Property USPs, Straits Residences, Tanjung Tokong

Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)

An important skill for newbie real estate professionals is how to identify the USPs for any property for which you have obtained a listing to sell or rent on behalf of its owner(s). Of course, you already know the estimated market value by looking it up at the automated valuation models provided free of charge by property portals such as EdgeProp Analytics or PropertyGuru DataSense Vantage.

Here’s RC’s simple 4 step process to discover USPs for any property:

1. Why reinvent the wheel?

Property gurus just love to chant, “Location, location, location” if you ask them why people buy properties. But not all properties are conveniently located next to seafronts (nice views, especially at dusk and dawn), watersides (nice views), national icons like the Petronas Twin Towers or KL Tower (nice views), shopping centres (good for last minute shopping before you head home for dinner), transportation hubs (eg. MTR stations) or parks and greenery (nice views plus the added bonus of being able to walk your dog, or go for an early morning jog).

Don’t reinvent the wheel. So if somebody has already done it, you can use their identified USPs to market your client’s property.

I suggest starting first by looking at the 3 major portals : EdgeProp, PropertyGuru and IProperty. Note how many shops, schools, F&B outlets, Starbucks or other cafes, malls/shopping centres, parks and green spaces are within 100-250m. That’s called walkability - a plus feature in the increasingly congested Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

If you’re in luck, EdgeProp Analytics might have a page for the property. Call up the relevant page by typing in “EdgeProp xxx”. This should bring up 3-4 pages worth of information about a property that you can scan for clues about its USPs.

Next, check YouTube and do a Google search to see if a blogger or real estate negotiator might have posted a video tour. Pay careful attention to any USPs that might be mentioned.

2. Schedule a site visit and do a walkabout

If your property does not have an EdgeProp Analytics page or there is no YouTube video and your Google search turns up nothing, then you have to discover USPs the hard way -by a site visit on the ground.

Schedule a site visit and do a “walkabout”. I prefer to do site visits early in the morning, say 6.30 - 7.00am. At this time, few people are about and the light is soft, so any photos you take with your smartphone tend to look good. I carry a cheap camera around my neck (its a prop -just for show), a business card that identifies me as a photographer/videographer in case Security asks why I am loitering around a property at 6.30am in the morning.

I also have a mid-price smartphone to take pictures of the property and any noteworthy feature around its surroundings. My modus operandi is to head straight towards the Security post, identify myself and explain I am there to take photographs or videos for a client. That’s a plausible story that satisfies most Security guards. Of course, I don’t tell them my client is Me, Myself and I.

3. Meet up with your client and inspect the property on site

My #1 tip is to get there early before the client turns up. That way you can enough time to scout around and talk any housekeeping and cleaning staff or Security that might be around.

For example, I was asked by K, a KL based REA that I talk to a lot to get ideas for this blog, to check out the USPs for Straits Residences, a upmarket seafront project with commercial title at Tanjung Tokong.

So I got to the small GF lobby early and managed to find out from Housekeeping that 60 keys had collected but only 20 owners had actually moved in. Security at the construction site/access road next to the property mentioned another useful tit bit of information. The offshore reclaimed island directly in front of the property would take up to 20 years to complete.

Then I met up with the marketing person in charge of the show unit and got the full tour of the facilities. I took some pictures of the show unit (apparently, the developer decided to change the furniture provided, so the Matterport 360 virtual tours on the Straits Residences website are outdated). New furniture would be supplied to buyers.) Most of the facilities are located on the roof top deck.

I took some photos at the roof deck of the surroundings. I found the choice “Sea View” units directly facing the Andaman Sea and the reclaimed island (if any are still available) would actually face a construction site on the reclaimed island for a long time.

4. Make a list of all positive and negative things you can find about the property and its surroundings

List out any nice views of greenery or a park, a big layout or floor plan suitable for families. Make a list of the facilities available to residents, for example pools, extensive landscaped grounds, grand ground floor lobby, in-house cinema theatre, yoga studio or games room, a club house, private dining and entertainment area , tennis courts, squash courts, 24/7 concierge services, if there is secure access to lobbies and car parks, upgraded tech like Bluetooth door access to individual units, how many units to a floor, whether property management has been outsourced to a reputable company with a track record (positive) or the developer wants to save money and is doing it in house (not so positive unless the developer is a seasoned player with its own property management subsidiary).

