Living in JB 2 (Johore)

[arsenal]

I am just joking.
I don't really bother if the price drop because I didn't buy JB property with eyes close. I am actually keen to find a simpler environment with more human touch and space..

Instead of worrying about drop of property price, why not do something to give back to society
to help narrow the gap of rich and poor?

If everyone took step to help the less privileged and narrow the rich poor gap, there will be less crime
and your property price will rise.

 

[teck21]

While I agree with your POV, I had my own reservation which some businesses also felt the same.

In my circle of business acquaintances, many shared that the current co-operation with MY Johor is plausible
because an 80 plus years old man is still running the show albeit with less media exposure.

Many, including me, share that thought that the real test will come after the passing of the old man.

Nobody knows if Malaysia will continue their cordial relationship with Sg after old man passing.

That is why not many businesses relocate to Malaysia as fast as it should be.

Only after the passing of the old man can we tell the real relationship between MY and SG.

Ironically enough, my perception, and it is far from being mine alone is that what has actually been holding back SG/MY relations over the past 30 years is not one, but two old men.

And the recent retreat of both the old men from active policy making (to various degrees) has in fact facilitated relationship improvement. And their eventual demise should aid this process.

A lot of other non-old men related variables that must not be ignored too of course.

 

[alleyboy]

FYI NI is Nusa Idaman and is located along the stretch between Jusco Bukit Indah and Horizon Hills. Closer to Hills than Jusco Bukit Indah.

Tks for e reply.

I am fm tiny red dot and pretty new to bt indah/NI/HH area.

Just the other was viewing remaining balance of some terrace unit at bt indah. There was tis fence and the sales staff told me the other side of it belong to NI. So i thought was pretty close to bt indah.

 

[maxpark]

Ironically enough, my perception, and it is far from being mine alone is that what has actually been holding back SG/MY relations over the past 30 years is not one, but two old men.

And the recent retreat of both the old men from active policy making (to various degrees) has in fact facilitated relationship improvement. And their eventual demise should aid this process.

A lot of other non-old men related variables that must not be ignored too of course.

Agree on this.

 

[36minit]

Thanks, teck21 for the reminder... how could I forget the other old man.

2 old man with heavy history baggage...

Whether the demise of both old man will help relationship improve is yet to be seen,
we just got to pray for the best.

Hopefully both side is able to ditch the history baggage pass down by both old man and
work towards a win win solution.

Otherwise no prize for guessing which side will get hit worst, especially with so many ten years
series templated scholars helming the top.

Lately the poor showing by all these so called highly paid talented scholars on the many problem
(flood, investment losses etc) make me very worried.

 

[yahoo1234]

The information in this thread is really useful for me to understand my requirements before making my investment in JB. I did my homework and categorized us into three main categories. There are three projects which are widely discussed in this thread so I decided to categorize them based on these three projects; NI, HH and EL.


Nusa Idaman (NI), investors or home buyers who are:


1) Gaining faith in JB property market but still having some doubts, hence not willing to invest too much yet
2) Only willing to invest RM500k-700k (RM500k, minimum price for foreigners to invest) for a weekend home which might turn out to be a retirement home at the later stage or permanent home for the family
3) Only interested in gated and guarded homes
4) Wanted to stay near to the heart of Bukit Indah; Jusco, banks, etc (1-2km away)
5) Only interested in buying from reputable developers such as UEM. This is to avoid having to invest into smaller timer developer who may just abandon their projects during construction stage


Horizon Hill (HH)

1) Having good faith in JB property market and very positve that Malaysian government will make Iskandar project a success story
2) Willing to invest RM700k-1.5mil for a home in JB. Most probably have already decided that we are moving our family permanently to JB
3) Only interested in gated and guarded homes with a golf course facilities nearby
4) Wanted to stay near to the heart of Bukit Indah; Jusco, banks, etc (2-3km away)
5) Only buying from good developer (Gamuda/UEM)


East Ledang (EL)

1) Almost certain that Iskandar project is going to be very successful
2) Willing to invest RM1.5-4mil for a home in JB.
3) Only interested in gated and guarded homes
4) Only interested in buying from reputable developers such as UEM. This is to avoid having to invest into smaller timer developer who may just abandon their projects during construction stage
5) Too much cash lying around... just kidding


I am definitely not having too much cash lying around... so I could either be in HH or NI category. However at the moment I think I would consider myself in NI. Apart from the reasons listed above, I think there is another hidden factor which may make NI a better choice from short-term capital appreciation perspective.

Correct me if my analysis is incorrect k?

