MM2H new requirements by federal does not apply to Sarawak.

MM2H new requirements & regulations

Just over a week ago, the government announced mm2h new requirements and regulations for Malaysia
My Second Home (MM2H) programme. Click here to read.
It was not that well received and some expats groups said that they will look for another country to move to. Even Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) issued a press statement on the matter and they have their opinions and suggestions too. Generally, they want
MM2H to be friendlier versus the current latest version. Here’s their press statement in full.

Now, we have the statement from Sarawak. The state tourism, arts and culture minister Datuk Karim Rahman Hamzah said that the new requirements and regulations DO NOT apply to Sarawak.

Article in malaymail.com

The state tourism, arts and culture minister, Datuk Karim Rahman Hamzah said that Sarawak already have enhanced new regulations and requirements since September 2020.  He said, “Currently, among the Sarawak-MM2H criteria are placement of fixed deposits in local banks from RM150,000 for individuals to RM300,000 for couples.”

He added the requirement to invest in property specifically for residential purposes with a total amount of at least RM600,000 applies only to applicants who are between 40-50 years of age.

He said the S-MM2H Programme has its own independent panel to deliberate and decide on applications. As part of Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS), he said his ministry will continue to actively diversify beyond leisure tourism by looking at the potential of S-MM2H in bringing quality visitors to Sarawak. Please do refer to the full article here:
Article in malaymail.com

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


MM2H will benefit from reopening but stricter rules is a risk?

MM2H has new rules. It’s much stricter than previously. An earlier article here:
Latest on MM2H Malaysia. Rules are relaxed for current MM2H participants. Good news?
  Malaysia has also reopened its borders. International visitors would start to come back. We used to have 24 million visitors every year prior to Covid-19. That’s 2 million every month on average. Would some of these think of Malaysia as their second home? Or perhaps even a home they stay at least 90 days every year?

Well, if they really do not wish to stay then no need to bother and take up MM2H yeah. There are definitely countries where it’s far more relaxed in terms of the rules. However, they are not Malaysia yeah. Here, English is widely spoken. Here, people are friendly. Here we have food which is second to none in the world. Here, we have beaches, islands, forests and mountains which are really wonders of nature and NOT something built. This is Malaysia yeah.

Please do come here for the right reasons. Please do market Malaysia to these people with the right reasons and NOT becuse we are cheapest and some other monetary related reasons. It’s foolish and it’s wrong. Now for the latest news about MM2H from some industry people.

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
 CCO & Associates (KL) Sdn Bhd ED Chan Wai Seen said, “It is important to note that the current MM2H programme is at the bottom of the cycle. So, the only way is up, going forward.” He added, “However, we believe that many interested applicants may put on hold their plans due to the recent change in the rules.” The reason is because of stricter new MM2H application rules.

Centre for Market Education CEO Dr Carmelo Ferlito said it is too early to say whether the MM2H programme will benefit from the reopening of borders. He said, “I think with the current conditions which are more stringent than before, we can consider the MM2H as a dead programme.”

In January 2022, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said the ministry received 111 applications since November 2021 and he also believed that at least 1,000 people would apply for the programme in 2022 and this is similar with previous years.
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

One said MM2H is dead, the other said it will be back to normal

I am not in the MM2H business yeah. That’s why the media did not ask for my opinion. 🙂  However, the one who said MM2H is a dead programme because of stringent condition is really one far extreme versus the person who said that the MM2H applications will go back to normal in 2022. I repeat. If we are attracting people to come to Malaysia because we are only selling the fact that we are cheap, cheap and cheap, then please GET OUT of the business.

There are reasons why we love foreigners to make Malaysia a second home. We want them to spend their time here. We want them to spend their retirement money here. We want them to feel Malaysia is a second home. If we say the latest requirements are very strict, then the previous requirement is too loose. I have no intention to be some MM2H business and I remain very committed to share all the good things about Malaysia everyday. If you are a MM2H potential applicant reading this, you are definitely looking at the right country to retire and do so many exciting things too.

Property News Malaysia?
Sign up for daily investment news updates (FREE since Nov 2013 and FOREVER).
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
Why we usually fail to buy that property we wanted

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


MM2H review? Sure, agree. Please resume processing current applications in the mean time.

MM2H programme is under review. I wrote about this earlier:
MM2H is frozen. Oh dear, what’s up this time
. MM2H attracts people who prefers to think of Malaysia as a second home and when they are here, they are also helping the economy here instead of spending their money in their country of origin. Yes, of course there are some hiccups but generally I think those who took up programme this are good people who just prefer a year long summer and a country full of sun, sea and well food which are tasty. What more to ask for when even our medical facilities and personnel are world class?

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
   With the MM2H programme being under review, the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Malaysia Chapter President Michael Geh hoped that the MM2H programme could be resumed and start accepting applications from expatriates again. He said, “I fully understand the Federal government’s concerns which would want to review the MM2H programme, especially due to the global pandemic (COVID-19), but suspending the programme for six months could lead to a detrimental impact on the country’s economy.”

He added, “Our potential expatriates would think that we are giving them the “cold shoulder” treatment and begin to lose interest in moving to our country, especially due to the high rejection rate of MM2H applications (between September and November last year). We would also lose the competition between our neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Thailand because if Malaysia does not welcome them (expatriates), they will very likely move into either two of these countries instead.” Please read his full comments here:
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

Well, I think I am neutral enough since I am not a MM2H agency and I am not in any way earning any commission from MM2H applications. MM2H is a good programme. Kudos to the team who first thought of this in 2002, 28 years ago. Review it if we must but let’s not have a sudden stop because abrupt stops in policies are never good in the eyes of investors or even these older folks who just wanted an awesome country to be an
Enjoyee. (read here for what’s an enjoyee)
Let’s do everything we could to help the Malaysian economy recover faster yeah.

Love what you read?
Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
MM2H and the RM13 billion contribution to the economy

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


MM2H? Roppongi @ Cyberjaya for Hong Kong retirees.

MM2H targeting 70,000 Hong Kong retirees. Have you been to Hong Kong? I have personally been to Hong Kong 3 or 4 times. I love it everytime I am there. Lunch becomes cheap if you wait until after 230pm. Hotels are not that great due to the prices but I love Hong Kong food, sights, shopping and the convenience of MRT and walking. Once, my friend drove me around in Hong Kong in his Mercedes 2 door car and showed me all the super expensive homes there. If you are working in Hong Kong and buying a property there, it would set you back many years of savings for downpayment. Don’t try to imagine those huge bungalows or even the apartments depicted in the TVB dramas unless it is the smaller ones. In fact, I told my wife that unless I am super rich, it may not be that conducive to retire in such an expensive city.

Recently, I read about the news of MM2H programme for Hong Kong retirees and the offered retirement solution and property investment was in Cyberjaya. Okay, it was the first time that I have ever heard of Cyberjaya becoming a retirement haven. I mean, normally when you talk about retirement, Georgetown, Kota Kinabalu and even my hometown Ipoh would be a more popular choice but Cyberjaya? Some reasons which I think is quite true include climate, medical facilities as well as human, cultural and geographical environment. Of course, there’s also the fact that compared to Hong Kong, everything does seem to be affordable. As an example, your salary in Hong Kong may not be high when compared to the home prices but once you transfer it here to Malaysia, it will grow many times more.

The development in Cyberjaya that was being launched for these Japanese was named ‘Roppongi @ Cyberjaya. I have personally been to the Roppongi district in Tokyo. Everything’s high end in Roppongi and one ladies T-shirt which I showed my wife a few years ago actually costs RM800.  Yes, a T-shirt. This Roppongi @ Cyberjaya integrates work, dining, shopping, entertainment and education all within a high-density, high-intensity yet green urban environment. It is said that this will be the first ‘micro-climate township’ in Malaysia with completion due in 2019. Some other good rankings for Malaysia as a retirement haven include top retirement destination in Asia by internationalliving.com for 2013 and 2014 and another one by Longstay Foundation of Japan which rated it as the most popular long-stay destination for retiring Japanese for the eighth consecutive year since 2006. Read about MM2H for Japanese here:
MM2H Malaysia for Japanese, 3,346 here and ‘busier here than in Japan’

Oh yeah, for these Hong retirees, language or rather dialect is unlikely to be a problem as Cantonese is widely spoken and TVB dramas continue to be very popular even if these days, the Korean ones are attracting more attention. Besides, Kuala Lumpur remain to be very international with KLIA and KLIA2 and these two airports are not that far from Cyberjaya.

written on 28 Sept 2014

Next suggested article:
Third best in the world to retire, Georgetown Penang. Why?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


MM2H – Shopping and Education

MM2H is a Malaysian government programme for foreigners to make Malaysia their second home. I am supportive of this idea. Main reason is because I really do feel Malaysia has what it takes for them to make it their second home or even retirement home. For those coming from ‘winter’ countries, Malaysia is summer the whole day though rains do come quite often except during dry seasons.

Malaysia is also known as a shopping haven. CNN recently recognised it as top 4 in the world! In KL, a shopping centre I love the most is One Utama. To minimise the need to take 30 minutes to park your car, do go there earlier. 🙂   It is huge enough that I do not get tired as I could never finish the whole store everytime I am there for half a day. Another of my favourite is MidValley but the parking may take a very long time.  If you want a smaller family shopping centre, why not Subang Parade?

