Had lunch with a friend over the weekend and chat about living in JB in general. Friend moved here since 2006 whereas i moved here in early 2009. We agreed on a couple of things:
1) Main draw - feasible abode for daily commute to work in Singapore, earn S$ and spend MYR
2) Investment potential - we both purchased before 2011 and are prepared for "worst case scenario" => a nice and big house for retirement
We rule out the possibility that JB will become so bad till uninhabitable
3) Any degree of success in the Nusajaya blueprint is a plus point to the investments - be it 30%, 50% or 80%
4) We both observe increasing number of Singaporeans venturing here today due to "push factor" ie escalating costs and overcrowding
5) We both agreed the best of the developers here are nowhere near "maturity" and that was the crux of our conversation
UEM built lots of nice houses but fails terribly in quickly bringing on a "lifestyle" to purchasers. The rental of the shops around Mydin is set at about MYR8 psf and that is way too expensive. As a result early purchasers have to endure possibly a whole decade of less than ideal amenities. This fails terribly compared to Tanah Sutera who introduced a whole mix of restaurants and shops near the houses they built. The nearest restaurants (eg. at EL clubhouse) are mediocre in quality and service. The management mixes religion with business and appears to be a confused lot. Neither are they diligent in controlling the purchasers in terms of making extensions to the nice houses although everyone signs a covenant. Response to defects reports at EL are "satisfactory" but not good. We also though Gamuda's mass bulding would possibly produce a glut in a down market.
6) Security - we both thought the police will remain hopeless in the forseeable future. We shared what we know about break-ins and victims of crime and i was quite shocked despite having personally experienced crime here. Our mutual friend at an older NI precint experienced a near breakin recently. Luckily his house is secured with construction grade rebar, our friend had an exchange with the robbers who tried to saw through the rebars... apparently they threw stones at each other. Despite the fact he has 2 fierce dogs at home. He also told me about the Sri Lankan group who purchased 72 units at HH - apparently one of the lead investor was a victim of crime in JB as well. We believe JB is livable but one must definitely blend into the local community and do not appear prominent.
Hence our word of advice to all friends who venture to JB - do so with your eyes open, set your expectations right and you will not be disappointed
Merry Xmas to everyone !