Nice write-up on opportunities in business. Would like to hear your opinion on stocks and property.

How badly has the real estate agents and mortgage sales bankers been hit? Read in another thread that a local bank is currently approving only 10% of all home loan applications received?

If any leng lui needs money badly, I can help 

Nice write-up on opportunities in business. Would like to hear your opinion on stocks and property.

How badly has the real estate agents and mortgage sales bankers been hit? Read in another thread that a local bank is currently approving only 10% of all home loan applications received?

If any leng lui needs money badly, I can help 

Nice write-up on opportunities in business. Would like to hear your opinion on stocks and property.

How badly has the real estate agents and mortgage sales bankers been hit? Read in another thread that a local bank is currently approving only 10% of all home loan applications received?

If any leng lui needs money badly, I can help 

looqsonline,

Thanks for the write up. So now, whats your next move?

Nice write-up on opportunities in business. Would like to hear your opinion on stocks and property.

How badly has the real estate agents and mortgage sales bankers been hit? Read in another thread that a local bank is currently approving only 10% of all home loan applications received?

If any leng lui needs money badly, I can help 

looqsonline,

I currently have a regular day 2 day job, wont be making any moves in property or stock over the next few months after my recent foray.

However, very tempted to start my own thing on the sideline now, in services indutry. Still pondering........

Tang, need some adv from you. I'm looking for a double storey hse around in Subang for own stay I know the properties there are kinda old which I don't really mind. Here's my question.

1.Among the areas in Subang for e.g USJs , SS17, SS18 etc which one do you think has the most strategic location in your own views and why.

2.As i mentioned, the locations are quite established, do you think it's worth buying?

3. Or is it better to park my money in those KKemuning, SAlam

Thanks in advance bro!

Hi Dr RE and everybody in this forum,

Greetings to you.

This is my first attempt in purchasing a property for own stay. May i seek your advise?
Me and my wife found a used condo Green Acre Sungai Long. The unit is in good condition and has minor renovations.  It seems the reno cost about rm10k.The owner wants to sell for RM145k.

Is it worth the buy?

cheers,

Oh ok, firstly i'm not planning for second house anytime soon. My budget is around 300k - 400k properties.  My intention to look for properties around Subang for own stay with view of appreciation in future(at least  5-10years). I'm single, attached but still available (jk), maybe will be married in two years time, work for MAS which is quite convenient for me. I find the Kemuning area a bit too far. I prefer established area like Subang Jaya, which i think the risk is lower? One concern is house is old, and renovation might cost a bomb, but the built up area for these places are larger than the newer dbs houses right?

What do you reckon my friend?

isnt most USJ properties are leasehold?

I will like to ask what is the minimum qualification to enter estate agent company?Diploma or Degree?

Well, that's what everyone would guess when i mentioned my company name. Anyway i'm in the management side and i work in subang airport. FYI that's where the headquarters is, there's where the MD's office is

More infos about me i'm a simple chinese guy, mid 20s. I must say I appreciate your effort to share your wisdom & insight on RE, as i'm sure most RE experts do not share their knowledge. Do you publish any book? I know i would buy it....hehe

I think I kind of get your drift. My reason for the choice of Subang is because it seems like a great to have a family (Family Man, lolz), it's quite peaceful and accessibility is good. I have slight doubts on USJ the same reason which you've mentioned. To and fro from my office, with minimal/no jams are areas like SS17 or SS19. I don't really mind having to make minimal renov in future since properties in Subang are quite old.

My dilemmas would be:
1. With probably the same price i would be able to get a place for e.g Kota Kemuning which does not require renov or rather very little but the location is bit far (maybe in future in wont seem far?)

