China’s recovery from COVID-19 is V-shaped. Who said so?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recovery is certainly something tracked by economists with a lot of statistics. As for the statement about China’s economic recovery after the COVID-19, someone has said that it will be a V-shaped one. Who said it? Certainly not me but if you were to ask me, then I will say that China’s central bank certainly have a lot up their sleeves on how to deal with the current situation.

Never ever forget that China is not just the second largest economy in the world but it has the biggest foreign reserves in the world which meant that it has a lot more ways than most countries faced with such a crisis. Let’s listen to two different parties saying almost the same thing about how the Chinese economy will recover right after the end of the COVID-19 crisis. It has been 5 days that the rate of patients recovery is higher than the rate of new admission of patients. I think this is a good sign that things are under control.

Article in thestar.com.my
   Chen Yulu, a deputy governor at the People’s Bank of China said in an opinion piece in Financial Times dated Feb 20 that the “sound” fundamentals of the domestic economy remain unchanged in the medium to long run despite a short-term slowdown due to the epidemic. He said, “China has sufficient policy space to support steady economic growth. China is one of the few major economies in the world that have maintained normal monetary policy.”

Thus far, China has implemented measures including liquidity injections to the banking system and interest-rate cuts to counter the impact of the outbreak. With President Xi Jinping repeatedly assuring that China will meet its economic goals, financial markets have rebounded. Domestic stocks have restored more than $1 trillion in market value since tumbling in early February.
Please do read the full article in thestar.com.my

I know, some may want to say that officials from People’s Bank of China may not be the most objective since it relates to their economy. Okay, here
what International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said here on Sunday (Feb 23) that she expects China’s economy to “return to normal in the second quarter” of 2020. She said, “The Chinese authorities are working to mitigate the negative impact (of Covid-19) on the economy. In our current baseline scenario, announced policies are implemented and China’s economy would return to normal in the second quarter.”
Feel free to read more of her comments here.

Still do not believe that the recovery is likely to be swift and the effects to the world economy will not as bad as what some believe? It’s okay, just remember to take the right actions on what we believe. The good news is that in Malaysia, most of all the COVID-19 infected patients are already discharged. The bad news? In Italy, South Korea, it does seem that the infection is still showing some seriousness. I hope the governments of these countries are learning from all other countries and are taking pro-active measures too. Happy following.

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:
How will Wuhan coronavirus affect the world economy?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


China’s richest woman and Australia’s second richest? Property related

A sobering fact indeed. The richest got richer in 2017. Their total wealth went up by A$1 trillion. (RM3.14 trillion)
The full article in sbs.com.au here.
 According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world’s richest grew their wealth by 23 percent because of global stock market gains and they now control a combined fortune of A$5.3 trillion. Meanwhile, the world’s average wage growth was just over 2 percent.
(If our wealth grew higher than 2 percent in 2017, do consider ourselves to be above average. Nope, can’t use ringgit as a scapegoat as it grew 10 percent in 2017 versus 2016)
 Economist Jim Stanford from think-tank the Australia Institute said, “There’s almost no forward progress in real wages for the people in the world who work for a living as opposed to those who own vast amounts of financial wealth.”
(Frankly, unless we minimise our expenses and maximise our investments, we will face almost the same situation. Working for a living will mean just continue living…)
The second richest Australian is property developer Harry Triguboff with a total net worth of $7.51 billion. (RM23.56 billion). He is the sole owner of Meriton  and has overseen construction of more than 75,000 apartments Sydney and Brisbane, according to Bloomberg.
(WOW….Developers really can do very well)
Here’s that full article for reference in startsat60.com

That’s Australia. What about the country which is helping to prosper the property market in Sydney and Melbourne? China. Well, the richest woman in China Yang Huiyan has a total wealth of US$29.7billion (RM118 billion)  She is the controlling shareholder of Country Garden Holdings Co
(Yes, that’s the same developer which is building LOTS of units in Iskandar JB.
 Some media say it’s scary?
)
There are other real estate related tycoons including Hui Ka Yan, the chairman of developer China Evergrande Group, and Wang Jianlin, who leads Dalian Wanda Group Co.  Evergrande’s Hui has an estimated wealth of US$39.3bil (RM156.61 billion) while Wang has US$28.7bil RM114.7 billion). Beyond just the richest woman, Yang is also China’s youngest billionaire.
 (Yes, of course there are many more other billionaires who are not property related lah. kopiandproperty.com is focusing mostly on real estate…)

So, since we know there’s no way most of
us could ever keep up with them,

how about keeping up with them in terms of the direction that they are going? The only reason why they are building is because people are buying. The only reason why people are buying is because of gains from property. With the gains from their property investments, they could upgrade or buy more units and this is where these property tycoons come in and build more units. I know, property prices are TOO expensive… right? Seriously, when the prices become too expensive, all these tycoons would have to do something else. Till then, they could still build smaller so that the people could continue to afford and thus buying them.
What if everything becomes unaffordable?
 Happy believing.

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

written on 11 Jan 2018

Next suggested article:
4.4 times the median income.SO it’s seriously unaffordable. Tomorrow?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Chinese buyers for property Malaysia? Buying a lot? Short-term?

When local developments are mostly bought by foreigners, I think that is a huge worry. The reason is very simple. If a crisis were to happen, foreigners would quickly sell and move the capital back to their home country. Locals tend to provide much better support. In fact, we must learn from the late founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. He said in 2010, “If you ask people to defend all the big houses where the bosses live, and they live in harbours, I don’t think that’s tenable. So we decided from the very beginning that everybody must have a home, every family will have something to defend, and that home must be owner-owned, but they have to pay by instalments over 20, 25, even 30 years. And that home we developed over the years into their most valuable asset.” Today 80 percent of Singaporeans stay in HDB built flats. Full article
of what he said and more in channelnewsasia here.

Fortunately, this is not the case in Malaysia where the total foreign purchase for properties remain low when compared to more advanced property markets like
Melbourne in Australia. Here’s an earlier report.
There are however some whispers of worry when it seems that the Chinese (China) were investing a lot in Malaysian properties. It’s not just the Chinese by the way but also many other foreign nationalities actually. One latest number from the Malaysian Finance Ministry was that as at 2016, total properties owned by foreigners are still lower than 1 percent per total property transactions every year.
Here’s that full report.
Since percentage wise it’s still healthy, let’s now move to that thought of whether or not these foreigners are buying for short term speculative purposes? Personally, I do not think foreigners look at the Malaysian property market for some short term speculation because we are a very small property market and secondly, even within ASEAN, we may not be the top 3 most attractive for potential property price appreciation. 😛

Now for some expert’s view about Chinese buyers and Malaysian property. According to Knight Frank Malaysia, the Chinese buyers for Malaysian properties are here for the long term. Its Asia-Pacific research Head Nicholas Holt said,

“We have seen certain markets around the world targeted by the Chinese buyers for various reasons — diversification, second homes, children’s education, wealth preservation, etc. In certain places like Vancouver, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne and London, these have been the markets where we can see a lot of Chinese investors.” Allan Sim, executive director of capital markets at Knight Frank Malaysia said that some of these buyers are coming “for the education of their children, so it is from a totally different point they look at Malaysia”.  Sim added that some of the Chinese
developers “can bring in big manufacturing firms, which are already starting to come into Malaysia, but we don’t give them credit on that”. It does look positive since all these are also supported by the

One Belt, One Road initiative by China

for Asia.  Here’s that
full report in propertyguru.com.my
 Yes, I do like Malaysian property market to continue growing slowly for the world buyers. Happy following.

written on 20 Feb 2018

Next suggested article:
MRT 3 by Chinese / Japanese consortiums (build and finance), probably

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Chinese buyers love to buy properties in Malaysia. What’s next?

Buy to sell to the Chinese buyers (from China)?

A friend asked me if the Chinese investors love Malaysian properties, what does that mean to the property market? Erm… nothing. What can Malaysian investors do in order to capitalise on the interest of Chinese investors? Erm… nothing much. Reason is these Chinese investors are categorised as foreign property buyers. Thus the type of properties they could buy would be easily RM1 million or higher depending on state.

I do not know any friend who’s buying a RM1 million property in order to sell to foreigners yeah. Maybe better and safer to buy something which could be bought by other Malaysian investors instead of buying and waiting for foreign buyers yeah. However, this was the exact piece of news which stated that Penang is now favoured by Chinese investors.

Article in nst.com.my
   China Communications Construction Group (CCCG) Overseas Real Estate Pte Ltd director Zhang Bao said Chinese companies that are looking to expand and diversify their operations have set their eyes on the northwestern city-state. This is in line with Penang’s aim to become a tech hub with an established electric and electronic (E&E) industry, offering Chinese companies a regulatory framework and talent base for success.

Meanwhile, being Malaysia’s largest urban hub, KL and Selangor have also attracted property buyers from China. A research report from Juwai IQI revealed that many Chinese buyers anticipate Malaysia’s property market to recover and receive rewards for their investments. Malaysia secured a record RM170 billion of Chinese investment in April 2023, potentially contributing 10% of its GDP. “Malaysia is geographically proximate, affordable and offers an appealing lifestyle to buyers from China, especially from the colder north.
Article in nst.com.my

Property Investment is about the property, not about foreign buyers

Far too many people read too much about things not too related to their property investment. Foreign buyer interest is one of it.  Another one would be overhang property units.  Everytime someone tells me about overhang property units, I would ask if they are looking to buy these overhang property units.  They said no. They are waiting for all the prices in the property market to drop before they buy. They only want properties in certain area / neighbourhoods.