Intermmediate lots for phase 7 & 8 are priced between RM450-490k and corner lots are priced higher than RM500k. I am sure some of us would prefer it to be priced slightly higher to breach the RM500k mark for intermmediate units. However this is not the case now. Anyway assuming that I bought a corner/end lot unit in NI and if few months later the developer decided to increase the price of the intermmediate units for phase 7 & 8 to RM500k to attract more foreign buyers, wouldnt my unit also benefit from the price increased? Which also translate to short-term capital appreciation. Or upon completion, sub-sale for intermmediate units are priced above RM500k due to the demand from the above mentioned NI category investors. So eventually we all know that NI properties are almost surely going to increased by RM10-50k at the very least upon completion.

Recently I booked a unit in NI, still deciding whether to proceed with it or not. If my analysis is correct, I would have easily make RM10-50k in a few months by just signing the SPA now. If yes then should I be getting more than one unit to double up the advantage?

I am informed that phase 8 launched around Oct2011 and completing mid of next year. Phase 7 launched around June2011 and is completing end of this year! Correct me if my information is wrong coz I am doubting it as well.

 

[Hitesh]

Dear friends.... Finally i visited visited Johor and had a look at some of the the places, here are my views...

The people generally seem to be friendly.... but i have not interacted with a lot of people to come to a conclusion. There is no well establised public transport so a car becomes a must and it is very difficult for any elderly to communicate freely by themselves (since they may be unable to drive). The cabs too are not very easily available at all the places... but i am not sure if there is a call a cab service which one could use...

Horizon Hills seemed to be good but very much high priced and very far away.
-Good
It seems to have a good management which would be managing the property well. The person i met took me around the places and explained me the various precints very well but after i waited for a 15-20 mins...

The new projects are being built over wider area of land and seem to be better than the Gateway in terms of distribution of houses over the area of land

Swimming pool and club house and a restaurant

A potential for the residential communities to interact and have a good social living way of life.

-Bad
Security, i dont find HH to be much secure as the 1st level of security that is the main gate to the HH was wide open for anyone to freely come in and go out... no id checks and no verification. The only security is the individual precint security at entrance of individual Gateway /Golf e.t.c

Green/Environmental Factor, The HH is developed over vast area of GREEN land with beautiful plantations and really well grown trees... destruction of all this is a major loss to human kind and to mother earth ( sorry i am a bit green person)

High Price, The new developments are coming up at a higher price as compared to the early launches of gateway which was launched at around 300K RM +. Though the land was occupied by the companies at the same price, and the cost of construction has marginally increased.... the higher prices are not 100% justified....

Furthest, if i am right among all the projects HH is the furthest from singapore.. .( do correct me if you differ)

Nusa Idaman was just slihgtly less in price currently than HH, but is as distant as HH and relies on individual precints to have their own security and society formation in the long run....so it is vital that all the members agree on the way the society will be managed. Location is very close to HH but the price is much lower the HH

Leisure Farms A serene place to live, good security as they collect a ID at the time of main entrance.Very expensive. Though it is closest to Singapore from second link in terms of distance ... atmo the way to go there directly from teh highway is not open so one has to take an alternative route whcih is slightly longer.... The Best option!!!

Ledang heights and Ledang East
The office was closed due to CNY and there was no one there to take me inside and i was not allowed to view the place. This may be closest ot singapore but priced very high as well....


1 thing i would like to highlight to every one is the cost of any unit in Johor/msia is much higher if one is buying on loan. For example a unit of 500K rm @ 6% loan for 30 years will cost the owner 1 mil Rm in real cost including the interests ... due to high rate of interest currently prevailent in msia. so one should factor this at the time of buying a unit.

Next time I am considering to have a look at some of the units at Bukit Indah as well due to proximity to necessity. May be at Nusa Dutta, if any one has a review of Nusa Dutta then please share it out here.... as i personally found the location nice....

About cost of living, from my visit at Giant my wife could comapre the prices of some of the basic items like milk and other grocery and share that the prices are a lot lower than in Singapore.. may be just 5 to max 10% of savings on grocery and such. Overall it is not much cheaper to live in Johor and come to singapore to work...

So atmo, if i had lots of free money available at my disposal i may have bought Leisure Farms but atmo i may just delay my plan to buy anything untill i have a better liquidity and the Euro/US crises settle in and the Debt markets improve and see if that has any impact on the prices in Johor which i am positive that they may correct southwards.

"Gong Xi Fa Cai"

 

[mallow]

Kong Hei Fatt Choy to everyone!

Received a worrying email from a friend who had gone to Jusco at Bukit Indah at 2 in the afternoon on Tuesday and found on emergence at 3.30 into the legitimate car park that their new Honda had been stolen. The thieves were caught on camera only at the exit (tailgated with a co-criminal’s car, so they did not need a separate exit ticket). The hassles!

