Malaysia Money Matters

I'm more of a mountain person actually - prefer the cool, damp environment. So here are the choices ... window shopping more like ... 1. A small apartment in Fraser's Hill or maybe nearer Genting - the cost is fairly low, small, easy to look after and most importantly: nice cool weather away from the heat of KL Cons - damp, mould, leasehold, can be creepy and too much yin energy at times. 2. A large piece of land near Port Dickson - cheap on a per square foot basis, land is better than an apartment, can build my architectural dream home (at extra cost!), possibly more valuable as time goes by because it is a bungalow lot after all. Cons - hot, sunny, don't know how breezy it is. Land area will become too difficult to handle as I get older. Ah well... it's not a problem, really.. as I said, just musing about it. Not in a big rush to buy something. For practical purposes, the land seems like a better deal and the apartment is a nice-to-have thing because that ...

Hmm.. wondering if it might be worth buying into this area as a retirement home. It is still relatively cheap compared to KL, freehold and near Port Dickson. Eyeing the bungalow lots because they are priced at 25 psf so there is definitely upside to the price but of course, it probably won't grow as fast as the past few years. There is the cost of building your own house but I think it will still be cheaper and more satisfying than buying a ready built one - especially if I plan to do this after retirement, then I will have plenty of time to supervise it. Will check it out soon :)

Oh dear.. just realised I haven't blogged much.. been busy, I recently changed jobs! (More money! yay! More responsibility! Huuu!) Anyway, it's all good. Note to self, there is some development work happening in the quiet corner of Wangsa Maju, at the north east part of Bukit Dinding... only some signage but no project name yet. Will keep an eye out for it. Meanwhile - am thinking of getting a new car... am keen on the Mercedes C200 Avantgarde or maybe the CLA. But the roof is a bit low or perhaps I'm a bit tall, both models don't have seem to have much headroom. Hmm.. ah well, lets see.. the C200 is sold out anyway! Next happy-problem is where to go at the end of the year, finally settled all the house moving, job moving etc that NOW I can go on a care-free, low-cost holiday hahaha or staycation ;p Most probably Bangkok la... just relax, eat, shop and chill out...

I wrote about Nadayu 62 earlier. Lately, the banners and billboards for Nadayu 63 have come up. 296 service apartment units (small-ish), ranging from 500+ sf up to 1,100 sf at around 800+ per square foot. There are also 42 retail units starting from RM3.2 million each - so basically, there's going to be a mini mall within Nadayu, so they won't even need to venture the 2km distance to the upcoming Melawati Mall. Completion date estimated in 2017 and leasehold. Very interesting - it looks like Nadayu is trying to create a self- contained village by having enough critical mass of younger people who can afford the smaller units to ensure that the mall is self-sustaining to benefit the low dense bungalow dwellers. So do we like this? Well, the location is lovely - very quiet, an annex or appendix of Melawati. The con is that it is a leasehold and maintenance is likely to be pricey - because you're paying for the exclusivity (although, I don't think 296 units in a...

I know, this is a cheat post - just post something and it becomes number 100 already! hahaahha

SURE OR NOT? Wah, I got this sms, and I quote: "New-Launch@beside Paradigm Mall Kelana Jaya  - 33.2% disc  - Cash back RM160k  - 90% loan  - P/Furnish  - LDP & NKVE  - shuttle bus to LRT  - 2year CF " This makes me wonder - is the RM160K the 33.2% discount or are they 2 separate things altogether? The whole thing sounds too good to be true and even if it were true, then it begs the question - if you could give away such a Hefty discount of 33.2% (not knowing what the actual price is, mind you) then surely you must have really overpriced it in the first place. Then the RM160k, if you can afford to give it back then why ask for it in the first place? Anyway, all this is fine, whatever, marketing gimmicks and what have you - if it makes the sale, fine. But seriously, it just means that you're taking the buyers for a ride, isn't it?