Unfortunately for them, these popular properties has no overhang and it’s close to impossible due to the demand being far too higher versus the supply of the properties. In fact, prices remain high because no one would sell their properties just because we tell them there is overhang property in the market. They may encourage you to buy those overhang properties instead!

Hope this explains.

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.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Thailand as a property destination. Top 5 it seems; higher than Malaysia.

Everyone knows that Chinese (from China) loves to buy properties. They have been buying in Australia, Singapore and more and more into Malaysia these days. (Of course, Malaysian Chinese love properties too, including me) In fact they are buying a lot in Melbourne.

Crazily hot. 28% of Melbourne apartments bought by foreigners

For this article, let’s talk about the Chinese from China.  According to Wason Khongchantr, managing director of Modern Property Consultants Co in an article in
property.bangkokpost.com
, Thailand is top 5 most favourite property destinations for the Chinese after the U.S, Australia, Canada and New Zealand property markets. I know the last one, New Zealand is not so well known while Canada may be because of Hong Kong’s influence too. Let’s just believe what he shared since I have no idea why is New Zealand ranked ahead of Malaysia. Maybe due to currency calculations.

In terms of reasons, there were two reasons stated as to why Thailand is favoured. The property price is cheap and it provides good returns. For this, I think I have to agree. An old college-mate told me she bought an apartment a few years back for less than RM400,000 but her rental returns are in excess of 6 percent per annum. I think generally, apartments in good locations could be rented out to expats because even at RM400,000 the price remains unaffordable to average Thais who would definitely think about getting their own home first instead of an investment one. Taking the BTS (sky train), I saw one property banner saying that the prices start from just 5 million Baht (RM620,000). Location stated is Sukhumvit. I asked my colleague who was with me and she said it is likely to be a smaller unit of lesser than 800 sq ft and just 2 rooms. These would be mostly targeted at expats. Most of our colleagues would not be the target market she added.

As for the top two cities in Thailand which are favoured? Juwai.com reported the following survey results from the Chinese’s preference:Bangkok (29.3%), followed by Chiang Mai (21.8%), Phuket (17.3%), Pattaya and others with 15.8% each. My Thai colleague just told me that there are already some malls within Bangkok that he does not like to visit. He feels as if he is a minority among the many foreigners, mostly Chinese. After 5 days here, I can safely add two awesome reasons why Thailand should be a great destination for properties, especially for the foreigners. The food and the people. I love the food and the service mindset is something which is extremely tough to replicate. Perhaps only Japanese would be equivalent. Anyway, just my personal opinion. Would I buy a property in Thailand? I think the answer is a Yes but I need to read more because it’s not as straightforward as it seems. There are some limitations for foreigners. Happy visiting and buying.

written on 25 May 2017

Next suggested article:
Positive news for emerging markets; that’s us too

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


More Chinese investments will come to Malaysia

I was talking to a good friend a few nights ago during supper of maggi goreng and teh tarik. He said, “the investments from China into Malaysia is a good thing, right?” I said, well we do have two choices. First choice, the Chinese investments into Malaysia are increasing or second choice, Chinese investments are skipping Malaysia and going into other countries instead. He laughed. Seriously, it’s time to understand how to make best of all these investments. Read more about where and what these investments are. In fact if we are developers, it is time we see if there are any joint ventures that we could form or participate in. Typically, these Chinese investments also attract potential investors too. Just look at the
developments in Iskandar
 by the Chinese developers to know that it is happening.

It’s not just me saying so, as Deloitte Malaysia Country tax leader Yee Wing Peng shared that Malaysia is well well-positioned to embrace more Chinese investments. Besides that, the Chinese multinationals (MNCs) are also setting up their regional service centres in Malaysia due to the business and language proficiencies inherent within Malaysians. Full article in The Borneo Post
here
. Yes shared further that there were already several Chinese MNC developers with mega-mixed developments in Malaysia and this will likely bring even more Chinese MNCs to invest here. This is what Country Garden Holding Co Ltd regional vice president, Dr Runze Yap said about the Malaysia-China dynamics. “Malaysia is a great middle ground between China and the Western countries. In terms of policy, Malaysia has maintained a very delicate and well-balanced relationship between China and the US.”

Looking at all the ASEAN countries, it is quite clear there’s just one country where the Chinese investors would feel most at home. Besides Malaysia has a good pool of talents (including me) and infrastructure. It’s best to start understanding why they are coming in instead of
many other ASEAN nations.
 Before everyone start to say that’s simply because of Ringgit weakening, do note that there are CHEAPER neighbouring countries. Plus the ringgit was still the best performing currency in Q1 2016 and all these new investment decisions by China CANNOT have been made just one week ago when ringgit started sliding due to EXPECTATIONS… Anyway, believe whatever we want to believe. Just remember, appropriate actions are necessary.

written on 17 Nov 2016

Next suggested article:
RM55billion for East Coast Rail Line from China

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Why Chinese investors are warming up to Malaysia’s property market

The participation of Chinese developers, especially in Iskandar Malaysia is encouraging. In fact, their plans for Iskandar is nothing like what we have seen before. What about Chinese (China) investors? Are they also warming up to Malaysia’s property market? What do they like, where do they like and why do they buy? Let’s learn from someone who is managing a property portal dedicated to showcasing Malaysian properties beyond just Malaysia, with China as its current main focus. We speak to Ms.Olivia Lim, Chief Executive Officer for
88home.co

Is is true that property markets in China, especially the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are facing an oversupply of homes?

Based on various research reports in the market, the demand for the housing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 city in China is still strong and the pricing is holding well. What China is facing today is more of quality issues of old properties which was built more than 10 years ago is not picking up good pricing and infrastructure issues at certain locations. Other than that, China is a rosy market with unlimited domestic demands. All new launches are still experiencing long queue for registration or bidding which you will not see in other part of the world today.

Chinese (China) buyers are the biggest group buying Australian properties, for example those in Melbourne. Why are their main reasons for buying Australia?

The modern Chinese families of today are sending their children for further education abroad as they believe that there are much more to learn outside the world than just within China. They strongly believe that the younger generations require more exposure and knowledge in order for them to be competitive when they finish their education abroad. Education is close to the heart of Chinese families.

Looking in general context, an ordinary apartment in Tier 3 City in China will cost them an average of RMB 5 million, hence buying a house in Australia is not costing them a lot of money comparative to their income level. Moreover, the Asian culture meant preference to own the property for family members instead of renting since they need to use it for medium to long term.

I would say that the Chinese purchasing power is higher today and their currency is strong enough to allow them to invest in Australia. Australia is a preferred destination because it is an education hub, it has a stable currency, affordability, clean and well managed streets and safe place to have a holiday home. Another primary reason is the availability of significant Asian population living in Australia today for the past 4 decades. This has convinced the Mainland Chinese that living in Australia is easy.

Are these Chinese investors starting to focus their attention at the Malaysian property market? Why are they interested?

Yes, China is a very huge country with 1.38 billion population now. When we take just a fraction of the population, it is huge. Many of these wealthy Chinese may have interest to live in Malaysia due to the existence of Chinese culture for generations, geographical proximity and even the pleasant climate.

In the Northern area of China such as Beijing, Shenyang, Harbin, Shanxi and Hernan, the investors are always looking forward to have a nice holiday home in Malaysia for their elderly during winter time. In China, the weather is very extreme during the winter season, hence owning a house in a
vibrant city such as Kuala Lumpur
 and Penang with lots of food and interesting activities will entice them to enjoy their holiday here. Hence the need for a holiday home.

Besides this, the fast growing
education hub in Petaling Jaya,
 Cyberjaya and Damansara is also another pull factor for the Mainland Chinese to own properties at the said location.

On the other side of Southern China such as Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shantao investors are looking forward to own properties in Malaysia because they view it as an investment and business opportunity. The pricing and freehold / leasehold title of 99 year is something very attractive to them living in Malaysia is considered extremely similar to them as most Malaysian Chinese are decedents from Southern China making it easier for them to do start up businesses too.

Another advantage is that the distance between Southern China and Malaysia is less than 5 hours by flight. This is considered short distance for the mainland Chinese especially when compared to them flying from the southern part to the northern part just within China itself. Hence, Malaysia is a close destination to them.

Are there any specific cities in Malaysia which they love? If it’s for investment purpose, which are the 3 cities in Malaysia that they would start first?

I would say Johor ranks no. 1 for the Mainland Chinese to invest in view of its location right next to Singapore and the Johor Government which is taking many steps to encourage new investments.

Kuala Lumpur is ranked no 2
 in view of the robust business activities and availability of resources for them to carry out new start-ups.
Selangor would complete the top 3 ranking
 due to the availability of education HUB strategically located in this state.

Chinese from mainland China aside, I would say Penang is top ranked for Hong Kong people due to similarities of the sea front properties and density lifestyle. Of course, I must also add that Penang properties are also by far more attractive where pricing is concerned compared to Hong Kong today.

Do you think Malaysian developers are doing enough to attract these Chinese buyers?

Malaysian developers from all the other states except for Johor has not been able to do much because of the lacking of government support in various approval processes and restriction on ownership of properties by foreigners especially in Selangor state and restriction of quota in Negeri Sembilan. The Real Estate Housing Developers Association (REHDA) has already voiced out on numerous occasions on the lack of support but the government is not aligned to the need of property developers.