It was discussed among the neighbours and some said that they were, at times, conscious of being watched – ergo, take your suspicions to heart and check on your car, purse and general safety at such times.

As always - some bad stuff comes with the very good rest of the territory. Vigilance is essential, particularly before festivals and during them.

 

[Investor]

Mallow, thank you very much for sharing such news. I think it is good for everyone to know the things that might happen in Johor and be vigilant.

 

[yahoo1234]

Bukit Ceylon is in downtown KL but not in the so called "KLCC area" - at best "near KLCC area". A bit optimistic to expect >6% rental return for RM 1400 psf buying price immediate term. Realistically, 4% is possible in the short term and 6% probably within 5 years in my humbe view.

Like most in this forum, I do believe Nusajaya has huge potential in both short and medium term. Don't need to look elsewhere.....we are sitting on the future yet to be discover.

Wishing everyone a great dragon year ahead that come roaring to Iskandar Malaysia.

Agree that Bukit Ceylon is at best "near KLCC area". At RM1400 psf is high but probably it is because a very small unit with ID design. Example units in Idaman Residence is only selling at RM1k psf, which is only 300meter away from KLCC.

Happy Dragon Year!

 

[Hitesh]

Dear friends.... Finally i visited visited Johor and had a look at some of the the places, here are my views...

The people generally seem to be friendly.... but i have not interacted with a lot of people to come to a conclusion. There is no well establised public transport so a car becomes a must and it is very difficult for any elderly to communicate freely by themselves (since they may be unable to drive). The cabs too are not very easily available at all the places... but i am not sure if there is a call a cab service which one could use...

Horizon Hills seemed to be good but very much high priced and very far away.
-Good
It seems to have a good management which would be managing the property well. The person i met took me around the places and explained me the various precints very well but after i waited for a 15-20 mins...

The new projects are being built over wider area of land and seem to be better than the Gateway in terms of distribution of houses over the area of land

Swimming pool and club house and a restaurant

A potential for the residential communities to interact and have a good social living way of life.

-Bad
Security, i dont find HH to be much secure as the 1st level of security that is the main gate to the HH was wide open for anyone to freely come in and go out... no id checks and no verification. The only security is the individual precint security at entrance of individual Gateway /Golf e.t.c

Green/Environmental Factor, The HH is developed over vast area of GREEN land with beautiful plantations and really well grown trees... destruction of all this is a major loss to human kind and to mother earth ( sorry i am a bit green person)

High Price, The new developments are coming up at a higher price as compared to the early launches of gateway which was launched at around 300K RM +. Though the land was occupied by the companies at the same price, and the cost of construction has marginally increased.... the higher prices are not 100% justified....

Furthest, if i am right among all the projects HH is the furthest from singapore.. .( do correct me if you differ)

Nusa Idaman was just slihgtly less in price currently than HH, but is as distant as HH and relies on individual precints to have their own security and society formation in the long run....so it is vital that all the members agree on the way the society will be managed. Location is very close to HH but the price is much lower the HH

Leisure Farms A serene place to live, good security as they collect a ID at the time of main entrance.Very expensive. Though it is closest to Singapore from second link in terms of distance ... atmo the way to go there directly from teh highway is not open so one has to take an alternative route whcih is slightly longer.... The Best option!!!

Ledang heights and Ledang East
The office was closed due to CNY and there was no one there to take me inside and i was not allowed to view the place. This may be closest ot singapore but priced very high as well....


1 thing i would like to highlight to every one is the cost of any unit in Johor/msia is much higher if one is buying on loan. For example a unit of 500K rm @ 6% loan for 30 years will cost the owner 1 mil Rm in real cost including the interests ... due to high rate of interest currently prevailent in msia. so one should factor this at the time of buying a unit.

Next time I am considering to have a look at some of the units at Bukit Indah as well due to proximity to necessity. May be at Nusa Dutta, if any one has a review of Nusa Dutta then please share it out here.... as i personally found the location nice....

About cost of living, from my visit at Giant my wife could comapre the prices of some of the basic items like milk and other grocery and share that the prices are a NOT a lot lower than in Singapore.. may be just 5 to max 10% of savings on grocery and such. Overall it is not much cheaper to live in Johor and come to singapore to work...

So atmo, if i had lots of free money available at my disposal i may have bought Leisure Farms but atmo i may just delay my plan to buy anything untill i have a better liquidity and the Euro/US crises settle in and the Debt markets improve and see if that has any impact on the prices in Johor which i am positive that they may correct southwards.

