For Sale: Mutiara Villa 1br/1bath 580sf bright renovated unit with view of KLCC

SOLD 8/5/2010

One bedroom unit in Mutiara Villa, located in the heart of Bukit Bintang for sale. It is within walking distance to Jalan Alor, directly faces the row of Tengkat Tong Shin restaurants and has a 7-eleven and a Carrefour Express within its vicinity. The neighbourhood has been transformed with a mix of brand new luxurious boutique hotels and back-packers inn. A favourite place for expatriates and locals alike as the well-patronized Changkat Bukit Bintang pubs and restaurants are within a 100m radius. Unlike the P Ramlee area, Changkat Bukit Bintang is not noisy. However, the weekend nights traffic jams can be annoying although one should be extremely happy to live within a stones' throw of everything - the monorail station, Lot 10 and Pavillion are only a 15 minutes walk away.

Condo facilities include a swimming pool, jacuzzi, barbecue pit and 24x7 security which has recently been upgraded with key card access to the lifts and common areas, car park gantry and CCTV systems.

The unit has recently been renovated. It consists of a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. The floor is entirely laminated wood with oak finish. The ceiling is plastered with stylish square downlights, the bedroom has built-in cabinets and a mix and match of teak antique-finish and modern furnishing. The bathroom was completely retiled, fitted with rain water shower and centralized 25 liter tank water-heating.

Unit is currently tenanted, monthly rental is RM1800. Contract has recently been renewed for 2 years ending December 2012.

This is the 1st ever property I bought and now I want to sell it. The reason I am selling it is because I bought it with a partial withdrawal of my EPF savings. In my old age, my EPF has accumulated and I wish to make further withdrawals to invest in other properties. However, I am not able to withdraw any more of my EPF savings for another property unless I sell this current one.

In fact, I have put this unit up for sale since November last year. But the motivation to sell it is lacking because I have a very good tenant and it is being rented out for a good price. It is also difficult to arrange viewing as I do not like to disturb my tenant too much.

I managed to organize a viewing in late January. My asking price was RM300k. After the viewing, a potential buyer offered me RM280k which I turned down. Later, he called me to offer me RM300k and I thought I had a sale. However, he refused to pay a booking fee. Instead, he requested for my documents so he can start applying for a loan. He would only place the deposit if his loan is approved. I find this practice bizzare but it's not uncommon... usually people who are not serious would do this and desperate sellers would accept it.

But I'm no desperate seller. I think I am offering a good deal, as this property is rare for the location. It is extremely easy to find a tenant. In fact, for the past 10 years that I have had it, it has never been vacant. The beauty of it is, I have never needed to engage a real estate agent to rent this unit as it is in such high demand. Meanwhile, as long as I am still trying to sell it, I am collecting rent and very happily, I have been adviced that RM300k is under-priced. I should really be asking for RM320k. Since it is a small unit, the maintenace fees is really low at only 24 sen psf i.e. RM139.20. So, the returns are maximized at 6.2%. As there is no more land in this area, this freehold unit's value can only go up.

It is also important to note that the strata title has been issued and the condo is under the management of the owners' committee. As a result, the conditions of the common areas and facilities have improved tremendously, most noticeably the security.

If anyone is keen on this unit, please get in touch - sinleongng@yahoo.com. But please be serious as it would be terribly inconvenient for the tenant.