Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhang
Re KL, you brought up several very good points which I entirely concur with. I was thinking about KL pretty seriously as well, especially the Royal Domain place I was telling you about. But at the end of the day, was deterred by the fact that my investment thesis for KL is not as clean as that of JB Sentral i.e. a straightforward MRT bet.
The other considerations are:
- KL is pretty far away, should I need to handle any property logistics
- Prices in KL have actually risen quite a bit and some locals are of the view that price levels are somewhat bubbly
- Hard to figure out exactly where to buy, with so many potential areas to consider i.e. Taman Desa, Mont Kiara, KL Sentral, Cyberjaya etc, so really have to dig down and do pretty intensive research if I'm serious
I'll probably still look at KL at some point in time, but just not as my first Malaysian investment.
If you are still keen on Royal Domain, you can check out iproperty.my - there are about 29 pages of ads on it. This is part of the reason I'm somewhat hesitant now - hard to imagine prices going up too much (at least in the near term) when its such a high density development with so many sellers.
Another possible option is Royal Regent, which is phase 3 of the Sri Putramas development (Royal Domain is 2nd phase) - more exclusive and newer, but slightly more expensive.
Condominium for Sale in Sri Putramas III Royal Regent, Jalan Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for RM 580,000
In Singapore, I agree with you re Thomson line properties. Other relatively cost effective developments, in my view, are Anchorage (S$1200+ psf for freehold at Queenstown), Aspen Heights ($1400+ psf for 999-yrs at River Valley), Jln Mutiara condos (a few developments in the area going for $1300+ psf for freehold near Great World City, while the opposite Latitude is going for $2200+ psf), and perhaps Avalon ($1700+ psf for freehold near Orange Grove road - next to Shangri-lah).
But post the latest measures, am just going to adopt a wait and see attitude re Singapore properties. My sense is that even if prices do not fall immediately, the new measures have made liquidity in the market considerably tighter (basically locks out PRs and foreigners, and also makes property investment a cash heavy exercise for local investors with one or more outstanding mortgages) and more prone to external shocks.
Good thing there are cheap properties in Malaysia to keep me engaged in the meantime  |
Hi Mr Zhang
Just a word of caution before you plough your hard earn money into investing into Msia esp since theres a lot of media hype being play up on Iskandar Development etc.
Before you even talk about buying a property anywhere in the world. Always always ask yourself what do you intend to buy a property for? Investing eg Flipping, Renting out or for Retiring or Staying?
If you cannot even answer the above question, my advise is take that money and put it elsewhere. Let me share with you some tips on investing (if thats your intention) in Msia esp in Iskandar/Nusajaya:
1) Govt regulations ->
Very fickle, can change every election year today say RM500k restriction on foreign ownership of property, tomorrow is RM 1million. My question to you is DO YOU know the implications for this?
If you had bought at RM500k to satisfy the RM500k restriction which may be a good deal for you, think again, how much do you need to sell it now? RM 1million (if sudden change in ruling) now how many investors will be willing to pay RM 1 million for a second house when they can get a new one at RM 1 million at an even better location with better view.
FYI, the Thomson line to be extended into Johor is still in planning stages. Plans can and will change depending on the mood of the Msia govt.
2) Tenant ->
Forget about renting to local. Why do I say so? Take a look around Iskandar/Nusajaya, besides manufacturing, education hubs, hospitals, theme parks etc are they any big financial institutions or MNC around? If no, next think about the kind of tenants you going to get. Do you think they can pay that kind of sky high rent with their meagre salary?
Oh you may say I can rent to expats then, think again, if you had that in mind, 100 others will also have that in mind, do you think you can get the kind of rental yield you want?
3) Land size
Do you know how big Msia is or even Johor? Now where is the property value when anywhere (as long as govt regulations are met) can be build and promise by developer that this piece of land will be the next paradise. FYI, our dear sinkie govt will not help you in the event your property value tank coz its not their business eg think CLOB in 1998.
Here are 3 tips for you to consider if you are investing, I have more but I am too tired to mention all of them. I am just using Johor as an example. But you may say I am talking about KL, but I can tell you its sama sama even for Penang coz its all under Malaysia.
If you are planning to stay or retire there, it will be a totally different story. Why am I mentioning all these? Reason I dont want to see another so called "investor" lose his shirt or pants again esp after the 1998 Asia Financial Crisis.