2. Is this the right time to buy or I should wait a while more (Referring to these areas)

I would appreciate if you explain your choices of SS19, USJ 3, 4, 16

Thanks Dr. RE  

Hi Tang, i need ur advise to buy a house for own stay purpose. What do u think of these area...(1) Damai Perdana, Cheras [d/storey house)], (2) Cheras Mahkota [d/storey house],  (3) Kuchai lama [ condo]

B'coz of the $$$ constraints, we only afford to buy below RM250K house, so can you give me some suggestion?

Thank you in advance

Hi, Doc
I've been thinking of getting a property in PJ and I've been checking out Tiara Condos in Sect. 17. THey're typically priced between RM320K and RM350K. THe development is kinda old, 17 years, I think. Security is quite good and I guess the road access is okay. IN your opinion, are they worth the money spent?

Otherwise, where else around PJ would be ideal for a small family?

THanks in advance.

Hi, Doc
I've been thinking of getting a property in PJ and I've been checking out Tiara Condos in Sect. 17. THey're typically priced between RM320K and RM350K. THe development is kinda old, 17 years, I think. Security is quite good and I guess the road access is okay. IN your opinion, are they worth the money spent?

Otherwise, where else around PJ would be ideal for a small family?

THanks in advance.

Hi there.

I'm not sure whether this is the right place to ask this question. But I guess I'll rather try my luck here rather than in Kopitiam.

I wanted to ask, what's the requirements to change the name of a building?

The building I'm refering to are those high rise office building. Supposely, if the building is to be rename, should the management 1st get the consent from the tenants?

Sorry if this question does not belongs here. Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

May i seek your advise? I have recently paid a deposit to buy a house - Serenia Gardens Ampang phase 1B which is located up above Ukay Perdana, quite near to Bukit Antarabangsa. I decided to cancel because of the recent tragedy in Bukit Antarabangsa. My wife just dont want to take the risk although the developer (IJM) said they are not affected since it is not on hillslope.

We have already cancelled so hope maybe you can give me some info on these kind of properties, e.g. hill development

Thanks a lot.

Dear Dr. Re,

Seeking for your advice once again. I need a sanity check, as I'm falling in love with a property.

1. The property which I'm looking at is slightly below market value. But here's the catch, the direction is West, actually about North-west i would say. Nevertheless I think the sun still somewhat affect the hall.

Will it affect much when i want to sell it next time? From your experience, do you think it will be very difficult to sell a west facing prop at market value? Will i get very much less than non-west facing props?

2.  I'm not sure if this would be an advantage > disadvantage because it's facing two roads, the inner and outer(main road). I like it because there's space in front as in if there's visitors parking is not a prob compared to those facing similar DSL opposite and parking is most likely cramp.

The prob is I'm not sure if it'll be super dusty, what do you think? Outer road is about 50ft from gate.

Just want to make sure that it's not just about what i like but what other ppl think for investment purpose.

Thanks in advance Doc!

Hi looqsonline,

I'm new to this forum, and I have been reading this thread with interest.  Presently, I'm looking at the Faber Condo's, namely Ria and Heights for investment purposes.  Whilst I must admit that they are fairly old, they are reasonably priced (approx 210 psqft, if not mistaken), and rental demand there seems quite stable....

What are your views with regards to its investment potential, particularly on the studio units (<600 sq ft) there? Thanks.

Dr. RE:

good insights. Man I read through 9 pages in the last hour or so. (Yeah I'm stayin out of the Christmas crowds for tonight).

Some brief thoughts.

- good RE agent. I know a few friends who won't mind paying finder's fee for a good agent - can just hand him a list of criteria and then he does the research. Right now, 99% of RE agents here are crap. Just put up some ad, answer the phone half-heartedly. Message to such agents: we can really detect it when you're just looking for a "shui yu" - don't show us the crap houses, quote a high price then tell so many lies and gloss over the flaws. Waste of time. RE agents in the US or elsewhere are much more professional.

- economy. you're right, it will be slow descent for Malaysia. slow to go up, slow to go down, hahaha.

