Pai, well said. It is better to just master 1, than to be average at all 3. Being average could mean you break even on all your investments, and over time taking into account inflation, you are basically losing. But that also means leaving your money to melt away in a FD account while waiting for the right time to pounce. There can be no win-win I guess.

Hi Pai, you sound like someone who reads a lot & owns quite a few property. Mind to share your success story?

Wonder how is wcroger doing now.

As for me, i got interested in property investment since attended Dolf De Roos seminar (damn, it was very expensive but it opened up my mind - at least after that, it thought me that debts can be good, esp for property).

I bought one positve cashflow property after that seminar (not much though, around RM 250/mth after maintenance & installment, exclude agent fee which I think cannot run away every 1-2 yrs when tenant leave) in 2007. Oh ya, nothing down technically but with closing cost, MRTA, valuation fee, furnitures...it cost me slightly > 10% of property price.

Now looking forward to another property in the next few months or latest 2009 (my aim is 1 property every 2 yrs). Any good recommendation Pai?

We havent heard from wc Roger for a while since the economic turmoil...

I got started after reading Kiyosaki's book, and agree with his idea on leveraging as a wealth tool, hence decided to go for properties.

Recommendation --> Not many value buys today, but based on current valuations, Maytower is probably one of the best rental yield properties available. Not many properties at circa 200k today can give you above 10% yields. Rented my current unit for RM1900 p/m to a corporate company (expat) and spend zero for advertisement and agent fee's. Using history as an indicator, think the price will go up by another 20% by mid next year, which is a fat bonus IMO given its alread strong rental yield.

Maytower? the 400sqf shoebox?

no, the 351sqf shoebox

Its the location, my friend.

This post has been edited by Pai: Oct 15 2008, 06:33 PM

I hv a friend living there - dont know whether rented or not. From the outside it does look impressive. I guess they're trying to ward off bad omen from the phailed project next door (*cough* CityOne *cough*)

sorry brothers, where is Maytower ah???

Its funny rite? That area has :

1. The failed CityOne - 3-bedroom condo being rented to bangla's for only 1k p/m, and selling for approx rm160psf
2. The decent Maytower - Shoebox studios being rented from 1.3k - 2k p/m and selling for rm580psf
3. CapSquare condo - 2 n 3 bedroom condo being rented from 5k onwards, and selling for rm700psf

Best part is that all 3 condo's are just 50 meters away from each other

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Added on October 15, 2008, 11:26 pmOpposite the upcoming & new shopping mall, Capsquare

This post has been edited by Pai: Oct 15 2008, 11:26 PM

wow, why like that one? mind to share ur thoughts?

btw, how many units in Maytower? How come so good rental? Expat?

timing of purchase is very important

Look, altho im very biassed towards Maytower, its not like its the perfect investment. I could think of 3 mains cons when it comes to Maytower :

1. Built quality is only average.
2. Mayland has a bad reputation as a developer and to have known to screw their buyers despite their track record as property managers is quite decent actually.
3. Flooding - Apparently is prone to floods but personally I have never encountered this before after a few months.

Also, like any other investment, Maytower has no guarantees on returns. However, I consider the above risk is negliable when I weight the strengths of Maytower :

1. Location - In Central KL, less than 10min walking distance to shopping malls, Putra & Star LRT, Monorail, cinema etc. KLCC, Bukit Bintang is just 5 min drive subject to traffic. Its extremely convenient. I cant think of any other units that cost you approx 200k today that could give you the same level of convenience.

2. Maytower basically addresses a key issue : limited supply & high demand. Apart from Casa Mutiara studios, there arent any modern studio's supply located at KL center today that cost anything less than 300k and being rented out for anything less than 2k p/m. Its caters mainly for short term expats who doesnt wish get a car and rely mainly on public transportation. I got my current Maytower expat tenant using free internet advertisement within just 10 days, and I paid zero for advertising and agent fee's.

