The secret to selling your way through recession in the property market is, according to Greenfield Villas director Mike Moore, to give value for money, to do a good job and to listen to your customers.
That philosophy appears to have served his company pretty well. Since embarking on its third housing project in January 2008 – a matter of months before the world economy nosedived – Greenfield Villas has sold almost 60 per cent of its available housing stock.
“Stick to those simple rules and you will sell your product,” Mike told REm. “The pace of sales might not be what you were used to, but you will definitely sell.”
Mike and his architect partner Paul Barrett began construction of Greenfield Villas 3 in Soi Siam Country Club with the benefit of two completed projects already under their belts. Project 1, a 57-unit development of substantial detached single and two-storey houses on Soi Pornprapanimitr 17 was started in December 2003 and was followed by a similar, 56-unit development on Soi Boonsampan 9 in October 2005.

Market change
“On Project 2 we went with what the market wanted at that time, which essentially was more space for swimming pools, gardens and so on,” Mike added. “But before we embarked on Project 3 we realised the market had changed and was likely to continue changing during the construction phase, making the properties more difficult to sell. People were tightening their belts and sterling was showing signs of weakening, so we decided to try to build properties that were less expensive yet retained as much quality as possible.”
With target prices in mind of around Bt 2m for a three-bedroom townhouse and Bt 3m for a three-bedroom, detached bungalow, Greenfield Villas set about looking for areas to economise. First to be sacrificed was the bathtub.
“Bathrooms account for a high proportion of interior finishing costs,” said Mike. “So replacing the bath with a shower meant smaller bathrooms and reduced costs for fittings.

Major expense
“Then we decided to make fitted kitchens an option rather than standard, although in practice everyone has wanted one. And because we had decided on white wood as standard, we were able to discontinue hardwood interior doors in favour of veneered ones at a third of the cost, and we eliminated built-in wardrobes in master bedrooms, which were another major expense.
“On the construction side we build with lightweight blocks which are actually more expensive, but conversely labour costs are cheaper and construction is quicker. Finally, we took the decision to cut our profit margins, but this was offset to some degree by the increased the number of units on the site as a result of smaller plots. Through all these measures we were able to become 15 to 20 per cent more efficient.”
Inevitably, building costs have increased with every successive phase of construction and so the initial selling prices have proved unsustainable, but then the market has changed too and Greenfield Villas’ flexible approach has meant it has been able to tailor its products to meet the changing requirements of its customers.
“We set out with the idea of building 124 units on the 22 available rai on Project 3, but we changed our plans as the market changed and now we are going for 98 units,” Mike added. “We have recently experienced customer demand for something a bit bigger, so we are building more bungalows with bigger bedrooms on bigger plots and fewer townhouses.

Remain flexible
“We are now able to sell a house at Bt 4m whereas a year ago that would have been impossible. As a company we don’t stand still; we remain as flexible as possible so that we can react to market conditions as they change. And ultimately that is good for the overall site because otherwise it would
have a ‘military’ look about it.”
Throughout the gloomiest months of the economic downturn, Greenfield Villas continued to sell and, more importantly, continued to build. “That was possible because we keep our borrowings to a minimum and reinvest our profits in the business,” Mike said. “As a result we have been able to retain our contractors and our workforce, which is a major factor for a company like ours because we can ill afford to lose all that expertise.”
With business now picking up, the future looks bright for Greenfield Villas. Sales, which dropped to one or two units a month earlier this year, are now up to three or four a month and the project is heading for completion around February next year.

Word of mouth
Word of mouth has been a major influence on its sales performance. “Many of our customers have been recommended by friends living on Projects 1 and 2,” Mike said. “As a result Project 3 has a very cosmopolitan look about it with customers from many different countries.”
Another factor is the availability of the men at the top. There is no post-sale running and hiding at Greenfield Villas. “Customers on all three projects know exactly where to find us,” Mike added. “Paul and I are right here on site every day.” Ω