Innovative Thailand

I've been visiting a few property showrooms in Bangkok and quite amazed at their adoption of technology to sell properties. A few years ago when I started working in Thailand, while interviewing for staffs, our out-sourced recruiter who is British remarked to the job applicants how much the Thais can learn from working for a Malaysian technology company. I think it used to be true 7 years ago but the situation must have reversed now. Not to say that the technology is not available in Malaysia, certainly things like touch screen LCD monitors and software booking systems are common stuffs, it is the readiness of the Thai people to use the technology that impresses me.

Take for example, this show room above. Besides employing many people who greets you at the door, pour coffee and show you around, they have 3 LCD screens which among others tells you which units are sold and which are available for sale. Now, compare this with the red stickers in Malaysia while peddling RM1.5million condos in KLCC...

When you touch on the available units, the unit layout pops-out. Further information reveals the unit prices, floor plan, video screening of the facilities available....

... and the actual view of the units.

Besides the beautiful smile of the sales agent and her sweet presentation, my experience at this showroom has been greatly enhanced.

Hopefully, Malaysian developers and property agents will catch up. But so that I won't look like a fool in case you are reading this article in the year 2025, this is 22nd November 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bad Timing - Suasana Bukit Ceylon

The UMLand-MMC JV's Suasana Bukit Ceylon is finally launched. Unfortunately, the timing is rather bad with the recent Bank Negara policy to restrict 3rd property loan to a maximum 70%. Certainly, this has affected the pool of investors despite the project's offer of a 10:90 0% interests during construction period. The project has been delayed from the start due to hillslope problems but as in any such cases in Malaysia, sooner or later it gets approved no matter what the risk is. The developer has decided to launch half of the over 300 units. The balance of the units will be marketed overseas.

The project occupies one of the last pieces of vacant land in leafy but central Bukit Ceylon. However, it is sitting in a rather less glamorous end, further away from all the action in Changkat but this part is quieter, albeit for now. In future, another condo project will be built fronting Suasana which apparently will be called St. John's Wood. The back side of Suasana is actually built on top of the Bukit Ceylon hill itself. With one side facing a church, units facing this side will have unrivalled and forever unblocked views of both KLCC and KL Tower. It is also facing the much favoured morning sun. Without doubt, if one is to enter this project, the only piece worth buying are units on this side (units in Orange and Yellow below).

Type D (pic below) is a 1450sf 3 bedroom unit with nice and bright layout. I particularly like the long balcony overlooking the 2 iconic views of KL. Unfortunately, the kitchen design the Western type, unlike Verticas Residency's Asian style 2 part kitchen which is more home-friendly.

A week into the launch, all but 1 Type D facing KL Tower has been taken up. Also, due to the fetish of Malaysian investors for small 1-bedroom units, all the 730sf 1-bedroom units have been snapped up. The layout can't be any worse for a 1-bedroom unit. While the bedroom gets the optimum light and windows, the only natural light the rest of the unit gets is from the tiny window over the air-cond. Also, the bathroom has no windows and it is not attached to the bedroom. Maybe this is a good thing as guests do not need to walk into your bedroom to pee but then again, I wouldn't bring any guests home to this dinghy looking place.

The pricing however is rather attractive. The prime Type-D unit I mentioned above is priced at a cool RM740psf i.e. around RM1million. The smaller Type-C is going for RM580k which is slightly under RM800psf. This leaves some room for appreciation but as the new Bank Negara ruling is expected to correct market prices, the appreciation may not be much. The developer claim that the higher floors will be marketed overseas at an ambitious 30% premium.

Reuters Report - Malaysia sets new rules to cool property market

Malaysia sets new rules to cool property market
Reuters - Thursday, November 4

*Central bank implements new loan-to-value ratio of 70 pct
*Analysts see short-term impact on property sales
*Household debt still a concern

By Royce Cheah
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 - Malaysia on Wednesday moved to cool its real estate market by imposing a new loan-to-value ratio on homeowners buying their third residential property, but analysts saw the move having only limited success. The central bank said in a statement that the new loan-to value ratio of 70 percent would not be imposed on first and second residential property purchases.
"The measure aims to support a stable and sustainable property market, and promote the continued affordability of homes for the general public," it said.
Loan-to-value is the percentage of a property's value that is mortgaged.
The step follows measures by other Asian governments who have tried to clamp down on property speculation to soothe worries over asset bubbles and housing affordability.
But the central bank played down fears of a property bubble, noting that the aggregate growth trends for property prices remain largely manageable. Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, had said previously the bank would not wait for a bubble before taking action. [ID:nSGE69R0FG].
Analysts said the new measure reflects the rising concern over questionable mortgage lending practices and household debt in Malaysia, which at 77 percent of GDP, is the highest in Asa.
House prices in Malaysia rose 32 percent between 2000 and 2009, but some areas of the country have seen a big jump in prices this year.
"I think the intention is not to overkill the property sector. It is a very targeted measure aimed at speculation," said CIMB economist, Lee Heng Guie.
Citi analyst Kit Wei Zheng said macroporudential measures such as the new LTV ratio effectively served as a subsitute for further rate hikes to curb financial imbalances.
The central bank held interest rates steady at its last meeting after raising them three times to 2.75 percent and is not expected to announce any changes this month.
"In any case, the high level of household debt ties the ability of the central bank to raise rates too aggressively, lest it crimp consumption spending," Zheng said.
Emerging economies are struggling to cope with the impact of the foreign capital flooding into their markets. With the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to announce further quantitative easing later on Wednesday, the flows are unlikely to slacken in the near future.

