Living in JB

[toyohon]

Bro Wuqi

Glad that things worked out pretty well for you and your family. Good start for the year of the Tiger! So you're now permanently based here in JB or do you still retain your Sg home?

 

[wuqi256]

Bro Wuqi

Glad that things worked out pretty well for you and your family. Good start for the year of the Tiger! So you're now permanently based here in JB or do you still retain your Sg home?

Oh thanks, depends on my wife's mood and my work requirements actually but mostly in JB now.

 

[tua lam pah]

hi bro wuqi

lets say a person has $1 million sgd,
can he buy a 500k ringgit house, then live for the next 25 years without working?
just living a normal life, cheap car, hawker centre meals, how much do you think hubby and wife (no kids) need to spend a month including all bills?


thanks

 

[wuqi256]

hi bro wuqi

lets say a person has $1 million sgd,
can he buy a 500k ringgit house, then live for the next 25 years without working?
just living a normal life, cheap car, hawker centre meals, how much do you think hubby and wife (no kids) need to spend a month including all bills?


thanks

Given todays exchange rate, its slightly more than 2.4 million, for simplicity sake, lets just peg it to 2.4 million.

Minus away the 500k with miscellaneous lawyer fees etc and renovation probably another 100k for total to be minus off is 600k for example, it still leaves you with 1.8million RM. Still enough to qualify for the MM2H program which makes it tax free for you but you have to leave behind a certain amount in FD but can withdraw a portion for education/medical/renovation, etc.

So lets say you still have about 1.3 million left, assuming hawket centre food:
All in ringgit(averaging out at $6 even though you can get $3 to $3.5 chicken rice or wanton noodles)

- All estimates are at the high side and assuming you will keep your present car or buy a once off $15000-$19000 ringgit car(you can actually get $5000 cars here) with the withdrawal from your FD.

At $12 ringgit(couple) a meal, assuming 4 square meals a day = $48
Rounding up to $50 a day:
1 month = $50 x 30 = $1500 per month

Monthly utilities inclusive of gas, electricity and water bills = $350
Groceries = $500 (A bit too much assuming you are eating out)
Miscelleaneous = $200
Entertainment = $100
Medicine = $100
Petrol = $600 (Assuming you drive quite a bit for tour, etc)

To make it more expensive, adding in live in maid, total plus food expenses
for her:
Live in Maid = $1000

Total monthly = $4350.00 ringgit
To round it up, add another $150 to make it $4500.00

Divide up 1.3 million:
288 months

Divided by 12 months per year, it leaves you approximately with 24 years.

Assuming the savings you have in the FD required by the government copes with inflation and from the figures above, it should be more than enough for you to get by and maybe even go to 25 years if you do without a maid.

 

[tua lam pah]

many thanks, kam sia kam sia
much appreciated

will look you up if i ever buy horizon hills (got to work another 4 yrs till 55 and kids independent,

you are very helpful

 

[wuqi256]

many thanks, kam sia kam sia
much appreciated

will look you up if i ever buy horizon hills (got to work another 4 yrs till 55 and kids independent,

you are very helpful

Sure, no problem. As i said before, there are lots of nice places to live here. HH is just one of the nicer ones that specially appealed to me as it has its own mix of security, location to the 2nd link and many important amenities/groceries, factors that was especially important to my family.

The fact is, you have a choice!

 

[balajii]

thanks for this thread. i am seriously considering going there to retire..

 

[tua lam pah]

think it all depends on individual needs, like bro wuqi brings his whole family so it better to buy a bigger unit,
ppl who are not too sure can always rent one for 6 mths and see if they like the idea

i had a place in johore jaya once, took me 2 years to sell off

 

[toyohon]

One thing to note is that landed properties in Johore is in abundance. If one were to buy, you MUST get a Gated & Guarded (G&G) one and that is also true if you were to rent. Not 100% safe but at least some form of deterrence. And if you buy, its for your own occupancy and not for rental or investment - do not talk about it appreciating, if you can break even, it is considered very very good already cause normally the prices will drop 20% once newly bought over from developers.

 

[balajii]

i think better buy those property who is completed.

heard of some who developers who keep delaying the completion date.

 

[whoami]

i think better buy those property who is completed.

heard of some who developers who keep delaying the completion date.

Go for sillyporean developers.

 

[wuqi256]

Like what some bros here already mentioned, you need to go in with your eyes open:

1. Avoid places where all you see is a beautiful showroom and nothing else
2. Only take those that are already built or very shortly COV
3. Avoid places that require you to take a very isolated road or single lane road
4. Avoid places that has no security at all or no comprehensive security measures like CCTV, barbed wire, guard petrol, etc
5. Avoid places that are near power grid structures or near any refuse/waste recycling.