Hence, property developers are restricted by what they are able to do due to the policies of the state or federal government. I personally believe that for more investments to come in, the state government and federal government may have to pay more attention to the requests from Rehda so that the building industry is able to progress. As we are aware the building industry constitutes approximately 20% of the GDP growth of Malaysia. By restricting the ability of the property developers to sell to foreigners for specific projects or locations this will in turn start a vicious cycle to the entire supply chain and industry.

The other reason that I say Malaysian developers are not doing enough to attract China investors is that they are not moving in the right direction to market their assets to China investors. Besides, they do not have experience in terms of human capital and resources. One major casein point is their inability to handle the language and inquires from the investors in a convincing manner. If they need to start today, they need time to restructure their workforce. The typical planning to implementation stage will take nothing less than half a year to have everything to work out in an orderly manner.

About 88home.co.

88home.co
 is a property portal dedicated to showcasing Malaysian properties beyond just Malaysia, with China as its current main focus. Discover the best way to find properties for sales & rent in Malaysia with 88Home, Malaysia’s Fastest Growing Property Portal. We are offering a new way of doing property search with our user-friendly and user-centric portal as well as authentic search result.

Contacts:

Email –
hello@88home.co

Hotline:
+6012-680 0996

Website :
www.88home.co

Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/88homeco

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Chinese New Year videos. 10 entertaining ones here. Happy viewing and sharing!

In no particular order. I have watched them and I like them. Different messages but all are positive ones yeah.

#1 – Celcom – A Time for All.

#2 – Maxis – The Most Unforgettable Chinese New Year.

#3 – TNB – #realitynotvirtual

#4- AirAsia – The Boy and The Lion

#5 – RHB – The Heart Baker

#6 – GRAB – Huatever you want, Grab got.

#7  – Petronas – Bao Bei

#8 -Etiqa – Little Popo

#9 – MBSB – Never forget our roots

#10 – Coway – Tiny Prayer

Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Holidays! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Chinese New Year SOP – Please follow yeah, for our safety

Chinese New Year SOP just announced by Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He said this is part of the standard operating procedure for Chinese New Year celebrations drawn up by the National Security Council..
Image from thestar.com.my as below.

#1 – Reunion Dinners is only for family members living in the same house.

#2 – No cross border, thus no visits are allowed. (I do believe this meant KL is KL and Selangor is Selangor.)

#3 – Prayers at temples are also not allowed except for five of the temple’s committee members

End of announcement. Of course soon we should have even more details. As of now, I think it is very safe to assume, reunion dinner is best to be served within one’s own home with family members staying in the same house. I am just grateful that all my close family members are safe at home and we could still have family zooms. Let’s look forward to the next Chinese New Year then. Stay safe and stay home. Cheers.

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

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

Next suggested article:
Hotels closing down. End of tourism industry?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


The countries where Chinese love to buy the most. Property.

Should we feel lucky if we are not a top property destination in the world? I would but many who are working to push our property market out to the world may disagree. Anyway, to people without a property yet, I think it is a good news if our property market is not eyed by foreigners. Seriously it is not a good sign if 25 percent of all launches are bought by foreigners.
An earlier article here. 28% of Melbourne’s properties purchased by foreigners.
 No idea if it’s still the same but Australia remains a top 2 city where Chinese love to buy properties in. The list as attached from
juwai.com
 It’s very obvious, the U.S. remains the top spot both by view and by enquiry. Thailand is meanwhile extremely attractive to these Chinese buyers because enquiry wise, it is 3rd most popular! In fact it is well ahead of the UK. Malaysia is just within the top 10 for enquiry probably because we are still cheap, probably. As for those who wants to chip in by saying that we are not attractive at all, I hope you are right for as long as possible. For the sake of the richer Malaysians who are thinking of buying similar properties as the foreigners who are usually restricted to buying more expensive properties anyway.
This is the full article in juwai.com Top 10 Chinese Buyer Picks 2017.

In the article, it quoted Bloomberg as saying that the Chinese buyers continued to buy foreign properties in 2017 despite the stricter outbound investment rules. In fact, the number of property transactions by Chinese have increased in 2017. The only change is that prices and sizes that they bought are lower because their aim is now in emerging investment destinations which are usually more affordable. They still love the U.S. the most followed by Australia, Thailand followed by Canada and the UK. All these countries are favourites based on enquiries. We can safely say that enquiries meant the interest is there. The other countries in the top 10 list for enquiries include New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Vietnam and well, last spot in the top 10 is Malaysia. It reported that Vietnam rose 483 percent to suddenly jump from the 19th in 2016 to the 9th in 2017. Moving on in the report, in comparison to 2016, Thailand’s interest from the Chinese buyers were up 114 percent while Malaysia showed an increase of 64 percent.

Thinking of following these wealthy Chinese in their property investment destinations? Anyway, an earlier report already show
 Thailand as a favourite property destination. Read here.
Meanwhile the favourite property destinations for Malaysians include Singapore, Australia and the UK. Of course, one is a neighbour with lots of ties, the other two are favourite education destinations. This is the survey which says so
HSBC Survey on Malaysian property investors

One recent study showed that the Chinese are also buying into
Malaysia because of education.
Property investment will always be a great way to diversify our investment portfolio. When the wealthy continue to buy properties, it’s not such a good idea if we shun this idea totally. However, buy with caution because a wrong decision will set us back years.

written on 3 March 2018

Next suggested article:
China’s richest woman and Australia’s second richest? property related

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


The “chirping” Singaporeans in Iskandar

A WhatsApp friend sent this to me many years ago, even before Ringgit was at current low point versus the S$. “Why do Singaporeans make chirping sounds when they are in Iskandar?’ Naturally, no one knew how to answer. The answer? The Singaporeans would keep saying, ‘wah… very cheap… very cheap…’ So, in brief, they are ‘chirping’ all the time as soon as they reach Johor Bahru (JB). Well, every report I read or economists would tell me that the S$ would continue to be strong versus the Ringgit. Question is only how strong.

What could possibly happen with such a strong currency? Well, Malaysians who are working in Singapore could save and buy more Malaysian properties. Singaporean retirees who would like to stretch their money by at least 3 times could also choose to stay in Malaysia instead. In order to be near enough to their homeland, perhaps Iskandar would be one strong option. The High Speed Rail may or may not change this but the dates seem to get further away as many decisions remain pending currently. Read here:
Singapore Transport Ministry: Not yet ‘true,’ still discussing
  I would of course also like to propose one more option. Singapore – Penang. It’s just an hour away by flight…. Read here:
Middle income Singaporean household and Penang connection

There’s no need to promote Ipoh. It’s already a better option. Better food too. Haha.

In one recent article in The Edge by Ryan Khoo, it was stated that the median age for Singaporeans today is 40. This actually meant that one very real option for life after retirement would have to be in Malaysia and most probably in a nice condominium overlooking Singapore, perhaps. Reason is very simple, taking just the lowest possible inflation rate times the HDB flat’s prices for the next 25 years until these people retire and you would get what I mean. The living costs would be high by then and with their HDB flat, it meant that they ares sitting on a pile of very valuable currency. Utilising it for a bigger living space right across the causeway so that they are still near their family and friends? Probably.

According to Ryan, some other reasons for the Singaporean retirees to consider Iskandar? Healthcare options in Malaysia which remains attractive. I know this very well because I had an appendicitis operation in Singapore when I suffered immense pain during my business trip to Singapore just 2 years ago. The price difference? RM10,000 that I had to top up for my medical bill…. We are only talking about appendicitis…..

There’s also the High Speed Rail and the rapid transit system too. They will definitely improve the links between both countries instead of the current crazy jams every time there’s a holiday and during peak hours every working day. The game changer is however more links and not just waiting for all these new infrastructures which will be taking a long, long time.

All these are not that important if we are earning within the top 10 percent in Singapore today. If we are the top 10 percent, I think it’s possible to retire in even more exotic places and not necessary to be in Singapore. However, for the middle income retirees, whatever savings would be extremely important. Relying on their children who may also be struggling is not a beautiful option.   Face it objectively. Happy working hard for the next 25 years. In the mean time, save and invest.

written on 11 Jan 2016

Next suggested article:
Don’t simply buy Iskandar property because…..

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Choices, choices, choices, really.

Cost of living is increasing. I would not want to deny this. However, for those who are earning more than the typical Malaysians, there are choices, really. I wanted to get a Mocca Latte Ice because it was a hot day a few days ago. There were two choices. Either at Library Cafe or Krispy Kreme. One was at RM13 and another was only at RM11. Guess which I chose? Well, I did ask the barista, ‘is your mocca latte’ better than the one over there?’ He told me that he would make mine better than the one over there. He added one extra shot of coffee for FREE. Haha. Choices plus a bit of persuasion. It works, most of the time.

Anyway, while I was waiting, I saw a RM9 cola. Take a look at the image. One would be the usual Coca-Cola which is world famous. Another one is a brand that I have never heard of but from the packaging and the price, I would believe it to be a premium brand. So, which one do you think people would choose? Well, if I am alone, I would take the usual but if I happen to be with someone I wanted to impress, I would try out the RM9 Cola instead. Oh yeah, if I am alone, I would venture into the supermarket next door instead because a can of Coca-Cola would not exceed RM2.

