This Property Was Left EMPTY For 1 year, But Is Now Rented Out At RM 5,000?!

By The Makeover Guys | 30 Nov -0001

I met with Max (not real name) around April this year. When we first visited his property, he told me that it was left empty for 1 year because he was unable to get any viewing requests. I was surprised to hear that as Bangsar properties typically do well, especially with the high volume of expats renting in this area. Upon inspection, I realized that the property was in an aged condition and left unattended. Max wasn't living in West Malaysia and therefore didn’t have the time to refurbish and renovate his unit.

“Could I get this property fixed and rented out?” I thought to myself.

Before the makeover:

 

Considering Bangsar has a high rental demand, my proposed strategy to Max was that the correct solution was to give the property a “facelift” - do up the walls and put in new furniture. Even though it took a few rounds of consultation, we eventually agreed that this was the right move forward. Max’s unit was then refurbished with a budget of approx. RM 35k over the period of 30 working days. After the makeover, Max was very happy with the result (I sent him photos as he was outstation).

We then started to market the unit to potential expats through our rental platform, www.cozyhomes.my. After a total of 6 promising viewings, we were offered tenancy with a Swedish expat currently working at IKEA. The rental offer was RM 5,000, which was much higher than the market rate!

This experience really taught me that properties should not be left empty with unexplored potential, particularly those in expat-rich areas such as Bangsar. Tenants are always looking to rent their dream home -- you just need to show them the correct product.

Nicholas Seow

Strategy Consultant

Edited by Jaspal Singh