Thanks for the contribution Weekim!
Queen, please do your bit to contribute as well, i am sure bros here will appreciate more inputs or nuggets of information from you.
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Living in JB
- Thread starter wuqi256
- Start date
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Thanks for the contribution Weekim!
Queen, please do your bit to contribute as well, i am sure bros here will appreciate more inputs or nuggets of information from you.
Hmm...no, I have not been to HH. But I did make some calls mths back. I was told most corn terraces/terraces were taken up. Except SemiDs which was and r still availble. And most corn-terraces are above 500K. :o
Ah, now it makes sense, i understand.
Ok they have new areas being launched but every time its the terrace and clusters that get snapped up first. I noticed though lots of SG cars at either 1. Terraces or 2. Semi-Ds, seldom at clusters. I also saw SG car in front of the new Bungalows they launched.
The semi-Ds at Gateway are mostly filled up now but i think they are launching more precints.
Ok they have new areas being launched but every time its the terrace and clusters that get snapped up first. I noticed though lots of SG cars at either 1. Terraces or 2. Semi-Ds, seldom at clusters. I also saw SG car in front of the new Bungalows they launched.
The semi-Ds at Gateway are mostly filled up now but i think they are launching more precints.
maverick55
New Member
Hi "Wuqi256",
This message was intended to be a private one to you, but your mailbox is full.
Some details were left out here based on your advice.
"My wife and I are Singaporeans and we began 2 days ago to read your posts with great interest.
We are in our thirties, self-employed running our own business. Recently we have decided to invest in some properties in Johor. That's when we chanced upon your postings. Great knowledge and sharing from you. Thanks. We have bought ptys in UK and Spore but not in Malaysia yet. Many of our friends suggested KL but we were thinking of Johor because of the closer proximity to Spore and potential for future growth in the next 5-10 years, especially with Spore pty prices shooting up the roof.
Understand that you have purchased some ptys in HH. We intend to buy some ptys to rent out. Where would you sugggest? Budget about RM300k-400k for one property. Been to Mapex Johor at Danga City yesterday and today and each developer giving differing views wrt the rm500k requirement. Some said okay now to buy below rm500k, one from sutera said cannot. So would like to hear from you since you have been there, done there.
What amazes us more is that you are in your thirties and have paid good taxes, ....
Plus also what you have done for your family. Inspiring.
Hence we really look forward to meeting you one day if it is okay.
Thanks."
This message was intended to be a private one to you, but your mailbox is full.
Some details were left out here based on your advice.
"My wife and I are Singaporeans and we began 2 days ago to read your posts with great interest.
We are in our thirties, self-employed running our own business. Recently we have decided to invest in some properties in Johor. That's when we chanced upon your postings. Great knowledge and sharing from you. Thanks. We have bought ptys in UK and Spore but not in Malaysia yet. Many of our friends suggested KL but we were thinking of Johor because of the closer proximity to Spore and potential for future growth in the next 5-10 years, especially with Spore pty prices shooting up the roof.
Understand that you have purchased some ptys in HH. We intend to buy some ptys to rent out. Where would you sugggest? Budget about RM300k-400k for one property. Been to Mapex Johor at Danga City yesterday and today and each developer giving differing views wrt the rm500k requirement. Some said okay now to buy below rm500k, one from sutera said cannot. So would like to hear from you since you have been there, done there.
What amazes us more is that you are in your thirties and have paid good taxes, ....
Plus also what you have done for your family. Inspiring.
Hence we really look forward to meeting you one day if it is okay.
Thanks."
Hey Maverick, so sorry, will clear my inbox more frequently.
I am honoured. Its good to hear that you have plans. Make more visits here and make some of the visits yourself unaccompanied by agents so you can get a unbiased opinion for yourself.
Forget about the minimum requirement for now as its only implemented in July and when getting the loan, the bank will check and report back to you, important things to note is:
1. Is this property for your own stay since you mentioned one? Regardless of one or many, you need to factor in on location/amenities, how likely to get positive cash flow and resale value of the place.
2. If its for own stay, you will need to find out about whether this is freehold land, avoid bumi-land/property at all cost unless you have it in writing that the property has expired the bumi timeframe reservation.
3. Banks are willing to lend to foreigners (70-80%) but have risen their interest rates recently.
Before you commit and buy, do what we did, get at least a couple of days stay at a hotel (even during the weekend) in the area you like and are thinking of getting. Stay there and at the end of the stay, ask your wife/kids what she thinks in terms of convenience, safety and accessibility.
This will help you make easier decisions on where exactly do you want to go.
KL is a good place but the property costs has gone pretty much up so its a bit late now to grab on to them. Klang is pretty good according to some folks but for accessibility, i prefer JB as properties here are still undervalued generally(IMHO).
Avoid condos if you can, for maintenance and lack of privacy unless you really enjoy apartment living. Many times i have seen people haughtily told me that condos are better, nicer with view/better air quality and then they start complaining about the guys on top having a "jam" session or the neighbours next door have tatoos or noisy pets.