- the rich. Some people have a tons of cash right now. After they lost a bit from  stocks, they just pulled everything out. They are all asking about fire sales - all ready to buy, and patient. But like you said, prices won't drop that much like in 97 etc.

- delusion of some house owners. Because they've been living there for a long time, in mostly their eyes they think their house is an absolute gem and everywhere else is no competition. So they want to sell at sky high prices. They would hold on to this inflated idea of the "fair value" of their house. For eg, he wants to sell at RM600K when market is RM550K. If he sells at RM550K-RM560K, he can put that money into FD and get 3.7% a year. Or even pick up stocks or other investments, business that safely get dividend/returns of 5-20% a year. But he will not. He will hold until he can sell at RM600K... 5 years later. (at only 3.7% he gets RM659K in 5 yrs) Some will say he has "holding power" to "wait out the recession". That's bull. I say he could have done much better by looking at all options.

- business. you should write a book. A few people has, abt making money, etc. If I'm not wrong, first RM20K royalty is tax-free. Imagine still earning money when you're doing the horizontal boogie or playing mahjong. I've got first dibs on my booklet, "How to Survive an Economic Downturn in Malaysia" and "How to be a Real Estate Agent" No body copy me, OK??

- real estate portfolio. How did your friend Stanley from Miri structure his portfolio..? All the properties in his personal name, or in a Sdn Bhd? When he went to get the loan, does he have to mortgage some of his existing properties, or the bank just look at the rental income stream to approve the loan for the new property? I don't have anything other than rental income right now from fully paid properties. I'm wondering what is the best way to get access to financing. Any idea?

- your IT business. The sales skills you learned from RE should be useful here. Sell, sell, sell. Especially if you say the product saves money, that will even sell better in a downturn when company wants to cut costs. Really cut down your overheads as much as possible. Show potential clients your spirit and really work for it. Like you said, if you make it now, the experience will be very useful later on, even if the immediate income might not seem like it's worth it right now.

OK.. I can hear the fireworks goin off.. Gonna go watch it. Cheers! Hope to see your reply soon.

Sorry for the late reply been partying alot lately so haven't been sober enough to write here. Staying at home today because rudolph left a big pile of shit on my roof last night ...

Hmmmmmm .......... now the biggest no no is still the T-junction rule. I don't know why la but people nowadays are starting to get more and more into the fengshui thing. Chinese and indians have traditionally believed in fengshui and chinese and indians have the same basic fundamentals in fengshui ... but one thing you'd be suprise is that the educated malays are also starting to get into feng shui ... u can see lotsa malay datuks in KL la with lucky numbers for car plates ... ... i think maybe thanks to that fat lady which i forgot her name for commercializing feng shui and making the knowledge more accesible to people ... anyway here is what i think about feng shui ... feng shui is about the art of living the most important thing is the feel of the house.. having gone and seen so many pieces of land ... you sorta get that gut feel of a good of piece of land .. sorry again i don't really do completed units .. but starting to want to do because times are bad ... it's the same for houses as well ... always look for that feel good feeling ... i believe that if you have bad luck when u're looking for a house, your gonna get that feel good feeling on a bad feng shui property ... so always ask for a second opinion .. bring a friend along or a girl ... infact i have found girls to be more intune to these types of things then men.

Anyway inregards to market value, it is very subjective ... u might meet a mat salleh who just loves how he can shit in the morning and have to face the bright sun ... but again u might meet ten house buyers before the mat salleh that just don't like the fact that it is facing west ... infact facing west or not .. is only 20% compared to the difficulty of selling a house at a junction .. houses at junctions, big no no .. that's why u can see a new trend in development where they try to avoid junction houses at all cost ...

anyway i am not a feng shui guy so u could ask some master to go see for you ... but again it is very subjective la ...