Malaysia is also a higher education hub for international students. In 2011, Malaysia’s HEIs (i.e. public universities, private higher educational institutions, polytechnics and community colleges) was the choice of more than 93,000 international students from more than 100 countries. Famous universities have also set up their overseas campus here. Nottingham University, Newcastle University. University of Reading, University of Southampton and so many more. From rankings, these are typically ranked top 1% in the world.

Besides these two, properties are still very affordable when compared to even regional countries. Main property destinations? Penang, KL, Iskandar and even Kuching or KK. Ok, enough for this time. Will write more. To know more about MM2H, feel free to visit:  http://www.mm2h.gov.my/

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


MM2H should be encouraged, enhanced.

I love MM2H and I think MM2H should be encouraged. The programme can definitely be enhanced to keep making it ever better while at the same time attractive.

Every time someone tells me about some countries they love to retire in, I always ask them what are their reasons to choose that country. They will provide many reasons but I think there’s one reason which everyone would love to have. That’s liveability. I mean, by then it’s already retirement time.  There’s no need to think about education for the kids, jobs availability and even the political scene!  So, focus is on Liveability.

Definition for liveability? 1. suitable for living in; habitable; comfortable: to make a house livable. 2. worth living; endurable:
something to make life more livable
.

Photo by Vecislavas Popa on
Pexels.com

How’s Malaysia as an attractive destination for lots of reasons?

Malaysia has always attracted lots of tourists for medical tourism. In 2018, 1.2 million visitors came here to get medical attention.
They spend over RM1.2 billion here and this definitely created a lot of multiplier effects too
.

Malaysia has always attracted lots of international students needing to pursue their tertiary education. Whether it’s the many established private universities or even foreign branch campuses from the UK, Australia, Singapore, China and India, we have sufficient choices for tertiary courses. By the way, we are within the top 10 international student destination too. Basic idea is that you can get a degree of many different nations but paying in RM.

MM2H programme thus far?

In fact, MM2H programme has
attracted over 42,000 approved applicants to date. MM2H programme started in 2002.
Briefly, if these applicants were all millionaires when their wealth is converted into RM, then we have attracted a potential wealth (because they will spend it here in Malaysia) of RM42 billion… I know, they are not going to spend ALL their money just within Malaysia. Do not wish to debate on that but I think everyone sees the potential which they have on the local economy.

Let’s listen to opinion from someone prominent about why MM2H should be encouraged.

Article in freemalaysiatoday.com
 .   According to the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Malaysia Chapter, a prolonged delay and silence on the MM2H programme will affect the image of Malaysia as an ideal destination for retirement.

He said, “The government should take this opportunity to expedite and finalise an enhanced MM2H programme by engaging with all parties concerned. These include state authorities, to lower the threshold price of residential properties, and make the MM2H programme part of the post-Covid economic recovery plan.”

Hartamas Real Estate (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Eric Lim said reviewing the MM2H programme is necessary if foreign buyers are to be attracted to purchase high-end properties in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Penang. He said, “Despite being less than 2% of the property market share, the majority of city centre properties priced above RM1 million are bought by foreign buyers.”  Do read the full article with more comments here:
Article in freemalaysiatoday.com

Breathing space to enhance the MM2H

Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. We have time to really strengthen and reintroduce the MM2H programme. Just remember to have enough industry consultations so that the programme is enhanced and could be competitive versus many similar programmes from other countries. it’s clear that MM2H should be encouraged and not discouraged or stopped indefinitely.

Feel free to engage kopiandproperty.com too. We will be happy to spend some time as this is for the benefit of the country. Plus… we are NOT from the property developer, NOT from any real estate agency and NOT running any courses selling luxury properties. I think this is an advantage aside from engaging the property developers, real estate agencies and prominent property experts. Cheers.

Love to be updated of investment news?
Sign up for KopiWeekly. (once per week for property, finance, investment news and more)

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
MM2H under review.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Additional cuts and MMC-Gamuda will continue with the underground MRT works

Remember that debate online on who’s right and who’s wrong about the MRT Line 2’s underground works? After both sides have their say and supporters, the company which won against many other international bidders is now the ‘winner’ again. After that announcement of them being cut away from the underground MRT Line 2 works, MMC-Gamuda is now reinstated. Here’s that
Article in TheStar here.
 The Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced today that MMC-Gamuda would continue the Mass Rail Transit Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line (MRT2) project with a larger cost reduction for the underground works.

Its Minister, Lim Guan Eng said the decision was made after the final round negotiations which resulted in MMC-Gamuda agreeing to increase the cost reductions of the underground works to RM3.6 billion from RM2.13 billion. In a statement, he said, “This means that the construction cost (excluding interest during construction, land acquisition costs and other costs) of MRT2 has been successfully reduced by RM8.82 billion or 22.4 per cent from RM39.35 billion to RM30.53 billion.” Today, the Cabinet agreed to MMC-Gamuda’s new offer and the cost rationalisation exercise.
Full article for reference here.

Hopefully this does NOT repeat in future. This was not a directly awarded project and it was won through a tender. (regardless of whether they have advantage since they are a local company). By the way, this is the new Malaysia yeah. Please support facts and figures (as in numbers) and not figures as in some people regardless of the party they are from. A close friend said, “This is the best decision. The government and MMC-Gamuda are both winners for this case.” Well, if this is the case, then I think there’s another winner; the people like you and me. Happy following and taking a rise in MRT Line 2 when it’s completed on time instead of delayed like
LRT Line 3 (earlier article)
 or
HSR. (earlier article)

written on 27 Oct 2018

Next suggested article:
Transparent land transactions moving forward?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moderating property price increase, thus just 2.5% for 2019. (Still a wow for me)

Please tell me, what was the salary increment that you are expecting for 2020? Would it be 5%? Or higher at 6%? Or even higher still? Against a salary of RM6,000 for example, a 5% is RM300 per month and 6% is at RM360 per month. This is what consultants are saying for the increments in 2020.
We will have incremments in 2020
 What do you expect for the property you are current staying in?

Imagine you bought a RM500,000 property in 2018 and started to stay there happily. By the end of 2019, the price has increased by 2.5%. Yes, just 2.5%. In actual amount, that’s RM12,500. On a monthly basis, that’s RM1,041.70   Actually, 2.5% is considered low because the typical inflation numbers may be higher. In Singapore, with the effectiveness of the cooling measures, the property price has increased by 2.5% in 2019.

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
 .   For all of 2019, apartment prices in Singapore increased by 2.5%, well below a jump of 7.9% in 2018. In the final three months of 2019, it rose by just 0.3%. Singapore introduced cooling measures to slow price increases in early July 2018. These measures included raising stamp duties for second homes, tightening loan-to-value limits for housing loans granted by financial institutions and making it more expensive for foreigners to enter the market.

There’s another reason for the price increase moderating too. Singapore is currently facing an oversupply. Some market watchers say it may take up to four years to clear.  There are almost 32,000 units of which some are completed and some are under construction in the pipeline. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said, “The increase in the unsold inventory could place downward pressure on prices in the medium term, if unaccompanied by a corresponding rise in demand.” Please refer to more detail in the
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

There’s no need to think Malaysia is any different yeah. It’s great to have a guide as to what may potentially happen from a more advanced market right next door. We (Malaysians) continue to be bombarded by news about overhang properties and all those measures to attract some foreigners to take it up via the lowering of foreign buyer threshold. Just have to see if it’s going to be successful.  Number of units remained small because it’s not for the whole of Malaysia yeah, just Kuala Lumpur at the moment.

As for the promoters of this lower threshold, remember yeah, attract them (foreign buyers)  with the attractiveness of Kuala Lumpur and not the low price. Earlier article here:
Lower threshold does not mean people will suddenly buy
 When we look at how the market moves, it’s very clear that when markets face a slowdown, property prices do not go into negative mode. It goes into hibernation mode instead… Happy holding on to your asset yeah.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 or
Sign Up for free
 to get daily updates about the property market. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
Are we earning, saving, investing and preserving? Super important for our future

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


‘Money not enough’ from beginning 2019 till July 2019

Important notice where money and loans are concerned.
Article in thestar.com.my here.
  Nomura Research warned in its recent 2019 outlook report, that a number of countries in Asia including South Korea, Greater China, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia may be experiencing a sudden shortage in the availability of money for lending, leading to a decline in loans available. Enough of bad news? Well, this is Nomura Research’s next sentence. This credit crunch is likely to be “the third and final wave of a bear market in Asia”. It says also that the region’s economy will recover after July 2019. (Ready to hold on for 6 months in 2019?)