These choices do not only exist for beverages but for many things that we intend to buy. In fact even properties! There are lots of expensive branded and new properties but there are also many cheaper alternatives which are less favoured perhaps because it’s old, it’s further away and there’s no mall in the vicinity. For those areas everyone loves, is already fully valued, just like blue chip stocks. The key is to know what are
good enough but not many people wanted it yet
.
 Happy choosing.

written on 23 May 2016

next suggested article:
Bangsar South? Reasons and choices

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Choices, we do have them, don’t we?

Personal finance issue? This is a never ending statement regardless of the government of the day. 😛 . “Cost of living is increasing.” As a Malaysian, I could not deny this fact. When I was way younger, a bowl of noodle was RM2.20 and in some out of city places, it’s RM1.80. I know because I cycled to buy noodles for my late grandmother every morning a long time ago. Those were the days when a 9 year old is trusted enough to cycle to go and buy noodles by himself. RM5 was enough for two packets. Today, RM5 is usually not enough for even one.

However, for those who are earning more than the typical Malaysians, there are choices, really. I wanted to get a Mocca Latte Ice because it was a hot day a few days ago. There were two choices. Either at Library Cafe or Krispy Kreme. One was at RM13 and another was only at RM11. Guess which I chose? Well, I did ask the barista, ‘is your mocca latte’ better than the one over there?’ He told me that he would make mine better than the one over there. He added one extra shot of coffee for FREE. Haha. Choices plus a bit of persuasion. It works, most of the time.

Anyway, while I was waiting, I saw a RM9 cola in the fridge shelf. Take a look at the image. The bottom hald would be the usual Coca-Cola which is world famous. Another one is a brand that I have never heard of but from the packaging and the price, I would believe it to be a premium brand. So, which one do you think people would choose? Well, if I am alone, I would take the usual but if I happen to be with someone I wanted to impress, I would try out the RM9 Cola instead. Oh yeah, if I am alone, I would venture into the supermarket next door instead because a can of Coca-Cola would not exceed RM2.

If we think on a longer term basis, these choices do not only exist for beverages but for many things that we intend to buy. When we continue to make choices where we are spending more, then of course we have less in the end. In fact, bankruptcy among Malaysians are rising. Earlier article here:
16,000 Malaysians go bankrupt every year .

Okay, this applies for even properties! There are lots of expensive branded and new properties but there are also many cheaper alternatives which are less favoured perhaps because it’s old, it’s further away and there’s no mall in the vicinity. For those areas everyone loves, is already fully valued, just like blue chip stocks. The key is to know what are
good enough but not many people wanted it yet
.
 Choices, choices and choices. Happy choosing 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:
Okay, we do not wish to own a car. What about property then?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Choosing a good tenant with 10 tips from Charles

Before I start, I need to remind everyone again that there is really such a thing as “Law of Attraction.” Somehow, we always seem to attract many people who’s just like us. Our friends… our colleagues… our tenants… Be good to people, usually they will be good to us too. I give you a real conversation as below with one awesome tenant in KK.

Tenant:  I realised the door knob on the master bedroom is broken. May I get it fixed?

My wife: Yes please get it fixed. The cost for the change or repair or whatever, just let me know. I can tt you or you can take it out from the rental.

Note: Tenant did not say how much. My wife also did not ask how much or set a limit. This tenant has NEVER needed reminder on rent since the first month. Trust element was established earlier on.

A few days later.

Tenant:  Just wanted to let you know that after work today, I went to buy a new door knob and fixed it already. (Took a photo and sent to my wife via Whatsapp)

My wife: This is good. Let me know if you prefer me to tt you or you prefer to reduce the amount from rental.

Tenant: No need lah. It’s only RM16 for the knob and I managed to fix it by myself.

We were also very nice to him too

Tenant really appreciated all our gestures too. Example, when air-con was not working well, we immediately get the technician to check and replace the aircon when the cost of repair is half the cost of buying a new one. From the day tenant told us until the new aircon was fixed was 72 hours…

I cannot say 100% of all my tenants are good people but I can safely say 80% are awesome people (rental on time within first few days of new month, no need reminders… ) and another 10% are okay people (a little more demanding). Remaining 10% is best to forget and we will do our best to choose the tenants too. Here are 10 tips to choose that tenant too.

Remember, the extra money is not going to be worth the many, many months of headache in the near future. Here are 10 things to think about when choosing our potential tenant. (renting out fully furnished)

1. The Don’t Like at First Sight type.
If you do not have a good feeling about the potential tenant during the first meeting itself. Note, this is not like meeting your potential husband. There’s no need to try and go out a few times and see what happens. This is JUST a tenant. If you don’t like, don’t rent. There is NO need to try to ‘give chance’ and evaluate before rejecting. Remember, ‘ejecting’ them will be very hard in the future.

2. The Unrealistic Negotiator type.
After the viewing, they try their best to negotiate for a VERY much lower price by commenting that your home is way below their expectations. Alternatively, they ask far too many extras. Well, if it’s really that bad, it is better for them to view other cheaper units. For this type, I think they are just too calculative. Since I am not one, I would not rent out my unit to one.

3. The ‘Don’t Care’ type.
Sorry but I really mind a lot about those who do not even take care of how they smell. Messy perhaps. Drunk the night before, perhaps. Did not wash their clothes? Perhaps. Whatever, the perhaps may be does not matter. These are not my choice too. Even if they had just come from the gym, they should have taken a shower before coming for viewing. If I know how to respect people, they should also know how to respect me.

4. The Secretive type.
Come on, questions such as what do you do for living SHOULD be answered easily and directly. As the homeowner, I have no issues telling you what I do for a living but if you could not do the same, I think there’s something wrong with you. I know, I know, even if they could tell me, they could be lying. For that, I would have to just admit I was fooled… Else, your job should NOT be a secret.

5. The Threatening type.
Before they even come for the first viewing, they ask for lower rental. They would not want to view unless you lower your rental. Fat chance, please try on others. I will never price myself out of the market for fully furnished but without even viewing you are already trying to negotiate lower? Just a note, fully furnished units mean they can move in just with their luggage…

6. The Missing in Action type.
It’s hard to at least meet them once. They ask their agents / friends / anyone else to be the middleman. It’s okay, just let them be. I usually prefer to meet my potential tenants before I say Yes. These days, it’s possible for a video call too. I am very sure they want to know who their homeowner is, right. If it’s hard to meet them the first time, when you need to meet them in future, it would be almost impossible.

7. The Complaining Type.
When you started asking, they started telling you that they were looking for a new place because their previous landlord was VERY BAD. It may be true, so asking them to explain why their landlord was bad may also reveal why their landlords were bad to them. Until today, I think my tenants’ relationships with me has been quite good. Somehow, all of them are successful people!

8. The ‘pretend to be’ Foolish type.
They came to view, knowing it is a fully furnished unit. After the viewing, they ask if they could rent the unit without the furniture. If you say no, they would most probably say, how about lowering your rental. I do not need this, this and that. Apologies. I would not negotiate at all. I would let them loose. I think they deserve a better landlord who would move the furniture out for them and after moving the furniture out is willing to charge them lower rental.

9. The Second secretive type.
When we ask them how many people are staying, they have to think for a while before answering. It would be good to include this into the tenancy agreement if they have informed us the number. I am worried if they are going to sub-let my place and turn it into some crisis relief centre or a student ‘megamall’. Couples who are both working would be great.

10. The ‘Not-Enough-Money’ type.
 They asked if they can pay just one month advance and one month rental. The another month deposit, they want to pay later. This was an actual tenant issue for me. I was foolish to accept what the tenant said. Within a few months, she has started to delay and then ‘forgotten’ to pay! Fortunately it was settled after a few months. I would not want to rent to these people ever again!

Other notes. A GOOD tenancy agreement is a must.
Here’s an important article written by my good friend, Ron Ong.
Malaysia does not have a Tenancy Act at the moment though the government is saying that it is something in progress. If the tenant says there is no need lah. Then, I will say ‘don’t wantlah.’

My property may be worth a few hundred thousands if not more. The rental is likely to be just a thousand or thousands of ringgit every month. The risk versus return is just too high yeah. If the tenant turned out to be a ‘devil,’ it will take me a very long time before I could remove them, legally. Welcome to the world of owner and tenant.

If we are engaging a real estate negotiator to help us rent out our few hundred thousand home, please ask them to at least read through the below tips too. While potential tenants could still fool the best precautions from owners but as usual, better minimize the potential risks before they happen. Stop using the slow market as an excuse to relax our guard and simply rent to any Tom, Dick and Harry okay.

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:
2022 as per Feng Shui experts? Here are their predictions

written on 18 Aug 2019. Latest Edit 30 Jan 2022.

Header Image by
Click on 👍🏼👍🏼, consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗
 from
Pixabay

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


10 logical tips when choosing a good tenant for your expensive property.

We need to realize that even though it is not the best time for home owners when it comes to renting out their home,
choosing a good tenant
 is still critical because there are just too many horror stories about tenants from hell. Okay, there are also homeowners from hell but that’s another article. I have rented out my properties in 6 cities / towns in Malaysia thus far.

If we are engaging a real estate negotiator to help us rent out our few hundred thousand home, please ask them to at least read through the below tips too. While potential tenants could still fool the best precautions from owners but as usual, better minimize the potential risks before they happen. Stop using the slow market as an excuse to relax our guard and simply rent to any Tom, Dick and Harry okay.

