Malaysia Money Matters

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...