conclusion

yes will affect .. but not a great deal .. in fact not on the price .. but might have to see more people to sell .. if circumstances are right
if your lucky might just sell to the first buyer
Again people always talk about selling at market or higher ... i think i'll tell u a story la ... my friend owns a unit in somerset near bukit bintang, unit reno about 40k he's good in interior design cause he always invest and then reno well .. he always "flip" properties ... when he bought it 4 years before he sold it, he bought it at 250k ... when the buyer came to see, he immediately liked the unit because of the reno and had a good feel to the property .. at then the market value was about 500k .. he sold it to the fella for 600k ... and another factor was that the buyer's mistress just wanted to get the buyer to get her a property ASAP .. so very hard to say .. i'd say sometimes depends on luck ...

investment purpose ... when investing ... think rationally .. think rental .. think capital appreciation and think ease of selling ...

---

Added on December 25, 2008, 12:12 pm

now .. if it's a studio .. i say 50 50 for investment .. because a taman desa is a place where people working in KL or PJ earning between 2k-6k live .. people who are in this income gap .. usually prefer renting rooms because they are cheaper .. so your target market is narrowed .. you can't rent to families cause they'd rather rent a bigger unit with 3 rooms or more ... studio in tamna desa no no ... now let's say the studio unit you are refering to is 160k ... your gonna loan 80% or about 127k then for 30 years ur paying RM850 amonth ... now you have to rent it out at at least 700 cause your gonna at least have to pay about RM100-Rm150 for maintenance then u take away the cost of upkeeping your unit ... and also the period which you have no tenant so your gonna have to hope that rental on your unit rises in the next 30 years  ... i guess monthly probably all your really left with is RM450 so your actually forking out about RM400 every month for your installment but i doubt your even gonna get RM700 probably RM500...  as for capital appreciation, your not gonna have much ... cause it's a studio in taman desa and your gonna have problems  selling cause you can only sell to single mid income earners .. infact for the resale market, a moajority of buyers are family people and investors ..  further more it's old .. prices of condos generally plateu and then decrease after 15-20 years .. again generally ah .. some condo projects have remained good investments even past 20-30 years because of alot of reasons ... so again this is my opinion ... but personally i wouldn't buy .. i'd rather fork out about 210k to 300k and rent out the rooms individually ... anyway now is seriously not the time to buy .. but time to educate yourselves .. and learn the ropes of becoming a property investor .. there are lotsa tricks that you don't learn from books .. buy mid 09 onwards .. now just look see and learn ..

---

Added on December 25, 2008, 12:45 pm

Hey man thanks you just made me feel my worth in starting this thread ...

Alot of people don't understand, especially the casual property investor or the first time home buyer that agents are motivated by commision ... people are never willing to pay for good advice ... especially asians... we simply don't believe in paying for the intangible ... why are americans and brritish and even the japanese are so succesful because they are willing to pay high fees for specialist ... example .. business man A sells clothes he is very good at cutting costs ... he is really really good .. he knows how to make quality clothes at low costs .. but his business will always be that a low cost manufacturer ... he tries to make a designer lable but not willing to pay for a marketing consultant to find out what is the latest trends ... infact in the US there are even trend consultants that just go out and party all the time to see what is the trendiest things people want .... A thinks he wants to save cost and he thinks he knows it all .. but please he is not a marketer ... he maybe a good businessman but he is not a maerketer .. his specialty is in cutting cost ... everyone has their own specialty .. and they should not assume the job of another specialist ... so it's the same in property

You work 9-5 everyday and u occasinally look at property news or on my thread for advice .. heheheheh ... anyway you also occasionally look at property .. but a property agent lives and breathes property he is there everyday . at the tip of his fingers, he's got information on what sold for how much .... he knows so much more things that you don't ... buyers always only want to get free advice and they think that the seller's commision is enough .. but if you want that extra mile out of that agent .. stop treating him like a sales man .. but take him on as a consultant ...

here's how agents work .. they only have a handful of property in their hand if you're not gonna pay them extra .. they will just keep rotating you around they few properties they have ... but if you give them a finder's fee ... you'll see how much wonders they can do .. they will find properties from other agents and suddenly u see that they have a few hundred properties on hand cause they are willing to share theire commisions with other agents cause they will also be earning from your finders fee.

