WINNIE LOO
She rather drove second-hand cars and invested in real estate properties than buying new and expensive cars, but today Winnie Loo considers herself a smart investor.
Few people know her as an investor, but out of a passion to teach young people some good financial sense, she decided to share some of her secrets in life.
Being presented a Porsche Boxster for her anniversary sometime ago and a Mercedes Adevangarde E Class which was given to her as a present on Valentine’s Day last year from her husband, Loo who is better known for her up-market hairstyling salon in Bangsar Shopping Centre in Bangsar, A Cut Above said she rather let other people lose their money through depreciation than to buy a car brand new and find that the value depreciates 20 to 30 percent within the first year.
“It wasn’t until recently when we feel that we have reached our fifties and deserve to pamper ourselves a little bit that we decided to go for new cars,” she said. “After all, we have worked so hard in life. We cannot bring what we have into the next world.”
Living in a luxurious and tastefully done up condominium in upscale Bangsar, with husband Richard Teo and 18-year-old Marcus and 14-year-old daughter, Hazel, Loo said her interest in property investment started as early as 1979, when the first property – which she reminiscences as “a tiny little link intermediate single storey house in Sri Petaling” – was purchased for only RM56,000.
Richard was her boyfriend then, and it was he who asked: “Got some spare money? Why not invest into a property together first.”
They got married in 1984. After buying an apartment in Sea Park and later invested in a townhouse and another apartment in Ukay Heights during the property market boomed in 1985, but the apartment and single storey house was sold for a mild profit considering that she had paid her mortgage for eight to 10 years. It happened just before the market crashed in 1987.
“Since then, I have learnt that for any property investment to be worthwhile, I can only take the maximum of 50 percent bank loan,” she said. “Many people go into too high gearing and when the market crashed, they are badly hit.”
The rest was history. During bad times, Loo and her husband saw the opportunities and continued buying properties. When her first child, Marcus was born in 1988, she bought into Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, a two-and-half storey link house worth RM200,000, which they stayed for 4 years rental-free until 1993. “After some extensive renovations, we managed to sell the property for RM430,000,” she said. “It was a worthwhile investment, and we had the chance to live in it.”
Today, they are looking for investments into commercial properties, including shophouses, apartments and factory lots, where they see the big money. “We also select our properties based on location, choice of units in a block, and always buying them first-hand from the developers,” she said. “Properties in some upmarket locations can fetch higher rental.”
A good investor, she said, also must know the trend. “Richard and I realized that the trend is now into gated communities, with no individual house fencing, so we decided to invest into Sierra Mas township in 1994,” she added. We lived there for a while and sold the property off and did made a decent profit and on top of that turned the profit to purchase another piece of land back in the same neighborhood since I like the environment so much.
A smart investor, Loo said, will not have emotional attachment to the properties. “I never believe in feng shui which suggests to us to live in a house which brings peace and prosperity,” she said. “If the price is right, and we can sell the property, we would rather live in another new home. Buying and selling gives us good feelings.”
The family is still on transit. “We have lived in our condominium in Bangsar since 1991. It was on the very day when Highland Towers collapsed. December 11 was a memorable day when we were moving into our condominium. Since then, we have not regretted staying in Araville Condominium.
“We are moving into another condominium also in Bangsar which we bought in 2003. We are learning to be smarter these days by buying into properties in more affluent areas, where the value will appreciate higher,” she said.
Also, land attracts the Teo couple. “These days, we prefer to buy into land. We buy bungalow lots in upmarket locations and literally `sitting on it,’” she laughed. “We know some day these lots will fetch good values.”
Her final words of advice to young investors: “Always make sure you have about 30 per cent liquid assets. The business should be the largest asset, and then the rest is your investments into real estate. Learn to invest your money today, rather than spending them away.”
For a young girl in her early twenties, Loo’s savings of RM400 for her salary of RM1000 has paid off as she turns 50 on January 19 this year. “Life is now a celebration to me,” she said, with a smile. “We have worked very hard over the years, and now, we deserve to pamper ourselves a little.”
END.
