Property Malaysia

Yesterday we decided to drop by this project on its launch day, and we were indeed pleasantly surprised. We didn’t know anything about it except from what we learnt from the advertisement in the newspapers.

Finding it wasn’t a problem. The project is situated in Taman Yarl (hence the name) in the OUG area. They recommend the way of Old Klang Road at Plaza OUG, then two right turns and you will see the completed condo on your right. We actually came via the other way from Petaling Jaya through Taman Tan Yew Lai, since this area is filled with small interconnecting roads that is characteristic of the many adjacent housing developments.

Yes, this is a completed project. It is a Build-then-Sell (BTS) development, where you can buy the unit, plonk in the downpayment, and move in soon after. There are quite a few of BTS projects around, but this has the distinction of being the first to be reviewed here in Property Malaysia.

Why BTS? Because the developer can, that’s why. UOA are big time players, they can afford to do it for the benefit of the buyers, something most small and medium developers can’t do. Or won’t do even if they have the means to, after weighing in the risks. But the payback is enormous. Buyers can see the actual product that they will getting, somewhat like shopping for a second-hand unit, except that this a brand new home. Besides that, they absolutely no worry that the project will not be completed or abandoned, because it’s, like, completed, you know…

Anyway, completed or not, the project has a beautiful concept that is executed well. It is a bungalow project with strata title, and is build with a resort-style villa concept that is appealing and different. The parking is on a sub-basement akin to a condo project, but you are actually parking below your unit, where you can walk in straight to your unit like in a normal landed unit, or you can take the common access staircase which will bring you to the common facilities area.

The common facilities floor is actual the ground floor of all the units, except you can’t drive and park here. The porch and front garden of all the units are integrated into one large landscaped area, with cobbled walkway and trimmed hedges. Here you’ll find the function room, gym, wading pool and infinity pool. Strangely enough, this ‘infinity’ pool is a very small pool, stretching the definition of the word by a long stretch. The common podium also overlooks into a large koi pond at the carpark level, which gives a good view for some of the units nearest to it.

There are only 19 units of bungalows here, with three rather similar design. Each unit comes with you own garden in front, although the boundary is demarcated only by a hedge. Each unit also comes with a small courtyard inside your unit, while a handful of the units have large garden space behind the unit (for those fronting the main road) or beside it (corner units).

All units have 3 storeys, plus one additional sub-basement where there’s the parking bays plus a small foyer. The three floors above ground for some of the units are also on split unit, so do take careful note when studying the layout. All designs come with five-plus-one bedrooms with built-up areas between 3,431sq ft to 3,547sq ft and land areas from 2,697sq ft to 4,859sq ft. Because of the nature of the design concept, the accessory parcel for the units are exceptionally high, ranging from 2,831 to 4,739sq.ft. What this basically means is that you’ll be paying a lot for your monthly maintenance fees, something like RM650.

For the units without garden space, you get more parking bays as a trade-off, so you’ll get between 4 to 8 bays. But they don’t have visitor parking, so any guests will have to park outside or park in your own space, which isn’t practical. But space is a constraint, so that’s how it is.

The small layout forces some tricky design in their part, but we think they’ve done it well. The living room has a double volume, while the family area at the first looks down onto the living. While standing in the living, you can’t help but feel cramped in because of the small footprint, they’ve added lots of rooms and maximized the space available in the higher floors in return.

For example, while the kitchen and yard are small for Malaysian standards, the family are and master lounge is spacious, and the rooms are big with your private balcony for some.

UOA are selling a concept, and knowing that it may take an actual completed unit for them to really convince buyers, they’ve gone the BTS route. Actually, I think it would have done just as well without the completed unit, but it’s just as well. With 19 units, priced at between RM2.1 to RM2.6 million, it is exclusive to say the least. They are they only project with this concept in this area, and accordingly it has generated quite a buzz.

Did we like it? Very much. We would have liked a bigger build-up, since with that kind of price tag, an equivalent bungalow would yield something like 5000sq.ft. A we said, the concept sells the project.

We would perceive that most buyers here would buy for their own stay, as it would be harder to justify the rental return considering the price and location.