Loans for 3rd Homes capped at 70%

Effective yesterday 3rd of November 2010, our Bank Negara has thrown us this stinker:
.
Measures in Promoting a Stable and Sustainable Property Market and Sound Financial and Debt Management of Households

.
Bank Negara Malaysia wishes to announce with immediate effect the implementation of a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 70%, which will be applicable to the third house financing facility taken out by a borrower. Financing facilities for purchase of the first and second homes are not affected and borrowers will continue to be able to obtain financing for these purchases at the present prevailing LTV level applied by individual banks based on their internal credit policies. The measure aims to support a stable and sustainable property market, and promote the continued affordability of homes for the general public. At the national level, residential property prices have increased steadily in tandem with economic development and the rise in income levels. This aggregate growth trend remains largely manageable and has not deviated from the long term trend in residential property prices. In the more recent period, however, specific locations, particularly in and around urban centres, have experienced faster growth, both in the number of transactions and in house prices. This is further supported by an increase in financing provided for multiple unit purchases by a single borrower, suggesting increasing investment activity that is of a speculative nature. The targeted implementation of the LTV ratio is expected to moderate the excessive investment and speculative activity in the residential property market which has resulted in higher than average price increases in such locations.

.

This has also led to increases in house prices in surrounding locations, thus contributing to the declining overall affordability of homes for genuine house buyers. This measure therefore remains supportive of the objective of encouraging home ownership among Malaysians which continues to be an important national agenda.
.

Bank Negara Malaysia3 November 2010
© Bank Negara Malaysia, 2010. All rights reserved.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It's another one of those badly thought out policies. I can understand if the government wants to control low cost, medium cost or even lower band high cost properties, because the objective is provide affordable housing to the masses. However, I do not think people who purchase RM2.5million semi-D or RM1.5million condos as the poor masses. This will obviously have a huge impact on property prices, especially in the higher pricing band by reducing the demand in the sub-sale market.

.

The policy would work well if it was targeted towards homes valued at RM500k or below. However, by enveloping all property ranges, it would do more harm than good to the national economy.

.

Which foreign investor would now be keen to invest in Malaysia if the capital appreciation of properties is going to be flat?

.

As for new launches, how many Malaysians can afford to spend a few million on luxury properties?

WANTED: A Loan Consultant Who UNderstands What I Need!

Since this is the forum for Property Investors or those aspiring to be one, I'd like us to share what our requirements are for loans and mortgages. When one is taking out a loan to buy a property, especially if it's for investments, one should opt for those flexible package, with a good interest rate plan.

.

Interests Rate Plan:

Usually, one would be short on cash in the early years of the acquisition, and through the years, one would have increased one's salary, have more cash, collected more rent and hence, have more savings, one can pay up the loan in a large part or full. So, one should go for the lowest interests rates in the early years e.g. 3 to 5 years and subsequent years rates can be higher because it is likely one would not need to be paying much or any interests in the later years.

.

Redraw Facility:

It is also very likely that, being a Property Investor, one would become itchy again when one sees good real estate on sale. So, the loan package must allow for as much cash available as possible when one needs it. Preferably, the redraw should be within a short notice in case one sees a good deal and need to snap it up immediately.

.

Lock-In Period:

Most loan packages have at least a 3 year lock-in and usually it's 5 years. So, if you are buying for speculation, try to negotiate the lowest lock-in period if possible. However, in my opinion, 5 years is a good time for prime properties because it allows 3 years for construction (if it's a new launch) and a further 2 years for further appreciation and rental collection. 5 years is also the holding time if you want to be exempted from paying property gain tax. So, one should not be too bothered about Lock-in period unless one only has the aim to make a quick gain. Instead, one should look at a good redraw facility from an earlier loan package and use that for the quick gain transaction.

.

The Wrong Package:

One should not get stuck with a long term fixed-term loan no matter how good the interest rate is. One such loan is the OCBC fixed-term loan. Sorry for picking on OCBC because I am not sure how the other banks do it. It works like this...using a RM400,000 loan as an example:-

.

