Sell high-demand properties first and buy unpopular ones at low prices, advises Dato' Sri Gavin Tee, President of Swhengtee Group. The property consultant explained that the logic behind his strategy is the timing factor.

"Timing, which is one of the 3 factors to look into when investing in a property, should be given a lot of weight in 2019. The right timing is not at the bottom but just before hitting the lowest. You should not wait too long."

He added that "if you dispose of high demand properties now, you will get a good return as you will be supplying what the market wants. You can then use the proceeds to buy unpopular properties at a low price. This is because the unpopular properties will eventually become sought after again as property investing is a cyclical game." said Tee during last Saturday's 2019 12th Annual Swhengtee Forecast Talk in Kuala Lumpur.

The other two factors are location and potential for adding value through refurbishment/renovation/remodelling or even repurposing. He quoted a true story of an owner who had bought a haunted house. Instead of being stuck with a vacant unit, the retiree in his recent TV show shrewdly rented it out to a temple which was very happy with it. She made 10 times the rental amount of the ordinary house.

"The ghosts cannot stay with the 'gods' so they moved out!" Tee quipped.

The veteran speaker also predicted that in future, due to advances in infrastructure and technology, it would no longer be necessary to stay in the centre of a city or even near a hospital. Therefore, commercial property will be a right choice in city centre, including services apartment and hotel.

"Online medical care and remote working plus fast public transportation will make staying away from the city centre a feasible and practical solution.

"Indeed, properties in the countryside will one day fetch even higher prices than properties in the city centre, as people move further away from the core town centre to the countryside for a healthier lifestyle," the consultant predicted.

Tee also said whatever disruptive changes the property market faced, a few principles will always remain the same, for example, every property boom starts from the best location, and then spills over to the surrounding area.