Property Malaysia

This latest housing development in the Hulu Kelang / Kemensah posh housing area has just been launched, adding to the growing number of projects in the area. Lots of people are touting Melawati-Hulu Kelang as the next growth area, judging from the developers staking plots of land around here.

Kemensah Mewah is just a small plot of land with 3 row of houses. To get to this place, you need to turn off the Taman Melawati / Permata junction of the MRR2 (where the Giant Hypermarket is) and follow the signboards. It’s a long distance in, twisting and turning past a few schools, old houses and narrow roads flanked by luxurious bungalows. There is another shorter left turn only entrance near the National Zoo, but that route also snakes through lots of narrow streets.

On one side of the site is some old midrise apartments, just in front of the site is another new developments of huge semi-detached houses. At the other side, is a good view of the Melawati forest reserve.

There are lots of amenities in this area, which is one of the main points it’s quite ‘hot’ at the moment – there are plenty schools in the area, good access to the MRR2, 15 minutes to KL, many hypermarkets in the area. Although one disadvantage we can see is the narrow roads we meant for the low density, older developments. With the new projects coming in, the roads are getting more and more congested. It’s the same problem projects like Laman Oakleaf and Bukit Mewah will be facing.

Now we come to the unit. This place has a unique concept – all 28 homes in the first phase are of different sizes. Well, almost. The semi-Ds start small at the start of the road, then the plot size and building footprint gradually get bigger, until the largest one at the the end of the street. Internally, the design pretty much the same, but some of the larger units having an extra room on the first floor.

The first two thing we noticed when we saw the show unit were the flat roof, and the colour scheme. It’s brown. Very different. But the flat roof is a different kind concern. According to the salesperson, it is an RC flat roof. Generally, we personally (and personally only) don’t favour RC flat roofs. It tends to pond, even though it may be slightly pitched to drain the water. And when it ponds, it tends to leak. They don’t have a maintenance access to this roof, so any repairs need to come from outside. Second thing is that it tends to be hot inside. Even with top-notch insulation. But you have to admit, this design dares to be different.

So the facade of this home is really defined by the flat roof, and the cornice parapet. It’s one of those love-it-or-not things, so if you really like it, then it works well.

The lower half floor is an AV cum panic room, more on that later. The ground floor is spacious, and the rooms upstairs are well-sized, there is also a fairly large family room (depending on the unit you buy). With a dedicated AV room, it precludes the appliances to be in the living, so it gives you more space to work with in the foyer. We like it.

This project comes with some interesting features like AV room cum panic room (we first heard of this term in the Jodie Foster movie) at the lower ground – equipped with soundproofing, fire-rated and metal doors. For those of you who have not seen the movie and do not know what a panic room is, its basically an emergency hiding place in case of a security breach. We thought it was an innovative idea, but one of our associates thought it was a spooky idea…

Other than that, the kitchen comes equipped with the gadgets and built in cabinets shown in the show room, and the developers are offering lots of extra features like CCTV around the perimeter, sensors to all windows, rooftop solar panel. According to them, there will also be a home automation system installed to control appliances like air-conditioning and lighting.

Five of the units come with outdoor swimming pool.

The price start at RM1.5mil to RM2.0mil, which we feel is quite reasonable for freehold, lots of nifty free packaging, low density and big plot size.

This series of postings is to highlight the special Penang Property Focus pull-out that appeared in the Northern Edition (I’m not to sure if the the other regions published this pullout) highlighting the current new launches of properties in Penang. There will be about 8 articles in total, and following it will be another series on Perak.

As usual, the 28-page pulled out was filled with highlights of real estate schemes in Penang, plus advertisements on newly launched projects. In this posting, we will list down all the articles mentioned in the pullout, and also provide the details of the advertised new launches for those who did not have the opportunity to read it.

Only the highlights of the projects are listed here, any further details should be obtained from the developer, the contact numbers are given in the write-ups.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Park View & Sea View Tower, Harbour Place

The Park View tower is ready for buyers to move in since Oct 2005. The second phase, called Sea View, was launched in Dec 2005, with 2 blocks of 19 and 23 storey towers with resort-like facilities.

Located near Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR). Show Gallery available at site.

Desa Bayan Apartments, Taman Sri Bayan

This is part of a mixed development consisting of 26 shoplots, Desa Bayan medium cost apartments, Pusat Bayan low-cost flats, Taman Bayan semi-Ds and bungalows.

Located between Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim and Jalan Tun Awang in Sungai Ara, this project on freehold land is very near the international airport and Free Industrial Zone. The appeal to the young working crowd is there, and is near Bayan Baru.

The 4th block of Desa Bayan apartments, Block A, is now open for booking and is available for occupancy at the end of the year (altogether there are 5 blocks). For the other phases, the response has been very good. In the pipeline is Sri Bayan, 448 units of luxury condominiums.