6. Do go for well known developers, some done by Keppel Land/Capital Land or those by Gamuda/UEM may be worth looking at. Avoid unknown developers.
7. Avoid condos, this is as even if you get a unit, once built, you have the headache of security, lift maintenance and rubbish maintenance if it ever crops up. All these can be easily taken care of in a landed property.
8. Buy prudently, although its becoming harder and getting more expensive to loan from the banks as we are foreigners, its still good to get something within your means but for those who are into investing, you should get the maximum you can comfortably afford.
9. If you do buy, rent it out with the view that even if you break even on the rent versus your monthly loan from the bank, you are still hedging against deflation.
10. Location, location, location. As bros here has pointed out, rental opportunities are not for every location. Rental opportunities are only present in a few select locations. Places near to the second link presents a good market to 3 groups:

a. Singaporeans on a try and buy basis
b. KL folks seconded to Johor or KL folks working in Singapore
c. Expats working in Singapore but found this place to be better suited

Also, i would like to point out based on my own observations as the property for some areas that are blacklisted will depreciate.(Johor Jaya and the "Huang Hou" areas to name a few)

There are still some areas that will appreciate, for example, a Malaysian neighbour just moved in.

They have just bought from my developer and nearly paid 160k more. Matching apples to apples, my total land size is the same as his and yet he paid more. Its true his is an end lot but still its a big difference. Almost opposite of me, another neighbour bought his for $428k 1 year ago, now his neighbouring unit got sold on the resale market for $520k.

So its not a lot but if you choose the area right, you will not lose much if at all on your purchase. A Malay couple from Singapore just bought their home opposite of mine, they paid slightly more than $40k than what i was quoted just 3 months ago.

 

[whoami]

areas that are blacklisted will depreciate.(Johor Jaya and the "Huang Hou" areas to name a few)

They have just bought from my developer and nearly paid 160k more. Matching apples to apples, my total land size is the same as his and yet he paid more. Its true his is an end lot but still its a big difference.

Bro, any idea why it JJ was blacklisted?

End lot or corner lot? Cos latter more expensive than former. Bro is urs intermediate cos 160K is a wide gap.

 

[wuqi256]

Bro, any idea why it JJ was blacklisted?

End lot or corner lot? Cos latter more expensive than former. Bro is urs intermediate cos 160K is a wide gap.

Oh, because of the past robberies there mainly, that said, both JJ and "Huang Hou" are relatively cheap and also being a matured estate, has a wide variety of goods and services although JJ is getting pricier.

My friends stayed there (JJ) and said its because of certain groups of people that made it so unsafe.

Oh its end lot, all semi-Ds. His is at the last unit at the end of the row. I know his place definitely went up as i had enquired about it more than 6months ago.

 

[Queen Seok Duk]

For the benefit of those reading this thread, please try to be a bit more specific on the currency. If it's Ringgit, indicate RM; if SGD, S$.

 

[wuqi256]

For the benefit of those reading this thread, please try to be a bit more specific on the currency. If it's Ringgit, indicate RM; if SGD, S$.

For the one i was talking about costs? Actually as much as possible, i will always use RM:

"All in ringgit(averaging out at $6 even though you can get $3 to $3.5 chicken rice or wanton noodles)"

I will specify if its SGD else please assume its in Ringgit.

Do you have something to share with us, if so please help to contribute and do your part. Lets keep this thread alive with information.

 

[Sh7vens]

bro wuqi, excellent thread you have here... went around bukit indah and the place is buzzling with so many launches. one area caught my eyes is casa almyra along danga bay, all are semi-d house. whhat do you think of this place?

 

[allanlee]

bro wuqi, excellent thread you have here... went around bukit indah and the place is buzzling with so many launches. one area caught my eyes is casa almyra along danga bay, all are semi-d house. whhat do you think of this place?

Danga Bay area is a no no...... well known as a place infested with druggies and oso a converging place for Mat Rempits. :( ........ the area looks quiet in the day but comes alive with the roars of motorsikals come midnight and early morning hours.

 

[toyohon]

Its a fact that in any new development that comes up, one has to look around the existing "neighbours". If it is near to low-cost developments, squatter areas/kampongs, all kinds of elements will be attracted to the place and if nothing is done, that area will soon lose whatever exclusivity they boast. Danga bay is touted as a premier development but until the enclave of orang asli and the neighbouring kampong folks are resettled / moved, you can expect all kinds of characters hanging out there.

 

[aangsc]

Hi ,

sound like we are in same boat, I also bought a corner terrace and wondering what to do. Don't want to subject my school going kids with daily crossing of border. Sigh, so near to such nice place and space yet can't enjoy daily. Are you still holding on to your unit or have you sold or rent out ?

rgds
aangsc

Just came across this forum, and thanks wuqi for all your valuable info.

I bought a 35x75 cluster at horizon hill's golf precinct a couple of years back, and was just contacted for keys collection.

The place is absolutely beautiful - full views of the golf course and water hazards, wide open spaces making the place look like wisteria lane

i'm struggling with whether i should keep the place or sell it - living there is out as i've got a young kid and i will not want to subject the kid to the malaysian edu system.

you reckon that nusajaya will soon be a hinterland for sgp like shenzhen is to hk?