Nomura said, “We expect the third wave to be a credit crunch that starts in 1Q19, as an accelerated Asian growth slowdown interacts with property market corrections.” (property market corrections usually refer to a falling property prices and will usually for properties which are already overvalued today)

 However, in the second half of 2019 and into 2020, we forecast an economic recovery and, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, we believe it will be Asia’s time to shine. (wow… phoenix rising from the ashes… this is an Asian perspective and I am glad to be part of them too)

Investors will refocus their attention on Asia’s enormous growth potential vis-a-vis the rest of the world, activating a risk-on market rally as early as 2Q19. (Let’s just agree that ASIA will now be the focus moving forward. It used to be some other regions and many advanced economies of today. However, investors who does not want to miss out should all be here already.)
Full article from thestar.com.my here.

I think if the credit crunch is to happen, then our
Bank Negara will respond to it swiftly.
Perhaps an even earlier reduction in the rates may be coming too. As for investors I think this research tells us once again that statistically, it’s not all pretty but a property bubble or even a financial crisis is unlikely to start from Malaysia. Count our blessings. With all the controls in place, we will not suffer from a sub-prime crisis due to insufficient intervention from the authorities when speculation and greed ruled the market. Oh yeah, July 2019 is just 7 months away. Let’s ride it out together.

written on 12 Dec 2018

Next suggested article:
Unsustainable spending will bring the next financial crisis.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Money is not the root of evil when we are really, really rich.

Remember that famous quote about money? “Money is the root of evil?” Frankly, I disagree. I think it’s more like “Human is capable of evil…” The richer we are, the more we could do, both bad and good. One day when we have RM77 billion, what would we do with it if we have three children? Divide equally among them?  How about giving each one of them JUST RM2 billion and donating the rest of it to charities? This is what the famous billionaire investor Warren Buffett plans to do. Here’s that report in
Washington Post:
 Why the super-rich aren’t leaving much of their fortunes to their kids
  (Surely it’s really going to happen) This was what
Buffett told Fortune in 1986 (click to read that article)
 He wants to leave his kids “‘enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.” Well, the rest of his wealth will go toward philanthropic causes.

Buffett is a co-founder of the Giving Pledge along with friend and fellow billionaire Bill Gates. Buffett is committed to donating more that 99 percent of his wealth to charity during his lifetime or at the time of his death.
Here’s another article in cnbc.com about what so many of the world’s billionaires
 will be doing with their wealth. In brief, it’s not going to all go to their kids. I think it’s time that more are done for the world’s poor. This is the latest set of numbers. The world’s poor are growing according to United Nation.
Article in CBS: UN says number of hungry people worldwide is growing, with climate change partly to blame
  There are 823 million people in the world facing chronic food deprivation in 2017. This is rising from 2016. South America and Africa showed the worst increase. The report called for policies to target groups most vulnerable to malnutrition, including infants, children, adolescent girls and women.

Education is the key to help poorer communities increase their income. Financial literacy is however the most important skill to have after that because the one with the most salary could still have far higher debts than those with lesser pay but better understanding of how to make their money a root for growing their money. When it comes to investing to ensure people do not fall into poverty, it’s important to note that property is an important part. Let’s look at a very brief example. A poor family whose father managed to buy a RM200,000 property and paid slowly over the next 30 years will actually own a RM500,000 house when he retires, even if the property price rises by just 2 percent per year. This RM500,000 is actually enough for his kids to further their studies in local private universities. This is the start of a better life for the next generation. Without that property, the father would still have to spend a substantial amount of money for rental and the kids will have to either get scholarships or continue to get low paying jobs. We do not need to even start talking about financial literacy. Money is certainly not the root of evil. However understanding how money works would go a long way for the poorer ones. By the way, only when the poor has extra money that they could buy more things. This is how the economy moves; when everyone has money to spend. Happy understanding.

Please Follow / Like
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 or
Sign Up for free
 to get daily updates about the property market.

written on 12 Sept 2018

Next suggested article:
Of low salary, lots of OTs and poverty and well, property

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Money Smart: Achieve Your Financial Goals Faster with Less!

I read a good personal finance book recently. I seriously do think that everyone who’s serious with our financial goals should also get hold of the book and read it. It’s only 350 pages and maybe after these 350 pages, it will help you start your journey towards making your money work harder, faster and ultimately helping you to retire earlier. The author is KC Lau, someone whose lifestyle I admire and in person, he is just another of my very successful and humble friend. Oh yeah, he’s a good badminton player too.

Section 1: Basics – Be Smarter with Money

The Section 1 of book starts by answering many of the fundamental questions which we have about the financial world. For example,
“why are some classmates with worse academic results wealthier than you?”
  or what about this one,
“Is formal education a must or a rip-off?”

Then, he moved into some of the potential issues with us. I did not say problems, I said issues. Yes, most of the time, when it comes to personal financial management, the issue is usually with us and it’s about what we did or did not do or could be doing too. His chapter,
 “More Money is NOT a Solution to Poor Financial Management.”
  As they say, if you earn higher and your expenses go even higher, you are not back at square one, you are sinking deeper!

Another chapter I particularly like is this,
“How to Improve Financial Literacy with Minimum Effort.”
 By the way, all the sharing are logical and is based on his experience with personal finance for a very long time. In fact, KC Lau is one of the few people whom I already follow when I first started my blog 8 years ago. In total Section 1 is over 100 pages and covered many more topics than I have shared.

Section 2: Offience – How to Make More Money

If Section 1 gives us all the fundamental knowledge we need, Section 2 is when we get more serious with what we know.  This is where we take action. Massive actions. He starts with this chapter,
 “It is No Longer Ricky.”
 Investments are no longer risky? Read the book to find out. I also like these chapters too:
“Should You Focus on Increasing Income or Reducing Expenses?”
Too many times that we think we have too little money, well what could really be the problem?

“Redefining Assets and Debts: What is Good and What is Bad?”
Many of you would think that debts are bad and assets are great. However, what are they and what’s really good and what’s really to avoid?

I must mention this chapter too:
“Two Rich People’s Secrets for Making Loads of Money.”
By the way, we do not need to be rich before we could learn from the rich yeah. We learn from the rich so that we can hasten our journey to become one.

One more chapter I particularly like in Section 2 is this and this is something most of us have invested into as well.
“Unit Trust Investing Strategies Every Investor Must Know.”

Section 3: Defense – How to Save More Money

First, we learnt what is personal finance all about. Then, we learnt how to earn more. In Section 3, we go into ensuring everything we have stays with us. I think this is super important. A football match is never won with just controlling the ball (knowing what you want to do) or attacking and score goals but also defending so that the goals scored are worthwhile. Let’s start with the first chapter I particularly like,
 “Save Money the Stupid Way.”
 Wow… even when we save money, there’s a better way.

Then this one will interest many of us,
“The Shocking Truth About Smart Credit Card Users.”
 If you really want to know how, read this one.

Next is this chapter,
“Five Financial Must-Haves for First Time Home Buyers.”
  I seriously think it’s so important to get the fundamental right.

Moving on would be many chapters which are really suitable as circumstance are uncertain and we must plan ahead for our loved ones. Please remember that if something happens to us and we are not prepared, then we have failed to secure a safety net for our loved ones. Do not leave them hanging after we are gone. Chapters such as ,
“Why and When Should You Review Your Will?” and also “Managing the Risk of Double Tragedy.”
 are very good two chapter to read and take actions.

His last chapter is this,
“18 Years of Preparation.”
Is he telling you that you need to prepare for 18 years?  Is it his sharing with you about his 18 years of Personal Finance journey? Read it to find out.

Yes, I have personally gained a lot after reading this book even if I have been writing in kopiandproperty.com for the last 8 years and have gone through some of the points which KC has written in an easy to read format for all of us.

Note: I do not get a single sen from every book sold by KC Lau.  There is also no need to tell him you read my article, therefore you are buying his book too. How do you get this book of his valuablelife experience?

Buy the book at Shopee:
https://KCLau.com/moneysmart
Buy the book at
Popular online: (click)
FB Page:
https://www.Facebook.com/KCLauMoney
Free ebook:
https://KCLau.com/kp

Special for KopiAndProperty.com readers only…
Click here to download this Free eBook.
44 Money Tips You Can Implement Today!
NO-TIME-WASTED GUARANTEE
The ebook is FREE.
Read it for 15 minutes. If you find it useless, reply to KCLau’s email to claim a RM10 trouble fee.

Love articles like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
If you buy your 2nd property, you become an investor, agree?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Mont Kiara condos below RM600 per sq ft?

Mont Kiara is one of the most popular areas for property in Kuala Lumpur. Sorry to disappoint you. I do not have units in Mont Kiara for sale under RM600 per sq ft. I asked a few agents too. They have none, at this moment. However, I am very sure of this: As soon as one unit of such a condo appears, it will be snapped up fast. Okay, assuming I am the first one to know, I will immediately bring my wife to view that particular unit on the SAME DAY. Buy or no buy depends on the condition of the unit but RM600 per sq ft is extremely attractive for a unit in Mont Kiara. Want to know what’s the current median price for Mont Kiara as an area? Instead of looking at just the asking price, how about looking at numbers which are based on actual transactions? Please refer below. Information from
brickz.my
(good reference site)

What this tells us very clearly is that after so many quarters of slowing down in terms of transactions, of people telling us that property prices are going to jump off the cliff and of threats about property bubble bursting, the median price for Mont Kiara on an overall basis remains 16% above what we would want it to drop to; RM600 per sq ft.  Will it drop another 16% then in 2019? 😛  Your guess is as good as mine. However, what is very clear is this. For popular areas, if any units were to be made available and the price is 10% below the median price (and the unit looks okay), chances are both you and I would not be the first to know. Usually, the people within the  project would know first and usually, it will be sold to them first. So, waiting to buy may be waiting for a long time until the time when there’s a crisis.  I hope not though because when there’s a property bubble kind of crisis, it would have been preceded by an economic crisis and a stock market huge drop first.

