Twin Galaxy Condos in the CBD

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Twin Galaxy started construction in late 2012. As with all new condos in Johor Bahru recently the developers are aiming for the high end of the market. Twin Galaxy’s 2 towers will be 35 stories. The development includes integrated shops and restaurants along with recreation areas for residents (pools, game rooms, library, kid’s play room).

The location is nice, next to Hotel Selesa and across the street from, the also under construction, Setia Sky 88 condos and near the New York Hotel.

Plaza Penagi is just 4 blocks away. KSL Mall is 1 km away.

Condo options include: studio (560 square feet) – this has to be aimed at the Singapore market, 2-bedroom (936 square feet), 3-bedroom (1163 sf), 4-bedrrom (1701 sf) and Penthouse with private garden. They offer to attach a “studio” to the 2 or 3 bedroom which adds 560 square feet (they make that into the master bedroom).

The CIQ and causeway are 5-10 minutes (2 km) away assuming any sensible driving and traffic load. It is a bit worrisome what will happen to the traffic flows with all the high rises being build in a close area, but this is a worry for the whole area.

I can’t find any details on the delivery time frame on their website. I don’t understand how such basic information is left off.

Related: D’esplanade Residence @ KSL Mall – Setia Sky 88 Condos – Investment Considerations When Looking At Iskandar Housing Purchases

D’esplanade Residence @ KSL Mall

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The D’esplanade Residence condos at KSL mall in downtown Johor Bahru should be ready soon (I would guess in late 2012 or early 2013). The official site has little no sales information but does have some floor plans.

KSL Mall, Hotel and Condo Complex

I believe the closest tower is the hotel, the tower on the left has offices and the back tower is the condos. I took the photo last month.

The condos sit atop the KSL Mall and next to the KSL hotel.

Units for sale include:

  • RM 879,000; 1,465 square feet; 11th floor; 3 bedrooms; 3 baths.
  • RM 980,000; 1,700 square feet; 3 + 1 bedrooms; 2 bathrooms, swimming pool view.
  • RM 1,124,000; 8th floor; 1,874 square feet; 4 bedrooms; 3 baths

Price per square foot on units is close to RM 600.

The hotel is already open. They seem to like calling it an “integrated resort” – as far as I can tell that just means it has a spa attached to it. I have seen rates from RM 200-300. The closet tower is the hotel, I think.

Related: Setia Sky 88 condos – Wadihana Condo – Condos in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Setia Sky 88

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Setia Sky 88 is a new condo just getting set for construction to start. I haven’t seen when delivery of units is anticipated for, but one article says completed in 4 years. I find it hard to understand how they are going to take so long, but since the website fails to have any information at all I guess the best current guess is for delivery in 2016. I still find that so slow that I can’t believe they will really take that long but until I get updated information that is the only date with some evidence backing it up. As with all new condos planned for the CBD of Johor Bahru recently the developers are aiming for high priced units.

The location is nice, across the street from the New York Hotel. There is another highrise condo being built right next to the Setia Sky 88 (across the street – between the Sky 88 and Hotel Selesa), which is also just in the beginning stages of construction.

I would imagine the car washes that line part of the street now will be replaced with more upscale retail shops, but we will see.

Plaza Penagi is just 4 blocks away and the wonderful Chez Papa (French cuisine) is just 6 blocks away. KSL Mall is within 2 km. The KSL condos are getting close to being completed (also very high prices on these).

I am not really sure why they have to exaggerate (saying the CIQ is 2 minutes away), the causeway is 5-10 minutes away assuming any sensible driving and traffic load, in my opinion.

I think the nearest existing condo would be the Wadihana Condo which is likely between 1 and 2 km away.

What is a Reasonable Expectation for Service?

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Moving to a new country offers many things you have to figure out and get used to. Really the idea of exotic locals is largely outdated. Most things are basically the same everywhere. It is the details that get a bit tricky.

I knew this so paid extra for my rental with the expectation that the extra payment meant I got the higher level of service expats expected. This made sense to me. It sure seems like I get as bad a service as could possibly be tolerated. I can’t imagine there is a level lower than this.

I don’t know if I am just being taken advantage of by my agent. Or if this is just the state of “customer service.” The condo had many issues to be addressed (it was known it had issues and hadn’t been rented out for years). I said I would go to Thailand for 2 weeks and return when we agreed the items would be taken care of. I returned, nothing had been done.

Numerous follow ups by me were required to get the minimum to finally be done to let me move in. The entire time I have had to ask 3-6 times for things to be done. Repeated request for status always failed to get a response.

