hi,

i'm not from penang but recently i'm taking a measured interest at landed properties in penang island.. i guessed i was a bit surprised to find out they're priced very high.. rm350/sqf and above..

it must be very difficult for newer generation of youngster (or new families) to take up a rm750k(~2000sqf) landed hse..

there're a few areas i'm watching with interest.. selectively, the northeastern region of the island (tg bungah, tg tokong, p.tikus and greater georgetown areas.. till tmn. scotland perhaps). any idea on the assessment charges for these mentioned areas?

one thing i noticed was.. there're quite a number of 3-stories terrace. is that a trend in penang island? some of them have a 20-foot wide facade but a large built-up because of the 3rd floor..

i also noticed that even at slight remote places such as balik pulau.. prices have reached the rm400k region for a 2-storey terrace.. such prices are really on par with favorable places in klang valley!

i know this sounds silly.. i don't think i will want to plonk down money on current asking price, but perhaps a 30-40% off.. (i know, it'll take a crisis to take such a dunk) do you think it's possible?

meanwhile.. i'll just wait quietly. oh, this forward acquisition is not intended as an investment.

This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 7 2009, 05:20 PM

i have trust in crisis pricing because i've personally experience and profit from it.. (am aware that it's selfish to wish for one.. because it's a real loss to a real person)..

unfortunately.. being realistic, it tells me that one would need an income in excess of rm10k/mth to close a 90-10 deal (and that's at given low rate of 3.55% annum).. that would put alot of mere ordinary locals "out of reach"..

the rise of prices in the island has been tremendous for the past 2 years.. it's on par with equity returns(double digits). how do you quantify a bubble then? let's look at the support..

i'm not familiar with the markets there.. i only read that there's about a third(30%) of foreign purchases involved.. is it a catalyst effect?

i know this can be a little overfetched.. a third of the island has been developed, but there're tracks of hilly land at the north and northeast region of the island still untouched.. i'm not familiar with the right ratio of what determines a sustainable development is.. (or perhaps it's very costly to dynamite the coastal hill from tg.bungah to batu feringgi for development as well?.. or this is just wishful thinking?)

This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 7 2009, 05:38 PM

thanks for your thoughts. i guess, it's going to be an uphill hurdle should i consider to retire in penang island?

life is much simpler, until it's complicated by money..

"dull" sounds like a good place.. retirement is not about excitement and being in a happening place..

catching the sea breeze and watching the sun rises over the sea are both something calming and inspirational..

maybe you would be eager to swap places with me.. i live within 10km of a few major shopping malls (mid valley, 1u, pyramid, etc)

hi,
i guess you guys aren't familiar with maintenance fee charged by higher end condos..

rm0.20/sqf is considered very cheap.. if compared to kuala lumpur. that's considered the lower end of the monthly fee spectrum.. and can go up beyond rm0.60/sqf for some.

there're also other components that may incorporate into the monthly fee(not just maintenance per se).. some have sinking fund, amortized within.. thus adding up the so called monthly "maintenance fee"

for bayswater.. it looks like a reasonable range of rm0.30 - 0.50/sqf.

the other thing that you guys brought up about security.. living in a condo does not guarantee you total safety. there have been many incident of 'insider job' at alot of apartment/condo (of varying price range)

unless you have cctv on every public area/hallway at every floor.. you may never know that the thief is your very neighbor. there was a common suspect that it's done by syndicates.. moving from one condo to the other.. so the break-ins comes and go in 'cycles'.. appear and disappear.

interrupt.. prices of all asset(property included) don't always go up y.o.y. this is the greatest fallacy that i come across for people who're new to investment.

let's put returns aside and factor in the risk/cost involved.. then you decide.
yes, i may not be an islander per se.. i've both read and lived long to see;

demographic shift,
economic depression,
zoning law changes,
local authorities/municipals influences,
major catastrophe(e.g most of the places that i mentioned earlier have terrain elevation of no more than 20m),
.. and lots more, of course, these are macro issue.

here're some micro issues to consider; for a 20-30 year old property..
structural integrity such as roofing,
piling/structural(any upcoming highrise within 2km radius?)
plumbing,
wiring,
asbestos based materials which might've been use previously,
termites infestation,
who're your neighbors?
.. and lots more.

prepare about one-third (God forbid.. half!) of the purchase cost on fixing local, micro issues. most likely you'll be tied to a bank loan.. consider the double-up effect.. 600k becomes 1.2mil at the end of your loan tenure (this excludes all the risks/cost stated earlier).

and this is just for you to break even..

now.. another dude willingly take up this semi-d from you for 1.2mil and with a loan to boot.. put in the double-up effect again.. and that'll be 2.4mil..

my question is.. how many dude(s) will it takes before the entire charade thinks it's out of whack and re-price the entire semi-d back to.. say, 300k?

i've personally seen some properties at ayer itam and pulau tikus that have the entire floor on wood based flooring (it means the ground level ceiling is wood).. this style has its historical background in old properties (even at other states such as melaka, seremban, ipoh.. same styling still stands today).. the wood used are strong, not like those used in american sub-urban housing constructions.. which creeky noise can be made while walking over it (even if it's carpeted)..


This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 13 2009, 05:00 PM

no kidding?!? 15cent/sqf? that's like some perkeliling flats in jln pahang roundabout!!
sure bo?

This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 14 2009, 05:14 PM

kamsiah.. a new insight to me. may i know about the local taxes(cukai taksiran) in greater georgetown area?.. dbkl levied my unit at rm1,260 annum.. so much more expensive as compared to a pj(mbpj) unit, which is half of that.