Remember, the extra money is not going to be worth the many, many months of headache in the near future. Here are 10 things to think about when choosing our potential tenant. (renting out fully furnished)

1. The Don’t Like at First Sight type.
If you do not have a good feeling about the potential tenant during the first meeting itself.  Note, this is not like meeting your potential husband. There’s no need to try and go out a few times and see what happens. This is JUST a tenant. If you don’t like, don’t rent. There is NO need to try to ‘give chance’ and evaluate before rejecting. Remember, ‘ejecting’ them will be very hard in the future.

2. The Unrealistic Negotiator type.
After the viewing, they try their best to negotiate for a VERY much lower price by commenting that your home is way below their expectations. Alternatively, they ask far too many extras. Well, if it’s really that bad, it is better for them to view other cheaper units. For this type, I think they are just too calculative. Since I am not one, I would not rent out my unit to one.

3. The ‘Don’t Care’ type.
Sorry but I really mind a lot about those who do not even take care of how they smell. Messy perhaps. Drunk the night before, perhaps. Did not wash their clothes? Perhaps. Whatever, the perhaps may be does not matter. These are not my choice too. Even if they had just come from the gym, they should have taken a shower before coming for viewing. If I know how to respect people, they should also know how to respect me.

4. The Secretive type.
Come on, questions such as what do you do for living SHOULD be answered easily and directly. As the homeowner, I have no issues telling you what I do for a living but if you could not do the same, I think there’s something wrong with you. I know, I know, even if they could tell me, they could be lying. For that, I would have to just admit I was fooled… Else, your job should NOT be a secret.

5. The Threatening type.
Before they even come for the first viewing, they ask for lower rental. They would not want to view unless you lower your rental. Fat chance, please try on others. I will never price myself out of the market for fully furnished but without even viewing you are already trying to negotiate lower? Just a note, fully furnished units mean they can move in just with their luggage…

6. The Missing in Action type.
It’s hard to at least meet them once. They ask their agents / friends / anyone else to be the middleman. It’s okay, just let them be. I usually prefer to meet my potential tenants before I say Yes. These days, it’s possible for a video call too. I am very sure they want to know who their homeowner is, right. If it’s hard to meet them the first time, when you need to meet them in future, it would be almost impossible.

7. The Complaining Type.
When you started asking, they started telling you that they were looking for a new place because their previous landlord was VERY BAD. It may be true, so asking them to explain why their landlord was bad may also reveal why their landlords were bad to them. Until today, I think my tenants’ relationships with me has been quite good. Somehow, all of them are successful people!

8. The ‘pretend to be’ Foolish type.
They came to view, knowing it is a fully furnished unit. After the viewing, they ask if they could rent the unit without the furniture. If you say no, they would most probably say, how about lowering your rental. I do not need this, this and that. Apologies. I would not negotiate at all. I would let them loose. I think they deserve a better landlord who would move the furniture out for them and after moving the furniture out is willing to charge them lower rental.

9. The Second secretive type.
When we ask them how many people are staying, they have to think for a while before answering. It would be good to include this into the tenancy agreement if they have informed us the number. I am worried if they are going to sub-let my place and turn it into some crisis relief centre or a student ‘megamall’. Couples who are both working would be great.

10. The ‘Not-Enough-Money’ type.
 They asked if they can pay just one month advance and one month rental. The another month deposit, they want to pay later. This was an actual tenant issue for me. I was foolish to accept what the tenant said. Within a few months, she has started to delay and then ‘forgotten’ to pay!  Fortunately it was settled after a few months. I would not want to rent to these people ever again!

Other notes. A GOOD tenancy agreement is a must.
Here’s an important article written by my good friend, Ron Ong.
Malaysia does not have a Tenancy Act at the moment though the government is saying that it is something in progress. If the tenant says there is no need lah. Then, I will say ‘don’t wantlah.’

My property may be worth a few hundred thousands ir not more. The rental is likely to be just a thousand or thousands of ringgit every month. The risk versus return is just too high yeah. If the tenant turned out to be a ‘devil,’ it will take me a very long time before I could remove them, legally. Welcome to the world of owner and tenant.

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:

written on 18 Aug 2019. Edited on 4th May 2021.

Next suggested article:
4 reasons renting out fully furnished worked for me

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


CIMB, RHB, MBSB potential merger. Just 1 cent view.

Just plain simple point of view from me. The reasons below are why more mergers should happen sooner and not later. No merger can happen within 6 months and no significant benefits from the merger can be felt, at least for the next 12-18 months.

Competitiveness. Everyone say, with these mergers, there would be less choices and thus, less competitive. I am not sure what they meant because it is due to competitiveness that these banks are merging. Based on the competitive landscape today, the foreign banks are getting bolder, stronger, bigger and none of them are going to close down their branches and move to other countries. If the local banks continue to think that they are safe despite their size, that as long as they are efficient, they are fine, then the management are really not thinking right. Be ready, competition will continue to rise. There’s no guarantee that I will go CIMB or Maybank or Public Bank for my mortgage. I may just use Citibank or HSBC or even OCBC! OCBC is small when compared to HSBC but OCBC is still many times bigger than Maybank of today!

Timing and Pricing.  Some said, this is not the best time. Can anyone tell me when is the best time to do the merging? Yesterday? Tomorrow? 2 years and 8 days later?  Personally, the best time for any company to pursue a merger is when they are doing well. Thus every party has something to offer. If one party is by far weaker or is in distress, it’s best called acquisition, not merger. All the three banks pursuing this are doing well thus far. Let them negotiate and if everything goes well, let them proceed. Unless of course you have a better option, then suggest it. It’s so easy to be an armchair critic, in fact the best armchair critic is the one who knows nothing. “If you know a lot, then you know that you know little. If you know little, you think you know the world.”

Why not Maybank? If you can ask that, then why not CIMB? Why not Public Bank? Why not Hong Leong bank? In fact, why not a merger with OCBC, then it becomes a huge Malaysia-Singapore bank? There’s no end to possibilities. Why not just RHB and CIMB and skip MBSB, since it’s not significant? I think you get my meaning. The reason why this became big was because another issue has just been politicised despite the benefits from it. Sure, there are disadvantages, but for this one particular case I think it benefits all the three banks to be More Efficient (focus on quality not quantity; cost savings) and More Effective (bigger, thus further reach).

Please do not say that certain bank is more efficient than the certain bigger bank. In today’s world, even if you are one iconic sports car brand like Porsche, Lamborghini or even AUDI you can just be bought over by a huge car manufacturer like Volkswagen which is already the case. Some online companies have NO profits, merely using the public’s money but they are buying many of those efficiently run companies and that’s a fact, whether you want to read or chose to skip reading it.

written on 17 July 2014

Next suggested article:
Bubble is still brewing in Malaysia? – Some reasons given.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Merger is off. CIMB, RHB, MBSB.

I have written about this earlier. Read here:
CIMB, RHB, MBSB potential merger. Just 1 cent view.
  Let me conclude it for now since the merger has since been called off. Majority of all the reports are relieved that the merger did not go through. To them, the market situation has changed. The merger would no longer provide such a huge cost savings anymore. The staffs who would have been offered severance packages may choose not to accept it as it may be harder to find a new job under current situation. One report even mentioned that the staffs of RHB Capital Bhd happy that this deal is finally called off. It said that for Maybank, their senior managers are unhappy because if the merger had happened, Maybank would be able to gain from CIMB, RHB and MBSB’s distraction from the integration process.

Sorry, I beg to differ. I feel that irregardless of the market situation, the merger should proceed. For this particular case, I think just too many people were opposing it and all the three parties felt that perhaps all these people who were objecting may be right. If they have proceeded, perhaps it may bring too much negative energy into the three organisations and this may caused the whole process to take not just a lengthy period but the business may be affected. I have no idea but since everyone has said many things about this merger, I would like to also say my share.

When we look at how the world is evolving, it meant that banks must continue to restructure to be LEANER. Just look at the recent Standard Chartered’s case. It cut 4,000 jobs all over the world. Read here:
4,000 cut, locked out even
. This is definitely not the last case that will happen to banks all over the world, especially the more traditional ones where internet has never been a huge strategy. For Malaysia, CIMB, Maybank has been at the forefront of internet banking. Both their online banking sites are ranked very high in Malaysia. This meant that sooner or later, the cuts would still happen.  Now, imagine if three banks are merging and it becomes leaner so that it’s more competitive for the future. For now, the merger of 3 is no longer happening but I think the next proposal is not that far away. CIMB or Maybank would definitely be interested in other smaller banks. We will see.

written on 17 Jan 2015

Next suggested article:
China, the new ‘World Bank’?

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


“You complete me.” Sungai Buloh and Putrajaya lines say to Circle Line a.k.a MRT Line 3

MRT Line 2 or Putrajaya Line is progressing well. MRT Line 3 a.k.a Circle Line will start second half of 2021!

I love our MRT Lines, all of them. I especially think that MRT Line 3 a.k.a Circle Line is a must. I am happy that the Circle Line will begin construction this second half of 2021. Of course I also hope that everything which has been announced will be delivered and that we would not keep having changes in decisions again and again and again… When it comes to public transport, it is an enabler of economic activities and this is a priority in the budget especially if we are looking at economic catalysts.

Let’s remember that there were once people who were against Petronas Twin Towers as excessive… or even KLIA as too expensive but today the economic catalysts from both have definitely far exceeded the costs of building them. Let’s now look at what the government is saying with regards to the Circle Line.