conclusion. you pay peanuts you get peanuts .. but of course be smart la .. know how to indentify a good agent ...

anyway my outlook on the malaysian economy ... in 97 we were like a business man that started booming right before the recession ... we put everything at stake to grow the business ... but now .. we are like a middle income family ... so since times are bad .. let's just tighten our belts ... but again malaysia has always been lucky ... we've always had something to fall back on ... in 2009 u will see shift in banking trends towards an islamic banking system ... arabs will start using more islamic banking methods and if malaysia uses this to its advantage, we won't fall as hard ... infact, i think malaysia is in a good postiion, lot's of liquidity .. and i hope lotsa brains as well .. companies like genting and YTL as cash rich .. even genting is using 50-50 D:E to finance its project in singapore ... i hope they wont be like MUI buying into shit companies like laura ashley .. but the middle income market will be the hardest hit .. like i've said in my previous threads ..

well my friend stanley .. had a substantial amount when he first invested .. like 200-300k which he saved up ... thoruhg his first property he made like 100k and he just leveraged off his good relations and good CCRISS with the banks . his bank is public bank and they know him so well and he only meets the branch managers .... they even borrowed him 10million for a boutique hotel whioch didn't work out la .. but it took him just 5 years .. but he is a true blue property investor .. he lives and breathes it and he is a cut throat negotiator ... and he is always willing to walk away from the deal ... another thing is that he always gets good rental on his properties .. i.e.  And he puts all the properties under his property holdings company ... and pays himself a salary and hoards the rest in the company as working capital ... so it remains tax free until he takes it all out from his company .. He always leverages off his rental income ... but again his strength was that he kept loyal to one bank and hung around the people who decides his loan ... but again .. he invests in ..errr ... sideline businesses called "Kongsi" i won't explain further about this ... oh ya stanley is one big f***er ... he even get's people to become his employee so he can write of hundreds of dollars of tax ... he will put them in the 2k bracket .. or something like that lar .. then he saves on 24k of his own tax

infact i closed the IT thing down .. vision was good but time not right ... another 2 - 3 years maybe .. we are always a few year behind .. so wait till it becomes big elsewhere only will i do it in malaysia .. anyway i am writing a magazine .. hope to have it out in january or febuary .. i prefer magazines then books ... magazines i'm constantly writing for the readers .. whereas books it's a one time off thing ... i'm hoping to be able to tap into an uncatered market ... hehe but not saying what it is first ..

Anyway if u wanna hear my opinion on how to utilise your rental income stream maybe write another post and i'll answer it from there .. how old are u by the way?

Hi Looqs,

Yes, even though I've been investing in properties for about 15 years, I'm still willing to learn from people, yourself included.

Mind if I share some of my findings....(I just wanted to hear your views, but I've already closed the deal)

1.  The studio I got was at 120K.  My loan was at 108K.  My monthly repayment is about 450 + maintenance of 150. 

Coming from a banking background, you may want to check your math again.  No idea how u got RM 850 from a 127K loan.  Are u using some draconian interest rate?

2.  My rental is RM 1,200 - which gives me +ve net cash flow of 600 per month.  Not the best in the world....but for 1 hour's effort - i can live with that.

3.  I got it from a motivated seller.  The unit was fully furnished and in good condition.  Many young professionals are willing to rent there, (especially out of towners) - and it was snapped up by a tenant almost immediately.

May I offer a suggestion? Perhaps we can learn from each other.  Using your lingo, just my 2 cents worth from "experience", and not from books.

1.  In my humble opinion, it's never about the location.  Remember that.  And it's never about timing or mid 2009! hahahaha.  But, I'm glad the majority of people don't think the way I do! works in my favour! For further, details - that's another long post and a story for a different day.  Or maybe, i'm just teasing a little?

