The Platinum List
What makes for a successful property investment? The main measure of success is the amount of rental income it produces. A property which is continuously promoted and handled by a dedicated and well-managed property investment firm will always produce more income than a property in the care of its owner.
WHAT’S A GOOD ASKING PRICE - FOR A QUICK SALE? Even in today’s computerised world, there is no published sliding scale that one can go to when pricing any property, anywhere in the world (and especially in such an up-and-down marketplace like Samui). The final figure obtained is precisely what you can get for it at that particular time. If the final figure is very low, this reflects the poor choice of marketing strategies employed by the estate agent and the personal circumstances of the present owners, and what pressure, if any, they may be under to sell as quickly as possible. Estate agents catch on quickly if it is a 'distressed sale' and immediately relay such ‘insider’ information - often negative and full of woe - to anyone who will listen. This sharp tactic only serves to exert even more pressure on the distressed sellers as in: ‘Here’s their final bid – take it or leave it ! Word gets around and the inevitable happens - the owners get even lower bids!
Yet to obtain a quick sale need not necessarily mean that owners have to fall for the traditional estate agents’ ruse (which is normally) after the property has been listed for a couple of weeks or months without a single enquiry - to encourage the owners to; start dropping the price until somebody bites.
Yes, this tactic might get a quick sale but there are no guarantees on that score - but what you can guarantee is that you will end up with a lower price than the one you originally expected – plus you still have to pay whacking commissions to the agent. Not only that but every time you drop the price you create a new precedent - ending up trapped in an ever-downward price spiral. Yet this is precisely what greedy estate agents all recommend (frankly to all their sellers if they could get away with it) because they know from experience that it usually sparks interest if they can explain to potential buyers, the personal distressed circumstances of the current owner, and what a 'great bargain' the prospects will be getting if they buy this massively discounted property – its called a distress sale - and for obvious reasons. Any fool can drop their asking price – but is the price tag really the most important factor when you want a quick sale? Can so-called over-priced properties sell quicker than so-called under-priced ones?
Is there another route when selling a property?
THE UNIQUE PLATINUM LIST . You will not see this plan being practised by any of the run-of-the-mill estate agents on Main Street or any High Street: OIS’s sage advice to owners is to be confident enough to increase by about 2-3 million (THB) the existing advertised price - and then allow OIS to use the extra funding to exclusively and extensively market the property on a worldwide basis. Not merely as a holiday villa for people who want to return to Samui occasionally or even to live here permanently - but as a fairly successful and well-reviewed buy-to-let investment proposition.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
q FEES. We do not charge any sales commission to the owner when an investment property is eventually sold. Our marketing fees, and all the necessary marketing expenses are provided out of the difference in the increased investment price obtained - for each individual property. The owner receives his or her pre-agreed figure (with no commission taken) and OIS keeps the remainder to fund the guaranteed investment return. It has to be remembered that OIS is already contracted to generate a whole twelve months rental charges. If they fail to achieve the agreed minimum under the terms of their guarantee to the new owners. When OIS rents out the property, we can also earn residual income by offering villa/cruise holidays – again a marketing concept entirely unique to the Samui villa rental marketplace.
q OCCUPANCY GUARANTEE. Potential buyers will hopefully, be far more tempted to invest in a property that has a built-in guarantee of a fifty-percent occupancy rate spread over two years – rather than be tempted by a similar or even cheaper property that cannot offer such guarantees. And that’s exactly what the unique Buy2Rent Platinum Plan offers on all listed properties.
q REVIEWS. Market research reveals that holidaymakers are drawn more favourably to rental properties that have received many delightful reviews from previous renters. One can discount the owner’s own views - as they are often biased – it’s the reviews from independent renters that count here. As most existing villa owners cannot provide such a review list, OIS does the task for them. To ensure that our listed properties receive adequate publicity and constant reviews, we have contracted with a highly specialist review company whose website can be viewed www.write-a-review.info
q IMMEDIATE, POSITIVE IMPACT. The immediate and positive impact those good reviews have, both on creating higher rental prices and higher selling prices cannot be emphasised enough. Why? Because any property with piles of reviews must always be given that extra special mention – and suddenly that particular property now becomes far more valuable - not only to potential renters but to potential investors - than say a similar, and maybe even cheaper, but forever empty property next door. The conclusion that will hopefully be drawn by them is that THE INVESTMENT PRICE BEING ASKED IS ACTUALLY VERY REASONABLE – CONSIDERING THE MANY VALUABLE BENEFITS IT OFFERS TO BOTH BUYERS AND SELLERS. The potential buyer’s attention will be focussed on future gain – that’s the numbers and figures they will need in order to make a sound decision. The OIS investment price tag therefore can be identified as the vehicle, which ensures that the new owner gets something very tangible and which is paid year-in and year-out for the period of the contract. And then, when they in turn wish to sell their investment property – OIS will repeat the process – hopefully ensuring an endless stream of very happy buyers, very satisfied sellers and regular renters – who are now willing to pay more rent because of the accolades in the villa’s review section. Reviews are powerful inducers and make for sound marketing.