The monthly repayment based on today's BLR is about RM1800 and the lock-in period is 5 years. So, if you have the money and want to "zero-rize" the interests, you can't dump in RM400,000 because you will break the lock-in terms and will have to pay huge penalties...in this case 3% of the loan amount which is RM12,000!! Nor can you dump in RM399,999.99 because the term loan requires the RM1800 monthly repayment (or the fluctuation according to the current BLR to be paid monthly without fail). So, while you are OK for this month, the moment you pay RM1800 into your loan the following month you will be penalized.

.

So, the only way to "zero-rize" your interests under this package is to pay 5 years worth of "Advanced Repayment" (5 years being the lock in period), i.e.

.

5years x 12 months x RM1800 = RM108,000.00

.

The balance is paid as "Capital Repayments" i.e. RM400,000 - RM108,000 = RM292,000 is "Capital Repayment". The crap is, when you want to redraw, you are only allowed to redraw RM108,000. You can't redraw the Capital Repayment. So in effect, the bank loans you RM108,000 for your property which is worth more than RM440,000!!! Clever Bank.

.

To make it worse, you have to give the bank 1 month notice before you are allowed to re-draw. Funny enough, I told the Loan Consultant exactly what I wanted and he offered me this crap. Being the nice guy I am, I signed on it without reading the details.

New Sky-scraper Warisan Merdeka from Budget 2011

The Budget 2011 has given us a 100-storey sky-scraper called Warisan Merdeka. This blog is not going to dwell into whether we need more office space in a very saturated market and is this the time to spend RM5b? Especially when we have witnessed every project that our GLC's are involved in are suffering from 50% to 150% cost over-runs... That's a job for another forum... However, in a KL city center property market where prices increases against the distance from the current tallest sky-scraper, the Petronas Twin Towers, this new project and it's sorrounding real-estate will be closely watched.

.

The tower will be completed in 2015 on the current land where 2 of KL's historical landmarks sit - Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara. If one actually paid attention in class, Stadium Merdeka was where the 1st Malayan Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj proclaimed the independence of Malaysia on 31st of August 1957.

.

The site is actually a hill dominated by no other commercial or residential property. The Hang Tuah LRT and monorail stations serve the area which has 4 schools including the reknowned Victoria Institution. The notorious San Peng low cost flats and Choo Cheng Khay apartments are just across the road. The closest condominiums are Casa Mutiara, Swiss Gardens Apartments and Sri Emas, although they are separated by the LRT tracks. KL's China Town, the famous Petaling Street is also adjacent. Although the government has announced that the 2 historical stadiums will be preserved within the project, the other existing buildings, including the 3 schools that sit on the same hill, the Scout's BP House and the Chin Woo sports complex may suffer demolition in favour of high value commercial development. The same way that the historical Bukit Bintang Girls School had to give way to the Pavilion, I think it is unthinkable for VI and Methodist Boys to be located right beside the next tallest tower in Malaysia.

.

Also to be watched, is the hill behind Dewan Bahasa Pustaka.

Sunway PJS7 Stepping Backwards

Since the Taylors College Lakeside Campus opened, traffic has been a real nightmare in Sunway PJS7. Well, PJS7 is land-locked and the traffic situation has not really been thought out. To make things worse, the knee-jerk reaction from PJS7 residents has now caused some really stupid decisions being taken and not solving the situation at all. In fact, it is making it worse.

.

Since this week, the PJS7 entrance to Taylors College is now closed to both vehicles and pedestrians!

As a result, students who live in PJS7 now have to go out to the LDP highway to enter the new entrance of Taylors that was constructed not too long ago. For example, for residents of Mutiara Perdana who used to be just 250m walking distance to the gate now have to walk over 1.2km.

It is also impossible to walk. As you can see from the picture below, there is no pedestrian walkway. Students have to risk their lives to walk along vehicles to get into college.

Which leaves the only one option, which is to get Daddy to buy a car and drive to college.... This will add more burden to the Sunway inner-roads, parking problems and worsen the congestions on the LDP highway.
.

The PJS7 residents demand the Taylors PJS7 entrance to be closed for both pedestrians and vehicles because there are still parents or friends dropping off students at the gate. This means cars that should not belong to PJS7 are still entering the roads. But is this the solution?

.

I can understand the predicament of the owners of houses in PJS7. Their once peaceful life has been disturbed by this campus. But they should also understand, that without the Taylors campus, their properties would not even have a chance in hell to appreciate. Over the past 2 years, there has been an over 200% appreciation in prices of properties and rentals in PJS7. If they do not welcome this, they should have protested the plans to build the college at that location in the 1st place, not after. It's hard to have the best of both worlds - to celebrate the development of your area and at the same time, condemn it with unreasonable demands.

.

There is of course ways to solve the traffic problem:

1. Limit the students who are allowed to drive to college - encourage them to take public transport. This is what most universities in Australia are doing!

2. Improve the shuttle bus service to the KTM and LRT stations and neighbouring Sunway areas

3. Immediately, Re-open the PJS7 entrance and encourage students to walk! Not drive!

.