Happy viewing and negotiating yeah. We already have the information on what’s the transacted price.

written on 28 jan 2019

Next suggested article:
7 reasons why property prices will still be rising

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moody’s: Household debt to GDP will moderate from 2015 (POSITIVE)

Malaysia has a negative number when it comes to
household debts vs the gross domestic product (GDP)
. It was at 89 percent at the end of 2015. Compared to our neighbours, this percentage is indeed high. Based on information from
tradingeconomics.com
, the household debt versus GDP for Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia is at 61.1 percent, 71.2 percent and 16.8 percent respectively. Let us also look at a few countries which we see in the news media on a daily basis. The U.S., U.K. and Australia? Their household debt vs GDP is as follows:  78.8 percent, 87.8 percent and
123 percent.
Yes, Australians owe more than their GDP. As for the question of whether this high number will cause problems such as property bubble bursting, well this is an earlier article.
Australia property bubble? 27 experts said, It’s ok. 1 said, “it will burst.”

In an article in
thesundaily.my
, Moody’s Investors Service shared the following. It expects the household debt to GDP for 2016 to moderate from the 89 percent as at end 2015. In addition, Moody’s vice-president and senior analyst Simon Chen said in a statement, “In addition, the data showed an improvement in the quality of new household lending. In 2016, the growth in household loans was driven by safer housing loans – specifically, loans supported by property collateral – and which exhibited low delinquency ratios, while the growth in riskier unsecured loans remained weak.” Besides that, Moody’s also shared that the slow growth in unsecured personal loans and credit cards also meant that the banks’ exposure to these risky loans has dropped from 15 percent in 2011 to 12 percent at end 2016. Of course, it also shared many other statistics I consider neutral or positive. The
full article is here.

Anyway, 2017 is not considered a great year for the property market. We continue to read many reports saying that the approvals for new housing loans are not getting easier.
Recovery is said to be only happening next year?
 If this negative sentiment continues and assuming the GDP growth for 2017 for Malaysia is still between 4 to 4.5 percent, perhaps the household debts vs GDP may drop even further? One point we should note is this. When we get into the right investment, the market sentiment is secondary. This is what Warren Buffet said about investment. “Successful Investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” Happy believing.

written on 8 Feb 2017

Next suggested article:
Gen-X: Stability, strategy and investing in property

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moody’s on Malaysia: Balanced budget 2020 unlikely

First, bad news from another international rating agency, Moody’s Investor Service. Its senior analyst Christian de Guzman said Malaysia is unlikely to be able to balance our budget by 2020. In other words, Malaysia should still be having a budget deficit. Hopefully, it’s pretty low by then. The reasons contributing to this include short-term challenges from a slowing economy as well as a catalyst that will boost the long-term growth. Fortunately, it is still rating Malaysia at A3 (investment grade) and a stable outlook rating. Unless something drastic happens, should there be any changes, the rating  should turn into negative outlook first.

In 2009, the budget deficit was 6.7 percent. By the end of 2016, the government is targeting 3.1 percent and 3 percent by end of 2017. (Of course, if the world economy is better, then the lowering of the deficit can be slightly faster). The subsidy cuts as well as the
Goods and Services Tax
 has helped too. Guzman also said that despite the measures to improve tax collection and compliance, the ongoing deceleration in economic growth does not support the budget projection of a combined 8.4% increase in corporate and personal income taxes, while higher debt servicing costs have combined with falling revenue to weaken debt affordability.

So, what do I expect? I do not think people are looking too much into fundamentals. Perhaps many read too much Facebook comments. Perhaps it is just not clear enough. I think the
ringgit would continue to be affected by external factors instead of our own results
. Yes, especially from that world currency which everyone is expecting another rate up before end of the year. I do hope they will quickly make a decision if it is going up. Please stop all these uncertainties. Based on Q3 GDP results, our neighbour down south has started to show some weaknesses which may affect all other countries in the region too. Oh yeah, 4 more years would be the end of 2020. Assuming 3.1 percent deficit this year, I still think we would be near to the balanced budget goal or even reach the goal earlier should the world economy recovers earlier. Subsidies are still being rationalised and GDP growth is still continuing, as per predicted by IMF and many other analysts. Happy believing.

written on 27 Oct 2016

Next suggested article:
More investments, more jobs and more property demand?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moody’s: Malaysia is fundamentally fine, still

Many times, we tend to forget how important ratings are to a country. That difference between investment and junk status would mean more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) versus nearly none at all because of the perceived higher risks. Many investors would be scared to buy properties in countries where the rating is under the junk status! Needless to say, the currency’s value would drop and the share market is deserted by all foreign investors. So, is this going to happen to Malaysia soon? Let’s see what Moody’s said in a note and reported by many local medias.

Remember recently many people were sharing about Malaysia being ‘downgraded’ by Moody’s Investors Service? In January 2016, it revised the A3 rating outlook to “stable” from “positive. Yes, A3 is still under the ‘investment grade.’ Safe for now,at least. This same rating agency was reported in a few local medias as saying that Malaysia’s monetary policy is effective in ensuring adequate levels of liquidity, banking stability and low inflation.

Adequate levels of liquidity is easy to see, there has been little change in the interest rates thus far and Bank Negara continues to adopt an accommodative stance. Banking stability can be seen from the still low Non-Performing Loans (NPL) though this is expected to rise in 2016 when compared to 2015. Low inflation would be something many would love to disagree and many times, they are right. Inflation is after all very dependent on the person. A year before, if you spend RM20,000 for the whole year and a year later, you suddenly bought a new smartphone for RM4,000, then your inflation has gone up by 20% even if everything else remained exactly the same.

Other information from Moody’s as follows: (My comments in bracket)

Malaysia’s large domestic institutional investor base and net foreign assets gives ample buffer against financial shocks.
(Be reminded, buffer against financial shocks does not mean we will have zero issues from any crisis, ok)

Headline inflation averaged 2.6 per cent over the past decade and is lower than similarly rated peers
(not the best in the world but better than similarly rated countries)

Fiscal account are now in better shape to withstand oil price volatility at 3.2% vs GDP (This is why the subsidies must be structured to be more targeted)

Malaysia’s effective regulatory and markets governance, along with substantial long-term institutional savings, had also enabled the country to become Asia’s third largest local currency bond market, after Japan and Korea. (Yes, it’s MALAYSIA and not other neighbouring or bigger countries)

Malaysia has the the most advanced regulatory, accounting and market infrastructure for Islamic finance and is the world’s largest sukuk market. (Huge plus point, really. Must keep improving faster than everyone else. Many countries are trying to catch up)

The change in outlook reflects the deterioration in Malaysia’s growth and external credit metrics due to external pressures over the past year, such as lower commodity prices. (Hope everyone reads this carefully, again. Understand why)

Malaysia’s economy appears to be much more resistant to the commodities’ downcycle when compared with its peers. (We are definitely more diversified, even when compared to all regional countires)

From 2001 – 2013, the average GDP growth is 4.8 percent. (Current growth numbers are really not that bad but hopefully the world recovers too so that every country can grow faster)

Happy reading and keep reading too. Nothing good can happen when the economy is not growing. Oh yeah, if we truly believe the economy is heading into a negative territory, do not touch property investment. It’s so hard to get out. The choice is ours to make. Happy investing.

written on 17 Mar 2016

Next suggested article:
Ringgit: Happy, yes. Lasting, maybe. Undervalued, still is

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moody’s rating for Malaysia and the 86.8% household debt versus GDP

In The Star online today (26 March), Moody’s Investors Service said that it expects Malaysia to be able to withstand external financial shocks due to its strong external position and large pool of domestic savings.Currently, Malaysia is rated at A3 (positive). What’s the meaning of this rating? The actual definition is ‘Rated as Upper Medium and Low Credit Risk’. To understand in simple English, it means this is considered a good rating and Malaysia is considered a safe investment grade for investment.

What’s the current domestic savings to GDP? It is around 34% as at today. Compared to many countries in the world, this is considered above average. In other words, Malaysians save a lot comparatively. It’s not all rosy though. Moody’s said that Malaysia’s fiscal deficits continue to be wider than A-rated peers while the debt burden at 54.8% of GDP as at end 2013 also constrains the policy space. In simple English, it means there are certain limitations to Malaysia’s ability to respond as much as it wanted because of its debt burden. Besides that, direct petroleum-related receipts equate to nearly one-third of total federal government revenue.

