Dear Amarians

Reporting for duty

New member to the forum here.

Details
Block A, 18th Floor
S&P Price : RM 278,000 for 1011sqft, 2 carparks

Hope to part of the family here in LYN.
Also there is an active discussion group on Facebook also.

Cheers

Thank you for sharing the information on the road light conditions.

Im actually kinda worried that the owners would simply rent out to cover their monthly loan committments rather than selecting quality tenants.

We have 696 units spanning 4 blocks. which is already VERY high density, and is already a recipe for disaster.

And to be fair and realistic, there is a quite a possibility that Amara may end up as a low cost apartment in 10-15years from now. I for one with a lot of fellow Amarians would not want to see Amara being another 1120 Park Avenue.

The fact that our developer Jaya Megah Develppment does not even have a company website is quite worrying as they are already operating under the radar. Not much publicly available information on Jaya Megah and their parent holding company Shaher Group. I have done my research.

The demographics of surrounding areas of Batu Caves, Selayang, Gombak says a lot about the income per household as compared to the likes of Damansara, Mont Kiara etc. Even more so, there are plenty of purchasers of Amara who are buying it for speculative purposes and is ever ready to flipsell once completed.

From a commercial perspective it is also important that Amara has quality tenants for the shoplots, ie. banks, 7-11, Starbucks, Presto laundy, post office etc, good name franchisees. Question is, are we even in the know of the developments for the Amara Boulevard consisting of 48 shoplots in 2 stories? What happens if cybercafes, kedai potong rambut, kedai jual barang-barang sembahyang, handphone shop starts to mushroom? What are the clauses and governing terms for the operations or selection of commercial tenants?

It is already quoted in a leading property website 2 weeks ago that the current selling price is RM520k for a 1200sqft Amara apartment.

We are all cognisant that is is important Amara be 'safeguarded' for value appreciation, but the most important and pressing question is, what can we do as responsible individuals and collective community?

Photos taken last weekend, Saturday 15th February 2014, 1.30pm.

As you can see, from the last photo, Level 2 of the shoplots, look at the sidewalk black grill. Looks cheap indeed. So better start worrying on the type of commercial tenants occupying the place. The finishing is far off that what we saw in the brochures (of course this is expected), but i was kinda hoping for nice decent tempered transparent glass kind, instead of cheap black grill.

Well.....

From my personal point of view, better not rush for delivery. We dont know what corners the contractor may cut in terms of quality to speed up delivery.

Would prefer to have quality finish rather than fast delivery, be it end of this year, or even early next year.

Please value quality over everything else

Just my dua-cent view.

In all fairness, I doubt Amara will be an abandoned project.

Given it's close proximity to Batu Caves (tourist attraction), stone's throw to Jalan Kuching (nevermind the jam, but location is still prime) and with EcoWorld and Kiara East around the corner, this project will surely be delivered.

Now that the issue of Amara being abandoned has been duly addressed, let us now focus on the next areas of concern, which is;
(a) When will it be delivered?
(b) The quality of delivery?

Of which, since the developer is quite 'under radar' both (a) and (b) would be of equal concern.

On (a)
- It's March 2014 now, can it be delivered by June 2014? (3months from now) No.
- Can it be delivered by September 2014? (6 months from now). Possibly... But I would be realistic and vote No.
- Can it be delivered in 4Q 2014? Very likely indeed.

So given the scenario analysis above, a fairly possible delivery would be between September to December 2014, or even first quarter of 2015.

Now on (b)
- I have no comments. We can only hope and pray that all is well.

Thank you KoChin for pointing that out.

I do agree with you on Plaza Rakyat, Platinum and cashflow. It makes a lot of sense.

Dear all

Can I know what is your projection of the rental in Amara, given the scenario play below.

Size : 1011sqft (for ease reference, lets round it to 1000sqft)
Fittings : Semi furnish (prolly throw in some decent cheap but nice furniture from Cavenzi etc), beds, air con, fridge, washing machine (all electrical items are 2nd hand from my existing place)
Tenant : Malaysian only (doubt Amara will be catchment for expats, not gonna rent it to Middle Easterns or those originating from the African continent)
Supply : High density, considering there are 696 units of service apartments in all 4 blocks.