Consider also the property’s surroundings. Is it near shopping centres and malls, transportation hubs, good schools, has ready access to parks and greenery? All these could be reaons why potential buyers might be interested in the property you have for sale.

If the property is located in the suburbs, consider also its connectivity - how many roads serve the area, are there early morning traffic jams or evening rush hour traffic blues.

Of course, you can probably think of more things etc to add to the above list.

Finally consider any USPs that competitors do not have. I call these USPs the property’s X-Factor. Not all properties have an X Factor, though.

Putting It All Together

The following case study is how to identify the property USPs for a seafront serviced apartment, Straits Residences at Tanjung Tokong, Penang . For some unknown reason, I counted at least 40 YouTube videos by real estate agents and property bloggers on Straits Residences. Perhaps the developer of Straits Residences is keen to dispose of the leftover units in light of an uncertain property market and has offered high commissions to real estate agents to market the leftover units.

Your first port of call is to check the developer’s website for an e-brochure. Read it slowly and carefully, making notes of any thing that strikes your interest. E-brochures are of course produced to project positive PR by the developer's PR team. But jot down what you think are the property's competitive advantages vis a vis other upmarket properties in the vicinity. The developer, Kerjaya Prospek is the main contractor of E&O in Penang. There are a lot of E&O projects just around the corner from Straits Residences, viz it's Penang flagship project - the 1,100 unit luxury Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium, the two storey and two and a half storey terraces across the road, and the Tamarind@Tanjung Tokong.
Straits Residences is a tower block that occupies a corner of a mixed use seafront development by E&O called Straits Quay comprising a marina, a two storey mall adjoining the marina, serviced apartments (Suites@Waterside), offices in a podium block. I reckon the property's main USP is a seafront location with the added conveniences of being next to a marina and mall.
Next punch up the EdgeProp Analytics page on Straits Residences. Because Straits Residences only handed out keys to owners recently, there is not lot of information here.
2. Check out the surroundings. Punch up a Google Map which shows up the locations of major shopping centres, public parks and greenery, supermarkets, schools etc. There is a Lotus (formerly Tesco) supermarket and mall about 200m away, another 2 supermarkets (Cold Storage) at Island Plaza and Village Grocer at City Junction about 1km away, Straits Green - a public park by the seashore, Tanjung Tokong beach promenade just adjacent to the marina, a construction site for an international school located next to Straits Green.
The nearest dental and medical clinics are located just 400m at a retail strip mall facing the main road and across the road to Lotus supermarket.
3. Find its Walkability Score. Straits Residences has a walkability score of 67 out 100 (somewhat walkable, some errands can be accomplished on foot)

4. Identify any negative factors

Next to the tower block lies an access road to the causeway linking Tanjung Tokong to the upcoming housing developments on the reclaimed island. This might lead to more noise and traffic congestion in the future as developments on the reclaimed island come onstream.
The commercial title of Straits Residences might mean some Straits Residences owners might want to operate short term rentals from their units. In contrast, 7 year old Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium does not allow AirBnB operators to run short term rentals.
The asking prices PSF for Straits Residences are generally higher than 7 year old Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium despite having fewer facilities (eg no club house, in house theatre, yoga studio, no extensive landscaped greenery).
Rents in upmarket Tanjung Tokong condominiums such as Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium have been on the decline in recent years. The decline is also mirrored in average price transactions in psf.

In conclusion, I think any prospective buyer of a Straits Residences unit should do a due diligence check on the current market values of the other upmarket condominiums nearby such as Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium and the Tamarind @ Tanjung Tokong. Try looking up the market values of nearby upmarket condominiums at the websites of PropertyGuru Datasense’ Vantage and EdgeProp Analytics.

Also I think it is prudent for potential buyers to check out the recent trends in rentals and transaction prices of similar upmarket properties in Tanjung Tokong. See the charts below by PropertyGuru for rentals and price transactions in psf for a two bedroom unit at Quayside Seaside Resort Condominium over the past 5 years.

Finally, a potential property buyer might want to get professional advice from a real estate agent or valuer registered by BOVEA.