Saturday 20 June 2009

Email Received: Which hat is he wearing? And a Reasoned Response to Market Forces vs Enbloc Potential

We received this anonymous email, that we're posting here verbatim below, and someone submitted a comment which is a reasoned response to Mr John Lee's latest email with the BGM/BGV price comparison (under comments):

I’m confused when I received Mr Lee's recent letter about the AGM.

Firstly, he wrote that Mr Tan Lai Huat’s resolution was not approved by the council. Isn’t Mr Tan Tew still the chairperson of the management council? Since when did Mr Lee become the spokesperson for the entire council when he is only a member?

Secondly, he said that the resolution is an en-bloc matter and nothing to do with estate management and urged owners who support the en-bloc to pass him their proxies. He signed off his letter as Chairman, Collective Sales Committee (CSC) and the letter was sent using BGV En-bloc letterhead.

I’m confused:
Mr Lee firstly objected to the resolution because it is an en-bloc matter which should not be tabled at the forthcoming AGM and he seemed to be speaking on behalf of the council. But he then objected to the resolution because he asserts it is Mr Tan's "cunning way of killing off the current enbloc attempt."

So in what capacity is Mr Lee objecting in - as an ordinary Council member who is working on behalf of all owners to manage BGV or as Chairman of the CSC who is working to sell off the estate?

The answer seems quite clear. And what is the view of the MC Chairperson on this matter, or has Mr Lee taken over this other committee too?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have received this latest email from John Lee and wish to make two comments:

"What's past is past". I wish the past can be forgotten that easily. Many will remember a letter written by Mr Lee not so long ago, just before the changes in law. This letter stated that if a certain quota is not reached by a certain date, John will resign. Obviously, that quota was not reached and John did not resign. That, to me, made me cautious about the trustworthiness of some people who wish to collectively sell our homes. The past, indeed, remains in the present.

I think John is making an incorrect comparison between BGV and BGM in his email. His own search, which you can do on the internet (see link below) would reveal three prices, two for BGM and one for BGV. These are:

BGM - Sold Mar 09 (downturn) - $883psf
BGM - Sold Sep 08 (boom) - $1356psf
BGV - Sold Sep 08 (boom) - $1470psf

In fact, if we compare BGM and BGV sold AT THE SAME MONTH (Sep 08), you'll find not a lot of difference at all ($114psf or < 10% to be precise).

In other words, I would think his point is more "due to market forces" of boom, since both BGV and BGM were sold at about the same value, REGARDLESS of the en-bloc sale. After all, if logically, the 'en-bloc potential' means offering better value for the buyer, then wouldn't the price difference between the two estates be more than 10%? In fact, if you look at previous sales values from 2000-2004 (link provided below), you'll find that prices for BOTH BGM and BGV have matched and doubled from 2004 to 2008, without the need for any en-bloc potential. Also, any prudent buyer knows that 'en-bloc potential' means very little nowadays, given that it takes time to complete the sale, especially if it goes through court. And even then, it is no longer a certainty that a sale will be confirmed without potentially severe legal consequences, as recent court cases highlighted.

I'd say that unless John has definitive proof that our units 'will plummet' if the en-bloc 'is dead', I'd think about the past, and consider that he has a strong agenda to keep the en-bloc sale alive whatever the cost. Otherwise, the statement sounds like a threat done in bad taste.

I would even suggest that it is the well-maintained estate that we have that makes a difference between BGM and BGV. Something that I hope the current MC will continue to do well, and not let the illusion that an en-bloc sale means you are entitled to run down the estate.

http://www.ura.gov.sg/realEstateWeb
/realEstate/pageflow/transaction/
TransactionController.jpf

http://www.redas.com/HTML/eProperty/
transaction_search.asp
(You may need to copy and paste the various lines for URA and REDAS.)