What about Malaysia’s household debt which is 86.8% of GDP which is very high in comparison to many countries, including Singapore? Actually, household debt is an important gauge but do be reminded that with the continuous urbanisation as well as a population which is reaching the age where buying a home is a necessity, this % will continue to increase. What is more important to understand that in Malaysia, if you do not qualify for loan, the banks would reject your loan  due to the strict guidelines imposed. Thus, the quality of loans given out, especially for housing is not of questionable quality.  This is unlike the US Mortgage crisis where the loans given out were speculative in nature. Everyone thought then that the price will never stop going up! Always understand macro-economics because these factors will affect your investment, irregardless of whether it’s gold, unit trust, property or even stock market.  Want to learn a little on how to spot potential bubbles even before the official stats are published? Do read ‘How to spot property bubble’.

written on 26 March 2014

Next suggested article:
Secure and Protect your wealth – Part 1

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Guys ah, moratorium do not delay the desperate sellers, fyi.

You know, there was this quite viral piece of news just a few days back. It says that the property prices may fall 10 – 20%. My views about it here:
Property prices expected to fall due to COVID-19 and recession
  Some agents say that their buyers have started to ask them about such properties. Some even ask for specific dates / months that the drop will happen. WOW… can anyone really predict to such accuracy, if at all? 😛

Some objective comments from
real estate people for my article in FB include the following:

“Only problem properties will be sold cheaply; family disputes, dying owners, divorce cases, highly indebted individuals”

“The property price might be down. But how about the buyer? How many left with purchasing power?”

“Don’t think it’s nearly a crash for property market now . Crash for property market will only happen when tons of ppl lost job and business close down”

Frankly, these buyers (who are waiting for prices to fall) should continue to search for those properties. Tell your real estate negotiators. Keep looking at new property listings online. Maybe you could find some fresh listings with very much lower prices than the market. No one knows if they may get lucky somehow because there are definitely more people thinking of selling.  As for the sellers, it may not even be due to desperate sellers alone.  Some of these sellers just wanted to quickly sell so that they could sell at current price level before the prices start falling 10 -20% as what all those people say.

It’s no different from the stock market okay. If you believe the stock market is going to fall very soon, of course you will sell even if selling now may incur 10% loss for example. This is because you do not want to have 30-40% losses, right? It’s to MINIMIZE losses and this is why stock prices fall very fast as soon as sentiment turns from positive to negative. It is NOT because the companies suddenly have losses when they have just reported profits last month!

The current moratorium of 6 months till end of September 2020 is not going to be much help if one was already in financial difficulties prior to COVID-19 pandemic.  For most of the people (businesses and employees) however, this moratorium was 6 months and not 2 months  because it assumes that restarting the economy will take some time even after the Movement Control Order (MCO) is lifted.  Thus, this gives businesses some breathing space so that as business starts to come back, they have time to prepare to start repaying their loans. People who got lower pay or lost their job may also get a higher pay or have time to get back a job once the MCO is over too. This is why I think the moratorium was a good pre-emptive move by our Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

As for the desperate sellers, they could be selling their properties even currently. There is no need to wait till after the end of the moratorium. By then, maybe their financial situation have improved. Yes, of course I would wish for that to happen (financial situation improving for all Malaysians). I do not wish to wish that people drop into financial difficulties just so that I could get to buy their properties at clearance sale prices. I am just another Malaysian. Happy understanding.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 or
Sign Up for free
 to get daily updates about the property market. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
Lower mortgage rates and lower FD rates too. Oops

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium: Does it cover credit card debts?

Moratorium: Does it cover all debts I have?  Short answer, no. What does it not cover? It does not cover credit card debts.

Article in nst.com.my
 Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) clarified that the moratorium is open to all individuals, including all B40, M40 and T20 borrowers, microenterprises and all small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This automatic moratorium is applicable for loans or financing approved before July 1, 2021 and are not in arrears for more than 90 days on the date the request for the moratorium is submitted to the bank, the associations said.

As announced by Bank Negara Malaysia, borrowers’ Central Credit Reference Information System records will remain unaffected by opting in for this moratorium. ABM and AIBIM said their members did not appoint or engage third parties or agents for purposes of the moratorium.

ABM and AIBIM said banks would also offer credit card facilities to convert the outstanding balances into a three-year term loan/financing with reduced interest rates to help borrowers better manage their debt. Please do read the full
Article in nst.com.my

Outstanding balances will be converted into a 3-year term loan / financing

I do hope everyone read the last paragraph which is also considered like a partial moratorium for credit card debts. Please do go to the bank with the balances, get them to restructure this into a 3-year loan / financing and seriously do best to stop buying the unnecessary stuffs yeah. Please also do not take up the Buy Now Pay Later program by
Shopee. (here’s that detail)
or Lazada and any others.

Credit card is a convenience and to a lesser extent these days, showing off one’s current financial status. From the normal cards to Gold to Platinum and even Infinite / World Cards and even higher. All these would show the earning capability. However, ANYONE who used more of the given credit than what they could really pay would all be digging a hole which will soon be too high to jump out from. Happy understanding and remember, there’s no moratorium for credit card debts but there’s a potential solution if we could now be disciplined enough.

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
Credit Cards: 40% are spending beyond their means.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium and economic recovery.  Business closures and retrenchments.

Do we see any relevance to these 4 things? Moratorium, economic recovery, business closures and retrenchments? Let’s run through it briefly and perhaps have a brief conclusion at the end.

Moratorium of 6 months
 was a clever decision. It gives everyone a breathing space; businesses and employees may now stay focused on how to save their business or find a new job and not to worry about loan repayments every month. When businesses are closed, there are no revenue and profits, surely cannot pay loan. When people lose their job, whatever savings they have should be for necessities. They should not worry about loans because they actually have no salary. Moratorium has one assumption as well. It assumes that the businesses would have restarted before end of September and people who were retrenched would have a job by then.

Economic recovery
has to happen sooner than later. It cannot only happen after COVID-19 is gone. By then, the whole economic would have gone as well. Thus, current steps are taken to facilitate the reopening of businesses. For example, a kopi tiam (F&D outlet) which used to have 300 customers per day may today only have 80 from dine in and another 80 from food delivery. This seems low or not enough but this is already a start versus having to close down… There will never be a sudden restart and every businesses suddenly have all their customers back. Let’s be realistic. Economic recovery simply meant RECOVERY… and recovery has to start first.

Business closures
(closure and going out of business are two different things okay) was the order of the day in the beginning of our Movement Control Order. No one could open. Suddenly, everything stopped. Revenues stopped and business owners say they will soon have to shut down and retrench everyone. Then, the moratorium came. Then, Prihatin was launched. Now the CMCO is facilitating the reopening of businesses. Again, if business owners expect the same volume as before closure, they are dreaming. However, in a journey of a thousand miles, the first step has to start. If I look at some neighbourhood food outlets, it’s no longer the first few steps…

Retrenchments happened.
 Many lost their job. However, if we ever wonder when would we get back a job, then all would depend on when the economic reopens. Else, there is no chance at all for the retrenched to find a job. What needs to happen is also the retrenched would need to be flexible. They may have to do more and take a lower pay for now. They may have to change industry and relearn and reapply. Maybe some would go back to school and learn some new technical skills. Some may be doing a part-time job. Basic idea is to start doing something about it.

All four are inter-linked. Someone told me that even if the businesses start to reopen, it does not mean those retrenched will be able to contribute since they have no money. Erm… is that not the reason why businesses should reopen in the first place? Without businesses reopening, there will never be new job openings. Without new job openings, there will never be salary and these people will never be able to buy things from businesses which reopen. This is not a chicken and egg situation yeah.  This is very clearly a business restart and then job happens situation. Happy understanding why jobs will not happen first…

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 or
Sign Up for free
 to get daily updates about the property market. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Next suggested article:
When everyone is back to work, economy moves again

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium? Exemptions from interest payments instruction from MoF. Not for everyone yeah.

Moratorium? Exemptions from interest payments instruction from MoF.

First of all, moratorium as per what Malaysian banks are providing is definitely not something common despite Covid-19 affecting every country in the world. Second of all, I do not agree that banks are forced to provide interest exemptions. Banks are also profit-oriented entities and they are not charities.

Do remember yeah, the richest man in the village can surely afford to pay for meals for everyone in the village once every week if some unforeseen circumstances forced everyone to be out of job. After paying for the meals, he will still be the richest man in the village but this does not mean he should be forced to pay for everyone’s meal yeah.

Of course, some may require more assistance than others, so if it’s to assist the really badly affected ones for this time, I think banks who remain profitable may have to step in and do something for the badly affected ones.

Article in edgeprop.my
  The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has instructed banking institutions to work on the exemption from interest payments for recipients of the bank loan moratorium immediately.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (pictured) said in a statement today that this will involve recipients of the moratorium from the bottom 50% of all Malaysians, in terms of income classification, for a period of three months in the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q21).

Beyond this, Tengku Zafrul said the Cabinet ministers had approved a proposal to table amendments to the Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Covid-19), which entail raising the ceiling limit of the Covid-19 Fund to RM110 billion from RM65 billion previously as well as increasing the statutory limit of federal government debt from 60% to 65% of gross domestic product (GDP). Do read the full article here:
Article in edgeprop.my

Just enjoy, for those who will get it

It’s okay. If you are under the moratorium currently and you get the interest exemption, just enjoy it then. I do think the banks will be just fine when they report the next quarterly results. As long as the economy recovery speeds up, they may report even higher earnings even after giving this interest exemptions.

