Based on my budget, I'm able to afford a leasehold terrace house under 700sf 2Br/1Ba with balance lease of 70+ years. This property will be purely for investment purpose and will not be for own stay. If rented out to long-term tenants, I expect the rent to cover not more than 80% of the monthly repayment. However, if rented as home-stay/Airbnb, I expect the rent to exceed the monthly repayment. Given the age of the house, I expect to spend minimally another 50k (this is already factored into my house buying budget) to ensure the house is in a decent livable condition.

Please advise on the following:

1) Are home-stay/Airbnb hosts less likely to be disturbed or complained by neighbours in terrace houses versus condo?

2) Is my estimated amount of 50k sufficient to touch up the house to a livable condition?

3) Is this a wise investment to rely on to provide passive income when I retire 20-30 years down the road?

Appreciate your replies.

as far as i know, residential homes in penang are not allowed to operate as homestay or airbnb. as for renovation, 50k might not be enough, but i think should depends on the condition of your house. as for investment purpose, have you ever consider of converting shoplot into homestay with the same budget? i used to have the same idea too, but now i am planning to do it on shoplot but still holding back as i'm not very confident with the occupancy rates.

1) it depends on house location. like earlier poster said it's banned in Penang, however it's frowned upon by other owners as well. end of the day it depends on the neighboring houses, if it's near a public transport, it's likely tenanted by working class (more favorable to airbnb purposes) people as opposed to a neighborhood full of family homes (less likely to be favorable to airbnb).

2) this is very subjective and also depend on the current condition of the unit.

3) for operating a homestay/airbnb you'd incur costs and also labor work. you'll need to factor that in against your projected profit.

Are you also in Penang? It would seem almost impossible to buy a shoplot at my current budget.

For converted shoplot, are you referring to applying it as licensed homestay? My consideration of purchasing a residential terrace house is the flexibility of renting it out to both long-term and short-term tenants.

yes, penang is a good place for homestay investment. i mean to rent a shoplot, of course if can buy will be better. yes, got license means legal business as operating airbnb in residential property is considered illegal.