3. Price VS Rental yield ratio - IMO its currently undervalued and still about 20% cheaper psf compared to Capsquare condo next door, but it commands 20%-30% more rental psf compared to Capsquare. Strange right, but small is sometimes big in returns
This wont stay for long as ppl will quickly realised that 10% yield is too attarctive and sellers will adjust their sale price upwards to match Capsquare. Furthermore, when BRDB launches Capsquare2 at indicative quote of RM900psf, Maytower price can only move upwards.

4. Past performance of similar studio's - By similar I meant by similar sized units, similar accesibility to public transportation and less than 5 years old :

a. Suasana Sentral - Launch at rm300psf - now asking for rm600psf, (100% increase - 4 years old I think)
b. Parkview@KLCC - Launch at RM450psf - now asking RM1000psf (>100% increase -3 years old)
c. Sommerset Bukit Ceylon studio's - Dont remember excat size (think approx 550psf), but studio units were launched at approx 250k, now selling at min 400k. (>60% increase - 3 years old)
d. Casa Mutiara - Launch at RM350psf, now asking RM650psf (>70% increase - 1 year old)

5. Very strong rental yield - The unit I bought 4 months ago now gives me 12% rental yield. Another fella I know who bought at the same time as me today enjoy 13.5% yield.

These 5 reasons are why Im quite bullish on Maytower

Pai,

Thanks for the head's up. I did some calculations and personally think that Maytower is a good investment whilst being in a dodgy area IF I can get it rented. I'm just going to wait for the real estate market to crash and burn, maybe somewhat like 1997 and grab a unit.

I'm currently in the process of disposing one of my medium-cost property - collect bullets to face near-future meltdown. Hving high asset and low cash is making me a lil uneasy.

This post has been edited by Syd G: Oct 16 2008, 08:24 AM

agree on that point. got a letter from my md to one of the bigshots in mayland, threatening him to buck up or else

btw, i might be in a wrong thread asking this, but any of you guys can give some advice on real estate investment for beginners? i am looking into venturing in RE, but am low in capital at the moment. might start venturing by march 09 if all goes well.

sassyset,

INMVHO, this is not a good time to invest in real estate. Malaysia's RE is still on a bubble that could burst in mid 2009 or early 2010. The pattern is there - very low interest rate on loans (just like the US) that will inflate property's price and for now it will rise up very fast but I'm thinking that the price will drop faster than the time it takes to settle your purchase paperworks.

There's this project by WingTaiAsia - Veritas Residensi (i pass their billboard sign everyday to work) on Bukit Ceylon (near Raja Chulan) - price from 2.3m for 2 bedrooms onwards (6m for a penthouse). I nearly choked on my morning breakfast.

In times like these, cash is king so collect some bullets instead and go shopping when the time is right I started on RE 3 years ago when I was 23. I withdrew all my life savings, almost gave my parents a heart attack and bought things that appreciate (houses, some investments here and there) instead of a new car or an iPod

Syd,

Sounds like a good plan IF you can afford to cough up more than 30% deposit in cash. Good luck mate

Erm i think overseas market have faster and better returns compared to msia...

Say Middle East especially Dubai. If u dun wanna live together with construction workers to RENT a decent apartment is in the range of AED 100,000 to 150,000 per year. Their currency is slightly lower than ringgit. Price of property for that kinda rental costs around AED 1m to 2m.

Well a lot more money to pay but a lot more higher returns than msia...
unless u're so lucky to have bought a house in bangsar for around 100k at that time....

Hence 'bullets'

I'm much more conservative lately. I guess all the financial news hv been draining my energies.

point taken
thank you
neway, what would be your investment of choice, looking at the current economic situation? (this IS off-topic ... sorry sorry...)

No worries chief, u r defo not alone here in being concervative in these trying times. In fact, some banker fren's of mine are currently feeling the slowdown as there's significant reduction in loan applications

Guess it boils down to our respective risk-appetite, investment strategy and bet. Im making a contrarian decision so praying for the best now