Just remember that it is an unprecedented move during an unprecedented time. Always do our best to keep our financial house in order because ultimately, it depends on us too and not whether the banks could offer moratorium again in the future. Take care and always continue to follow SOPs even if Selangor is showing very good signs of recovery from Covid-19 cases.

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
Economy Malaysia. Latest numbers. Inflation… and more

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium – Links to all the banks’ moratorium programme. 21 of them here.

Here are most of the banks in Malaysia and their relief / support / moratorium program for customers. Do go ahead and choose the bank where you have your loans, click on it to read their latest announcements. I do think the one about the latest moratorium will be out in a few days’ time. Let them have time to update as the moratorium was just announced 2 days ago.

Remember, as long as you apply, the banks are supposed to approve it without asking if you actually need it or you were applying just because you wanted those money to buy things online. It does NOT cover credit card debts yeah. However, the banks do have a solution for it too. Read it here:
JMoratorium” Does it cover credit cards?

As for the list of the banks, happy referring to it as below.

1. Moratorium Maybank
https://www.maybank2u.com.my/maybank2u/malaysia/en/personal/announcements/2020/March/announcement_financial_relief_scheme.page

2. Moratorium Bank Rakyat
https://cv19-support.bankrakyat.com.my/

3. Moratorium Bank Islam
https://vao.bankislam.com.my/ppb/

4. Moratorium CIMB
https://www.cimb.com.my/covid19support

5. Moratorium BSN
https://www.bsn.com.my/page/TRA

6. Moratorium Public Bank
https://www.pbebank.com/Others/COVID-19.aspx

7. Moratorium Ambank
https://www.ambank.com.my/eng/targeted-repayment-assistance

8. Moratorium RHB
https://www.rhbgroup.com/malaysia/campaigns/PostMoratoriumEForm?_ga=2.202856849.1410897864.1622574747-1382388922.1622574747

9. Moratorium Affin Bank
https://www.affinbank.com.my/Others/Financial-Assistance-Instalment-Relief-(FAIR)-Prog.aspx?lang=ms-MY

10. Moratorium MBSB
https://www.mbsbbank.com/bm/notices/moratorium

11. Moratorium Bank Muamalat
https://map.muamalat.com.my/

12. Moratorium Kuwait Bank
https://www.kfh.com.my/malaysia/personal/announcements/KFH-RAP.html

13. Moratorium CitiBank
https://www.citibank.com.my/english/forms/moratorium-restructure-V2/index.html

14. Moratorium Alliance Bank
https://www.allianceonline.com.my/personal/loan_moratorium/loan_moratorium.do

15. Moratorium AgroBank
https://www.agrobank.com.my/my/bbb/

16. Moratorium Hong Leong Bank
https://www.hlb.com.my/en/personal-banking/news-updates/hlb-payment-relief-assistance-plan.html

17. Moratorium SME Bank
https://smebank.com.my/en/financing-payment-assistance

18. Moratorium Standard Chartered Bank
https://www.sc.com/my/important-information/covid-19/

19. Moratorium Al Rajhi Bank
https://www.alrajhibank.com.my/page/financial-relief/financial-assistance

20. Moratorium UOB Bank
https://www.uob.com.my/default/covid-updates/covid-relief-assistance.page

21. Moratorium OCBC Bank
https://www.ocbc.com.my/personal-banking/Loans/moratorium/index.html

22.  Bank Negara Malaysia website.
https://www.bnm.gov.my/ra
   Explaining the moratorium program which will start from 7th July 2021.

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
Moratorium: No interest and no compounded interest are two different things

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium – No compound interest and no interest are two different things yeah.

Moratorium is back. Yes, we can conclude the economy is not well.

Yesterday, a good friend asked this question, “If I apply for moratorium, it means for 6 months I do not need to pay anything and the bank would not charge me any interest, right?”  He asked me this before Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul explained to all the media today. I told him that it is highly unlikely for the bank not to charge any interest for 6 months.

Today, he sent me an article in
malaymail.com here: Finance minister: Banks to waive compounded interest, penalty charges over moratorium
.  He told me that there was no mention about the interest, so means the banks will waive? I told him to let me read a few more articles and also to reconfirm before I respond. I read two other articles. One from
thestar.com.my (click here to read)
 and another from
nst.com.my (click here to read)

The other two medias with an additional statement

Both the writers in these two media sites has these inside their article too. The Star: “The latest loan moratorium under the RM150bil Pemulih package will not be interest free, but it would help borrowers by deferring the repayment to a later date.” NST: “The loan moratorium announced under the RM150 billion Pemulih stimulus package will not be interest free” In other words, both these said the same thing as me. There will be interest charged for the moratorium.

Huge difference between no interest and no compounded interest

However, there will be no compounded interest and late charges. This is confirmed by all the media I read today, after my good friend alerted me. Remember yeah, there’s a super huge difference between no interest and no compound interest. My good friend has yet to give up. He said that his banker friend told him that there is likely to be an announcement tomorrow or within the next few days. I told him, “I wish him all the best.” As for me, I am sticking to my belief yeah. We should also be fair to the banks’ shareholders too.

Moratorium is NOT supposed to be blanket

I also told my good friend that from before and even until now, I disagree with blanket moratorium. It should be targeted at those needing it and not everyone. The reason is a simple one. The moratorium is NOT free. The one who got approval for moratorium will still have to pay for it in the future.

Plus the fact that the banks are already approving applications for moratorium extension earlier with valid reasons already, why must we give to everyone whether or not they need it? Because of the pressure from some people (mostly political figures) who kept suggesting it without wanting to know why
even Bank Negara Malaysia (read the article here)
and
Finance Minister is against it? (click here to read his argument)

Whatever has happened, just let it be

Since it’s now a blanket moratorium and as long as anyone applies for it, they will get approval, then so be it. Let it be then. Just a final reminder yeah. The Moratorium savings should be used properly and not be used to buy things indiscriminately. I guess it’s very hard to do. Surely those who could afford to continue paying may also apply and with the extra money, the itchiness to buy will be very tempting. All the best.

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
6 months moratorium returns, should I go for it?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Moratorium starts 7th July yeah. Here are all the banks’ links

If you did not know already, the moratorium starts on 7th July. Depending on when you read this article it may be today or it may have been a few days before. This moratorium is for 6 months and is applicable to all individuals, whether you are under theB40, M40 or T20. So, yes, even if you do not actually need the moratorium, as long as you apply, the bank will have to approve.

Best part is this. For everyone, no supporting documentation is required. This is also the same for all microenterprises. Meanwhile, All SMEs who are adversely affected by the pandemic, you only need to do one extra thing. Just a self-declaration is needed. The only catch is that this moratorium is NOT automatic. One would need to apply if one wants this moratorium.

If you have a home loan and your monthly mortgage is RM1,600 and you are renting it out for RM1,600 as well, it means you do not need to pay your RM1,600 (which is a savings) and you get rental of RM1,600. Thus, every month one could save an extra RM1,600 + RM1,600 = RM3,200. 6 months later, you have an extra RM19,200 to use as you wish.

Below links come from Bank Negara Malaysia’s website.

List of Banks’ Repayment Assistance Pages

Below is the list of banks’ websites with details on their Repayment Assistance packages.

Banking Institutions
Affin Bank Berhad
Affin Islamic Bank Berhad
Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad
Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad
Alliance Islamic Bank Berhad
AmBank (M) Berhad
AmBank Islamic Berhad
BNP Paribas Malaysia Berhad
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad
CIMB Bank Berhad
CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad
Citibank Berhad
HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad
HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad
Hong Leong Bank Berhad
Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad
Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad
MUFG Bank (Malaysia) Berhad
Malayan Banking Berhad
Maybank Islamic Berhad
MBSB Bank Berhad
OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad
OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad
Public Bank Berhad
Public Islamic Bank Berhad
RHB Bank Berhad
RHB Islamic Bank Berhad
Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad
Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Malaysia Berhad
United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.

Development Finance Institutions
Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Rakyat)
Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad
Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad (Agrobank)
Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank)
Bank Simpanan Nasional
Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (EXIM Bank)

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.
 Alternatively, Follow me on
 Telegram here
.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. Else,
follow me on Twitter here.

Sign up for KopiWeekly. (only once per week of property, finance, investment news and more)

Next suggested article:
Moratorium: Does it cover credit card debts?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More are flowing in, no alarms but always watch ‘valuation’ ok.

This is one usual observation about the stock market and the property market. The stock market would usually lead and the property market would follow. After the stock market has risen for many months, the property market would show some positive signs. This is because people may have earned some money from the stock market and would like to now buy some properties. What they are saying is however based on market sentiment. People do not buy
property when they do not feel positive.
The reason is because property is an illiquid asset. It’s not easy to dispose if there are any sudden emergencies. When the stock market rises, people who got richer overnight would spend their money, the retail sales may show good numbers and generally conversations become positive. BURSA Malaysia and the ringgit has seen better weeks too. In fact, when it comes to BURSA,it’s already close to 1,800 points. There are some technical charts showing it to be on an uptrend. (Just google for the news)  I do not follow charts when I invest. Merely reading and understanding the business that I intend to buy.

