Photo: Christopher Chitty
The move by some property agents to capitalise on the presidential appeal of Yishun flats to sell units have drawn flak with some industry players calling their actions as “disrespectful”, reported Today Online.
ERA property agent Lawrence Ng listed for sale a 5-bedroom unit located just below President Halimah Yacob’s jumbo flat over the weekend under the title “Yistana for sale”, referencing the popular #Yistana hashtag, which combines Yishun with Istana.
PropNex agent Norman Lim, on the other hand, put up a Facebook post saying, “Anyone wish(sic) to be neighbour of our first female President? Many HDB units on sale now”.
Some senior industry players, however, were unhappy with their strategy.
“The term ‘Yistana’ was coined by netizens as a joke. It is not very professional to attempt to sell a flat by associating it to a term that might have a negative connotation,” said International Property Advisor CEO Ku Swee Yong.
In fact, Eugene Lim, ERA Realty’s key executive officer, revealed that they are “in the midst of counselling (Mr Ng) to re-look the angle and marketing of the advertisement”.
“Although we did not receive any instructions to take down the listing from the authorities, we as a company feel that the advertisement could potentially come across as disrespectful,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Ng feels that his “advertisement has created good exposure for the property and in that sense, I think I have done my job.”
His client, who wanted to be identified only as Mr Wong, was supportive.
“I trust that my agent is doing his best … I will leave the marketing methods to him as he will know the best approach to reach our common goal (of selling the house).”
Senior Content Specialist, Christopher Chitty edited this story.