If the steps above are taken, there will be further appreciation in the property prices in PJS7 because in order to walk, one would rather be on this side of the LDP and NPE highway.

Malton, the Crony Developer?

As we punters are probably aware, Malton is the developer in Malaysia responsible for some luxury projects such as Amaya Saujana, The Grove at SS23 PJ and The Pearl @ KLCC.
.
They are now circulating around the blogs about being cronies of the current regime. Whether this is a positive or negative thing will largely depend on us, the punters:
.
Desmond Lim - the new Chinaman kingpin of Putrajaya
.
Desmond and Cindy: new crony kings?

Student Housing? Broadband Internet is the Answer!

In July this year, just barely 3 months ago, I wrote that Sunway PJS7's Mutiara Perdana is undergoing some kind of a boom. This apartment is located barely 5 minutes walk from the Taylor's College Campus. It was really hard to find any unit to invest in at that time as the demand for student rooms were high. It's September now and I can tell you that there are at least 10 units for sale and 9 rooms or whole apartments for rental.

Although there is a huge shortage of accomodation in Sunway PJS7, students are still shunning Mutiara Perdana. I have learnt that since the last couple of months, many have moved out. Some even prefer to live in PJS9 or PJS10 across the LDP highway.

Why is that?

Reminds me of the time I was in Kota Kinabalu. A friend summoned me to his hotel to help sort out his WiFi internet (Yes, if you guys need help in that area you can call me). The hotel is located right in the middle of the city and should have no problems getting guests as the location is very good. However, his guests would stay for a few hours, find that the internet doesn't work and move out straight after while demanding a refund.

Internet is a necessity these days. It is on par with other utilities such as Electricity, Telephone and Water. Imagine if you have no internet access at your house. For a day or 2 it's OK but if you are living there for a year, it can kill you.

Mutiara Perdana was abandoned by the developer who handed the units over without any sewerage and telephone utilities. The developer went bankrupt shortly after and disappeared. The amazing thing is, the local council MPSJ issued the Certificate of Fitness (CF) - it is obvious there was corruption involved. So, to cut it short, since occupying their units in 2008, there is no telephone. To make it worse, Indah Water Konsortium, the company that handles sewerage refused to take over the sewerage system - the apartment have to repair the system and manage it themselves!

Then, all the vultures start to set in... one TM contractor gave a quote to connect the Telephone risers in each block to the Telekom manhole for RM100k. And miraculously too, despite being located less than 400m from the main gate of Taylors College and the sorrounding upmarket Sunway area, none of the Wireless Internet Service Providers have coverage of Mutiara Perdana. And the signal level of the 3 major 3G broadband companies is miserably low.

I learnt recently that the developer price for each unit was RM95k without car park and RM15k for the car park. At the peak, the owners were even trying to sell at RM220k to RM240k. Last checked that they are now back down to RM180k to RM190k but judging from the number of units for sale, it looks like there is somewhat lack of interests here...

Shocking Monoland

Further on to my purchase of unit in Quadro from developer Monoland, where I based mainly my decision on the property being on Residential Title and the allocation of 2 car parks, this is what I have found out:

.

1. Monoland sent me an sms one morning 27th August 2010 6.44a.m. stating that the title is Commercial... apparently they only just found out!

.

2. The allocation of car park was not stated in the S&P - which later they provided an undertaking in a letter with a caveat "subject to approval of relevant plans by authorities"

.

Now, this is incredible. Why do they require approval from " authorities" for the plans? If Monoland has not received approval for the plans, they aren't supposed to sell. Perhaps the reason why we have signed the S&P and Monoland still hasn't explains why.

.

There has also been rumours that the rooftop facilities will be owned and managed by the developer and additional charges will be charged to residents who want to use them. While I am not too bothered by this, I wonder why the developer want to make things so complicated?

It is a fact that all residential or serviced apartment properties in KL which do not provide car parks do badly or don't appreciate as much as others in the market. Examples are Bidara, One Residency and 231TR. Monoland is starting to remind me of 231TR's developer Urban Delta with this kind of tricky mentality. Perhaps it is right that someone pointed out that Monoland is an OK developer for Titiwangsa Sentral but when entrusted with Multi-million Ringgit properties, that may be an entirely different issue.

.

I hope this turns out OK, this being Monoland's 1st outing in the luxury KLCC market. If they fail here, their reputation will be forever tarnished.

Mayland's Elements at Ampang

If Mayland has anything for us to remember them by, it's their densely congested "luxury" developments in strategic locations. This strategy has served them well, that is to buy into expensive pieces of land and cut the units up to small affordable bite sizes. Example is their Plaza Damas serviced apartment in Sri Hartamas. Each floor has almost 40 units of 500sf studios. While in the past 2 or 3 articles, we been talking about luxury condos with their individual lifts, these 40 units per floor in Mayland's "luxurious" Plaza Damas is served by only 3 lifts! Mayland's "luxury" is also defined by their long school-type corridors...