Next: Penang Property Focus Part 2: Putra Marine Resort Homes, the CEO SOHO…

The Sunday Star yesterday reported the press conference held by the residents of Bandar Kinrara against the proposed waste transfer station at Kg. Bohol in Jalan Puchong, which is within the 3km radius of areas such as Bandar Kinrara, Mutiara Bukit Jalil, Taman OUG, Taman Tan Yew Lai, Taman Sri Sentosa, Taman Bukit Kuchai, Bukit Jalil Golf Club, Kampung Muhibbah, and Bandar Baru Bukit Jalil.

This issue has been highlighted here in Property Malaysia before, you can read the background story and see the satellite image of its location here.

The press conference was organized by the ‘No Sampah’ pro-tem committee, and also present was the assemblyman Dr. Kow Cheong Wai.

The main aim of the committee is to persuade the government to relocate the waste transfer station. According to them, the station compacts the waste and sends it to the disposal site at Bukit Tagar, Hulu Selangor. In 1992, the same site was proposed as a waste dump, and a waste incinerator in 2002, but both were relocated after protests from nearby residents. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project, the station will initial handle 1,000 tonnes of waste daily, and will be serviced by 777 garbage collection vehicles.

Dr. Kow said that he had earlier sent a letter to the office of the Mentri Besar of Selangor.

For more info, you can check the following sites:
The protest site
Sign the petition
No Sampah Website

This site was highlighted in digg.com today, its too cool not to mention it here.

Although it’s in beta and applies only for the US, but maybe somebody can do it here in Malaysia. Looks like it’s based on Google Maps technology, or something similar, but using satellite photos (from Google Earth?)

Here’s what you do:

1. Go to Zillow.com

2. Type in the name of an actual street and the city it is in. For a real example, type Apple Street in the first box and Chicago in the second box. Entering an inexistent street or city will yield nothing.

3. Then press ‘GO‘. You’ll see a satellite image of the houses on the street with their estimated price tags. Cool eh? You can scroll the scale to see a bigger picture or a close up. If you can’t see the homes, you need to zoom in until you do. Site may be a little slow.

I tried some other actual famous place like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles (house prices start from USD$1mil). Go ahead. Try it yourself.

Like I said, I wonder if doing a KL version is possible…?

“What’s the difference between a Condominium and an Apartment?”

We’ve been asked this question a lot. Especially regarding Malaysian property. the two terms are pretty much used a lot, sometimes interchangeably. “Golden Villa Condominium” or “Sri Jaya Apartments“, for examples. Then there are serviced apartments, who also like to use the term ‘condominium’. Or the more popular (these days) term ‘Residency‘ or ‘Residences‘.

File picture only

Before we go into our understanding of the differences, let’s see what’s the textbook (or e-textbook, so to speak) definition:

Answers.com give the following definition of Condominium:

Condominium - A large property complex that is divided into individual units and sold. Ownership usually includes a non-exclusive interest in certain “common properties” controlled by the condominium management.

As for Apartment, it is defined as:

A room or suite of rooms designed as a residence and generally located in a building occupied by more than one household.

It is similar to the British term ‘flats’, ‘apartment’ is a more American term. However, flat has a rather low-cost connotation here in Malaysia, its hardly used these days to describe new property launches. (For an example, see Pekeliling Flats)

Judging from the definition above, we would think the main difference would be that the condo has common facilities shared by all the residents (e.g. pool, function halls, gymnasium, etc) while apartment refers strictly to the residential unit in the building.

Our take:
Having said that, this dividing line of definition does not exist in Malaysia. Most apartments have common facilities (some up to international standards) and some condos have nothing more than a playground and security hut.

So, it’s pretty much interchangeable. Some developers advertise “5-star condominium” or “6-star resort style facilities“, but there isn’t a recognized body that gives these star ratings. So its basically marketing-speak, really.

Buyers then have to personally weigh the benefits and facilities, like freehold vs. leasehold, residential vs. commercial, got swimming pool or not, etc.

That’s our understanding, anyway. But what say you? Or do you guys prefer the more fashionable term ‘bungalows in the sky‘?

We know a few people working in the local councils around Selangor, and the talk these days is mainly on the enforcement of the ‘zero squatters’ issue the State is currently pursuing. Basically, the state government has declared that they are going to eradicate squatters in the entire state by 2005, but due to some problems and resistance, they are still carrying out the works until today.

According to the MB’s website, there are 47,781 squatter families in 341 locations across the state, and providing them with what is called ‘Council Homes’. 8264 of these Council Homes are available but they are primarily for special cases, single mothers, military servicemen, retired government staff, etc.

As you would expect with an issue as sensitive as this, some of the resident on illegal land (’squatters’) are up in arms with the enforcement officers.

