Hi, I am a newbie in buying property. I am looking at freehold, older condos for my own stay, max rm600k. Currently considering Tiara Damansara, Astana Damansara and Pantai Panorama. I like Tiara Damansara environment but it has no lift. Doesn't seem to have lower floor unit available now. Will higher floor be super difficult to sell in the future, like in 20 years' time?
Astana Damansara is near Phileo Damansara mrt but too close to the highway. I see jams going into the condo but not huge jams.
Is Pantai panorama a good buy? There is still construction going on for the new condo next to it. I don't know if it will push up the value of the unit or it will increase the jam to the whole place. I work in that area, hence looking at these 3 freehold condos. Will appreciate any advice. Thank you!

I was looking for a unit of Astana and Tiara Damansara. Was quite interested in lowrise condos for investment purposes as well as to do some Airbnb.

Astana:

Pros:-
i) Other than the units right next to the Sprint highway, it is fairly quiet. Those next to the highway it is just the master bedroom that is a bit noisy but not terribly noisy as the walls are fairly thick.

ii) Lots of VIPs living there, many units are owned by the Perak and NS royal households.

iii) Spacious layouts, these places when new were an upscale project and was quite an expensive place to buy, thus they came with bigger rooms, some duplex units are up to 2000sf.

iv) Has lifts even for a low-rise which will make it fairly well sought after.

v) The last unit I saw was 1300sf, owner was willing to let go for RM480k, there was another duplex unit that was 2000+sf that owner let go for RM780k. Therefore for a low rise freehold it is fairly affordable.

vi) Some units the carpark is by your door.

Cons:-

i) Maintenance is RM0.40psf. In quite a poor state of maintenance though am told there are plans to repaint the exterior.

ii) Good units rarely ever come on the market and many owners believe it is worth a lot more than it actually is worth.

iii) Most units are fairly tired ole places, expect to spend some cash to renovate.

iv) Mold and fungus seem to be a major issue especially on the ground floor units. Many are also quite dark due to all the mature trees that block sunlight.

v) Only 1 car park for vast majority of units.

vi) Rental demand will be low and towards the lower end, many units these days are being rented out to students.

vii) A scary experience to walk to the MRT station especially at rush hour.

viii) Better be indoors around 6pm as place is full of mosquitoes.

Tiara:

Pros:-
i) RM0.25 maintenance fees and place is fairly well maintained and certainly in a better state of maintenance than Astana.

ii) Upper floor units are fairly cheap, RM450k and you can get the keys to the upper floor units.

iii) Mostly civilised people live there. Many are retirees and some students.

iv) Your carpark is fairly close to your door.

v) Plenty of units to choose from.

Cons:-
i) All units have stairs, lower floor units are below road level and always dark. Road level units you get traffic noise.

ii) Pool and facilities a bit far away from some units, it will be a long walk and hilly one at that.

iii) Only 1 car park per unit. If you have guest they have to pay to park.

iv) Most units are tired ole places, you will need to spend quite a lot of money to spruce it up.

v) Most units have a triangle shape layout in the master bedroom, was told it is bad for feng shui purposes.

vi) Evenings are places you better hide indoors as place is full of mosquitoes as well.

vii) Higher floor units difficult to sell and worth at least RM150k less than a similar unit on ground or first floor.

There are several ways to look at it. A lower floor smaller unit (1122sf) at Tiara will on average cost you around RM560psf or around RM650k, being a subsale, you'd need 15% downpayment. Here is a rough calculation of what you will need:-

Deposit : RM97500
Stamp Duty: RM13500
Legal Fees: RM4000-6000
Renovations: RM50000.

That's nearly RM150k in cash you will need.


Cheaper these days to just buy a new property off a developer, you get rebates and cashbacks as well as many of the fees being waived and if you have RM150k in cash you could spend that on a very nice ID job for your new place or use it as a means to reduce your loan.

That's the reason why I decided to invest at Cantara Residence and Sunway Velocity 2.

Maybe you can look at Desa Kiara as well. Located walkable to TTDI MRT station but beside cemetery, hence the low pricing here.