"Gong Xi Fa Cai"

Shoul also add that there seem that a burglary took place just next to the hotel where i was staying last night at Bukit Indah late at night post 2 am when the police arrived there and doing there stuff ... the theft alarm also went off.... not sure if the theives were caught or not....

 

[Lord Aragorn]

年初一， 新年快乐！

 

[arsenal]

Gong Xi fatt choy.

Consider I always parked my car illegally along the road outside Jusco, I need to be more careful next time.
JB house is affordable to us because of their security short fall. If everything is as "safe" or "convenient", the price will be expensive as well. HH is just 5 min drive (5km?) away from East Ledang. One cant say that is far..if EL is considered near.

Kong Hei Fatt Choy to everyone!

Received a worrying email from a friend who had gone to Jusco at Bukit Indah at 2 in the afternoon on Tuesday and found on emergence at 3.30 into the legitimate car park that their new Honda had been stolen. The thieves were caught on camera only at the exit (tailgated with a co-criminal’s car, so they did not need a separate exit ticket). The hassles!

It was discussed among the neighbours and some said that they were, at times, conscious of being watched – ergo, take your suspicions to heart and check on your car, purse and general safety at such times.

As always - some bad stuff comes with the very good rest of the territory. Vigilance is essential, particularly before festivals and during them.

 

[lastresort]

Horizon Hills seemed to be good but very much high priced and very far away.

-Bad
Security, i dont find HH to be much secure as the 1st level of security that is the main gate to the HH was wide open for anyone to freely come in and go out... no id checks and no verification. The only security is the individual precint security at entrance of individual Gateway /Golf e.t.c

Green/Environmental Factor, The HH is developed over vast area of GREEN land with beautiful plantations and really well grown trees... destruction of all this is a major loss to human kind and to mother earth ( sorry i am a bit green person)

High Price, The new developments are coming up at a higher price as compared to the early launches of gateway which was launched at around 300K RM +. Though the land was occupied by the companies at the same price, and the cost of construction has marginally increased.... the higher prices are not 100% justified....

Furthest, if i am right among all the projects HH is the furthest from singapore.. .( do correct me if you differ)

Happy New Year!! Hitesh brother/sister, i suggest you take a look at other developments too, you can check out austin, tebrau, kempas area as some of the brothers and sisters here find these developments ideal. Horizon Hills and Nusa Idaman are the furthest from the 2nd link out of the few you mentioned. It is definitely not the furthest development from both customs.


I hope I don't sound too bias here but I do want to share my views. I am not sure how the single precinct perimeter is a concern to you because as much as I know, this is the norm. Even in East Ledang or Ledang Heights where security is known to be tight, they have one single level perimeter for all the units (one layer single large precinct of many phrases). For Horizon Hills, I find it better because they break the development up into small precincts each with their own security, easier to manage, every small precinct has its own guardroom, entry and exit check point. The main gate outside is additional to the precinct guard because in case of emergency, or break in, the precinct guards can inform the township guard stationed outside to deter entry or exit of suspicious vehicles. It is not supposed to stop vehicles, but only act as a scan because there are public golfers or visitors who have to come in. Think about it, if every development has a large main gate, we (public) will not be able to enjoy shopping at Jusco mall as it is only meant for residents at Bukit Indah. They also do checks at night after the club house is closed to prevent non residents from entering through the main gate. (anyways not quite possible to fence up 1200+ acres of land up and down the hills, really no point too). Therefore I find HH if not better secured is at least on par (my personal view lahh!). Sorry to EL and LH owners, I am just comparing to the finest to show all developments are safe and secured.

As for clearing of plantations and greenfield area for developments of housing estate, if you check out the entire Nusajaya plan, it was once a greenfield area, not least for Horizon Hills, but at least HH decided to retain some natural hills and forest areas and delayed clearing not yet developed precincts until they need to prepare and flatten the hills for settlement of lose rocks.

Nevertheless, thanks for the views on all projects, hope you will explore and find out more from brothers and sisters here!! Also check out Nusa Duta, Nusa Besteri, Bukit Indah as well as other projects in Kempas, Austin, Tebrau and Permas Jaya! As for me, I am very happy with what I am seeing and enjoying now, truly love the weekends! CHEERS!!!!!!!

GONG XI GONG XI!

 

[lastresort]

I have written a personal complaint letter to the new HH township manager. I wrote in the letter that I will give the management 3 more months to settle all the outstanding issues residents have with the management and security. I mentioned that if all is not done within 3 months, I will write in to the Gamuda Land Mangement to personally address this issue. I hope all the residents from various precincts and phrases can help to see if things will improve in the next 3 months. Only changes I noticed in 1 week is they have fixed the lamps outside the Gateway round about. More to go!!!

