Another Swiftlets Eco City

Just received a fax from my friend in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. He faxed me the brochure of a new swiftlets eco city in Sungai Gadut, Negeri Sembilan. The eco city is built on a 30 acres land with 20 units of 4-storey standalone bird house. Each bird house will have a minimum land size of 1 acre.

Like all swiftlets eco park, it comes with 24/7 security and free maintenance for 2 years. It also provide harvesting and marketing services.

Guess what is the minimum price for 1 unit? It is price from RM750,000 per unit. Do you thing it is expensive? Well, I don't know. Let us breakdown the price and see.

1 acre freehold agriculture land = 43560sf x RM6.00 (est. only) = RM261000

4-storey building (28' x 80') = 8960sf x RM50 (end user price) = RM448000

Total Breakdown Cost = RM709000

Add others like road, drainage, security, the selling price seems reasonable. The selling price is reasonable but is it worth to invest in it? Before you invest in it you must also estimate the number of bird nests that you can get per year. With the estimated number of bird nests then you can calculate the return of your investment. If the estimated return of your investment is less then the bank loan repayment plus some extra pocket money, then it is not a good investment.

If you ask me how to estimate the number of bird nests, I will said that your estimate is as good as mine. So give yourself an estimate of the number of bird nests produce per year put it into the equation and see is the bird house worth investing or not.

At the end of the day if your investment fail, you are the only one to be responsible.