So, when Mayland invited me to their Elements @ Ampang preview this weekend, I was a bit sceptical but made the trip anyway to see what it is all about. Well, it is slightly different... though not a too pleasant surprise.

Elements @ Ampang, a JV between Mayland and L&G features 12 units per floor (instead of their usual 20 to 40!!), ranging from 630sf studios to 1550sf 3-bedroom units. Mayland "generously" included 4 lifts to serve the 41 floors. This "generosity" is obviously reflected in the price which ranges from just over RM500k for the studios to just over RM1million for the larger units.

The density is still there. The project consists of 2 blocks. Each block has over 500 units and the 2 blocks on this plot of land has more than 1000 units. This is the trademark of Mayland.



With this kind of density, it is possible to throw in lots of high-end condo facilities as these can be supported by the maintenance cost. Elements is the only Freehold plot amond the leasehold part of KL's Ampang. Interestingly, it is neighbouring another up-coming project D'Rapport which is leasehold. The location is about 8km from KLCC accessible via the busiest stretch of Jalan Ampang and the AKLEH highway. It is at the fringe of the exclusive Ampang Hilir dotted by various embassies and high commissions. The most attractive selling point is the nearby International School KL (ISKL) at Jalan Kolam Air across the MRR2 highway.




But I think there is a mismatch in the project and the location. 1st of all, if you buy a project near a school, e.g. Mont Kiara with the Garden School and Saujana with the Japanese School, you can't go wrong. Expat families tend to congregate there, no matter where they work, they rather have their kids closer to the school than them closer to their work. With majority being 630sf to 690sf studios and 1-bedroom units, Elements is not exactly catering to the families with school-going kids in ISKL.
.

Junior expat officers at the Embassies normally have a budget starting from RM3k up to RM6k. But for what embassy officers are used to, they would be horrified at the thought of having an accomodation the size of 600sf because embassy staffs are expected to also do some entertaining. They would probably shop for the abundance of choices in Ampang Hilir which features larger units but much older design and up-keep. Perhaps they would consider the larger units at the Elements and with the 3-bedrooms starting at RM1.1million, they might just make it with a RM6k rental. But paying maintenance fees on a 1500sf unit with a RM6k tenancy might just be stretching the ROI a bit.
.
As for the senior expat officers, i.e. those ranked 1st Secretary and up, forget about renting a condo which is located among densely populated studio units with hospital-like corridors to them...


Nevertheless, Mayland have their hardcore supporters. Those who made money from Parkview, Maytower etc. swear by them. They even ban people from property forums for criticizing Mayland. Sales have not been that bad considering the soft launch. Take up for the 1st block of 500 plus units are about 45% with a 10% discount off published prices. For me, Mayland still need some convincing to do about their quality of work.

I'll provide more comments when I have managed to scan in the floor plan... keep rooted here..

Greed can blind one’s vision

The following article, which I found at Malaysia-Today touches the morality issue behind our investments in Students Accomodation. Koon Yew Yin is a philanthropist who has donated a lot of money to the development of the UTAR campus in Kampar and provided scholarships to poor and deserving students to study there. He has found that there is a lack of affordable accomodation around the campus and hence offered to donate money to build a hostel for the students. Interestingly, the UTAR board has been slow to accept this donation as there are vested interests who are making huge profits renting properties at high prices to the students.

.

On the opposite spectre of it, Taylors College hostel is charging RM870 for a room within campus. This is almost double the cost of accomodation outside the campus. While one might argue that students who study at Taylors are rich while those who go to UTAR are generally poorer, this inevitably affects students welfare and obviously the demographics of students who can afford to live in campus.

.

I applaud Koon Yew Yin's intentions. While we are not as wealthy to emulate his examples, I wish that while we investors are in properties to make money, we should be considerate towards the students' welfare too.

.

Here have a read:

.

GREED CAN BLIND ONE'S VISION

.

After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. (But) for the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business.
.

By Koon Yew Yin
.

Every past issue of the Ipoh Echo during the past several months has carried an advertisement of my offer of scholarships to help poor students whose family income is less than RM 2,000 per month. In the last three and half years, I have given scholarships to about 70 really poor students and most of them are studying in UTAR Kampar.
.

Before the end of the year, my first scholarship holder will be graduating as an accountant. This student had 10A1 for his SPM but failed to receive a scholarship from anywhere. Moreover, his father died soon after he completed his SPM. He is one of many thousands of bright but poor students who do not have the resources to continue their higher education.
.

My assistance on its own can only make a small dent in this large scale phenomenon of deserving Malaysian students who cannot further their studies and realize their potential unless the government, private sector and the well-to-do step in to provide assistance.
.

Direct financial assistance by sponsors is one way to reach out to the poor and deserving students. There are other ways, including more structured approaches that are available, especially to higher educational institutions that can play such an important role in ensuring equity of access to poor bright students.
.

