The truth is that many of the 'problems' that stop most people from making a profit from property investment are not problems at all IF ONLY they know the right way of investing. Making money from property investment is not hard at all. There are so many opportunities right here in Singapore and foreigners are flooding here to snatch a piece of the pie. Just recently I was telling my students to buy projects in the Robin region and those who dared went into Robin road have made a pile from their investment. In one of my recent classes, I analyzed with my students the en-bloc potential of Crystal Towers and few days later it came out in the news that it was pursuing an en-bloc sale. So you see, I share with my students EVERYTHING during our gatherings and they just follow straightforward advice to make money in property. So, is it that hard to make money from property investment?Posted : 01 December 2010
By Conrad Raj, TODAY
|
CEO of ERC Holdings, Andy Ong (Photo courtesy of ERC). |
At 40, Mr Andy Ong has achieved quite a bit. He runs S$500 million in real
estate funds as well as a rubber estate in Thailand, two-thirds the size of Singapore. This is
in addition to the ERC Institute, which has its main campus on River Valley Road.
The
group teaches 3,500 students at schools in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to become
entrepreneurs. His various businesses under ERC Holdings employ 1,100 people, of which
a tenth are in Singapore.
Now Mr Ong, who studied
economics at the National University of Singapore, wants to
establish a chain of three-star hotels in the region,
starting with the conversion of the 16-storey Prime Centre in Middle
Road into a 300-room hotel as well as a school for the
hospitality industry.
In November, Mr Ong paid the Hong Leong Group S$103 million for the freehold building,
which has a gross floor area of about 95,000 sq ft on a 20,162 sq ft site.
"I found that on my travels, all I need is a comfortable bed with soft pillows, a large TV
screen and a clean, comfortable bathroom," he told TODAY, pointing out that the frills of a
five-star luxury hotel are wasted on business travellers like him. "While our rooms
(between 160 sq ft and 180 sq ft) will probably cost half the rate charged by five-star
hotels, they will have free movies round the clock," he said.
He expects the conversion of Prime Centre to be completed in the second quarter of 2012
at a cost of between S$15 million and S$25 million. He then wants to replicate the model in
Indonesia, Thailand and China, using his students to run them when they graduate.
Mr Ong is also planning to expand his schools into Jakarta and China and plans more in
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. "I tell our students they should not become mere
employees but entrepreneurs ... We want them to have both quantitative and qualitative
skills." But so far only about 30 to 40 of his 5,000 graduands, who come from more than
20 countries, have set up their own businesses.
"One of my proudest moments was when a former student called Robin sent me a copy of
Prestige magazine, which described him 'as a young successful gentleman' who has made
his mark in the bath accessories industry at the tender age of 29. He was very kind to
mention me as a source of his inspiration."
ERC charges between S$6,000 and S$10,000 a year here for courses leading up to degrees
from affiliated universities in the United Kingdom. But not all of its students are happy
customers and some have voiced their dissatisfaction on the Internet.
While he now enjoys driving his several cars and lives in a luxury condominium in Bukit
Timah Road, life has not always been a bed of roses for him and his four siblings. "Dad left
us when I was seven ... somehow my mum managed to raise all of us, right up to
university," he said.
Soon after graduation, he dabbled in financial journalism, starting a magazine called the
Financial Planner with S$10,000 from his savings and borrowing another S$20,000. After
successfully selling the magazine in 2003, he moved into property, picking up several
shophouses with "comfortable" rental yields.
At the same time, the Economic Development Board encouraged him to promote
entrepreneurship among the youth. Unhappy with the way students were taught at private
schools then, he started ERC. He spent S$5 million turning the former River Valley Primary
School into a campus for 1,600 students. Last year, he bought 90 per cent of North Bridge
Commercial Complex for S$46 million, also from the Hong Leong Group. It now has place
for 1,300 students.
Although the group bought a
significant stake in Shun Thai, a listed Thai manufacturer of rubber
gloves, and a 40,000ha rubber plantation in Thailand, it is property
that enthuses
Mr Ong most. His several funds totalling S$500 million
and under Gryphon Estate
Management are invested mainly in properties. "That's
where my expertise and focus is,"
he said. And he provides advice and insight into
property on his blog, 'My Money Sense'.
This article was first published on TODAY.
ERC snaps up Prime Centre for $103m
|
Kalpana Rashiwala |
Mon, Nov 08, 2010
The Business Times
|
|
|
|
(SINGAPORE) Hong Leong Group is understood to have
sold freehold Prime Centre on Middle Road for $103 million or $1,415 per
square foot based on existing net lettable area of about 72,800 sq ft.
The 16-storey building is about half-vacant but that should suit buyer
ERC Holdings group just fine as the private commercial school operator
is said to be planning to renovate the property for use as an
educational hub and hotel. The group's ERC Institute runs tourism and hospitality courses among its academic programmes. DTZ brokered the sale of Prime Centre through a private treaty deal.
Market watchers say it makes more sense for ERC to renovate the
existing 18-year-old office block rather than to tear it down and
redevelop the site since Prime Centre's existing gross floor area of
94,657 sq ft reflects a plot ratio of 4.69 on its site area of 20,162 sq
ft - exceeding the 4.2 plot ratio allowed for the site under Master
Plan 2008. The site is zoned for commercial use. It has 73 car park lots.
The new premises will help ERC cater to its expansion programme. A year
ago, the group picked up 60 units equivalent to about 90 per cent of
the North Bridge Commercial Complex (opposite Bugis Junction) for $46
million. It has since spruced up the space and is using it for its
headquarters as well as a campus for ERC Institute. The price
which ERC paid seller City Developments (the listed property arm of Hong
Leong Group) for the 999-year leasehold asset worked out to about
$1,194 psf based on strata area of 38,534 sq ft. That deal was
also brokered by DTZ. Other office building deals the property
consulting group has brokered this year include Marina House ($148
million), Chow House ($101 million) and the next-door Corporate Office
($215 million). DTZ has also brokered the sale of nine Singapore
industrial properties this year for a total of nearly $366 million to
Sabana Investment Properties (SIP), which is expected to list the
syariah-compliant Sabana Reit by year-end. Five of the properties are being sold by Freight Links Express Holdings.
DTZ was also instrumental in Freight Links' equity participation in
SIP, which will be the real estate investment trust's manager. About $4 billion worth of office investment sales is estimated to have been transacted so far this year. |
|