Just a bit of fun.. :) If you live in ___ then you are ____ : Bukit Tunku (Kenny Hills) and Bukit Persekutuan (Federal Hill) = Seriously wealthy, old money, royalty, very low key. Bukit Damansara (Damansara Heights) = just one step below the above, either first generation civil servant families from pre- and post-Independance, politicians and ahem, business cronies. Also, business families who made it big from the 60's and 70's. Wealthy but a wee bit flashier than the Kenny Hills crowd. Still classier than .... Bangsar = Newer money, families of corporate figures and professionals who did well from the 80's onwards. An aspirational neighbourhood, it also attracts ambitious non-KL-born folks here to make it big. The party neighbourhood of the 90's, still remembered fondly for its bars, restaurants and late-night stalls after clubbing. A younger but more low-key  affluent clone of Bangsar is TTDI (Taman Tun Dr Ismail) ; TTDI folks are rather nicer and more easy-...

Actually, I'm quite blur - I only notice new developments when they start construction! LOL So the land clearing happening right in front of Wangsa Walk caught my attention yesterday and so after a wee bit of checking - it is a fairly high end project by Mitrajaya. [I was not too impressed with their sales handling of Quartz16 - the favouritism is strong in this one] SO... I think I should check out their sales gallery at the Rampai Business Park this weekend, if time permits. The pertinent detail that is a bit of a turn-off at present is this: You cannot purchase the smallest unit unless you buy the bigger one FIRST! Then you have an "option" to purchase the small one OR you can pass-it-on to a friend and get an 8% discount. It's not dodgy or anything but somehow... it doesn't sit right with me, like it unfairly benefits people with money against those who don't. Surprising coming from me? I'm actually quite left-leaning at times, depends on t...

Was just surfing around, actually doing some research for work on some socio-economic matters when I stumbled across this interesting definition of what it means to be middle class - apart from white collar occupations and education levels, one quantitative way of defining one's inclusion of the middle class is this: After deducting your essential expenses such as food and shelter - if you have more than a third (33%) left over for discretionary purchases; then you can call yourself middle class. Hmm... of course, one can argue what is essential, like should transport be part of that (I vote yes, because you need to get to work otherwise no job, no money) and what part of that transport is essential and what is luxury (i.e. your choice of vehicle).. Very subjective, huh? Even if it does say 33% clearly... Do I have 33% discretionary income left over? Ermm.. didn't really count it up.. but I THINK I'm a little bit under probably because loan commitments are a bit hig...

I had some friends over for lunch and one of them said he was interested to check out the Seasons Garden showroom later. So we toddled off to have a look around 4pm today. [Unfortunately, I didn't take a brochure because I was a bit dazed from cooking all morning and having a rather strong cocktail for lunch! hee hee] Anyway, the showroom has 3 layouts on show - as usual, loads of floor to ceiling mirrors to trick the eye into thinking it's a lot bigger. Not to mention, good looking finishes that would probably set you back 20% of the purchase price! i.e. yours ain't gonna look that good. Salient observations: Pro:  - high ceilings  - 3+1 rooms for the 850 sf and 900 sf units, the plus-one is a little study nook, which is ok  - pretty decent, functional layout  - has an interesting central garden feature: some greenery is always nice  - KLCC view for those who want it and unlikely to be blocked Con:  - small rooms (could be a pro, you don't n...

Browsing through the PR write-up for Sunway Velocity, one of the points brought up was that the surrounding area of Jln Pudu and Jln Peel (Peel Road - I have fond memories as my mum used to teach at the Peel Road Convent and I used to hang out there, playing on the grounds while she finished up marking books before we went home) was a little 'run down' as it were and the developer said that the project would revitalise the whole area. So that got me thinking - is that true? First equivalent that comes to mind is the Kenanga Mall - sad to say, the surrounding area has not gentrified in any way or form. However, it must be said that the mall itself acts more like a wholesaler's mall - so the traffic there is made up of retailers going there to buy stock. It's purely business, so they are not going to hang around and spend on other stuff in the area. Next, Ampang Point - the shop lots around the complex were built first, and the area was dead for a long time until th...