Let me explain one of these structured approaches. There are currently 12,500 students in UTAR and 2,100 students in TAR College. The student population is increasing by 2,000 a year and is expected to hit well above the 20,000 mark soon. As reported the Perak Government has allocated 520 ha of land and UTAR has utilized less than 100 ha. for the current development.
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. I have openly declared that my intention is to help the students and I do not want any part of the profit for myself.
.

For the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business. Needless to say, whist they are making hay while the sun shines, the tens of thousands of UTAR students and parents supporting them are the big losers.
.

Frequently my scholarship holders complain that the amount of money I give them is not sufficient because the room rentals continue to go up. Moreover, they have the constant fear that they might not get a place to stay on their return from the university break period. According to the last check I did, the monthly rental of a twin sharing room was RM 420 some months ago. It may have gone up more since then.
.

I have been begging the Trustees of UTAR to accept my donation. To remind them of their fiduciary duty and their vision, I wrote this to UTAR Board of Trustees on 7th Sept 09 which should be of interest to all your readers.
.

Advantages of hostel and recreational facilities within the campus:-
.

1. To help students especially new ones and those from out of the state to solve their immediate housing problem.
2. The hostel environment is more conducive to learning as well as helping nurture the fuller development of human relationships.
3. There will be more than 10,000 UTAR students next year and all of them will be searching for accommodation. As they will be scattered all over Kampar, the University has practically no control or little control over them after lectures. They are free to drink, gamble and misbehave or engage in unhealthy activities which will influence their future life style. If hostel accommodation is provided, the house masters or wardens will be able to exert an influence over the students and have them engage in more wholesome and educational activities.
4. The rapid increase of the student population has created a big and urgent demand for accommodation and housing developers are taking undue advantage of the situation. Students have the constant fear that their landlords would kick them out or that their tenancies will not be renewed, and many will have to spend much time trying to find new accommodation before the start of the new semester. This situation can be quickly remedied if the UTAR Council accepts my Proposal.
5. University students are always burdened with a lot of difficulties. Many studies have shown that hostel living provides a stress free and healthier living environment, leading to better academic performance and more developed social skills.
6. Most parents will welcome the hostel facilities since they can enjoy peace of mind that their children are staying in the campus in secure and peaceful environments.
7. The problem of commuting between outside place of residence and the campus for students will be resolved. This will help reduce students’ living costs and also save on the time taken to travel to lectures and seminars.
8. Living in a university hostel is often the most pleasurable period of a student’s life. The hostel facilities will generate fellowship and comradeship among fellow students which will bring benefits long after they graduate. This sense of camaraderie will be a key factor in helping ensure strong alumni support for UTAR.
9. The availability of high quality and yet affordable hostel facilities will build up the image of UTAR as well as serve as a major attraction in attracting good students from all over the country and region.

I trust readers who feel as frustrated as I will persuade the leaders of MCA to instruct UTAR Board of Trustees to accept my donation to help students. I would like to complete the introduction I began with this conclusion.

Greed can blind one’s vision but at what price to one’s soul and peace of mind?

Koon Yew Yin

Malaysia Property Forum

Well today I found myself being banned from the Malaysia & Singapore Real Estate Forum. The admin and owner of this forum is rude, offensive and a coward.

He started off badly today by accusing a staff at Monoland and a friend I introduced to a buyer of ripping-off people and corruption. His claims were unsubstantiated and he offered no apologies for what he said, hiding behind his nickname and continued to post innuendos and implying that I have been dishonest in my dealings with regards to this Vipod deal since I introduced the buyer to the seller. The poor Monoland staff who merely helped the seller to explain to the buyer the choice of units available was accused of corruption!

.

I also have the right to protect my integrity and reputation. As he felt the heat, unwilling to apologize and faced with the threat of legal action by me, he decided to ban me from the forum as an easy way out. Now forum readers should know that the one with an integrity and reputation issue is the forum.

.

This is complete abuse of the internet and a free public forum. Although the internet is not regulated, it is morally and ethically wrong to use it to slander people, especially when specific names were used. Such attitude is totally uncalled for. I won't bother to go back to that forum for it's cowardness and lack of integrity.

.

Updated: Apparently, there is another twist to the story. I could not be bothered to visit this forum again so I can't verify. However, friends have informed me that an Admin, using the nickname Pai has banned me for criticizing his vested properties. I remember being banned from another forum for criticizing 231TR, someone's vested property. Well, if this forum is no different from the other one, i.e. used to promote one's vested interests, then I shall be no part of it. You will continue to hear from me from this blog, criticizing all properties, INCLUDING those I am vested in.... and do feel welcome to provide opposing comments or criticize my views as well. You won't get edited or banned from posting in this blog. Your comments do not need my approval to be posted. I only remove ads and racial and vulgar comments. Other than that, you can say whatever you want.

.

Further Updates: I have removed this forum from my favourite links. This blog shall not be used to promote other people's vested interests. Strictly no...