Article in malaymail.com
  Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong says that the ministry has given Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) three months to update the studies that have been conducted previously on the implementation of the project, to be presented to the cabinet. He said, “In the recent cabinet meeting, the government has agreed to go ahead with the MRT3 Circle Line and MRT Corp was given three months to update the studies which include the cost of this project.”

As for Putrajaya MRT line (MRT Line 2), Wee said the project has reached 97 per cent in construction progress, and is expected to begin operations in August. The final remaining 3 percent is only for testing and commissioning of mechanical and electrical systems as well as trial operations. Meanwhile the second phase of Putrajaya Line from Kampung Batu to Putrajaya will start operations in January 2023. The full
Article in malaymail.com

Image source:
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/06/375419/mrt-ceo-mrt3-project-should-be-carried-out-future-close-loop

Future changes should not delay MRT Line 3 again

The situation seems fluid and everyday we have the never-ending political news. Whoever wins (whether this year or next year or in 2023), please understand that these MRT Lines work TOGETHER and therefore, the focus should be on how to make it work very well. Stay focused. Surely we have many good people who can ensure that happens.

Already we have delayed and now have even stopped the High Speed Rail (HSR) and some reasons were given why it could not happen currently but if you ask me again, I would still think HSR is needed. Unfortunately for Malaysia, this has been shelved and we have yet to hear of the latest update to what would happen next.

Well, for now at least I could go and take the Circle Line in August 2021. See some of you on the train yeah.

Love news like this and more?
Sign up for daily investment news updates.

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:
My property is just xxx metres away from the LRT / MRT. Well, here’s one within metres away!

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Cities with potential property bubble bursting?

Someone searched in google.com for this term yesterday “not a safe investment Malaysia 2018” and was referred to
kopiandproperty.com
  Perhaps this person wanted to know if the property bubble is indeed bursting in
2018 as predicted by some property experts?

Too bad, I am just a normal working Malaysians like majority so I can only read and share what I learnt from many different sources. Oh yeah, should you want to know the
signs of property bubble, here’s a few very important ones.

Coming back to potential property bubble bursting, I asked my best friend Google and he pointed me to this article with some predictions based on some numbers over the past few years. Red coloured boxes are those with high potential for bubble bursting property market. Yellow means they are overvalued. Green means okay while investors in the U.S must quickly buy in Chicago as it’s listed as undervalued.

Source:
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/real-estate-bubbles-8-global-cities-risk/

Malaysia is not listed. So, where are we? We are definitely still a small property market as at today. 🙂  Just in case someone wants to say, ‘that’s because no one wants to buy Kuala Lumpur properties,’ then let me just point out that Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane is also not listed. 🙂  Manchester, Shanghai, Beijing and many more too. Sometimes, let’s not think too much yeah. Coming back to the
 article in visualcapitalist.com
 The question posed by the writer is very relevant. “But what happens when too many people pile into a “safe” asset?” The writer quoted UBS’s report that certain cities have seen prices rise at rates that are potentially not sustainable – and eight of these financial centers are at risk of having real estate bubbles that could eventually deflate. UBS says that annual increases at a 10% clip would lead to the doubling of prices every seven years and this is not unsustainable. Please do read the
full report here with many other links yeah.

Three things we may want to take note when it comes to property investment. Number 1. Just because the name is a much more famous one does not mean there’s no bubble. There will always be a limit to how high it could go before people realise there are cheaper potential investments elsewhere. Number 2. Do not think of the Malaysian property market as a major one because we are still far away from the radar of most of the international property investors. This is definitely a good thing. Number 3. If we think of Singapore as that benchmark for Kuala Lumpur or
Iskandar or Penang or Kota Kinabalu

since it’s nearest to us, then is is worth nothing that Singapore is still growing today. By the way, I would think both Bangkok and Jakarta to be a much more significant property market than Singapore in the future. Within Bangkok itself, there’s 8.3 million population while in Jakarta, there’s 9.7 million. Happy that Kuala Lumpur is not listed? Why not. Happy following.

written on 22 Feb 2018

Next suggested article:
Global property bubble about to pop? Pop means kaboom!

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


The theme was “townships for the future.” It was in conjunction with Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50). According to Dato’ Sri Amrin Awaluddin, Sime Darby Property Group Managing Director, what Sime Darby Property wants to do is to maximise the full potential of green spaces, affordable and sustainable living, excellent connectivity, and a smart and safe city. The overall plan was an impressive one. In fact the scale of City of Elmina is 5,000 acre and the current estimated gross development value is RM27 billion. There are purpose-built cycling tracks which is 90km in length!  After looking at the damage that a major flood could do to cities in Malaysia and around the world, it is worth nothing that The Elmina has a Central Park which will function as a dry park for everyone and transforming into a floodplain when there’s a potential flooding happening. It says that the whole 300-acre Elmina Central Park can help mitigate a 1,000-year flood. (What is 1,000-year flood definition?
Referring to USGS.gov
 – “The term “1000-year flood” means that, statistically speaking, a flood of that magnitude (or greater) has a 1 in 1000 chance of occurring in any given year.  In terms of probability, the 1000-year flood has a 0.1% chance of happening in any given year.” In brief, it means a super major flood. Please do read the press release for full details.

Reported by kopiandproperty.com’s junior reporter,
MMY
 from attendance at the launch.

Press Release by Sime Darby Property.

From TN50 Aspirations to Realisation: Sime Darby Property Launches City Of Elmina – Townships for the Future

SHAH ALAM, 16 January 2018 –
Sime Darby Property today launched its first initiative towards achieving Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) through the sustainable development of the City of Elmina, a model township for the future. This is part of Sime Darby Property’s efforts to support the country’s vision of becoming a top 20 nation in economic development, social advancement and innovation by 2050.

This is in line with the aspirations collected during the TN50 Youth Initiative on sustainability, which includes greener and more sustainable developments, affordable housing and high quality living standards as well as the responsible stewardship of our forests and natural resources. Since January 2017, the TN50 Youth Initiative has reached out to more than 1.7 million Malaysian youths of all backgrounds through dialogues, workshops and online channels; collecting over 60,000 unique aspirations.

Minister of Youth & Sports YB Khairy Jamaluddin officiated the collaboration between Sime Darby Property and TN50 witnessed by YABhg. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia’s Fifth Prime Minister and Advisor to the Board of Trustees of Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre Bhd (TRCRC), YABhg. Tun Jeanne Abdullah, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TRCRC, YBhg. Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman of Sime Darby Property, YBhg. Dato’ Lokman Hakim Ali, Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, En. Johan Mahmood Merican Deputy Director General, Economic Planning Unit & Head, TN50 Special Unit, and YBhg. Dato’ Sri Amrin Awaluddin, Sime Darby Property Group Managing Director.

YB Khairy
 said, “We applaud the initiative by Sime Darby Property Berhad to participate in the TN50 with the theme “Townships for the Future”. Through various engagements and dialogues with Malaysian youths of diverse backgrounds, we recognise their aspirations for smart development, environmental protection, seamless connectivity and affordable housing. The City of Elmina fulfils these aspirations with distinction through its all-inclusive master plan that will inspire other sustainable and revolutionary developments for the future.”

In conjunction with Sime Darby Property’s partnership with TN50, the 36-acre Elmina Community Park located in Elmina West was named the “Elmina TN50 Community Park
*
”. YB Khairy also planted a time capsule containing aspirational messages written by event attendees, which will be opened in 2050.

Amrin
 said, “Our development projects in City of Elmina bear the hallmark of Sime Darby Property’s unique value proposition, as a leading developer in developing sustainable communities. The developments in City of Elmina are part of Sime Darby Property’s master plan to maximise the full potential of green spaces, affordable and sustainable living, excellent connectivity, and a smart and safe city which are in line with TN50’s vision for the future.”

“We are pleased to play a key role in supporting this long term initiative for the future of the nation and applaud the government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports in carrying out the TN50 efforts. Our sustainable and innovative developments in City of Elmina is testament to our efforts in offering a model township for the wellness and healthy lifestyle of future generations.”

City of Elmina is a 5,000-acre themed township development by Sime Darby Property with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM27 billion and includes the Denai Alam, Bukit Subang, Elmina East and Elmina West townships. Strategically located along the Guthrie Corridor Expressway and highly accessible via several major highways and main routes such as the NKVE, LATAR, NSE and the upcoming DASH highway, the township offers seamless inter-connectivity and accessibility. City of Elmina is also planned with public transport connectivity, with a proposed line extension from My Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh depot and a proposed LRT extension from the Subang Jaya City Centre.

City of Elmina is the first township dedicated to wellness and liveability in Malaysia, planned and developed in line with specifications set out by Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey, an internationally recognised standard that measures liveability.

In addition to the 90 kilometres cycling and jogging track which is one of the longest tracks in the country, a key design feature within the well-planned and integrated City of Elmina is the designated 300-acre Elmina Central Park located at the most prime area within the development in Elmina West, for the public to enjoy the park and at the same time connect them to the existing forest reserve.

In total, there are five precinct parks within the Elmina Central Park – community park, forest park, cultural park, urban park, and sports park – with each of them promoting the township’s key pillars of wellness namely Community Wellness, Mind Wellness, Physical Wellness, Family Wellness and Environmental Wellness.

City of Elmina will also preserve endangered trees. Sime Darby Property, TRCRC, and the Hulu Selangor Forestry Department came together to identify and collect endangered, rare and threatened (ERT) plant species and plant them within our forest park. Residents and the general public will be able to visit the ‘Knowledge Centre’ in the forest park to learn more about these ERT plant species and our rainforest.