There’s a good article by an experienced columnist, Yap Leng Kuen in
TheStar. Do read it here.
In brief, it tells about the availability of US$1 trillion funds flowing into emerging markets (EM). (Yes, of course Malaysia is still an emerging market) Nope, it’s not only for Malaysia, some of it should flow into Malaysia but this US$1 trillion will be shared by all the EMs of the world. Some comments which I term as cautiously optimistic. Danny Wong, CEO of Areca Capital said, “Valuations in general are not so demanding, for example, price to book value is still attractive although price to earnings is slightly above the long-term average. The situation is not so alarming.” Chris Eng, head of research, Etiqa Insurance and Takaful said, “We are still far away from a bubble although overdue for a retracement.” Lee Heng Guie, executive director, Socio Economic Research Centre said, “Risk averse investors would tend to seek safe haven assets such as US treasuries and shy away from risky assets in EMs including Malaysia, if there are risks that threaten to derail global growth and destabilise capital flows.” Full article in
TheStar by Yap here.

When public listed companies show better performance, its stock price starts to look attractive versus its earnings. Investors would buy and start driving up its stock price. This will go on until a level which everyone agrees as fully valued or overvalued. They would move on to the next potential stock. For some stocks however, people may believe that it’s worth more due to its potential.
Internet stocks? However high, watch for profitability first
 Hopefully more people realise that however much money we have, it’s best to just buy based on fundamentals and not speculative hopes. It will make the market safer too. As for the property market, generally the predictions are more on a slow period for 2017 and even 2018.
Property market oversupply? Improve by mid-2018 and recover in 3 years
 Happy signing that S&P if you need a roof over your head. That’s your correct focus. As for those actively trading stocks currently, I also wish you the best. Happy investing everyone.

written on 12 June 2017

Next suggested article:
Any investment is a good ‘business’ due diligence needed

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More attractive deal is welcomed, more details welcomed too.

No company would want to do a loss making business. This is true not just for private entities but even for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). After all, if the deal is profitable, it helps DBKL to enhance its coffers or even allow it so save some expenses then why not? In a recent announcement to Bursa Malaysia on Sept 6, Ivory Properties announced that an agreement between its subsidiary Ivory Place Sdn Bhd and PRSB has been terminated as both parties could not come to an agreement. In a The Star report, DBKL said it has chosen a new company over Ivory Properties Group because it has got a more attractive deal for the abandoned project.

The new company issued a letter of intent is Profit Consortium Sdn Bhd and it is said that this new company will be building a ‘Sungai Wang Plaza’ kind of mall on the site. Apart from Profit Consortium, there was another party that has expressed interest in reviving the Plaza Rakyat project. Some of the advantages offered by Profit Consortium include the returns to DBKL not being pegged to the sales of the project and even the plot ratio remained without any revision. Profit Consortium is owned by Maxcorp Development Sdn Bhd, SW Land Sdn Bhd and Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias. Maxcorp is the private vehicle of Major (Rtd) Anuar Adam while SW Land is the developer of Sungai Wang Plaza.

Long story cut short, Plaza Rakyat was abandoned since 1998 and put under receiver and manager AdamPrimus Chartered Accountants. A tender was called by AdamPrimus and Ivory Properties was chosen. The terms was, Ivory Properties would pay PRSB RM400 million and DBKL a maximum of RM560 million to take over the project. DBKL later filed for legal action, won and they did not recognise the tender by AdamPrimus or Ivory Properties who won. Thus, this case came to current situation where Ivory Properties’s deal is no longer recognised and Profit Consortium is now the new ‘white knight’.

I have no interest in whichever company chosen. However, I do wish that there are more transparency in terms of the deal being struck because this is after all a project which will benefit KL if it is successful and no one would want to see it being abandoned for another 10 years. Ivory properties also said something which I am not sure if it can be built but then again, this was no longer mentioned in the current deal. Read here:
Potential 1,000 new PR1MA low cost homes cancelled, new plans?
 Let’s see what is the next announcement by DBKL on this huge project which was said to be RM8 billion by Ivory Properties few months ago.

written on 9th Sept 2014

Next suggested article:
Puchong’s CBD, Five (5) LRT stations within minutes away and Mah Sing.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More brands than JPO. 25 to 65 percent savings daily.

I love to shop. I can shop by myself for hours if I do have such luxury of time. Nope, I do not buy things to keep. I tend to wear what I buy almost immediately. There’s another place for me to shop soon. Perhaps in a few months’ time. Genting Highlands Premium Outlet. This is a similar one to the Johor Premium Outlet. Both are operated by Genting Simon Sdn Bhd. Yes, I personally prefer
JPO if it’s compared to Mitsui Outlet Park.
The brands which was mentioned in an article in
 thestar.com.my
 are as follows: Adidas, Aigner, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Beauty Scents, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein Jeans, Charles & Keith, Coach, Furla, Gap, Guess, Hugo Boss, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Oroton, Pedro, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Samsonite, Superdry, Swatch, Time Lab, and Wacoal. Out of the above, I have bought items from 11 brands. 🙂  When it opens, it would have over 150 brands represented! I think worth a drive up just to shop even if not dropping by the casino. Haha.

What’s happening soon is a three-day job fair to be at Wawasan 2020 Grand Ballroom of Awana Genting Highlands Golf & Country Resort from 10am to 7pm on Feb 13 to 15. Vacancies available include sales associates, senior sales associates, sales supervisors, assistant store managers, and store managers. The F&B brands which are also joining the fair include Absolute Thai, Baskin Robbins, Dome Café, George & Dragon, Juan Valdez Cafe, Starbucks Coffee, and TCBY Frozen Yogurt. For the interested applicants, they should bring along their identity card, resume, relevant documents and certificates (both original and photocopy), and a passport size photo. Genting Simon Sdn Bhd chief operating officer  Jean Marie Pin Harry said, “We look forward to Genting Highlands Premium Outlets continuing to be a source of pride for the community by helping the local state build, and preserve human resources and develop talent.”

As at today, I have not yet visited
Penang’s Outlet Park.
My brother told me,’worth a visitlah.’ I think I will drop by on the18th of Feb when I visit a good friend in Penang. My personal belief is that if the product is of quality, I do not really care whether it was last season or two seasons before. Yes, I may be totally wrong if I were to speak to the Hong Kongers or the Americans. Their outlet malls are amazing and is frequented by many of my Malaysian friends. To many of us, it’s great value. To the Americans following trends, those are ‘old stock.’ As for Genting Highlands, I think this is a very good addition. To those who did not know how to take advantage of this, you can also buy its shares. Read more here:
Genting Bhd target price.
 Nope, I do not currently own any units. Happy saving some money for shopping soon in a premium outlet high up in the hills.

written on 10 Feb 2017

Next suggested article:
Mitsui Outlet Park to be biggest outlet mall within South East Asia

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


The more cafes in the neighbourhood, the higher the property price?

I think this is more applicable to the Klang Valley properties. There was an article long time ago about property price being related to the distance that your home is away from the MRT / LRT stations. Apologies as I did not read that article in full because I do not believe in paying premium on top of premium simply because you are 28 steps closer to the station compared to another home which is 28 steps away? Evaluate the property properly.
Here’s some tips on inspecting condos.
 As for the number of steps, do skip it.

I am still a traditionalist and for anyone intending to get a condo, even if it’s nearby whatever public transport, make sure
there are two car parks
. I have seen so many European and Japanese cars on the road, driven a single Gen-Y or Millennial and I have yet to believe that these people would be willing to take the public transport and be squashed like a sardine in a can during peak hours. Plus the willingness to walk a few hundred metres, most of time under the sun and sometimes under the rain to reach the station or office. I do hope that
 I am wrong once the MRT starts.

Yesterday my good friend shared to me an article entitled
“HOW COFFEE HELPS YOU FIND GOOD PROPERTY BUYS”
 Nope it’s not about following the smell of the coffee until you find a good home to buy. The writer really did a research on the number of cafes within a certain neighbourhood, plot them onto the map and voila, it actually showed that neighbourhoods which are most expensive tend to have a higher concentration of cafes. I shared with my colleagues and they told me that the same could have been true as well. Due to these
neighbourhoods being expensive,
 more cafes were opened there due to the higher possibilities that the patrons would be willing to pay RM14 for a cup of coffee.

I think my colleagues’ thoughts make sense too! If I am a cafe owner, I would definitely love to open in a more posh area compared to an area which may not have my target market. Okay, from today onwards, be on the lookout for the number of cafes before we place the deposit. Alternatively, ask the developer or the sales agent about the number of cafes within the neighbourhood. Show them this article yeah. Happy searching cafes and homes.

