60) Unit Trust vs Property Investment

60) Unit Trust vs Property Investment

Unit Trusts:
1) Easy to sell & buy in small quantities. Highly liquid.
2) Low initial starting amount. Not large deposit in down payment..
3) Low initial service charge. No stamp duty & legal fees.
4) Can easily transfer units to loved ones.
5) Can easily switch to funds for other location/countries. Diversification of investment.
6) Can switch to other asset types – equity, bond or money market. Can even have all assets types in one fund.
7) No need to buy insurance to protect property. In fact, you may get free insurance from some Unit Trust funds.
8) No worry of damage by fire, flood, storm etc.
9) No worry of robbers or thieves.
10) No worry of illegal or “uninvited” occupants on your land or house.
11) No need to pay maintenance fees separately.(eg. Quit Rent, Indah Water, Security guard, electricity, water, etc.). Any indirect fees are deducted from the Unit Trust asset.
12) No property maintenance, repair, cutting grass or clean up fees.
13) Can instruct bank to do monthly Direct Debit Instruction (DDI).
14) Can use 3PF money to invest in Unit Trusts.
15) No need to "decorate" or "renovate" your Unit Trusts funds.
16) No second hand value issue. Unit Trust is always brand new.
17) No issues on collecting rental. Can set Unit Trust distribution to be auto reinvested or payout into bank account.
18) No hassle to deal with lawyers, real estate agents, land office, etc. Only with UTC.
19) No need to take loan and committed to pay monthly installments. Only invest what you have into Unit Trust.
20) Easy to decide on type of funds. No need to go many places to view different properties.
21) Capital Gain & Distribution from Unit Trust is Non-taxable.
22) No tax on capital gain after redeem Unit Trust.

23) No worry of missed payments and penalty for late payments.
24) All units of the same fund are of the same value. New and old units are priced the same.
25) Same unit price for each and every unit. Same price whether purchase with $1,000 or $1,000,000.

Do add & share more benefits in the comments below.

Property:
1) Not easy to sell property. Takes months to get back the money. Low liquidity.
2) Large down payment of at least 10%. Eg. a $500,000 property needs $50,000 as down payment.
3) Need to prepare large amount for stamp duty, legal fees, valuation fees, etc.
4) Not easy to transfer property to loved ones. Not possible to break the property into smaller parts.
5) Not possible to move property to another location. It is fixed at one location.
6) Not able to convert into other property types. Eg. Condo to house.
7) Need to buy insurance to cover against damage to property. Fire & theft insurance.
8) Possible damage by fire, storm, flood and other causes.
9) Possible theft and robbery cases.
10) Illegal immigrants, animals, insects, drug addicts, etc occupy your property.
11) Pay maintenance fees. Eg. Quit Rent, Waste water, Security guard, electricity, water, etc.
12) Clean up and repair costs to damaged property.
13) Need to renovate the property to extend kitchen, gates, grills, paints, etc.
14) Need money for decorations & install lights, water piping, fans, air-conditioners, etc.
15) Issues to find a buyer to sale property. Price is negotiable. Urgent selling at low price.
16) Possible issues in collecting rental from tenant, payment issues, runaway tenants.
17) Hassle to deal with lawyers, real estate agents, land office, electricity company, water company, telephone, etc.
18) Take up bank loans to finance property. Commitment to pay monthly installments. Risk of foreclosure and auction if not able to pay loan installment.
19) Increased loan installment when interest rate increased.
20) Not easy to find and decide on a property. Time consuming and hassle to go many places to view different properties.
21) Rental income is taxable.
22) Property sold are subject to Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT). 
23) Hassle & cost to transfer property title or ownership after purchase and sell off.
24) If you purchase a property under construction, you may risk of non completion and the project is abandoned. 
25) Worry of missed payments and penalty for late payments.
26) May need to queue overnight or rush to buy special units. Limited corner units, facing open field units, door facing directions, etc. 

Do add & share more benefits in the comments below.