Tati Hamzah – A cili padi in property

Big things come in small packages, and sometimes, so do big personalities

Big things come in small packages, and sometimes, so do big personalities. This month we speak to the petite but powerful Tati Hamzah, a branding and marketing strategist, with expertise in strategic planning and positioning of brands but property investor by night. Her day job includes branding, marketing, PR and research, across a multitude of sectors – property development, banking & finance, telcos, fast-moving-consumer-goods and non-profit development. Tati is a passionate and fiery character, the kind of person who will not lose eye contact with you when speaking, whom you know is paying 150% attention when you speak to her. I can only imagine the precision and attention to detail Tati uses when dealing with her passions and the work she does. At one point, Tati was Head of Group marketing for the EMKAY Group, an established property developer, overseeing its brand strategic planning and marketing activities as well as PR, across various projects in the Group’s portfolio. Working in EMKAY group must have ignited a spark of interest for Tati. But she says, like any other investor, “It was because of the continuous, reasonable and stable returns like rental income over the long term. It is also relative to other forms of investments for example equities. Besides that it is also for the capital growth over the long term. And it is something tangible – brick and mortar investments and physical assets.” Tati says she prefers property investing also because it creates a sense of security as it gives the investor peace of mind as opposed to other intangible investments like unit trusts and equities.

Tati started young in property investing, in her final year of university her parents helped her with the down payment of her first property, which she eventually paid them back for. “I was extremely blessed with parents who realised the importance of having a strong start and good foundation, young in life.”

The humble investor says her strategy with property investing is to hold properties for over the long term and earn rental income, especially for her twilight years, where it will be her main source of income. “I prefer residential properties due to its affordability as opposed to commercial properties solely because of the certainty of demand for such properties. I also believe that the demand for residential properties are less volatile compared to commercial properties which tend to be cyclical thus more risky.” She adds. She focuses on the bigger picture like any other smart investor. “You have to think about the state of the economy, policies related to the property sector such as Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) regulations on secured loans, government initiatives on affordable housing and such as these have direct implications on the demand and supply of property, which dictates the appreciation or stagnation of property values. Understanding these issues give me a sense of the property market’s direction, where I can then adjust my investment approach – for example, if I foresee that the rental income will dip and tenants will be hard to secure I will buff-up my cash reserve or re-negotiate my loan terms with the banks.” She adds that in the end it comes down to how much you can really afford and whether or not you can afford to service your loans.

Different locations and different properties are used for different purposes for Tati. “This very much depends on the location of the property and the population make-up of that area. For example, there is a huge population of university students in Cyberjaya, so I bought a small unit at a price that I can afford, with the intent of renting it to students. I also have another property located in Subang which has a mixed population of young singles and young families, so I reach out to these segments as potential tenants for that property.”

It can get difficult managing property, especially so with tardy tenants, but like I said, Tati is in it to win it. “A mix of managing it myself and engaging the help of realtors or other third parties is necessary to ensure everything is in order. I seek the expertise of realtors to find tenants because I believe they complement me – they have the expertise, resources and time to focus on securing tenants, whilst I can focus on managing my investment portfolio. I also used to engage third parties for my property maintenance.” Engaging realtors has helped her with a lot of issues, including managing tenants.

Tati is a firm believer in investing in hotspots and currently owns a few properties namely in areas like Cyberjaya and Subang, areas that are scorching hotspots.

How does the market fare for Tati? “I think in the short term there will be a dip in demand, due to the global and thus domestic economic uncertainties. However, this does not worry me too much, as I am a long term investor where my risks are averaged-out over the long term.”

I once read a quote, that the best time to buy property is five years ago. Tati probably uses that as her life motto, getting herself good investments, with good rental yields and with a retirement plan all ready to go. You see, it is not the big developers, or wealthy investors that inspire people like me to start investing, it is people like Tati who look, eat and spend like you and me, whom inspire me and hopefully Gen Y to start flooding the market with our investments.