I remember way back when I first started work and I asked my cousin sister as a guide, how much should one pay for a house or a car based on annual salary? She said 10 times but you know, bless her, she's a bit of a bimbo when it comes to money since she's always had loads of it! Hahaha Anyway, being a bit free the other day, I decided to do a bit of number crunching based on my ahem "insider banking" knowledge (kidding) to work out for myself what is an easy benchmark to decide how much you should pay for a house or a car. The calculation model is very simple, using the maximum 33% of net salary as the repayment amount to determine the maximum eligible loan, then apply an assumed 90% loan to get to the house / car price amount. I also imputed the tax depending on the income levels because for lower income, the difference between your gross and net pay is relatively low with the bulk being caused by EPF's 11% but for higher income folks, the effective tax ...

A few of the recent launches are using the "upfront discount" method again so that essentially, it is back to the old 'no money down' model where buyers pay a booking fee and supposedly 'paid' the 10% deposit but the developer gives you back the money via discount. The bank then gives you a 90% loan but you actually did not fork out any equity. Now many or almost everyone would say what's wrong with that? But the thing is, you are actually buying an overvalued property. If this gets to a large scale and you try and offload the property once its built, your potential buyers will know that you bought it through this method and why would they want to pay the premium? Anyway, I know no matter what I say, this will still go on because people have short memories and by the time the development is complete, who is going to remember? And the cycle goes on. So the note to myself, in this case, is to stick with my plan to continue in the landed market, buy...

Was walking through Publika after dinner and came across their booth - also, my friend was talking to me about it earlier that day, so it piqued my interest. Looks like a nice design. The location is decent - being in Ampang but there are some cons to it that I will get to in a bit. A brief run through:  - Leasehold  - Unit sizes from 500 sf to 1,100 sf  - Cost per square foot starts from RM600+; so the small studio is about RM400,000  - About 1,000 units (very dense) with 1 car park per unit  - The tower blocks are oriented in an East-West manner; West facing = KLCC view, East facing = Ampang / mountain view Didn't really go through all the facilities and payment option but I hear tell that it is a quasi-DIBS with minimal downpayment and large discount. My thoughts are: Pros: Location is close to town, still within DBKL limits, I believe Small size, fairly affordable and easy to rent out (maybe!) Easy access to MRR2, AKLEH and DUKE highw...

Saw a banner at the traffic junction on Desarina Bayu in Sri Rampai. It is a pretty high-end development for 3-storey terrace houses starting from about RM1.6 million up to RM2.5 million. The interesting / good thing is that it is a Build-then-Sell project; hence absolutely no risk of the project being abandoned. Only 70 units, so it must be a fairly small area. Location wise is where it starts to get a bit unstuck. It is adjacent to the Sri Rampai Business Park - which is quite a decent place, still new and has some decent Chinese eateries and a large car park area although that doesn't help if you are going to the shops on the other end of the centre. The problem is, unfortunately, Sri Rampai as a whole. It is a rather densely populated garden that has a working class population. Next to it is Kampung Rejang, an even more populated area that is distinctly down at heel... during the election, a friend of mine who was volunteering there was shocked. OK, admittedly, he i...

If you are cash rich, then your interest income from fixed deposits will go up. If you are paying off loans, actually you won't feel much because your repayment amount stays the same but the interest portion is now slightly higher. So what you should do, if you have some money in your EPF account 2, is to use that to pay down some of the principle of the loan to ensure your tenure is not extended unduly long. From the human psychology perspective, the rate hike will make house buyers nervous for a while so sales will go down a bit. Eventually though, they will get over it. This means that property prices will stabilise for a while then begin to pick up again because there will be housing pressure from a growing adult population. I believe now is a good time to look for distressed sellers and pick up a good bargain. Some people were very aggressive in buying properties during the boom, with "no money down" using inflated sales agreements - well, think that is goi...