Please LIKE
kopiandproperty.com FB page
 or
Sign Up for free
 to get daily updates about the property market.

written on 27 June 2016

Next suggested article:
Savings up for your baby’s future, how about saving via property?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More car parks please – if you buy condo (updated)

Should you buy if the condo comes with just one car park today? The answer is a firm No. Unless if you are buying a SOHO, then perhaps one car park space may be enough. Today, majority if not all new condo projects provide two car parks. However, a lot of secondary condo projects may have just one car park. If you can, buy a condo with two car parks instead of one. Statistically, majority of all households have two cars. Your wife and you each would own a car. If you say, it is ok, one car can be outside since the second car is an old car anyway, I hope you understand there are days when you need to do some shopping thus you may need to carry heavy shopping bags all the way from the place you park until you reach your condo. Imagine if it rains or the sun happened to be hot because it is MALAYSIA.

What about safety of YOU or your loved ones? What about the convenience? What about the hassle of looking for the car park? What about the times when you are rushing for time? What if you are parking outside and you are in URGENT need for a toilet? and more………

It is possible to rent, of course. A close friend tried to rent a car park for 2 months before getting one. Every night she has to park nearby, run across a field which is secluded to reach her condo. Definitely not such an amazing feeling if you have to do it every night. Perhaps you may lose some weight though. At this moment, I am renting a car park for RM180. This is a normal car park rental in KL. Given a choice, I would have preferred to buy one. Reason being RM180 x 12 = RM1,260. This is the amount I needed to pay for rental for one year.  To get back this money from FD, I need to save RM72,000!

When it comes to selling, any unit with 2 car parks would fetch a premium and the difference is larger than what you would have paid for it when you first bought your unit. Don’t worry, if you are the buyer and the unit has just one car park you can negotiate for a lower selling price.

updated on 2nd March 2014

Next suggested article:
Expert Series Q&A – Penang Property Secondary Market – Mr. Stephen Soon

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More cooling measures? Some said not likely.

To those who are waiting for even more “bad news” to happen before buying their first property, think again. Buy objectively and not wait for the lowest price, no one in the world knows when is the lowest price. Perhaps during a crisis but in a crisis, you would not dare to buy anyway. According to a report in The Malaysian Reserve quoting the Malaysia Property Inc’s GM Veena Loh, the government is not likely to introduce more cooling measures. This is based on the latest transactions and even loan approval numbers. Transactions are down while approval rejection is increasing. She further explained that the Budget 2016 is unlikely to even focus on the property sector but would instead on the current economic slowdown and encourage consumer spending.

According to Property Insight’s MD KK Chua, the government may be re-allowing the Developer Interest-Bearing Scheme (DIBS) to spur the sector and even reduce the Real Properties Gains Tax to encourage the ownership among first time home buyers. In Budget 2015, there were some goodies for first-time home buyers including the 50 percent stamp duty exemption and the increased the purchase limit from RM400,000 to RM500,000. The exemption will be given until the end of 2016. DIBS is not my favourite but if this can be given to only first-time home buyers, then I would not say I am against it. Yes, it will spur the market because the demand as at today remain huge. It’s mostly affected by some unrealistic expectations from all parties as well as the negative sentiment which has contributed to the ‘wait-and-see’ attitude currently.

In terms of purchase limit, I seriously would like to reiterate that there are still choices available. The buyers only have to search online as well as open up their acceptance level for areas which are not their main choices. Read here:
Buying a new home? Ask why, not just where

As for relaxing the lending rules, I would not support even if there are really zero choices available in the market. Be objective, everyone wants to have a healthy market and not a market where majority of everyone are buying beyond their means. Hope everyone remembered the 2008 Mortgage crisis from the largest economy in the world. However, the government (federal and state) needs to speed up whatever plans they have for affordable homes. Start delivering in huge numbers. We must not jumble up all issues together because owning the first home versus making it very easy to borrow are two very different things altogether. Happy waiting for the Budget 2016 announcement.

written on 9th Oct 2015

Next suggested article:
Why did I fear property investment, then?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Condos – more facilities does not mean it is better

These days, we can see new condos in the KL market offering ever more facilities. Tell me, should we just buy that condo with the most facilities? After all, more facilities meant it’s going to be more valuable in future, right? Haha. Let’s listen to a close friend of mine who’s a regional sales manager. When I asked her why she bought just an apartment but not a condo. “Condo has more facilities you know,” I reminded her. She said she has no time to use the facilities at all as she is taking care of her mother and thus it would be a total waste of
money paying for the maintenance.
 She does have her point but since I use the facilities on and off, I would definitely prefer a condo compared to an apartment. About 2 years ago, I got to know a sales manager of a property developer and she shared with me something which I have since learnt to be true. She told me that the more facilities that a condo has, the higher the maintenance fee needed. In fact, as soon as these start to break down, the cost to replace is likely to be huge. All these are not really controllable too.

Looking back at my condos, my sister’s condo, my Toastmater’s friend’s condo, those condos that I have viewed before and even my current condo, I realised that those with more than the usual tend to have more issues. For example, if there are squash courts and the roof leaks, it is unlikely for the management to replace the flooring because it is very expensive. Sometimes, they did not respond to the leak fast enough, making it worse. Even the tennis court after a few years meant puddles of water here and there and some wear and tear may mean more potential injuries. The swimming pool when not maintained properly may have algae and stuffs that keep you away from using. So, what happens when a new condo launch announce to the world that it has many more facilities than everyone else?

I think it may be good to check out the developer. Many times,
facilities also break down faster
 simply because the developer started with inferior products in the first place. Do check out all the facilities. Swimming pool and gym would be cheaper and easier to maintain compared to a sauna or jacuzzi pool. Basketball court (cheaper to replace the hoop) or even tennis court (lesser wear and tear) is certainly easier to maintain than a badminton or a squash court. (both entail high flooring costs). If the badminton court has only cement flooring, get ready or lots of injuries. What about bowling alleys? WOW. What about cinema? AWESOME. What if the condo has EVERY SINGLE of the above? You can buy but please expect the potential that some of these facilities would soon not be available after a few years or earlier. Of course, these may not apply to those luxury condos, I hope.

Actually, one of my condos in Penang as well as my current condo in Damansara Damai, the maintenance has been godd thus far. Both are in their 10th year. However perhaps this is also because it is fully occupied and maintenance fees are all paid on time. Plus the JMCs are working instead of sleeping. I cannot say the same for all. A friend’s condo in Penang already have leaks, paint fading, lifts buttons are no longer complete and many other facilities have shown tremendous wear and tear, despite being completed just over 2 years ago. Many times, luck plays a part but most of the time, when things are too good to be true, they normally are. I would look at advertisements with ‘most number of facilities’ carefully. Perhaps just aim at majority of all that you would want and that’s it. Happy selecting.

written on 5 Sept 2015

Next suggested article:
Why high density is better for me

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More firms going under not necessarily bad for future

What goes up must come down and what goes down should slowly come back if not bouncing backing the near future. Oil prices caused havoc to many businesses when it was over US$100 per barrel. However, once it dropped below US$50 per barrel, all of a sudden, many businesses related to oil and gas started to shiver and some have scaled back or even closing down. The bad news continue to come in as oil prices are still at a level considered extremely low for many producers. It’s at US$29 per barrel (10th Feb 2016). According to a media report, about 150 oil and gas companies tracked by energy consultant IHS Inc would be the next ones to close down with huge oversupply and low prices.

Just days ago, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it will be selling its shares in Shell Refining Company in Malaysia to a unit of a private Chinese refiner for US$66.3 million (S$94.4 million). I think this is just one of the hundreds and thousands of deals coming up as oil & gas companies struggle to make ends meet and lots of ‘vultures’ with cash waiting to snap them up. Within the past 2 years oil prices has already dropped 70 percent because US shale producers boosted output and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries trying to drown the higher cost suppliers by producing even more. Even at current prices, there are no signs that OPEC will curb production.

Once many of these producers go bust, the production should start to go down. According to Goldman Sachs in January, “The global oil surplus that fuelled crude’s decline to a 12-year low will shift to a deficit as output falls and a new bull market begins before the year is out”

Before everyone think oil prices would rise to the levels of two years ago, lets understand some new facts. Due to low oil prices, many producers are getting even more efficient and according to IHS, some some producers in the Permian Basin in western Texas can break-even drilling oil at US$35 a barrel. Many months back, I read that the US shale oil producers would lose money with anything below US$50 per barrel. Now, it’s just US$35! As soon as production drops too much and prices start recovering, the supply would either push prices back down or at levels closer to what these producers can produce instead. I think this is good for many businesses but many governments would have to adjust their budgets to cater for these low oil prices which should continue for a long time.

Malaysia’s budget recalibration was based on oil prices of US$30 to US$35. It would have to go for another recalibration once oil prices touches US$25 a barrel. Fortunately, oil & gas now accounts for around 22 of the GDP and with even more push, Malaysia have no choice but to be even more diversified and perhaps stop relying on oil in the future. Think below 15 percent of GDP as a very good number. Seriously, I think it’s possible, as long as oil prices remain near to current levels. Be reminded, low oil prices affect all countries in the world and once majority of every country has adjusted, everything would be normalised with just the less efficient companies shutting down which is good for the economy anyway. Keep reading.

written on 11 Feb 2016

Next suggested article:
Oil and Gas, hard time continuing

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...