Living in JB

[avalon74]

I only got 2.417 on 13 May.
Hope rates continue to hold since petrol & BLR rates went up..

 

[RafflesTiger]

Hi to all brothers,



I just received a water bill in the mailbox for Jan-Feb... I am renting a condo unit.. The minimum is 30RM per 2 months... The bill is dated 18th April... But today is already 14th May?



Are the water bills collected 2 months in arrears?? I think the agent showed me the outstanding balance is 0 as of march.... And if I recall correctly, he paid for Nov and Dec...



Is this correct?? So I pay the Jan-Feb bill for him because the bills are in arrears?? Please advice... Thanks.. I moved in on the 18th March... So to know how much I have used in March and April, I need to wait till June/July??

 

[vincentck]

Yeah you're right, the developer has increased the price alot. But to be fair, not all the houses bought by Singaporeans leh, there is restriction of foreigner ratio to 1/3 or something like that. From what I observed, alot of demand is from Malaysians working in Singapore, who may or may not be from Johor but they definitely have the same spending power as Singaporeans! Visited the Horizon Residence condo and was told almost all bought by Malaysians working in Singapore, they're planning a daily shuttle bus to bring residents to the custom...

Most importantly, Singaporeans' status in JB are basically just tourists and investors only - we create jobs but don't take away any jobs or other benefits from them. Was at Jusco and saw a staff recruitment signboard and one of the requirement clearly stated is Malaysian Citizen only, can't help but feel a tinge of sadness as I don't think can ever see such a sign in Singapore asking for Singapore citizen only.

You're right to say that most of the purchasers are not Singaporeans; and there are a lot of Msians working in SG with similar spending power. However, only foreigners are restricted by the RM500k purchase and the developers want to target foreigners as they would give the highest profit margin. So, it's really a business and profit-minded decision to price the houses at a minimum of RM500k and higher.

It's true that it is more difficult for foreigners to get a low to mid-level job in MY. Usually foreigners will only hold high positions in MY due to the gov restrictions.

 

[euphony]

Hi to all brothers,



I just received a water bill in the mailbox for Jan-Feb... I am renting a condo unit.. The minimum is 30RM per 2 months... The bill is dated 18th April... But today is already 14th May?



Are the water bills collected 2 months in arrears?? I think the agent showed me the outstanding balance is 0 as of march.... And if I recall correctly, he paid for Nov and Dec...



Is this correct?? So I pay the Jan-Feb bill for him because the bills are in arrears?? Please advice... Thanks.. I moved in on the 18th March... So to know how much I have used in March and April, I need to wait till June/July??

ignore earlier months. pay the amount from mar onwards. yea you can expect the bill to arrive later for the march period. the water tariff is raised for condo recently.

 

[Analytical Professor]

Pretty good rate 242.1 yday

 

[Analytical Professor]

Got jobs reserved for singaporeans in spore
clean tables
cashier
clean toilets
pick up from rubbish bins
wash dishes
waiters at $5/hr

how to live wit this kind of money?

 

[Analytical Professor]

Friday evening massive jam at causeway spore side ,enroute to jb

sat afternoon 1pm no jam at causeway. Can drive all the way to immigration booth

 

[Analytical Professor]

What a terribly hot day with searin heat?

Y does the malaysian govt not conduct a massive afforestation programme?

There will be significant n visible results in 5-7years

 

[Analytical Professor]

Talking about plants i bought a couple at kipmart tampoi indah

also brought some fertilisers

the corriander leaves were fresh today

the lontong was ready while the mee rebus was not

 

[Analytical Professor]

Fresh sardines at Jusco yday

 

[Analytical Professor]

From maxis i migrated to digi

good savings

i tink for most singaporeans who use jb as a weekend holiday home digi is a great option

after lots of trial n error finally discovered tht digi is good

the plan i subscribed to is hit rm 1 per day

once u hit rm 1 all calls video/voice to any network is 12c per day

digi-digi text 1c per text

 

[Analytical Professor]

Oh n for internet im using the digi rm3/day for unlimited surfing

so far speeds n connectivity very good

its good for those who dun wanna b tied down to postpaid lines

my wife is on maxisfor calls n internet

 

[Analytical Professor]

Im streamin Gold 90.5 via digi rm3 internet on my samsung galaxy p 1000

(sorry im nt an apple iphone ipad fan. My wife is.)

so far no lag/stoppage of streaming

definitely worth it for those living in jb for holsn weekends

 

[wuqi256]

RT, you should only pay for the month that you sign the tenancy agreement or the date when it starts.