UPDATED: Monoland's Quadro @ KLCC

UPDATED 28/8/2010: Suddenly today heard a bombshell... Quadro's title is not residential as Monoland sales people have been promoting for weeks. They now say they have been misinformed. The title is actually commercial!!!! In my opinion, this is not an easy mistake to make. Have we all been misled by Monoland? Or Monoland been misled by the Land Office or City Hall? Surely... when you buy a multi-million ringgit piece of land, you don't make this kind of mistake. So, what's the big deal of buying a residential property that sits on a commercial title? The most tangible is the utilities - water, electricity and sewer are based on commercial rates. The Assessment is based on commercial rates. All of which are much higher than residential rates. The Assessment makes the holding cost much higher but for a million RM property, one might say it's negligible but for the reason it is a million RM property makes the assessment rates even much more higher!

.

So, what's my stand on this matter? Well, if I have known from the start that this is sitting on commercial title, I would not have bought - despite the location, layout etc etc. Simple as that... Now, SixCeylon, Verticas Residensi and St.Mary (commercial but residential rates) suddenly overtakes Quadro in terms of attractability.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last weekend, Monoland soft launched both their premier projects in the KL city center - Vipod and Quadro. Of the 2, most people tend to be attracted to Vipod, due to the smaller sizes and the affordability. However, since Monoland requires all affordable Vipod small units purchases to be paired with a big one, surely the affordability factor has dissipated... (?)

.

Monoland's Quadro features just under 40 floors, with only 7 units per floor. Each floor is served by 8 lifts!! Each unit has their own private lift lobby. Vipod is only slightly less exclusive, with 3 lifts serving 3 or 4 units. However, with the almost identical size of land, Vipod packed 11 units on each floor. So, Quadro has half the density of Vipod. Monoland's insider also informed that they paid more for the Quadro's Persiaran KLCC land compared with Vipod's Kia Peng's address.

Certainly then, the value has to be with Quadro. Interestingly, the price per sf for Quadro is less than Vipod.

picture above: The rendering of the Quadro as seen from Traders Hotel. Many online forumers baulk at the horrific Quadro architecture to be wasted on such a beautiful address.

Monoland positioned their Quadro as the higher end of the two. According to their Sales Agent, Vipod is their product for the "mass market", while Quadro is the exclusive market. It has a more exclusive address in Persiaran KLCC, sharing the same row as Traders Hotel, Menara Exxon-Mobil, Park Seven and Binjai on the Park. Buyers get 2 car parks instead of 1 with Vipod and the title is residential, while Vipod's commercial. The long term maintenance will be a lot different with a residential title.

picture above: The tanga shaped floor plan of the Quadro. Notice that there are 8 lifts serving just 7 units on each floor.

Really forgiven...if the floor plan reminds you of this...

The layout dictates that only 2 units actually get the KLCC view. Both are relatively large units and priced above RM2million at the special Preview launch. The floor layout of the units and designs are not really that interesting except for the Duplex units. The Duplexes face South, which means a Bukit Bintang view or in a few years time, Ireka's condo project... The layout is extremely thoughtful. They have their own lift lobby, just like the other 6 units on the floor. The upper floor has its' own entrance directly into a utility which can also double as a maid's room. So your maid, can have her own entrance!

The lower floor features the adjoining living, dining and dry kitchen. Then, there is also a wet kitchen which really suits our Asian lifestyle and cooking. It's just so thoughtful...

However, the 3 bedrooms upstairs are a bit crammed. Monoland should have just done with 2 large bedrooms, rather than packing three in...

Duplexes generally do very well in the expat high-end tenancy market. This one is a little revolutionary because it is the only small sized residential Duplex in the KL city center. Everything else from Somerset's penthouses, to Binjai on the Park, OneKL, Dua Residency and Park Seven are large units from 2500sf and up. Quadro's duplex is only 1500sf. The fact that Quadro only offers 16 Duplex units mean that they will be in great demand!

pictures above and below: The Quadro is bordered by Jalan Kia Peng and Persiaran KLCC and the access to the site is via the more prestigious of the 2 addresses. Picture below shows the site as seen from Traders hotel.

It has to be also noted that the road access to Quadro is a dual-way - both Persiaran KLCC and Jalan Kia Peng. The Vipod's access road is a one-way stretch of Jalan Kia Peng. That's a huge difference. And comparing the 2, Quadro's access road is seldom jammed.

The googlemap picture above showing the entrance to the Quadro via Persiaran KLCC (in red), also shared with Menara Exxon Mobil to the north of Quadro and Traders hotel (north West, diagonally across)

pictures above and below: The roof top plan at the Quadro with the infinity swimming pool below

The land however is still tiny. But not much difference from OneKL's. So, they have to pack all the facilities onto the roof deck.

One huge concern I have about Monoland is their maintenance background. Although they have a slew of high end portfolios and references, their track record in managing their 2 hotels, Northam and Gurney in Penang has not been very good. They still have a long way before they get to likes of being truly 5-star. The fate of Quadro lies in this.