Friend of mine who is a real estate agent sent me this - seems interesting.. Project Name : 28 Boulevard Location : Pandan Perdana Land area : 5.23 acres Tenure : Leasehold Components : Four 45 storey towers with Studios,1,2,3 and 4 bedroom units Size (Sq ft): 450, 710, 904. Pricing : from RM600 psf to RM650 psf Features:  ~Lakeside living ~Affordable pricing ~200,000 Sq ft of facilities ~Sky garden terraces ~Lakefront retail and alfresco dining ~Brought to you by the same people who  developed Marc Residence KLCC by Best Boulevard Sdn Bhd My take: High density - don't like. Leasehold - don't like Lower middle class area - well, usually the food choices are more and better :) Relatively affordable as it starts from under 300k - but for such a tiny unit. Reckon it's a buy call if you have the cash to put down a large chunk and rent it out. I wouldn't buy it for staying nor do I expect the value to appreciate much - oh it will...

I'm thinking if the inner part of Taman Melawati is going to appreciate. But not cheap leh! My goodness, asking about 550,000 for a single storey terrace. Which wouldn't  be so bad if the width was the normal 22 feet for Melawati but it was only 20 feet wide...

In these times of high prices and low salaries, a lot of people get into financial difficulties when they end up with a lot of credit card debt to maintain their lifestyle. Anyway, no judgement - mistakes happen, I've been there too. The thing is how to get out of it. This is where I think personal loans are not too bad. Well, they are expensive if you take a long tenure but if you know how to use them wisely, they can be very useful. As a banker, these are the tips on how to maximise on your personal loan: 1. Have a clear objective: Such as to clear off your card debt AND that you are going to stop using that card! The lower monthly monthly repayment is meant to relieve your monthly budget and create a set timeline to pay off that amount. 2. Be disciplined: Per no 1, don't run up another debt on another card for goodness sake. 3. Sign up for the lowest TENURE, not the lowest rate: The shorter tenures have the cheapest rates anyway. If you try shopping around ...

A new condo launch in Melawati by Sime Darby, I didn't know about it but just so happened to drive by the showroom as it was being constructed; then my mum told me that the launch event was on Saturday the 24th. Didn't have time to go on the 1st day but managed to make it today, the 26th. First impression is that the development seems pretty decent.  An overview from the brochure: Here is the location within Melawati: hehe my scanner truncated it somewhat, the dark green area next to the planned 30 storey apartment is going to be the new Melawati Ma ll (a Capital Mall project). And here are the build-up specifications: Other main information points not in the images above are: Freehold Price per square foot from RM600 to about RM750 for the larger units Maintenance cost is 30 sen per square foot Looks like about 70%-80% booked up by the time I got there around midday today - after just 1 full day + 1 morning of sales. Construction ...

There is some word, unpublicised as far as I know, that Bank Negara is looking seriously into the valuation practices of local banks. Mainly the way in which loan sales offices shop around valuers to get the valuation for the loan because it could be one of the factors driving up property prices. Well, in a way, yes it is a contributing factor but the margin of difference at which they are valuing is not really that large - based on observation, it is a fluctuation of about 5% to 7% in "hot areas" but true enough also that in low transacted areas, they can undervalue as much as 25% of the asking price. Which begs the question of is the market pricing too high or are valuers judging at too low / judging too high in hot areas in order to get the deal to do the final valuation report? After all, if they keep giving low verbal valuations, they will not get the business. If they give high values all the time, then it is an advantage to the seller and doesn't take into ...