HY, you can just ask the developer to bring you in when you are in HH. A couple of the guys working there are quite ok. Just tell them that you would like to see one of the units and "considering" They will bring you in with them.

AP, good for you, smart too with a pay as you go internet plan.

It is really warm but very strangely everyone of my relatives were having coughs, etc when they got here but got better once they got here. I think it was caused by the haze. A neighbour just moved in here with a large dog and keeping some of my friends awake as his dog barks at everything that moves, including ants.

By the way, at Austin heights area, there is a One 2 Eat cafe, quite nice. At the new row of shops, near the Cherie Hearts is a nice bak kut teh joint, saw ex TCS actress Le Yao today, taking a picture there with the boss. She seems to like the bak kut teh there apparently, put on some weight though but still nice looking.

Bros who needs CCTV, there is a CCTV shop there, quite reasonable, 1k plus for 4 cameras and DVR including installation and set up.

 

[wuqi256]

Pricing wise, for agents, they should be collecting just from the seller side although typically they will ask you for 4-5k RM. You can don't give it to them, also iproperty.com.my and other websites sometimes list good properties by owners so its a good place to start looking.

I checked for a friend of my as he was on limited budget, one of the lakeview condos at Austin area is renting from about 800 RM (unfurnished) to 1000 RM (fully furnished)

His plan is to rent out his place for about $2k SGD monthly, converts to RM at about 4800 RM, rents a place at 800 RM monthly and retire earlier here with his family. Although things are expensive, even with differences in exchange rate, he still has about 3k plus the cheaper utilities and petrol.

 

[wuqi256]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Previously i complaint about high water bill. After consciously monitoring for a month and ensuring no wastage... my water bill for last month was $13+ !!! I think my steady state usage is about RM40 per month and you should achieve that quite easily too.

Another experience is aircon service using BH Aircon at the recommendation of forum bros. It cost RM 220. This is a 2.5 Hp aircon, runs 20 hours a day for 2 years and never cleaned before. They had to dismantle the whole aircon and compressor, bring it down to wash it. Topped up some gas, not sure why the pressure reading was just 30+... should be 60+ at least.

Job well done, aircon cold again. Would recommend forum bros, this family business is quite decent.

Thanks for sharing, good for you, i like BH guys as they are quite ok and pretty straightforward, when the aircons i bought from them have any issues, they will come asap, so far so good.

 

[wuqi256]

Actually quite a lot of developments keep to the 80/20 rule and at most 70/30 ratio between locals and Singaporeans. So its not just Singaporeans or foreigners causing the prices of properties to boom but the locals as well who are realising that the old adage, investing in your own backyard is starting to make sense. Likely those from KL working here or locals working in SG, investors who are diversifying from KL to Klang to JB are amongst the main buyers.

My humble 2 cents, its not Singaporeans directly who are driving up the prices but perharps indirectly as much of it is still supported by locals.
Just heard rumours from well connected and learned friends that more major companies are moving out here very shortly, news will be out in June. As it is, already lots of news in MY and SG, things are slowly taking shape.

 

[Analytical Professor]

Huge jam while enterin malaysia via causeway this evenin at 7pm but malaysia to spore same time no jam.

 

[Analytical Professor]

Hmmm reached my home in spore from setia tropika in less than 50 min via causeway. Not bad for this hour.

 

[Analytical Professor]

Find it hard to understand why the Causeway (Spore to Malaysia) needs to get jammed at 7pm on a Sunday evening with plenty of Spore cars going into Malaysia.

The jam was at the Malaysia side of the immigration.

I notice this quite often.

People heading JB for dinner is it?