2.  Property appreciation is not the paramount factor in your assessment.  Long story short - do not invest for the sole purpose of capital appreciation.  Appreciation in your properties is an ancillary benefit of ownership.  It's all about having positive cash flow - that is absolutely crucial.

I am just an uncle who has been doing investment in properties for a long time.  Was blessed enough to retire to do this full time.  In fact, I had to ask my young son how to check out this forum.  Not very good with the internet!   Don't take this the wrong way, I am having my own fun as well only. 

Thanks for your 2 cents.

Hi Looqs,

To be fair, my knowledge on certain areas is so poor! I must admit that I do not possess the breath of your knowledge in certain target areas. 

I just have a few target areas in mind which I focus solely on.  In fact, I must humbly admit that I don't even own any commercial properties, let alone land for that matter!

Nothing much to boast about......and believe me, I have nothing to prove to anyone here.....no reason to anyway......My landed residential properties are mostly concentrated in DU, DJ, BU and TTDI.  I have very strong reasons for this.  I have stayed away from your Mont Kiara's and Sri Hartamas's and Desa Parks, and USJ's.....yes, I may have missed out on some of the action there.....but I have no regrets.

Uncle's mind very primitive.....can't be expert in all areas.....so only choose to really specialize in 4 areas....Noticed that most young investors (Not implying you) tend to want to own every piece of real estate in the country! aiyah....what for lah? So susah.....Maybe, I'm not so ambitious lah....

I own nothing but apartments and landed residential units in my target areas.  Why? It's what I know best.  Hence why, i must confess I'm quite ignorant to most of the threads above.  I read it, I note it down and I learn.  Even uncles have to learn

What about you? I'm sure you have views on landed residential properties even though u may not specialize in it? Do you have any target areas in mind?

I'm going to say something very cliched....but perhaps it best describes me.  For example, I am not at all disturbed when people say that DJ is a matured area....or that property prices there are quite high......or whatver......let them talk....doesn't matter.

However, profit is made when you buy, never when u sell......and that in a nutshell.......describes nearly 100% of my DNA

any interesting philosophies to share? Sometimes, talking solely about numbers and economic forecasts ca be a bit depressing.... haha

wow, close to 50% ROI p/a 
This is why I love studios. Boss, mind sharing the name of this development you bought? 

Hi Looqs and everyone,

Merry Christmas, by the way! and to all the other members of this forum too.

Was out having a teh tarik discussion with some friends....Always the common topic - how to make more money! haha

I'll attempt to answer your queries.  Nevertheless, please do correct me if I'm wrong.  Again, this is only my analysis of the situation because areas like Mt Kiara are out of my target areas. 

1.  On a macro scale - our secondary market is in trouble.  I'm a retired banker, and have many friends still in banking.  Banks have tightened their credit policies......It is a fact.  CIMB Bank used to do 1 billion in approved sales per month.  Today, it has dropped by more than 50%.  Some banks have also tightened their MOF to 70%! That's downright draconian.  My prediction - risk based pricing will become an industry norm soon.  If your CCRIS is less than ideal, if you're from a young age group, etc. - be prepared to pay a higher risk premium for your financing.  Board rates will be a thing of the past.   

2.  Some anecdotal evidence to share with you.  I never did trust analyst reports fully....I find that analysts hardly get their hands dirty

(a) Close friend of mine has some units in I-Zen.  Price has dropped by 15%.  Rental demand is weak.  Tenancy demand is also weak.  (Based on what he told me anyway)

(b) Like I mentioned earlier, I may have missed out on some of the action in Mt Kiara - but it goes against my investment philosphy, and their demographic is fairly hard to predict.  Let me elaborate.  Personally, I stay away from areas which are supposedly a "expat / foreign" enclave.  They tend to be very speculative in nature - like what we are witnessing in Mt Kiara today.  I heard from a contact that a sizeable faction of the Korean community has already left the enclave due to "less than ideal" circumstances pertaining to their children's education.  At best, only 30% of the buyers there use their units for end-use.