Update: 27 August - got the invitation card to the official opening: 6th and 7th September at the site Jln 26/26 Seksyen 10, Wangsa Maju Per the card - 3 rooms at 770 sq ft and 3+1 room at 850 sq ft Price starting from RM374,490 (Bumi price naturally :p ) Updated - go to Part 2 here The developer of the Damaisari semi-Ds and shoplots of Dataran Wangsa have put up a billboard advertising a condo called Seasons Garden, also in Wangsa Maju. Scant details - only a website inviting registration. Trawling through the chatter on Lowyatt, there is some mention of an indicative price of RM500 per square foot. Maybe based on the theme of this developer of doing fairly high end properties in Wangsa Maju - well, technically Wangsa Melawati. So where is it going to be? I have 2 guesses on a likely site: The corner of Jln Wangsa Perdana 1 and Jln Wangsa (a.k.a Jln 6/27A) - this used to be an oxidation pond but has been filled in some years ago. The funny thing is that there used...

The ratio of your net worth to income is supposed to be 4.5 in order to be considered wealthy. So if your income is 100,000, your net worth should be at 450,000. I calculated mine recently and it came up to only like 3.2 times my income huuuu... this is an edited post - seems like my previous version touched a raw nerve, got feedback that I was showing off apparently. Well, it's my blog and I can say whatever I want but truth be told, it doesn't hurt to be circumspect too...

I think the stock market will actually go up. My reasoning is that with the latest "Kajang move", he is fast becoming seen as destabilising factor. And investors like stability and predictability. The reasons given by PKR for him to contest in Kajang don't hold water. The Sultan of Selangor is highly unlikely to agree to him being appointed Mentri Besar even if he won, so what is the point of the whole exercise? PR won the majority vote but it has not leveraged that win into anything meaningful for the people. Instead, it has all this intrigue within itself, centred around the huge RM3.0 billion reserve that the current MB of Selangor has managed to save up. So while I am very sympathetic of the trials and tribulations he has faced over the long years in prison, this latest tactic is the last straw. All this political play and in the end, the common people get nothing except for a widening gap between income growth and rise of cost of living.

So the good news is that EPF announced a dividend of 6.35% - which is the highest for many years.. or even a decade plus. The not-so-good news was that over the weekend, I decided to do a bit of special cooking and since I rarely do grocery shopping, the price of food really has gone up! Though of doing lamb shanks but the price, oh my... 2 frozen pieces came up to RM54 at Cold Storage. Yes, granted I was shopping at the posh places but STILL?! Then a bunch of celery (organic it seems) - the smallest bunch was RM6?! For double the quantity at AEON Big, the price was RM1.90! faint. Not blowing my own horn but yes, my pay is pretty decent. Even so, these prices are an eye opener for me. Either that or I have to disabuse myself of the notion of my supposed socio-economic class and start having lower tastes, then not so 'heart-pain' to have to pay through my nose for something I want to eat. Sigh....

Kind of a throwback thought on all that fuss about "Are you Malaysian first or (racial group) first" etc. It's ridiculous to define ourselves in such a simplistic manner, after all, people are multi-faceted (well, mostly! haha) and would have different opinions depending on the issue at hand. So if the question was posed to me, my answer would be: It depends on the matter. National sovereign issue = Malaysian Food preference = Chinese Spiritual world view = Buddhist View of human nature = Taoist Material world view = Taoist / Buddhist Political view = Liberal democrat, centrist, some Green and some Illuminati

My sister just brought home a brochure for Quartz 16 that she got from a show booth at a mall around the Melawati area - think it was Wangsa Walk. Anyway, I was surprised because I thought it was sold out ages ago. The background to this was sometime in 2012, when I was still looking for a property, Quartz 16 showed up on my radar. I tracked down the showroom - the adverts, banners and website all said that it was a soft launch only so you can only go and register your interest - but when I got there, what they told me was that a LOT of the choice units had already been booked. What pissed me off was that the sales lady told me that the bookings were all made PRIOR to the public launch of the advertising, so to me, what's the point of inviting the public to come register when you already have given priority to "sweetheart deals" with your so-called investor clubs and 'friends of the company director'? That's literally what she told me: friends of the d...