 acres of land in
Karamunsing.

The Sabah Housing and Real
Estate Developers Association
(SHAREDA) is confident that
there is still strong demand for
commercial buildings in Sabah.

The 16-storey building shall consist
of 318 units of hotel suites as
well as fou r levels of retail mall, a
banquet hall that can cater for 200
tables and a five-storey carpark.

Its president, Francis Goh, said
the notion that Sabah was
experiencing an oversupply
of commercial buildings was a
subjective one.

The development plan for Wisma
Tiong Hua has been approved by
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji
Aman and construction work is
expected to begin this December.

Goh said he was asked the same
question a few years ago whether
there was a glut of commercial
buildings in Sabah.

“We have applied for the building
plan. That will take two months
to be approved and we cannot
proceed before that,” he said.

“At that time there were 13 malls
under construction,” said Goh who
is the managing director of Arah
Permai Sdn Bhd.

Also present at the event was
SUCCC president Datuk Seri
Panglima Gan Sau Wah who
said that the name for Wisma
Tiong Hua was meaningful and
represented the Chinese people.

Now Sabah is ahead of its
neighbour Sarawak in terms of
growth in retail malls.
“We have big retail malls, but in
Kuching there aren’t many,” he said
at the introduction ceremony of
Wisma Tiong Hua project.
Goh also said that developers
in Sabah have helped in the
transformation of Kota Kinabalu as
it was today.
“Without developers you wouldn’t
see Kota Kinabalu as it is now,” he
said.

The Sabah Housing and
Real Estate Developers
Association (SHAREDA)
is confident that
there is still strong
demand for commercial
buildings in Sabah.

Goh also mentioned on the
importance of branding for a mall
as it will allow people to have their

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