© In that sense, I'm in agreement with your view to invest in areas like Tmn Desa, OKR and Lucky Garden for the long term.  Obviously, u also know that I love DU, DJ, TTDI and BU.  All these areas are the bastion for the upper middle class communities.  They possess stable demographic readings and they take fantastic pride in ownership.

(d) Visited Mont Kiara Bayu with a friend last week.  He has a unit there.  Never seen so many "For Rent / Sale" signs in my life.....Heard that some of the "speculative action" has now spread over to Solaris Dutamas area.....It's okay.....I'll watch from the sidelines, and stick to my boring target areas

3.  Must confess I don't calculate yield for all my investments.  To me, having a good yield is just an outcome of a favourable cash flow assessment.  Mind to numb to state numbers now.  

4.  This question is open to you and to the floor - Went shopping over at "Tropicana City" with my wife this evening.  This new little shopping mall in SS2.  Heard of it? Anyway, never did pay much attention to Ken Damansara Condo's, which is right next to it.  Was planning to explore the area tmr and get my hands dirty.  A lot of time to spare!  Any insights into that area or condo?

5.  How has sales been? I know things have slowed down quite a fair bit, but I'm sure you're doing well.  Do keep me updated with any "hot industry gossip"? Always willing to listen.

cheers.

Well business has been slow since i started this thread start of the year ... Developers already started to slow down due to high construction costs and the "news in the market at that time was to wait after the olympics" .. and greedy old me still concentrated all my energy on places where psf was RM500 and up ... thank god a deal 2 years back has fed me till now ...
anyway doing a magazine now but having some problems with my ghost writer ... heheh do download if u chance by it .. might not be as insightful but sometimes the best reading material don't teach .. instead they remind you of what you already know ... anyway your sentiments are like mine .. but i'm not really into the secondary market .. cause to a developer it is not of primary importance .. for example properties in MK have gone up because of all the new projects that have been selling very well due to heavy investments in marketing overseas. i guess a developer's mindset is different from property investors ... infact right now there are lots of opportunities ... seriously abundant .. but hmmmm ... should i spill or not ... well maybe i'll hint ... rentals, M&As, liquidation, outsourcing and small time homebased businesses

Tropicana city, hmmmm heard about it but never really had a look .. what do you think? personally i think their concept of lifestyle is a lil bit off.... what do you think?

Hi Looqs,

OKR and TD are fine areas.  I'm fairly new in that area....just dipping my feet around in the pond.  I see where u are coming from.....but I don't think I would say that it's a better area than the D'sara/BU/TTDI zones....perhaps they just offer different kinds of opportunities.

I must admit that I am biased....people that grow up around Damansara tend to be more pro-Damansara.

When free, take a thorough drive around DU and DJ.  Forget about TTDI and BU for the time being.  U will notice one thing only....Approx 90% of the occupants are chinese and middle to upper middle class.  The secondary market here is pretty active. 

e.g. Jalan 22/29 - DJ - there are 4 houses on this road here that are under heavy renovation.  22 X 93 - transacted prices are in the average range of 630K. 

My point is this - no phenomenal appreciation like DPCity - but steady y-o-y appreciation of at least 8 to 10% per year.  Many, many other plus points - but won't elaborate here.  My point is this - From my experience, Damansara is as close to middle class suburbia as you can get.  It won't be sexy like a "mistress", but it'll be a good and loyal "wife".  hahaha   However, the key for me is to find it at bargain prices.  Once that's sorted out, I don't have to ever worry about the future, as these areas are stable.  I admit, very prudent & conservative.

But I am in agreement with u - OKR has always played second fiddle to the some of the more popular suburbs.  I think that investors in bargain properties there may experience fairly good appreciation in the coming years.

You're right - The mall turned out to be a dud.  No idea if I'm even wasting my time looking around the place.