The Elmina Central Park is designed in the shape of a basin; when there is no rain, it will function as a dry park. In the event of heavy rain and flooding, the water level will increase and overflow into the green areas of the central park, which has been designed to mitigate a 1,000-year flood – the whole 300-acres Elmina Central Park can be temporarily flooded, becoming a great floodplain.

In addition, Sime Darby Property collaborated with the United Nations and the Public Works Department to build energy efficient homes. For example, Tiana bungalows in City of Elmina have features such as solar-powered hot water systems, insulated roof and walls and rainwater harvesting.

Upcoming launches at the City of Elmina for 2018 include double storey link homes and semi-D residential units in Denai Alam and the second phase of Elmina Green double storey link homes in Elmina West.

Updates on Sime Darby Property activities and developments can be found on
simedarbyproperty.com
, Facebook (
facebook.com/SimeDarbyProperty
), Instagram (
instagram.com/SimeDarbyProperty
) and the Sime Darby Property Mobile App (available for download via the App Store and Google Play).

*
 Subject to authorities approval

—  end of press release —

Next suggested article:
Sime Darby’s affordable housing project in City of Elmina

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Press Release: City Expo Malaysia 2021 Officially Launched

City Expo Malaysia (CEM) 2021, organised by Nextdor Property Communications in partnership with Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP), was officially launched today, opening its virtual doors to the public.

CEM director Imran Clyde said Nextdor’s partnership with MIP was born from a vision to better Malaysian cities as they mimic an intricate ecosystem, and it is crucial to consider the impact of every decision that goes into city planning.

“Decisions made today can have significant, far-reaching impacts so it’s important to think about how we plan, design and manage our cities.

“We now have the tools, however we need as many citizens and stakeholders to come on board to explore and connect with us to look for ideas and solutions to tackle urban issues,” he said.

The month-long exhibition which kicked off on November 8, 2021 will see over 120 presentations by speakers from around the Southeast Asian region throughout its five-day forum, as well as five local and international events, most notably the Placemaker Awards ASEAN (PAA) 2021.

The first of its kind in the region, PAA 2021 is aimed at recognising the best creators and managers of vibrant and inclusive public spaces as well as celebrating the diversity of places in Southeast Asia.

Other major events are the National Planning Congress hosted by MIP, Young Planners Forum, CAP Awards and Mayors Forum which is by invitation only.

In his welcoming speech, CEM chairman Hj Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar said even with advancements in communication technology, hosting an expo during the recovery phase from the aftereffects of the global pandemic remains a challenge, but it is essential to overcome the obstacles in order to keep learning and sharing knowledge.

“Despite the challenges, we are adamant that they should not impede the progress and efforts we have made towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

“To ensure we do not lose momentum and stray from our true north to establish a “Prosperous, Inclusive and Sustainable Malaysia” in accordance with the 12th Malaysia Plan, a sharing and learning platform such as CEM 2021 is fundamental,” he said.

Ihsan also expressed his hope that CEM 2021 would encourage a deeper and global support and comradeship for cities throughout the recovery period.

“The intellectual brainstorming, open discourse and sharing sessions by professional advocates is the crux to a mitigation plan, especially when faced with a novel challenge that is still foreign to us,” he added.

CEM 2021 coincides with the 100th year of town planning established in Malaysia and the World Town Planning Day which falls on November 8, when planners in over 30 countries celebrate by hosting and engaging in activities to raise awareness about the importance of town planning in the communities.

MIP president Hjh Noraida Saludin said in her opening address that urban planning is essential in helping cities to grow, improving quality of life, transforming the economy and even predicting disasters.

“We need to listen better, especially to the communities and those likely to be affected by our planning, and be open and honest about what works, and what doesn’t.

“We need to look at innovative ways to create a holistic planning approach, that utilises technological innovation and data analytics, with a very conscious mind that whatever we do, it is in the interest of the local communities and the public at large,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) secretary general Datuk M. Noor Azman Taib in his officiating speech said the drop in income and living standards, mental health issues and domestic violence have become more apparent, leading the ministry to focus on living standards of the poor and urban sustainability to ensure a conducive living environment for the community and making Liveable Malaysia or Malaysia Berdaya Huni as its main agenda towards a successful “Malaysian Family” concept.

“Liveability is no longer about adequate provision and affordability of housing but availability and conduciveness of the living environment.

“Pursuant to that, reviving abandoned housing projects and reviewing issues currently impeding the completion of housing projects is currently our priority,” he said.

Azman added that Malaysia has made a commitment to become carbon neutral earliest by 2050 with “advancing sustainability” as one of the RMK 12 themes.

“Thus, KPKT is supporting the “Waste Eco Parks” (WEP) initiative; targeting waste recycling, recovery and treatment activities by the solid waste processing industries.

“With the WEP in place, we hope it will generate investments in facilities and infrastructure towards holistic waste management activities which in turn will also contribute to the national economy,” he said.

During the launch, CEM also awarded its Star Awards for individuals identified and recognised for their impactful contributions to sustainable city planning in Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall mayor Datuk Seri Haji Mahadi Che Ngah was awarded the CEM Gold Star Award, while Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) CEO Datuk Ismail Ibrahim was awarded the CEM Platinum Star Award for their major contributions in developing their respective cities to be liveable and sustainable.

CEM 2021 consists of 16 urbanism themes which revolve around sustainability, emphasising diverse objectives ranging from liveability to low carbon city.

To attend the one month virtual expo starting from 8
th
 November till December 8, 2021 , visit
www.cityexpomalaysia.com
 to register and you’ll be taken right into the virtual expo for free.

-End of press release-

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:
Expo to celebrate town planning

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


City of Dreams launching soon, Penang.

Yes, I think majority are reading this because of the title. Nope, this is not a casino somewhere in the world even though there’s a City of Dreams casino in the Philippines. This City of Dreams is a new development in Tanjung Tokong, Penang. The developer is Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd. Total gross development value is RM800 million. As it has just secured the advertising permit and developer license (APDL), the launch is now slated for 2H 2015. (Yes, today is already 2H of 2015). The gross profit is expected to be RM200 million over a four-year period.

This project came about because of a piece of reclaimed land which was awarded to Consortium Zenith BUCG by the Penang state government as compensation for the construction of three road bypass projects and the RM6.3 billion Penang Undersea Tunnel. In essence, instead of paying for the three bypass projects and the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel, the developer is being rewarded with parcels of land instead. The RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel is expected to begin construction in 2016 and will be completed 9 years after that in 2025.

Tanjung Tokong will be much busier than today few years down the road. This is just one of the projects coming up besides The Tamarind by Eastern & Oriental (E&O). The Seri Tanjung Pinang II reclamation will be starting and it will add more lands for development in Tanjung Tokong. There’s also Mont Residence as well. It’s going to be very exciting for many more years to come where Tanjung Tokong is concerned. I do not think there would be long queues like a few years ago but I think interest will be high if we take the recent The Tamarind launch by E&O as a comparison. See you there?

written on 16 July 2015

Next suggested article:
Penang’s affordable, branded and not so low density

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Yes, they are BUYING land during a CRISIS

The go-getter usually gets what they want to get because they are always looking and looking and pounding on the right opportunities. This is the same for property developers in Malaysia. We continue to occasionally read about land buying before the COVID-19 hit us. Perhaps with the current Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), we will soon hear of these land acquisition news as well?

In Hong Kong, property developers continue to bid a lot of money for land. They (property developers) are bidding to win because they could then build homes to be sold to Hong Kongers who needs a roof over their head. Real estate is a big thing in Hong Kong. Even car park space could become an investment asset.
Earlier article about car park space being bought and sold for a profit here.
 As for Hong Kong land bidding, here’s one happy company which has won versus its rivals.  CK Asset Holdings, the property arm of Li Ka-ching’s empire has outbid its rivals to win a land plot in Kowloon for a bargain price of HK$4.95 billion (RM2.79 billion).  Wait a minute, just buying land alone is RM2.79 billion?

Article in forbes.com
   With regards to CK Asset Holdings’ winning bid, this was what Thomas Lam, head of valuations and advisory at Knight Frank said, “The winning bid is slightly lower than expected, and the result is still encouraging as there was no tender withdrawal this time. The site came with stringent requirements, including providing at least 1,000 starter homes and various controls on eligible buyers as well as future flat sales arrangements.”

CK Asset said it’s pleased to have won the tender for the Anderson Road site and will look forward to contributing housing supply to Hong Kong through the development. The project will have both subsidized and private housing. The government’s stipulation is that at least 1,000 of the site’s apartments have to be sold to Hong Kong residents at a 20% discount to market prices. This will help alleviate the city’s chronic housing shortfall. Please do read the full and comprehensive article here:
Article in forbes.com

The starter home project is an initiative by the Hong Kong government to help eligible middle-class families and single young professionals to buy their first property. This scheme is only for first-time property buyers and those who meet certain asset and income criteria are eligible. That first started home project has flats which range in sizes from 261 to 507 sq ft. It was priced from HK$3.14 million to HK$6.6 million (RM1.77 Million RM3.72 million) after a 38 per cent discount.
Reference on the first of such a project in South China Morning Post here.

What CK Asset Holdings have done is to invest for their future development. What this tells us is that beyond just looking at current situation, it’s important to also look into the future and investing towards it today. There’s definitely some risks involved. All the What Ifs and What may happen. Their experience in the real estate world may have helped them to come to the winning bid, even if it’s slightly lower as per Knight Frank.