She rather drove second-hand cars and invested in real estate properties than buying new and expensive cars, but today Winnie Loo considers herself a smart investor.
Few people know her as an investor, but out of a passion to teach young people some good financial sense, she decided to share some of her secrets in life.
Being presented a Porsche Boxster for her anniversary sometime ago and a Mercedes Adevangarde E Class which was given to her as a present on Valentine’s Day last year from her husband, Loo who is better known for her up-market hairstyling salon in Bangsar Shopping Centre in Bangsar, A Cut Above said she rather let other people lose their money through depreciation than to buy a car brand new and find that the value depreciates 20 to 30 percent within the first year.
“It wasn’t until recently when we feel that we have reached our fifties and deserve to pamper ourselves a little bit that we decided to go for new cars,” she said. “After all, we have worked so hard in life. We cannot bring what we have into the next world.”
Living in a luxurious and tastefully done up condominium in upscale Bangsar, with husband Richard Teo and 18-year-old Marcus and 14-year-old daughter, Hazel, Loo said her interest in property investment started as early as 1979, when the first property – which she reminiscences as “a tiny little link intermediate single storey house in Sri Petaling” – was purchased for only RM56,000.
Richard was her boyfriend then, and it was he who asked: “Got some spare money? Why not invest into a property together first.”
They got married in 1984. After buying an apartment in Sea Park and later invested in a townhouse and another apartment in Ukay Heights during the property market boomed in 1985, but the apartment and single storey house was sold for a mild profit considering that she had paid her mortgage for eight to 10 years. It happened just before the market crashed in 1987.
“Since then, I have learnt that for any property investment to be worthwhile, I can only take the maximum of 50 percent bank loan,” she said. “Many people go into too high gearing and when the market crashed, they are badly hit.”
The rest was history. During bad times, Loo and her husband saw the opportunities and continued buying properties. When her first child, Marcus was born in 1988, she bought into Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, a two-and-half storey link house worth RM200,000, which they stayed for 4 years rental-free until 1993. “After some extensive renovations, we managed to sell the property for RM430,000,” she said. “It was a worthwhile investment, and we had the chance to live in it.”
Today, they are looking for investments into commercial properties, including shophouses, apartments and factory lots, where they see the big money. “We also select our properties based on location, choice of units in a block, and always buying them first-hand from the developers,” she said. “Properties in some upmarket locations can fetch higher rental.”
A good investor, she said, also must know the trend. “Richard and I realized that the trend is now into gated communities, with no individual house fencing, so we decided to invest into Sierra Mas township in 1994,” she added. We lived there for a while and sold the property off and did made a decent profit and on top of that turned the profit to purchase another piece of land back in the same neighborhood since I like the environment so much.
A smart investor, Loo said, will not have emotional attachment to the properties. “I never believe in feng shui which suggests to us to live in a house which brings peace and prosperity,” she said. “If the price is right, and we can sell the property, we would rather live in another new home. Buying and selling gives us good feelings.”
The family is still on transit. “We have lived in our condominium in Bangsar since 1991. It was on the very day when Highland Towers collapsed. December 11 was a memorable day when we were moving into our condominium. Since then, we have not regretted staying in Araville Condominium.
“We are moving into another condominium also in Bangsar which we bought in 2003. We are learning to be smarter these days by buying into properties in more affluent areas, where the value will appreciate higher,” she said.
Also, land attracts the Teo couple. “These days, we prefer to buy into land. We buy bungalow lots in upmarket locations and literally `sitting on it,’” she laughed. “We know some day these lots will fetch good values.”
Her final words of advice to young investors: “Always make sure you have about 30 per cent liquid assets. The business should be the largest asset, and then the rest is your investments into real estate. Learn to invest your money today, rather than spending them away.”
For a young girl in her early twenties, Loo’s savings of RM400 for her salary of RM1000 has paid off as she turns 50 on January 19 this year. “Life is now a celebration to me,” she said, with a smile. “We have worked very hard over the years, and now, we deserve to pamper ourselves a little.”
END.
No comments:
Post a Comment