Some residents refuse to move, saying that the low cost housing that are meant for them are not completed yet, some say that they cannot afford to pay for the housing, the list goes on.

On the council side, they have given due notice to the squatters and are only carrying out orders from the top.

While we support the move to eradicate squatters, we feel that this is not coming to an end yet. Its going to be a long, long struggle for the councils and residents alike…

Other reads:

Selangor Low-cost Houses to Cost More
MB’s 2006 Budget Speech
Selangor Govt Briefs PM on Progress
Growth That Benefits All
“Don’t Pay Under-counter Money,” Squatters Told
Judge Grants Crucial Injunction

We’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time, noting down the complete list of local councils for every state in Malaysia for reference. And since Selangor is the most developed state in the country, we will start with them first. Selangor has one city council, MBSA (strangely, its not called a ‘city hall’!), 6 municipal councils and 5 district councils.

The 6 municipal councils are among the largest around, they are Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Ampang Jaya, Klang, Selayang and Kajang. There is talk recently of upgrading Petaling Jaya to a city.

Given below is the complete list with their address and contacts. Interesting note - only 4 of them have websites…

Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA)
Tingkat 1, Wisma MBSA
Peti Surat 7200
40706 SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 55105133
FAX : 03 - 55108010
www.mbsa.gov.my

Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ)
Menara MPAJ, Persiaran MPAJ
Jalan Pandan Utama, Pandan Indah
55100 KUALA LUMPUR
TEL : 03 - 42968000
FAX : 03 - 42968060
www.mpaj.gov.my

Majlis Perbandaran Kajang (MPKj)
43000 KAJANG, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 87377899
FAX : 03 - 87377897

Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK)
Jalan Perbandaran
41675 KLANG, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 33716044
FAX : 03 - 33720344

Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MPPJ)
Jalan Yong Shook Lin
46675 PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 79563544
FAX : 03 - 79586491 / 79575476
www.mppj.gov.my

Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS)
Persiaran 3, Bandar Baru Selayang
KM 15, Jalan Ipoh
68100 BATU CAVES, SELANGOR.
TEL : 03 - 61380001
FAX : 03 - 61388933

Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ)
Persiaran Perpaduan, Jalan USJ5
47610 SUBANG JAYA, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 80263131
FAX : 03 - 56376585
www.mpsj.gov.my

Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor (MDHS)
Jalan Bukit Kerajaan
44000 HULU SELANGOR, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 60641331
FAX : 03 - 60643991

Majlis Daerah Kuala Langat (MDKL)
Teluk Datok
42700 BANTING, SELANGOR.
TEL : 03 -31872825 / 732
FAX : 03 -31879304

Majlis Daerah Kuala Selangor (MDKS)
45000 KUALA SELANGOR, SELANGOR.
TEL : 03 - 8891439
FAX : 03 - 8891101

Majlis Daerah Sabak Bernam (MDSB)
45300 SUNGAI BESAR, SELANGOR
TEL : 03 - 32241655
FAX : 03 - 32242766

Majlis Daerah Sepang (MDS)
Tingkat 1, Bangunan Tun Aziz
Salak Tinggi
43900 SEPANG, SELANGOR.
TEL : 03 - 87061016 / 87061090
FAX : 03 - 87061971

This post is the second and final installment in the two parter on our wishlist for Malaysian property for the coming year 2006 (or if you want to see it as the year of the fire dog). You can read the first part here.

Regulations for Serviced apartments
The word out on the street that there will be new regulations for serviced apartments coming soon. There may be a possibility that they will no longer be allowed, too. Why? Simply because serviced apartments, an interesting kind of property available in Malaysia, are actually built on commercial titled land but used as residential purposes. Since its a commercial title, it does not fall under the HDA Act, and therefore buyer would not be under the protection of the Housing and Local Government Ministry. So you see the potential problems. Already these past few weeks, we are reading of complaints in the newspapers from resident associations regarding problems like ineffective management corporations, break-ins, shoddy facilities.

Better Quality homes
With the problems of Talam still fresh in our minds (read it here, here and here), buyers today are more and more concerned with the quality of the finished houses. While some developers are going out of their way to maintain their image of high quality products (usually at a cost) like SP Setia and E&O Properties, stories poor quality houses handed over with cracks and spalling tiles are dime a dozen. Every other week, we are asked by someone to inspect their new vacant possession home with a long list of defects. Some people say you can’t expect a mercedes for the price of a proton, but quality in construction is something that can be changed over a long period. But since this is a ‘wishlist‘…

…and one for Property Malaysia
And lastly, we wish for this humble website of ours to be able to continue its growth as a property information centre for all Malaysians. We have some specific plans for this blog, and we really appreciate all the support of our regular readers who frequently e-mail us with ideas, comments and tips on the industry. Watch out for more interesting stuff right here…

Check out our first part in this series:

Property Malaysia’s Wish List for 2006