 

[Hitesh]

Happy New Year!! Hitesh brother/sister, i suggest you take a look at other developments too, you can check out austin, tebrau, kempas area as some of the brothers and sisters here find these developments ideal. Horizon Hills and Nusa Idaman are the furthest from the 2nd link out of the few you mentioned. It is definitely not the furthest development from both customs.


I hope I don't sound too bias here but I do want to share my views. I am not sure how the single precinct perimeter is a concern to you because as much as I know, this is the norm. Even in East Ledang or Ledang Heights where security is known to be tight, they have one single level perimeter for all the units (one layer single large precinct of many phrases). For Horizon Hills, I find it better because they break the development up into small precincts each with their own security, easier to manage, every small precinct has its own guardroom, entry and exit check point. The main gate outside is additional to the precinct guard because in case of emergency, or break in, the precinct guards can inform the township guard stationed outside to deter entry or exit of suspicious vehicles. It is not supposed to stop vehicles, but only act as a scan because there are public golfers or visitors who have to come in. Think about it, if every development has a large main gate, we (public) will not be able to enjoy shopping at Jusco mall as it is only meant for residents at Bukit Indah. They also do checks at night after the club house is closed to prevent non residents from entering through the main gate. (anyways not quite possible to fence up 1200+ acres of land up and down the hills, really no point too). Therefore I find HH if not better secured is at least on par (my personal view lahh!). Sorry to EL and LH owners, I am just comparing to the finest to show all developments are safe and secured.

As for clearing of plantations and greenfield area for developments of housing estate, if you check out the entire Nusajaya plan, it was once a greenfield area, not least for Horizon Hills, but at least HH decided to retain some natural hills and forest areas and delayed clearing not yet developed precincts until they need to prepare and flatten the hills for settlement of lose rocks.

Nevertheless, thanks for the views on all projects, hope you will explore and find out more from brothers and sisters here!! Also check out Nusa Duta, Nusa Besteri, Bukit Indah as well as other projects in Kempas, Austin, Tebrau and Permas Jaya! As for me, I am very happy with what I am seeing and enjoying now, truly love the weekends! CHEERS!!!!!!!

GONG XI GONG XI!

Thank You brother! I will consider having a look at the other places like Nusa Duta, Nusa Besteri, Bukit Indah next time....

From you note it looks like you are staying in Horizon Hills, can you share if there are any monmthly maintenance anf if so how much are these??? .. and how are we certain that these will not go up a lot after a few years...i forgot to ask this

Also are there any small grocery or general store within the HH estate?

Thanks,

 

[arsenal]

I wish they plant more trees at the perimeter, rather than chopping and let the trees rot on its own. With rhetorically coastal highway and without trees, the place has lost a bitbof exclusivity.

I have written a personal complaint letter to the new HH township manager. I wrote in the letter that I will give the management 3 more months to settle all the outstanding issues residents have with the management and security. I mentioned that if all is not done within 3 months, I will write in to the Gamuda Land Mangement to personally address this issue. I hope all the residents from various precincts and phrases can help to see if things will improve in the next 3 months. Only changes I noticed in 1 week is they have fixed the lamps outside the Gateway round about. More to go!!!

 

[ODYSSEY]

KONG XI FA CAI to Wuqi and all. Prosperity and Good Health to one and all!

 

[Grago]

I have written a personal complaint letter to the new HH township manager. I wrote in the letter that I will give the management 3 more months to settle all the outstanding issues residents have with the management and security. I mentioned that if all is not done within 3 months, I will write in to the Gamuda Land Mangement to personally address this issue. I hope all the residents from various precincts and phrases can help to see if things will improve in the next 3 months. Only changes I noticed in 1 week is they have fixed the lamps outside the Gateway round about. More to go!!!

I wish they plant more trees at the perimeter, rather than chopping and let the trees rot on its own. With rhetorically coastal highway and without trees, the place has lost a bitbof exclusivity.

Bro Lastresort & Arsenal , Gong Xi Fa CaiThank you for writing to HH management to get them to address management and security issue. I agree with Arsenal that more trees should be planted at the perimeter, if not for trying to cut down traffic noises , at least for aesthetics. Would give a look of 'leafy' retreat that one would be wondering " must be GRAND to be living in THAT development

 

[Grago]

For those Bro/Sis wanting to go over to JB, the Causeway is jammed to the hilt. 2nd link at TUAS starting to build- up. Traffic already up to the incoming ramp...... I would think Malaysia CIQ would have a long queue already....... Thinking of going over to JB, but after seeing the Camera images, I don't think so.....