Enterprising property investor

		Sat, Nov 13, 2010 The Star/Asia News Network
Enterprising property investor

He shares his key learnings - as well as the pitfalls in property investments.

Sat, Nov 13, 2010
The Star/Asia News Network

By Sherry Koh

Marco Robinson, 42, arrived in Malaysia in year 1997. He never completed his studies in University, but instead, he learnt from the "University of Life" and has emerged rather triumphantly as an entrepreneur.

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After leaving a full-time employment in Malaysia, Robinson started his company, Max Generation, that is currently located at Sri Hartamas. The company supplies vacation incentives where RM2,000 holidays (S$832) are available from RM50.

The success of this business enabled him to conduct seminars, thanks to a large database. Robinson claims to own an impressive database of 1 million people, mostly from Singapore and Malaysia.

He began offering seminars on personal development which focuses on individuals' mindset and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming).

The properties he owns are valued at approximately RM10 million and he has purchased six properties this year. Although Robinson has invested in properties via the No-Money-Down strategy quite a while back, it is not until October last year that he started teaching it. Robinson is also the author of 'Know When To Close The Deal and Suddenly Grow Rich' and advocates the BRAD (Believe, Rapport, Authority, Desire) concept.

StarProperty.my speaks to the resourceful and entrepreneurial property investor-cum-mentor at his office, which is located opposite the block where all seminars take place.

Tell us about yourself. How long have you been in Malaysia? What brought you to Malaysia?
I was headhunted to come here in 1997 to turn around a public company. When I came over, it was before the recession.

The company was a public-listed property company that wanted to start a new division and make it profitable. So I came over to have a look and loved what I saw. I was very surprised that Malaysia was so cool.

I started the project and in November 1997, the company couldn't pay me. The recession was that quick and impactful.

But I decided to stay here and took that company from RM6million a year to RM100 million in the first year.

I stayed there for three years and left there in 2000 and basically swore that I would never work for anybody else for as long as I live. I became an entrepreneur and travelled all over the world to learn how to be financially independent.

Did something drastic happen for you to say, "I don't want to work for anyone else as long as I live"?
Yes. I think it was an accumulation of things.

You can imagine, in a big company, you have a lot of staff and politics. I left because I didn't like the direction the boss was going and didn't like being a 'Yes' man. I wanted freedom.

I made a lot of money but money is not the only thing. It is the lifestyle. So I left and became an entrepreneur. In the first year I left, I didn't work. I travelled all over the world.

When I came back, the first thing I did was become a consultant. So I got my services together; the things that I was good at and provided consultancy services.

Of course, it was me doing all the work. So I expanded the company and got people to do it for me, because I was turning people's businesses around but I wasn't turning my own business around (laughs).

Now, I educate people on how to be financially independent. It started with a series of workshops and seminars. In 2004, I started this company, Max Generation, and it is now a multi-million dollar company. We supply vacation incentives. We supply RM2,000 holidays from RM50. So companies buy thousands and in turn, we are able to do a lot more seminars and education because our database is huge.

Where do you purchase your properties?
All over. I have two in Dorchester (Sri Hartamas), one in Langkawi, one in Mont' Kiara, one in Times Square and the other one is in KL as well.

This is your entire property portfolio?
That's what I purchased for this year. I have about 25 properties, including in the UK (United Kingdom) and Australia.

What's your take on the property market in Malaysia compared to the UK and Australia?
The property market in the UK is down.

The property index is coming down and property values are coming down, even though the base rate in England is half per cent for existing mortgage holders.

For those going for a new mortgage, it is half per cent below base. The other thing in the UK is that the cheapest houses are 150,000 pounds (S$311,355) now. So, it is really tough for the first-time house buyer.

Now, the UK is doing development programmes to build more affordable houses. I am also involved in a project in the UK for about 100 acres of various different plots where we are building affordable housing starting from let's say 70,000 pounds to 80,000 pounds and also graduating to say 300,000 pounds.

What we are doing now is selling the land first and then the option is to build the house. In property, there are so many different ways on how to do. So many different ways to make money from it and so many different ways to develop it.

I just closed that deal a few months ago and I am also offering that deal to Malaysians who want to invest in the UK.

The UK will bounce back, but not now. The property scene in Malaysia is interesting because it is very mixed. Number one, you have different cultures in the same place, which is unusual and very rare in the world. So the education system and cultures are very different. People are buying different things for different kind of reasons.

In KL, it is very interesting because the price index in the city varies in different areas.

For example in KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre), you have some properties going down in value and specific properties going up.