Sutera is good but there are nicer ones such as D'grande which are located nearer the 2nd link accessibility wise.
On the whole, i tend to avoid places where i must go through Nusa Bestari which gets pretty congested in the evenings and on the weekends. Get a MY registered car(Yes foreigners can buy and get financing up to 70%) No COE to worry about and car maintenance here is really really worth it.
Please let me know if you need more information, some can be found in the older posts but post here or PM me if required.
Sure, i do value my privacy however, though folks have given me their numbers for meet up, i would love to but for now i would still prefer to just keep the discussion online.
I am honoured. Its good to hear that you have plans. Make more visits here and make some of the visits yourself unaccompanied by agents so you can get a unbiased opinion for yourself.
Forget about the minimum requirement for now as its only implemented in July and when getting the loan, the bank will check and report back to you, important things to note is:
1. Is this property for your own stay since you mentioned one? Regardless of one or many, you need to factor in on location/amenities, how likely to get positive cash flow and resale value of the place.
2. If its for own stay, you will need to find out about whether this is freehold land, avoid bumi-land/property at all cost unless you have it in writing that the property has expired the bumi timeframe reservation.
3. Banks are willing to lend to foreigners (70-80%) but have risen their interest rates recently.
Before you commit and buy, do what we did, get at least a couple of days stay at a hotel (even during the weekend) in the area you like and are thinking of getting. Stay there and at the end of the stay, ask your wife/kids what she thinks in terms of convenience, safety and accessibility.
This will help you make easier decisions on where exactly do you want to go.
KL is a good place but the property costs has gone pretty much up so its a bit late now to grab on to them. Klang is pretty good according to some folks but for accessibility, i prefer JB as properties here are still undervalued generally(IMHO).
Avoid condos if you can, for maintenance and lack of privacy unless you really enjoy apartment living. Many times i have seen people haughtily told me that condos are better, nicer with view/better air quality and then they start complaining about the guys on top having a "jam" session or the neighbours next door have tatoos or noisy pets.
Sutera is good but there are nicer ones such as D'grande which are located nearer the 2nd link accessibility wise.
On the whole, i tend to avoid places where i must go through Nusa Bestari which gets pretty congested in the evenings and on the weekends. Get a MY registered car(Yes foreigners can buy and get financing up to 70%) No COE to worry about and car maintenance here is really really worth it.
Please let me know if you need more information, some can be found in the older posts but post here or PM me if required.
Sure, i do value my privacy however, though folks have given me their numbers for meet up, i would love to but for now i would still prefer to just keep the discussion online.
Hi Bro wuqi256, found this interesting forum, and very new here.
Been visiting a little, and read your statement "2. If its for own stay, you will need to find out about whether this is freehold land, avoid bumi-land/property at all cost unless you have it in writing that the property has expired the bumi timeframe reservation."
Thought they're already reserved, so we can't touch. Pls help me understand avoid this bumi-land/property.
Been visiting a little, and read your statement "2. If its for own stay, you will need to find out about whether this is freehold land, avoid bumi-land/property at all cost unless you have it in writing that the property has expired the bumi timeframe reservation."
Thought they're already reserved, so we can't touch. Pls help me understand avoid this bumi-land/property.
Get a MY registered car(Yes foreigners can buy and get financing up to 70%) No COE to worry about and car maintenance here is really really worth it.
Are you sure singaporean can drive malaysian car?
My malaysian cousin drive his car into singapore for attending wedding dinner and got drunk. I take over his car and driving him back to mersing.
However at the woodlands checkpoint when i hand over my passport, the traffic police officer there stop me and say SINGAPOREAN IS NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE MALAYSIAN CAR and want to summon me.
After explaining to him the situation, he never give the summon but tell me to park the car one side and take taxi.
So are you sure singapore license can drive malaysian car?
Screwball, i think you are mistaken, i meant buying and driving in Malaysia, at which point did you read about driving Malaysian car in Singapore? This thread is about alternatives to Singapore and staying in JB.
My neighbour just drove me in his new MY car and yes he was born in KK and has pink IC too.
Singapore does not allow MY car plates to be driven by SG citizens or PRs of Singapore so only MY citizens(cannot be SG PR) are allowed to drive in to Singapore. I understand though, they have 10 times free to drive in per year to Singapore.
My neighbour just drove me in his new MY car and yes he was born in KK and has pink IC too.
Singapore does not allow MY car plates to be driven by SG citizens or PRs of Singapore so only MY citizens(cannot be SG PR) are allowed to drive in to Singapore. I understand though, they have 10 times free to drive in per year to Singapore.
Ok Chopin, so the deal is whenever a developer launches a property, they would have to follow certain state guidelines depending on the location of the state to govern "bumi" land.
Units reserved for the indigeneous people here so a certain percentage are set aside and certain discounts are given. However, as its unreasonable for the developer to set aside these forever, there are timeframes or it will end by prescription after a certain period of time has passed if its still unsold. So at the end of 6 months for example, the developer may sell the unit to non-Bumi folks as the period set aside for their purchase by Bumi-folks has expired.