Finally Launched: Monoland's VIPOD @ KLCC

Move aside Wingtai's Verticas and Bolton's SixCeylon, here comes Vipod @KLCC. Finally, there is a match to rival St. Mary's in the uber saturated KLCC property market. This long awaited project by Penang's Monoland is thriving on it's prized location - literally in between KLCC and Bukit Bintang's Pavilion.

If one feels like he's behaving like Monoland's Sales Agent, one cannot be blamed. Since the soft launch on the 8th of August, Monoland's sales office has been inundiated by visitors. As of today, 11th August, all the units up to the 21st floor which was opened for soft launch has been booked. However, Monoland has been wise to come up with a method to erase the short term speculators. In past practices, for hot cake properties, touts or short term speculators visit sales offices upon launch and place their bookings on the best units. They then off-load their bookings at a premium to other investors who come late.

Monoland however, allows such bookings but no booking fee is collected. One is allowed to go away for 24 hours to raise cash and return to sign the S&P and place the 10% deposit straight away. If you do not pay the 10% deposit within 24 hours, your unit is released back to the market. This practice in effect removed all the touts. Bravo to Monoland!

The project consists of over 440 units on 41 floors. Typically, each floor has 11 units - 5 of them 2+1 bedrooms above 1000sf, 1 two-bedroom unit and the rest are little 653sf one-bedroom units. Initially Monoland had wanted to build more of the smaller units but faced restrictions from the City Hall citing the density limit. So, they had to merge some smaller units into 2+1 bedrooms which are priced from RM900k onwards. Realizing that the speculators market would tend to pick up the smaller units leaving the larger units unsold (example from E&O's St.Mary's), they introduced another revolutionary sales idea which is to pair up the large units with the smaller ones - one is only entitled to buy the small units if they have also purchased a large one. Buyers of their neighbouring project at the Quadro are also entitled to purchase a small unit at the Vipod.

The floor plan is divided into 3 clusters - each housing between 3 to 4 units. So, when you buy a large unit, you are entitled to buy a small unit which will be allocated to you on the same cluster and same floor. When one is about to feel being forced-sell a mass market product, it has to be noted that each cluster of 3 to 4 apartments are served by 4 lifts, including 1 utility lift!

Upon closer inspection, one observes that Vipod actually stands on a very small piece of land. As such, all the facilities befitting a high-ish end project are squeezed onto the roof-top (above).

Entrance to the site is from Jalan Kia Peng, which today is a one-way street heading towards Jalan Raja Chulan, both stretches being the most congested in KL during peak hours. Each unit is given a car park, whether they are the large 2+1 bedrooms or the 1+1 bedrooms. The car parks are under-ground.

All the 2+1 bedroom large units faces KLCC, well at least theoretically for some as the lower units will be blocked by the Grand Hyatt (below - under construction on the left) and Menara Kia Peng on the right. The lower picture taken at night shows how the Grand Hyatt effectively blocked out the KLCC view for some low units.

However, for those endowed with the KLCC view will forever have it as there is nothing else standing in the way.

.
In my opinion, the best layout goes to the 2 corners. They are bright and airy and the kitchens are nicely cubicled to suit the Asian-cooking and lifestyle. The large full glass windows afforded to every unit presents a very nice breath-taking scenery (if you have it). The Western corner is preferred as the Eastern corner need to be at least above the 18th floor to enjoy any un-obstructed view.

However, the corner units are priced higher starting from RM1000psf. If one is looking to spend below RM1000psf, down to even RM900psf, go for the intermediate units. Type D below, being the cheapest is also probably the least desired as the kitchen is just a long piece of cabinet sharing the living room. It just feels like a studio unit - one which St.Mary's designer should learn too that this is not so suitable for long term stays.

Fortunately, Type C of the intermediate units offer an enclosed and separated kitchen.

In terms of positioning, St.Mary still offers a fight. St.Mary's 4 acre quadrangle offers the largest common play area in KL center besides the ageing Desa Kudalari. Monoland themselves admits that of their 2 products launched, Vipod is geared more towards the mass market, while their Quadro is for the exclusive end. Squeezing 440 units on a small piece of land, hardly 1 football field is really dense. With a majority of small units at play, the larger 2+1 bedrooms can't help but feel like being the bungalows in the middle of slums. Vipod offers a great location, unbeatable until the next project comes up on the parking lot next door. Probably sensing the already saturated market, Monoland has correctly priced their preview launch well below market. Early buyers at this stage will make money, no doubt. This explains the buying frenzy currently. The location promises that the un-even tenant spread in KL will be attracted to Vipod, especially more if Monoland do it right, with the right partnership and management.
.
BTW, the rumour that the low maintenance fee of 20sen persf is not true. Reliable insider stated that the maintenance fee has yet to be fixed and when it does, will be according to market rate, which is at 36sen to 40sen.