Anyone Interested in Thai Chill-Out Chairs?

I am looking at bringing in a container load of these beautiful teak wood furniture from Thailand. These uniquely Thai-design teak wood chairs and table are almost a cult in bars or cafes throughout the kingdom. 

They are simple, yet comfortable and can come in various shades, white wash, dark, natural and I've even seen some painted in your favourite colours to give that modern or retro look e.g. in lime green. The chairs can be presented as single pieces, double or in sets of 4 such as the picture above. There are also matching cushions with covers to add that comfort and aesthetics...

For me, one of them will look just nice as a corner reading chair in the bedroom.

Teak wood is also extremely durable and can be located outdoors if properly oiled and maintained. So, this set makes a perfect garden furniture or to put on your balcony for enjoying the beautiful view that you've paid a premium for.

I need to bring in at least 30 chairs or tables to bring the cost to RM330 per piece. If we have an order for 60 chairs, we can further bring the cost down to RM280 each. This cost includes tax and freight but you must collect them from my place in USJ Subang Jaya. You can easily fit 3 chairs into a small sedan car.

The size of each chair is 62cm x 50cm x 64cm and table is 62cm x 66cm x 55cm.

If you are interested, get in touch - sinleongng@yahoo.com and specify quantity of chairs and tables and the colour that you want. Cushion and covers are not included. They cost RM25 to RM50 per piece depending on the material.

Malton's Nova

The Subang-Saujana corridor has been seeing a lot of action lately. The latest addition is Malton’s Nova Square which consists of Serviced Apartments 850sf, priced around RM650k. The project is located directly in front of Malton’s Amaya Saujana, totally blocking Amaya’s view and noise from the busy Subang Airport road. Thank you Nova Square… However this project may bring in even more traffic into once tranquil Saujana. The lower floors will be a shopping mall, which apparently will be managed by Pavilion KL. Already, there is a shortage of parking here with many people parking on the grass kerb and even on the road dividers! With so many new high density projects here now, which includes Hijauan Saujana, the place may lose its appeal.  

Malton will be offering the full “Speculators Package” with 10:90 payment and DIBS all thrown in. Nova Square is in direct competition with UOA’s Kencana Square, both entering this market late after earlier hot launches of Pacific Place across the Subang Airport Road in Ara Damansara. However, Nova Square is expected to be Freehold while Pacific is Leasehold.

Developers: We don’t want property flippers - YA RIGHT!

I almost fell out of my chair reading this. If developers are really serious about curbing speculation then there should be no "Speculator Package" like thousands of small affordable studio units that comes with low or no downpayment and DIBS

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/developers-we-dont-want-property-flippers/

By Lee Wei Lian

October 09, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Too much speculation is bad for the property market, and buyers should take a longer-term view, said the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association of Malaysia (REHDA) today.

This comes after widespread complaints that speculators or “flippers” were responsible for pushing up property prices faster than the level of income increase especially in urban areas, crowding out genuine homeowners and investors.

File photo of condominiums in Kuala Lumpur. Housing affordability was the number one issue identified by the recent Budget 2013 online feedback gathering platform.

“We, as developers, we also don’t want them (speculators) to come and buy to flip,” said Datuk Ng Seing Liong, REHDA’s past president, at a media briefing on the upcoming Malaysia Property Exposition (MAPEX) 2012 here.

“Too much speculation is no good. We want a long-term and sustainable market.”

Ng also said that after the hike in real property gains tax (RPGT) announced in Budget 2013, the rate was now at a “healthy” level.

He noted however that it would give the public the impression that the government was “flip flopping” on the issue of RPGT as it has been raised twice in the last two budgets after having previously abolished it in 2007.

REHDA treasurer N.K. Tong said he did not expect a severe impact from the RGPT hike as it would not affect long-term investors.

“We want people to take a long-term view of property investment,” he said.

The RPGT was raised from 10 to 15 per cent for properties sold within two years and from five to 10 per cent for properties sold between two and five years from time of purchase.

There will be no RPGT levied on properties sold after five years.

Housing affordability was the number one issue identified by the prime minister’s Budget 2013 online feedback gathering platform, which ran from July 16-29, receiving almost 3,000 separate forms of feedback on the topic.

Apart from the RPGT, the government’s previous measures to cool off the market include capping the loan-to-value ratio for property purchases for third houses and responsible lending guidelines introduced in January which calculated loan eligibility based on net income rather than gross income.

The property market has shown some signs indicative of a cooling this year as the home loan approval rate dipped nearly seven percentage points in the first half of the year to 46.8 per cent from 50.1 per cent during the same period last year.

The House Buyers Association (HBA) said however that the increase in RPGT in Budget 2013 was too “feeble” and would not be able to deter flippers as they typically buy newly launched properties and sell them after construction is completed two years later, by which time they escape from having to pay the highest tax bracket of 15 per cent under the revised RPGT.

MAPEX 2012, which is organised by REHDA, will be held from October 19-21 at MidValley Megamall.