Land or property explictly set aside, like low cost housing are to be avoided at all cost. This is as:
1. You will have problems selling it afterwards
2. You are likely to get into trouble with the authorities
3. Even if rented out, the tenants, knowing you are renting out illegally, have a high chance of purposely defaulting on rent knowing you cannot evict them legally without drawing the attention of the law(See 2.)
To be safe, check the status of the land or property, safest is to get land gazetted for foreigners and freehold. If all else fails and you don't want landed, you get a condo at a lower floor so that even if no one pays maintenance and one day your lift fails, you don't have to take the stairs.
Units reserved for the indigeneous people here so a certain percentage are set aside and certain discounts are given. However, as its unreasonable for the developer to set aside these forever, there are timeframes or it will end by prescription after a certain period of time has passed if its still unsold. So at the end of 6 months for example, the developer may sell the unit to non-Bumi folks as the period set aside for their purchase by Bumi-folks has expired.
Land or property explictly set aside, like low cost housing are to be avoided at all cost. This is as:
1. You will have problems selling it afterwards
2. You are likely to get into trouble with the authorities
3. Even if rented out, the tenants, knowing you are renting out illegally, have a high chance of purposely defaulting on rent knowing you cannot evict them legally without drawing the attention of the law(See 2.)
To be safe, check the status of the land or property, safest is to get land gazetted for foreigners and freehold. If all else fails and you don't want landed, you get a condo at a lower floor so that even if no one pays maintenance and one day your lift fails, you don't have to take the stairs.
confused_newbie
New Member
Hi Wuqi256,
Thank you for the thread. Very useful information for all folks interested in the topic.
I have a couple of questions in regards to living and retiring in Malaysia and was wondering if you would be able to help me.
1 - What is the cost of living in Malaysia for a average lifestyle ? Is 3 - 4K Malaysian ringgit enough to cover for food, utilities, some entertaintment, eating out once a week, cable, internet etc. no clubbing or high end entertainment.
2 - Would 1 million Malaysian Ringgit be enough to semi - retire in Malaysia while trying to start your own business? Or do you feel you would need more to retire? This is with fact that housing & Car is paid off already.
I am thinking of leaving my job and do consulting on my own but not sure if I have saved enough to prepare for the venture. Your feedback would help me a lot.
Thank you for the thread. Very useful information for all folks interested in the topic.
I have a couple of questions in regards to living and retiring in Malaysia and was wondering if you would be able to help me.
1 - What is the cost of living in Malaysia for a average lifestyle ? Is 3 - 4K Malaysian ringgit enough to cover for food, utilities, some entertaintment, eating out once a week, cable, internet etc. no clubbing or high end entertainment.
2 - Would 1 million Malaysian Ringgit be enough to semi - retire in Malaysia while trying to start your own business? Or do you feel you would need more to retire? This is with fact that housing & Car is paid off already.
I am thinking of leaving my job and do consulting on my own but not sure if I have saved enough to prepare for the venture. Your feedback would help me a lot.
Hi Confused_Newbie, some of the questions you have asked were asked previously in this thread, for your benefit, i have put it here for your reference, hope this helps:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 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
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 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
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.
For those who have started putting up in Johore, is the weather as hot as Singapore ?
I'm even thinking of getting an apartment in Genting Highlands. I believe in time to come, the weather is going to get worse. At the moment in Bangkok, the temperature hits 39 degrees every few days.
BTW, I'm really proud with the way you handle queries in this thread - patience and humility
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For those who have started putting up in Johore, is the weather as hot as Singapore ?
I'm even thinking of getting an apartment in Genting Highlands. I believe in time to come, the weather is going to get worse. At the moment in Bangkok, the temperature hits 39 degrees every few days.
BTW, I'm really proud with the way you handle queries in this thread - patience and humility
Oh its actually feels kind of cooler here but rained alot recently, its raining cats and dogs on my roof and window panes as i am writing this.
Thanks.
I can't say i am very familiar with the place, having only visited there a couple of times, it seems quite nice though with a good mix of hypermarkets there and rumoured that IKEA is opening up in that area soon. I visited the Carrefour there, pretty grimy outside but inside is still ok except the car park.
The general crowd in that area tends to be more interesting and a bit more rowdier from comments from my neighbours and friends here. Its nice but it may need a while before things gets better. Still, good to explore opportunities, maybe make a visit there and see for yourself.
Wishing you all the best of luck with finding the best property to suit your needs.
Wishing you all the best of luck with finding the best property to suit your needs.
Tks. Trying hard to scout for 1 according to budget. Strongly believe the 500K threshold in JB gonna kick in wef 1 Jul...:o
Its nice to own a landed property. I can never afford 1 in sillypore. Taking security into consideration, and having gated around the estate. Wouldnt 1 feel as though they are in a cell...with high walls surrounding the "estate"?
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