This may just be a good question. Do we think property is a necessity or do we think of properties like a car.  Do we think our purchase of our first property has the same status as our purchase of our very first car? Or our very first iPhone? By the way, renting is definitely cheaper today when compared to the potential mortgage which one has to pay for the same home. The question is for how long?  There’s no need to answer or even to debate. The action is in your hands yeah. Happy deciding what makes us happy.

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:
Someone won after 136 rounds of bidding. The price is a RM10,500 per sq ft home.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Classification of malls in the Klang Valley. Your favourite mall is under which one?

I learnt something interesting today. It’s about the classifications of malls. It’s not just big mall, small mall or dying malls yeah. It’s classified based on characteristics / concept, typical main anchor tenants as well as the net lettable area (sq. ft)  Please do take a look at the image below from
NAPIC. (Source here)

My favourite mall is 1 Utama Mall. This is the mall I frequent once every week and this is also the mall where I do NOT need to take a photo so that I remember where I park the car. Haha. For some malls, even after I take photo, I still could not remember where I parked my car sometimes. Based on the below image, 1 Utama mall is under “Super Regional” mall.  What is your favourite mall then? Are they considered a neighbourhood centre or even a community centre? Happy referring to the below yeah.

Lalaport BBCC

4 ‘bigger’ types of malls

The smallest one is the Community Centre where this could be one of those retail and restaurant based building within the neighbourhood. For this, there’s usually 1-2 anchor tenants of which it could be supermarket and it’s size ranges from 50,000 to 200,000 sq ft. I think this is usually the one where the developer would build to provide convenience to the residents and it will add value to the community too. The stores need to be curated and preferably, the developer takes an active interest versus just simply selling all the lots…

We then have the Neighbourhood Centre and this is one where there is perhaps a department store and supermarkets too. There’s a wider range of goods and services on offer and size wise, it is usually 200,000 to 500,000 sq ft. For example? KL Gateway mall is 500,000 sq ft. I think it serves the neighbourhood with its range of shops.

Next would be Regional Centre. This is for malls which are 500,001 sq ft all the way to 1,000,000 sq ft in net lettable area. One mall in my mind which fits this description would be Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya with 700,000 sq ft in size. When I stayed in Kelana Jaya, I used to frequent Paradigm Mall as well and I think it has sufficient choices to cater to many different crowds too.

Lastly, we have the Super Regional. There are a few of these in my mind. For example, Sunway Pyramid Mall, MidValley Megamall, 1 Utama mall would qualify to be classified under the Super Regional. These are the malls which receives visitors from out of the neighbourhood and each one would have something special to offer to their visitors too. I visited MidValley just recently and the crowd is almost back to the normal times. With the reopening of Malaysia to the world, I think it will be a beneficiary too.

There are also more categories of malls too.

Image Source: NAPIC

Happy knowing. Now you can classify that mall nearby your home correctly.

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:
5 Must-Do steps for property investment.

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Classno Instant Coffee, anyone?

What is Classno? Some may look at me blankly. After drinking Nescafe for the past 30 years, no one knows there are other brands. I am exaggerating of course. There are popular brands such as Indocafe instant coffee too which has been around for a long time. There’s also the upgraded and more elegant Nescafe Gold. Besides that, many years ago, Nescafe Classic also started to tell people that they have a new formula enhanced with ‘Arabica’ beans. There are also the high end Japanese ones like UCC which is top in Japan and Taiwan.  My GM bought Davidoff in Tesco and said that he considered it almost same taste as Nescafe Gold. What about Classno? Look at the Classno instant coffee photo. Have you seen this?

Recently, I bought Classno for the first time. It was too expensive for my liking but that particular day there was a promo of purchase with purchase. Sort of close to 40% discount. Thus, the prices are even cheaper than Nescafe Classic! Why not try it out? It says ‘finest arabica blend’. Typically this meant they mix some amount of Arabica beans into the production but of course, majority of the beans are definitely Liberica or the strong but lacked elegance Robusta. Taste: I do think it is worth the money I paid for. It’s ‘richer’ than the Tesco instant coffee that I have tried before and definitely better than Nescafe Classic. However, when I want to say it is better than Nescafe Gold, I think I will rate is as similar. Perhaps I have been poisoned by the Nescafe advertisements too much? Haha…

Yes, worth a try if you are an Instant coffee person. Come on, there’s more to than Nescafe out there.

written on 25th dec 2013

next suggested article:
The Best Latte

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


Clearing stock. Good for oversupply situation I think?

You know, people often commented that the year end sale in Hong Kong or Singapore is always better than the one in Malaysia. Actually, I do agree even if not for all items lah. One major reason? They lack the space necessary to store inventory, especially from the previous season(s). The stock for the new season is coming and they must make space for it. Space is a huge premium there and even land prices in Malaysia are not increasing by single digit per year yeah…. Anyway, in Hong Kong,
Even a nano flat may cost RM2 million in Hong Kong…

Okay, perhaps for the Singaporean retailers, they can keep their old stocks in JB? I hope not though because the cost of transporting to and fro is not a clever decision to make. What about property oversupply? That one which everyone is so worried will crash the market? 🙂 Here’s an earlier

So much demand, then why oversupply?
 In brief, it’s not the oversupply that will crash the market.

Coming back to the oversupply situation, specifically in JB, Malaysia. It seems that the developers are now postponing their new launches until they have cleared their existing stocks. According to Knight Frank Malaysia, how they are doing this is by offering attractive discounts and incentives, including absorbing legal fees, stamp duties and providing furnishing in some projects.
The full article in EdgeProp.my here.
 Knight Frank added, “Instead of holding landbank, developers are gradually releasing their products amid in smaller numbers and offer reasonable prices and attractive sales package to attract potential buyers.”

The below are Tables from the EdgeProp.my article:

Knight Frank also shared a few notable and catalytic projects such as the recently opened Coastal Highway Southern Link which will improve connectivity to the Second Link and its surrounding areas, thus attracting more investments. Besides that, there is also the The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) which is expected to contribute about RM8.3 billion to the nation’s gross income by 2020 and will be fully completed in 1Q19. For the tourism part, the recent opening of the Golf-Course in Desaru Coast near Bandar Penawar will attract more visitors from the Asia Pacific region too. On an overall basis, as at Q3 2017, the total cumulative committed investment in Iskandar Malaysia stood at RM244.46 billion of which 61 percent are domestic investment and the remainder from overseas.
Here’s the article for your reference.

Total oversupply units are

currently over 130,000 throughout the whole Malaysia.

As Johor is considered a top property destination, any effort in reduction of the existing stock is good news. Perhaps we will start to hear the same news from KL and Selangor too? Perhaps more actions would be

taken in the direction that Bank Negara is advocating?

Happy following.

written on 29 Jan 2018

Next suggested article:
Iskandar’s BRT? 90% coverage, 51km and operating in 2021

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...


How could everyone get RM250 by clicking a link?

It’s the developer’s 10th anniversary, therefore they offer a RM50,000 discount to their last 10 units. Is this believable? Well, if the property is priced from RM2 million, the RM50,000 is merely 2.5% discount. If the property is RM1 million, then the RM50,000 is 5% discount. Still believable, actually. What happens if the property price is RM500,000 then? Well, RM50,000 is 10 percent. Depending on the motive of the developer, may still be possible. For example, to sell the last few remaining units. Remember, when the developer has already sold 95 percent of all their units at normal prices, any additional units sold are actually PROFITS versus if they are unsold, then the developer has nothing but still has to complete them. In this case, the developer, even if they offer lucrative discounts will still be enjoying healthy profits. There’s VALUE in such an offer to both the developer and the buyer.

What happens when we receive a message about a famous supermarket offering RM250 to everyone who clicks on some links which resembles even the supermarket’s actual website URL? I received it just yesterday and I was not happy. Why are people so gullible? Let’s do a basic analysis. How much do we think this supermarket earns from every customer who goes there to shop? Assuming everyone buys RM250 worth of goods and they have a gross profit of 20 percent, then they will earn RM50 (RM250 x 20 percent)  from every shopper. Do we still think they will offer RM250 to every shopper when they could usually earn just RM50 from every shopper? So, it’s a TOTAL LOSS every time they give out RM250. Of course, all the shoppers would be happy because RM250 is a wind fall from the sky.
Here’s the link telling us why we should be very careful with these messages.

Let’s be objective a bit. If there is VALUE only to one side, no one would do it. Remember the mantra of win-win as mentioned by everyone? For any transaction to be continuous, both sides must benefit. By the way, the supermarket needs to pay for fixed and variable costs. For example, their staffs need their salaries, their vendors need payment for their goods and even TENAGA would charge them for the electricity! For some of us who have been working for many years, it is very clear that bonuses are only given to us if we have contributed to the company and increments are given with the EXPECTATIONS that we will contribute even MORE to the company. Some may want to point out that there are companies which are stingy with their bonuses and increments. Well, if we are STILL working there, there’s something wrong with us, not the company. Coming back to our topic for today. When only one side gains everything, there must be something wrong with the potential deal okay… How could everyone gain RM250 just by clicking a link! Cheers

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

written on 17 March 2018

Next suggested article:
Huge salaries mean bigger commitments, that’s dangerous

Share this:
Tweet
Telegram
WhatsApp
Like this:
Like

Loading...