In an area, because you have the new palace being built, the property prices have increased and that's why I have invested there. So you have these things going on and from my research, a majority of Malaysians don't know how to do the No-Money-Down property deals and that's why the programmes are over-subscribed.

What's your property portfolio, in terms of value?
In terms of asset value, it is around RM10 million. It's not massive.

What types of property do you usually purchase?
All different types. Land, low cost apartment; everything.

Tell us about your book. What are the key learnings?
My book is for the man or woman on the street. I am not an academic person. The way I write the book is the way that I talk.

The feedback from people is that they love it because they can read it that easily. It's like I am having conversation with them.

The first bit of content is the mindset. In the book, there's a concept called BRAD (Believe, Rapport, Authority, Desire). Believe in yourself, Rapport with yourself, the people around you; leverage on relationships.

Now, I make most of my money through relationships. Those relationships have led me to opportunities. The book also says that you have to be an Authority or expert in your subject. When you are an authority, people respect you more. That gives you a higher profile and people come to you because you are the expert so you can help them.

Then you need to find your niche. Do you want to be in property? Do you want to be a corporate CEO? You have to find a niche that is relevant to your target market.

The last thing is Desire. You have to create desire for the stuff that you are doing. The book is generally about sales. It was written on how to sell better, because the economy is based on how to buy and sell stuff.

It teaches you how to persuade people ethically to come around to your way of thinking.

What are key pitfalls of people going into property investment?
A lot of people don't know their credit rating. They don't bother to go to CCRIS (Central Credit Reference Information System) and print out their statement which basically determines whether banks are going to lend them the money or not.

A lot of people don't know what they can spend, or why they get turned down for a mortgage. So they will think that it's their fault. They get a belief system that they can't be a property investor. That's actually quite common.

Secondly, it is research. People don't do enough research on the property they want to buy. They might see something nice, but it doesn't fit their property goal or criteria. So they will stretch their criteria to buy the property.

What they should be doing is to "stretch" the property to fit the criteria. So I would say that that's most people's mistake. I have people who attend my seminar who own 15 properties and don't make any money.

What would you say are your best and worst investment in property?
My best decision was to buy property initially.

My worst decision... let me think, there's been quite a lot (laughs).

My biggest regret is that I bought a property in the UK nearly 20 years ago, which I sold for less than than my purchase price and two years later, it was worth 150,000 pounds more. That's because I didn't understand the economic cycles.

The information is universal. The problem is the information is not synthesised in everyday-learning material.

Your properties are mostly residential or commercial?
Mostly residential. It has to be undervalued.

Why don't you go into commercial?
No particular reason. Right now, commercial is not a good investment because the return is less than 2 or 3 per cent.

Some people mentioned that landed commercial is the way to go, if you have cash.
Exactly, based on if you have cash. They are land banking.

Right now in the recession, a lot of businesses are failing than succeeding. You have an oversupply of office space. So does that make an office space a good investment right now?

It depends on the location because people are waiting for the next economic growth. At the end of the day, you have to know your strategy and know what you are doing.

Flipping (buy-to-sell) property is a very specialised knowledge and it takes a lot research to do that.

Freehold vs leasehold?
Always freehold. That's the generic concept, but there are deals that can be very good for leasehold.

For example, if you've got an income property and the income is good and paying more than the mortgage, then it's worth it for a leasehold.

Again, it depends on what your goals are.

What about your properties? Always freehold?
Not always. Most of them are. That's one of my criteria but if the return on investment is good enough I'll still go for leasehold because you can't deny having a few thousand Ringgit extra in your pocket every month for doing nothing.

What's the best and worst advice you ever received?
The worst advice was when someone told me, "Buy! Buy! Buy! It's going to go through the roof!"

But what if the advice is from someone credible?
I am talking about CEOs.

Who are not investors?
Who are investors. They think based on emotional reasons.

Opinions based on hunches are the worst kind of advice because they are very personal. They are not objective.

And the best advice you ever received?
My best advice is that your ability to learn information is your best asset.

Always value what you can learn. Never say the three most dangerous words in the English language, "I Know That".

That's what a lot of people say because they have an ego and it prevents them from learning what they need to learn.

How did you learn about investment?
After leaving the company that I worked for in 2000, I went around the world and paid a lot of money to listen to property gurus.

I went to a lot of seminars and workshops. Tony Robbins for motivation, John Maxwell leadership and for property, I would say Paul Counsel, an Australian guy. And my uncle, because he's a property multi-millionaire in the UK. Luckily, I have a rich uncle, poor uncle (laughs).