Based on feedback received from exhibitors, the exhibition will have 2,119 units for sale worth some RM2.74 billion.

Ng encouraged people to visit the exhibition even if they were not going to buy as it was a means to educate themselves on property.

He said they could attend free talks by experts as well as compare prices and offerings from some 70 developers.

“Don’t rush into property,” he said. “It is a long-term investment.”

For SALE: Last Unit in Six Ceylon

For those who are interested, I've got one unit at Six Ceylon. It is a 1,555sf 3-bedroom (layout below - Type A).

All the 3-bedroom units are corner units having a spectacular KLCC and KL Tower view.

And this unit, on the 28th floor will enjoy such unblocked views forever.

The price is slightly lower than Verticas next door and St Mary. But Verticas is turning out to be quite a disappointment in terms of design and architecture. Friends are finding it difficult to tell if it is an office or a hospital. So, it's important that we just compare Six Ceylon with St Mary.

In terms of pricing, it is in direct competition against St Mary's 1500sf city suites (layout below).

However, people like my mum hates the St Mary kitchen which is not suitable for our Asian lifestyle. Six Ceylon's has a wet kitchen for those wok moments... Also, the smallest bedroom at St Mary has no windows while all 3 of Six Ceylon's bedrooms are well lit by natural day light. In terms of feng shui too, it is not so good that St Mary's entrance goes directly into the dining area. Six Ceylon has a spacious foyer keeping all the shoes away from the food...

Six Ceylon is also freehold. On almost 1 acre of land. It will not have a green central park like St Mary but it has a facilities deck on the 6th floor. Density is almost the same with about 200 units per acre. Maintenance fee is also significantly lower at 35sen psf against St Mary's 55 sen. So, for this 1,555sf unit, you pay RM544/month compared with almost RM800/month for St Mary. Six Ceylon also gives you 2 car parks.

Construction is now at the 16th floor. It will top up at the 33rd floor and completion expected in December 2013.

You will still enjoy free legal fees and disbursement on SPA and loan agreement, free stamp duty on loan agreement and DIBs.

If you are keen, get in touch - email me at sinleongng@yahoo.com

Kencana Square Launching Soon by UOA

Kencana Square is yet another UOA project. It will consist of commercial, retail, offices and SOHO. The SOHOs will follow schedule H at prices about RM750-RM800psf with 2 types, the smaller 700+sf and larger 1000+sf.

Kencana Square is located directly opposite Subang Jaya, across the Federal Highway. There will be a pedestrian bridge linking it to the Subang Jaya KTM Komuter station where the new LRT extension will be built immediately above the existing station. On the Kencana Square side, there will also be an LRT station although it is farther away. Currently, although nothing much happens on this side of the highway, property prices beats Subang Jaya hands down. The 0-lot Semi-D houses which were sold below RM800k few years ago are now peddling in the market hovering above RM3million while I&P’s Temasya Glenmarie’s double storey link houses are now in the sub-sale market with nothing lower than RM1million. There is no school, no shopping malls and amenities are crap over on this side. In fact, you will be surrounded by factories and auto showrooms and workshops. So what’s the catch?

People with money certainly puzzles us a great deal…

However, I think Kencana Square will fare quite well and the over RM500k price tag for the SOHO rivals the Empire Subang and E-Tiara across the highway. There will be more details later in the month.

Desa Green

This is probably UOA’s answer to Mayland’s Dorset Place Waterfront and Mah Sing’s M-City. A 3-block 1380 unit serviced apartment, consisting of 500+sf 1-bedroom, 700+sf-2bedroom and 900+sf 3-bedroom units. Each block has over 400 units and the 1^st 2 blocks are “sold out”* at prices starting from RM350k. At about RM550psf, even the larger units are around RM500k++…. However, at closer inspection, the location might not be so great. It is not quite in Taman Desa despite borrowing the Desa name from its nicer neighbour. It’s actually across the busy highway from Taman Desa which is not walkable. As seen in the map below, the site is accessible from both the ramp into Taman Desa or from the highway itself. So, if you have forgotten something after leaving the apartment, you’ll need to make one hell of a U-turn a long distance away or through one of KL’s worst traffic in the wrong part of the day. Nevertheless, it is hard to find many new launches with this kind of price tag so close to KL these days.

*UOA has not got the permit for the 1^st 2 blocks. Although launched, buyers who placed their RM10k booking may still opt out with no cost. This might explain the sold out status, so it’s not really about aggressive pricing after all. The day of reckoning will be when the 3^rd block is launched later this month. While UOA has not got the AP to sell the 1^st 2 blocks, they have it for the 3^rdblock… this is so strange… So, buyers of the 3^rd block need to sign the SPA within 14 days and pay up the balance of the 10% downpayment. The rest of the 90% will be left to a Developer Interest Bearing Scheme. Now when buyers need to make the commitment, let’s see if Desa Green is so hot cake after all…

Not much details at the moment. So, wait for it at the end of this month.