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 

Pai,

I salute you for having more balls than I do    . Liquidity is a big problem for me right now so I have very few options

On the loan application note, I'm sensing their deep desperation. There are flexi homeloans offering BLR-2.00% now. Am so tempted to refinance... *slurps*

Having bigger balls means nothing if the big ball will get burnt 

If the flexiloans can give you significant savings and also increase liquidity, why not go for it?? In trying times, having that extra cash could be your ticket to significant wealth increase 

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 

Yo Pai, you bought below market price? From the yield u mentioned, it's 190K purchase price which I think for such unit, it's a fully furnished unit and all selling around 230K and above. Your loan is 90%??? Still postive cashflow?

I'm tired to be frank. The current loan was processed in 11 MONTHS 3 years ago. I'm not sure whether I'm strong enough to jump hoops again. My current rate is BLR-1%. I'm gonna lose on my MRTA and early exit penalty too. We'll see

mate,

The unit I bought 5 months back was the 351sqf bare unit @185k. Loan was 90%. Have to admit now its a bit hard to find a 351sqf@ below 210k. The 2 that I recently agreed to buy was just slightly over 200k.

If you cant wait, your best chance is to go after the 439sqf ones, and that should cost you 220k to 240k. Still cashflow positive with extra RM300-RM500 (depending on rental) pocket money every month kua 

---

Added on October 17, 2008, 2:03 pm
If can get min 20% more cash, think its worth your while. Good luck mate 

Syd,

u r spot on. I know its not a complicated strategic move to some ppl & diversification is a safer way but the returns are just too mediocre. If my calculation is right, I'll have very decent passive income stream ELSE I'll just have small passive income stream 

sifu pai, u still lurking in lowyat? haha. how is maytower now? based on rental still can get decent roi 6% above if can find 300k or so unit.

im one generation late sort of. now aiming to chew on leftover bones.