BY LEE YAN LI
lylee@thestar.com.my

Capitalising on his experience as a seasoned cartographer and the director of  a property information company, Ho Chin Soon introduced his readers to the world of real estate industry with the mantra of “Location, Timing and Branding”, a philosophy that has guided his idea on the ins and outs of the industry.

Right from the introduction, his first book offering an analytical outlook on the property industry contained heavy biographical elements, though it complimented the structure of his arguments. With a generous combination of maps, illustrations and graphs, his book presented a solid framework to replace the age old mantra of “Location, Location, Location” with his own.

However, if the readers are to finish the book with one simple lesson, it is actually the summation of its title, the very core that constitutes “Location, Timing, and Branding”, “Information”. After offering his take on the three important aspects of evaluating a property, an analysis on the growth of Mont Kiara and pondered on the money makers in the industry, Ho chose to end his book addressing the idea of “Property Guru”. In the preceding chapters, Ho has demonstrated in details on how he gathered sources from the Internet, the public and private institutions and through his acquaintances. The message could not be clearer when he finally revealed the ultimate “guru” should be the readers themselves. Ho's diligent explanation may not be sufficient to show the whole picture, but he taught the readers enough to start their own analytical take on their property dealings.

While the book served as a useful introductory text to the industry, it was not without its faults. Besides the personal stories that served to prove the points of his argument, Ho has taken a rather holistic approach on the ups and downs of the industry. However, he has not dealt in depth on some aspects that would provide a more complete picture on the boom and gloom of the property industry, first and foremost the public policy on housing. Ho's keen interest in the current issues was shown in the book and it is assume that he would have enough understanding on the matter, but it is one of the few instances that ultimately showed the limitations of his analysis to a more market-driven approach due to his background as a businessman. While it did not necessary weaken his overall argument, it is worth mentioning to the readers to take note of the influences of the author's experience that shaped his take on the industry.

The presentation of the book is solid and respectable, and kudos should be given to the author's effort to include lively image presentations so as to engage the readers, but there are a few redundant repeated images in the book that should probably be avoided. While the author did explain the hectic process of writing and publishing the book, it is advisable for him to add more effort in the editing process so as to ensure the hopefully, complete elimination of typos.

Ultimately the book is an enjoyable read and well suited to the interested layman or investors looking for an introductory text to the real estate industry. Credit goes to the author for its simple and yet detailed and well-crafted arguments, and it does not hurt that the author was able to inject a sense of humour into a subject normally considered as too complex or too huge by the outsiders.

Chin Soon's Real Estate Mantra: Location, Timing and Branding by Ho Chin Soon,
Graphic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd, Selangor,
First Edition, 224 pp,
ISBN: 978-967-5718-00-7.