q PROOF OF VALUE. Each review must prove, as nothing else possibly could, that this particular property has now got real added value, right here, right now. Either historically or recently it has proven to be a much sought-after villa for countless other holidaymakers from around the world. These are people who will always speak highly of the villa – that is their mandate. This is called buying the GOODWILL factor - a tangible asset extremely valuable to an investor – and that’s exactly what investors are getting in this plan. The more reviews, the more valuable the property becomes, the higher the selling price. That’s how it works. No one can gainsay that these reviews are remotely fictitious - as all the reviewers email addresses accompany the reviews. There’s even a happy smiling photos of them. What a Unique Selling Point! And totally unique to OIS too!
q NO COST RENTAL SERVICE. As a matter of policy, OIS do not charge fees for renting out owners’ properties. You tell us what you want and that is what you get – no annoying deductions or added tax – we are not charging you for our services so no tax is charged anywhere along the line. These kind of finaciasl benefits give further incentives for potential buyers to choose your particular property over that even prettier one next door. Not only might they inherit a fairly largish unearned income, but also they don’t have to pay OIS for rendering them this valuable service. This is referred to as added-value marketing tactics – whereby one can immediately enhance an existing property’s value – simply by adding attractive marketing features previously untried in the property market. We make your individual property more valuable – that’s a given. The only thing we cannot guarantee is exactly when it will be sold but in the meantime you will have earned a pretty substantial income. Remember, your income is higher simply because we work differently from your average estate agent who depends on his commission from you. This is why we feel we can confidently make claim that the Platinum Plan is a true cutting-edge property-marketing tool, which has now visibly created a brand-new and possibly very lucrative, niche market sector.
q OTHER EXTRAS. All current owners also have the ability to block out any dates on their villa’s rental calendar for the weeks or months they personally desire. So now they get to live in their own property – while it also earns them a regular tax-free income* when they are not on the island.
GETTING LISTED. The main conditions to gain listing is that all owners must agree to give the Buy2Rent a clear six-month run by agreeing to appoint us as their sole selling/renting agent on the Internet - and on Koh Samui.
It is imperative to success that each of the investment properties appearing on the exclusive Platinum List do not list locally with an estate agent for at least six months - whilst OIS are attempting to reach the property investors - the lucrative niche market we are specifically aiming at.
There will be no price drops from the investment price asked otherwise the guarantees offered for rental income cannot be sustained. The seller gets his pre-agreed price and the investor walks into an turnkey investment – what better way to market any property?
FINAL WORD. Most potential buyers who come to us are not necessarily buying a property for their own physical use. Yes, of course they can stay there during any holidays they take on the island but in the main they will be more interested in getting a healthy unearned income package – the property is just the vehicle by which they obtain that income. They might well even have several properties on the go symultaniously if thay so desire.
The investment feature is the buyer’s red button and is the most desirable feature of the property and the main topic of conversation. Their decision will not necessarily be about the swimming pool or the lack of one, the wonderful views or the suburban street. It’s not about its precise location or number of en-suite bathrooms. Investors’ attention is drawn time and again to the property’s potential to become a source of a lucrative and ongoing income, and one that is safely secured in bricks and mortar and one that is absolutely predictable – as per the occupancy rate guarantee. It is not expected that buyers will make an emotional decision because they have fallen in love with the property (although that would be very nice of course). We anticipate that the actual buying decisions will be made almost solely on any given property’s proven rental income - whether past, existing or potential. All rental income received is regularly wired to the investor's bank of choice, in any country and in any name of their choice.
TAX-FREE INCOME OR NOT? Rental returns are remitted on a month-by-month basis and purposely held below the statutory declaration figure of $9999 USD (or the same value in other western currencies) where all transactions over that figure must now be declared the branch manager of the bank concerned. This is virtually an international law and was designed by the UN, the USA and the EEC countries mainly to tackle money-laundering crimes. It is the rental owner’s own choice as to how and to whom they decide to pay any unearned income taxes that might be due or become due in the future. Certainly it is our view that the tax gathers of the Thailand parliament will not be pursuing owners for unpaid taxes as you will be able to prove to them that the income never entered the country or at any given time came under Thailand’s fiscal jurisdiction. Any rental income received by you will always come from outside Thailand, as indeed all the rental fees will also be paid to us from a country outside of Thailand. Our general advice is that as long as you don’t break YOUR country’s tax laws you basically have nothing to fear.
Please apply now for your property’s listing in the Platinum List
- See advice in last paragraph.
**Not the previous asking price or any previously advertised price