Share the link of the magazine of yours? Of course I'll be interested to have a read.


Hi Danny,

Which Mortgage Broker do you belong to? I'm quite familiar with a few myself.  Well, I think you should be more familiar with the current rates than I am .......but in general, the local banks are still more inclined to follow the "board rates" style of pricing....Notable exceptions are like CIMB, with their well intentioned, but feeble attempt at risk based pricing.  Your foreign banks like Stan Chart seem to have their pricing mechanism in order.

I hate to say this - as forecasting is not something which I purely believe in.  But if u want to leverage - i'd go all out NOW.  Seeing signs that the party is going to end soon.  I don't think banks are going to care about helping the government in their whole expansionary fiscal policy propaganda.  In the end of the day, they have to protect their own arse via dynamic pricing.  People that go delinquent will be priced at BLR + 4%.  Let's enjoy the show.

A few questions if u don't mind - Which areas are the "hot areas" which u are witnessing from transacted sales at the moment? How's the approval to acceptance rate? Noticed any signs of defaults yet? Reliable sources have quoted that auction volumes have risen by approx 20%. You don't quite agree with dynamic pricing?

Cheers.

hello,

I've read a few books and article on property investment. Basically I have a little knowledge about it and haven't started it yet. But the thing is my knowledge on property tax is zero.

Can you explain more on every tax related subject in property investment.

Thanks in advance.

Just found out this thread using the search button! I'm glad that TS offers free valuable advices to LYN!

TS, i wonder if property prices especially housing prices will fall this year? Mind you that UK house prices  have fallen for more than 10% due to recession since last year. 

I'm going to buy a house at an exclusive area, in which the real estate consultant informed that 1 point of area worth Rm30k.

Hi, very interesting topic.

Would like to 'tap' all the experienced minds here I am interested in buying a property (my very first property!) in the 200K - 250K range, in the short term (<1 year), as I believe this would be a good time to enter (recession).

For that range, what are some of the areas in KL/Selangor that you would look at? In your previous posts you mentioned Kota Kemuning etc. What are the other places that you would consider, especially for landed property and new developments(in both mature locations, or new/upcoming areas) . I need some suggestions on general areas as well as on specific developments, as I have just recently relocated to KL, and do not have a good idea on the hot locations/ new developments here. I would be looking to scout these areas, therefore any help would be greatly appreciated

(For the short to medium term, I believe that properties would be a safer bet, compared to equities. Reasons are that we do not know if the market has bottomed out, especially for the Malaysian market, and we're not even sure IF it will bottom out. There is a lot of volatility, and even if you do invest now, many stocks are UP since the low of October/November 2008(could very well be speculation). Knowing this, and the fact that the market direction in the short/medium term is unknown, I deem this risky. Therefore, properties would seem to me to be a better investment, less risky or rather more solid(properties have always been more resilient in a downturn/recession historically, wherever you go). Invest in properties, wait for a couple of years maybe 5 years, or wait till its 'stable'/hit rock bottom, and when the stock market is on the upswing, it still wouldnt be late to enter. Mind you, the stock market would not recover to anywhere near the 2008 highs, as the world economy is in recession, therefore no worries of missing out on LOW counters anytime soon At least that is my plan for the short to medium term)

yes - my bad - am probably still asleep after Christmas.

I meant Build then Sell.....sorry for the confusion.

1.  Am in agreement with your statement on BTS.  Take the recent 5/95 deals launched by SPSetia and Sime Darby with some local banks.  Big F*cking deal.  It should be the way things are done in the first place.  Secondly, they probably jacked up the pricing to factor in some premium.

2.  I have no idea why our capital markets are so blardee backword.  We're probably one of the few guys left stuck with this "BLR" concept.  Other developed markets enable their banks to hedge long term funding costs, to give competitive and fixed rates for 30 years or more.  Here?! Slowly wait until we have grandkids lor.