Can fetch RM1,500 per month? Reasonable?

What do you think? Appreciate your inputs and reasoning.

Cheers

In my situation, below are the simple calculations for 1,011sqft

(a) Monthly loan payment to bank :: RM1,169
(b) Maintenance fee at RM0.18psf :: RM181.98
(c') Sinking fund, 10% of (b) :: RM18.20

(d) Total monthly committment (a)+(b)+(c') :: RM1,369

So, RM1,369 is my breakeven monthly rate. Of course I'm expecting positive cashflow from the transaction.


So, assuming and only assuming with the rental model (partly furnished) illustrated below;

Year / Rental Rate / Monthly Excess Cashflow / Capital Appreciation on Property
2015 / 1500 / 131 / 530k
2017 / 1700 / 331 / 550k
2020 / 2000 / 631 / 580k

Disclaimer : Conservative numbers used for personal projection only.

Cheers

Yes KoChin you are correct, all that will be costs too.
I do not have data at the moment. Will surely factor them in.

Cheers

Over the weekend I drove past Batu Caves on the way to Karak-Kuantan, saw Amara.

Looking good

I think can complete by end of this year for sure.

Let us all have faith

Seeking clarification here.
You mean we need to call Jaya Megah, or visit them to print out the form, and check our details?

Regards


This post has been edited by djneo: Mar 28 2014, 09:34 PM

Dear all

Can I know what is the current market value for Amara now?

Not that I'm planning to sell off my 1,011sqft unit at Block A of Amara, but merely for asset valuation purposes.

Do you think 450k for a 1,011sqft Amara is fair value?
Or it should be valued at 480k?

Thanks fellow sifus.

Cheers

My S&P price was RM278,000.

It it obvious that the developer is already rushing to deliver sub-standard work to us.
Whether quality or substandard materials being used, again is another chapter altogether.

We have no choice, but to wait for key delivery.

Is there a way for us to check on the common facilities - once we receive the keys?

Of course we will be checking our individual purchased units (am anticipating lots of complaints), but what about the following..

Amara D
- sky gymnasium
- sky karaoke rooms
- sky terrace with seating pavillions
- sky therapeutic yoga one
- line dancing & tai chi area

Amara A
- sky garden
- sky dining
- sky lounge
- sky alfresco bbq area
- sky viewing deck

Amara B & C
- double volume grand sky function room with banquet hall
- individual meeting / tuition rooms
- functional pantry kitchen area
- infinity swimming pool

Who will be maintaining the facilities above, and to also ensure they are delivered of quality?

Kind regards

This is already expected. I guess its imperative and important that all these shortcomings be collated and consolidated into a major complaint and filed with the necessary authorities once we receive the keys. I'm not sure how to do this as this is my first purchase. Apparently on the official Facebook group for Amara there are also complaints and various dissatisfaction over the quality.

But then my 2 cent's worth, do point barking up the wall now.
Let's wait till we receive the keys officially, and till a proper committee is formed to oversee this.

Till then we can only hope and pray.

Cheers

Wah... letter so 'cowboy' one ah?
Dont even have the name of the person signing?

Progress is looking good. Slow progress, but looking good from outside.
Let's give the developer benefit of doubt to complete this with reasonable quality.

I'd rather slow and steady with quality, rather than speedy handover of keys.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers

To a certain extent, there is some truth in that.

Have you all viewed the recent photos and videos on the official Facebook page for Amara?

Someone today posted the photos and videos taken from INSIDE the apartment, and seriously...it looks very bad....
Im a buyer myself, and sorry to say from the photos and videos of the quality inside... Its almost if not equal to LOW COST DBKL apartments.

Just view the video of the walk-around tour for yourself.

Im sure you would argue that (oh..have trust in the developer, not yet key handover etc etc). But at this stage and the video from INSIDE posted... You will agree that NO WAY it can be sold for 500k..