Harvey Chia demystifies the landed market through first-hand experience

Harvey Chia, a 17-year veteran realtor at SRI, has taken it upon himself to demystify the landed property sector by sharing his experiences in navigating the market. In land-scarce Singapore, many homebuyers aspire to own a landed home. In addition to the sizeable boost in living space, landed properties are also seen as a trophy asset that signifies prestige. In 2023, only about 5% of the population resided in a landed property. However, the transition into the landed market can prove challenging especially without prior experience, says Chia. Among the difficulties are the differing sets of attributes commonly used to assess landed properties such as the surrounding terrain, positioning of drainage gutters and the property’s orientation in relation to the road.

Finding agents with first-hand expertise

Given the limited size of the landed property market, finding an agent with first-hand knowledge can be challenging, Chia adds. This is one reason he has been so vocal by sharing his experiences with his team of 20. He also started a youtube podcast named Property Roundtable focused on the modern-day nuances and concerns in buying and selling landed homes that has attracted a growing audience of subscribers. “Social media is a powerful tool in today’s real estate landscape,” says Chia. “It allows realtors to showcase their knowledge, personalities and properties for sale.” However, he emphasises that being a realtor is still a “craftsman’s trade” and requires practice — not just knowledge — to master the craft. There are only about 73,000 landed residential properties in Singapore. These include terrace houses, semi-detached houses, bungalows and Good Class Bungalows. Between January and June of this year, they accounted for only 8.3% of all private residential sales. “The limited number of transactions severely limits the chance for agents to practise, transact, and familiarise themselves in this space,” explains Chia. He shares that a lot of the information he sees being repeated are from second-hand or outdated sources. “My credibility is built on first-hand experience,” says Chia. “I have confidence in advising my clients. They in turn put faith in me because I have been in their shoes, overcoming the same challenges, and understand the market landscape.”

Navigating the pitfalls of the landed market

Landed properties provide homeowners with the most freedom to customise their property — up to and including a full tear-down and reconstruction. However, the price and extent of such works can prove tricky to estimate upfront. Even for the seasoned realtor, Chia’s foray into the landed sector was not without a few hiccups. For his first landed house, amid remodelling works was the need to cater extra funds to build over a sewer line. “Buying a property’s site plan is not difficult — it’s all available online — but it might not occur to first-time buyers to do so,” says Chia. He adds that hidden costs like waterproofing and foundation issues can sour an otherwise happy occasion. Chia’s current residence is one that he has rebuilt from the ground up. Together with his architect, Chia has pored over regulations from the URA, Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and even the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) building fire code. The process Chia navigated in the rebuilding journey has equipped him with critical knowledge to pre-empt and advise clients in their purchases regarding future plans like rebuilding or reconstruction. Amid the increases in manpower and material costs, better evaluations of renovation and reconstruction expenditure can help buyers budget for their landed property purchase, especially for older properties which might need more work done.

Unlocking asset value

This is where Chia’s experience as a director in real estate capital markets for over a decade shines. Financial institutions and real estate consultancies take a more macro view of assets, he explains. They look beyond the obvious to capitalise on opportunities few others see. Chia saw that opportunity when he acquired his first terrace house. Despite its aged façade, he realised that the property was well-priced compared to its underlying land value. He bought the terrace landed home in 2015 and invested in reconstruction works that enhanced the property. His investment paid off when he sold the terrace house, making gains of over 50% in five years. To prove his conviction in real estate market in Singapore, he is taking it one step further. Chia has reinvested the proceeds from his last property sale into his current landed home, allowing him to rebuild it from the ground up. By enhancing the property, he is confident that he will be able to sell his current landed home for a profit. “I wanted to showcase to the market that experience is paramount in identifying the attributes that will increase a homeowner’s potential profits in the future and the same experience will help potential sellers attain the highest possible exit price,” says Chia. When designing his current home, he worked with his architect, Brenda Ang of Lab Architects, to create a centrepiece feature staircase for his ground-floor living area as well as a foyer. Such features are typically only found in more exclusive bungalows, says Chia. “These features are market-forward in today’s homebuyer’s wants,” he adds. By planning ahead and constructing these features now, he is certain that his property will remain desirable to buyers when he sells it in the future. Chia’s keen perception in unlocking the value of landed assets has helped his clients exit from the market with favourable capital gains. “There is no perfect checklist of things to look out for when buying a landed property. It’s about how you add value and make these so-called limitations work for you,” he says. For more Information, Contact Harvey Chia | 91999141 Associate District Director (R021961H) SRI PTE. LTD