People would not show up when they were suppose to, to fix stuff, again I had to manage this as the agent was missing in action. If people didn’t show up at all again the agent was missing in action and I had to tell him. This has repeated for everything. No matter what, I have to ask multiple times (actually there were maybe 3 times when I didn’t have to do so, but by and large I have had to).

Two of the ACs didn’t work (remember the house was not used for years prior). The one in my bedroom I got fixed. Another one I only tested and it seemed to blow out cold air so I went on. A few months later I started using that room and the AC doesn’t work (probably the freon is out – but maybe it is just broken). So it never worked, and they said I can pay to fix the AC that never worked in this unit they assured me was more expensive because they would provide good service and assure things were at an “expat level.” Again this seems like they are just either taking advantage of me of have a very poor standard of service but maybe my expectations are wrong.

The fridge has never been good, but I didn’t care that much. Now the ancient fridge died, ruining all my food. I told the agent. They said he would arrange for someone to fix it. So I cancelled my plans for the day and skipped lunch as I couldn’t leave… Noone came. After lunch I left a message asking what was going on. Still today, no response. As typical, failure of expected functions followed by requiring multiple contact by me. Lousy communication provided by agent. Leaving me stranded with no one showing up. Leaving me stranded without functioning equipment.

Is this just lousy service and response. Or is this typical?

Should I just go buy a new fridge and deduct that from my next rent payment?

I did know I was taking a risk believing the claims of the agent that they would provide good service. They seemed capable and seemed to have a business based upon service clients that would expect good service (so had a reason to build a business that provided it). And I was really tired and just wanted to be through looking for a place (I probably was a fool to just give in, but I did it so I have to live with it).

Paragon Residences @ Straits View

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New condo developments are being built and delivered with great frequency in Johor Bahru these days. The Paragon Residences are new luxury condos being built in the Danga Bay area.

Not only are many whole new condos being built, both Straits View and Molek Pine have been adding a tower in the last year.

I am not sure on when these units are suppose to be delivered. My best guess would be sometime in 2013.

Related: Straits View Condo Rentals: RM 2,500/m to RM 4,000/m – Plenty of Good Rental Options in Horizon Hills

Plenty of Good Rental Options in Horizon Hills

Expats, Housing, Living in Johor Bahru, , , , ,

The sales market for housing in Nusajaya, Johor is hot. Horizon Hills is one of the most popular housing estates in Nusajaya (part of Iskandar in Johor, Malaysia).

Given the positive feeling many have about the future of Nusajaya many investors continue to buy. The demand by investors exceeds the demand of renters so, renters can get some good deals. The biggest thing that will change this market dynamic is more high paying jobs being created in Johor increasing the demand from renters.

I would expect you can get discounts on the listed prices (if they won’t budge talk to others offering rentals – there is a surplus supply). Above asking price of RM 3,500 discounts are even more likely.

There are variety of rental options in Horizon Hills, Johor, including:

  • Link house, RM 2,800/month, 4+1 Bedrooms, Un-furnished (I think).
  • Cluster house, RM 3,500/month, 2,600 square feet, 4+1 bedroom, 3 bathrooms, Partly Furnished.
  • Link house, RM 2,400/month, 2,100 square feet, 4+1 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, unfurnished?
  • Link house, RM 2,900, 2280 square feet built up, 4+1 bedroom, 3 bathroom, partly Furnished.
  • RM 7,000, 3500 square feet built-up, 4+1 bedrooms, 4 baths, Partly Furnished.
  • RM 3,650, 2500 square feet built-up, 4+1 bedrooms, 3 baths, Partly Furnished.

Related: Buying or Renting in Horizon Hills – Housing options for East Ledang – The Potential of Iskandar is Very High but Real Estate Investing has Risks Also – Straits View Condos Available: RM 2,500/m to RM 4,000/mo

Straits View Condos Available: RM 2,500/m to RM 4,000/m

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See our overview of the Straits View Condos.

Currently there are numerous condos available at the Straits View condos in the Permas Jaya. The opening of the new highway makes commuting to Singapore much easier now (as well as just getting to the Johor Bahru central business district.

One thing you have to keep in mind when looking for a place to live in Johor Bahru is that many available units are not listed online. A few places, like Straits View and Molek Pine have a larger percentage listed online (given that that are targeting expats and also that they are more expensive, real agents representing them are more experienced and have more tools available, etc.).

iProperty is a good site to find available Straits View Condos, some current listings:

  • RM 2,800/m – 3 + 1 bedrooms, 3 bathroom, 1,650 square feet, low floor. Jaccuzi in master bathroom.
  • RM 2,500/m – 3 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, 1,500 square feet.
  • RM 3,300/m – 3 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, 1,650 square feet. Short term rental available (at higher monthly rate).
  • RM 3,500/m – 3 + 1 bedrooms, 3 bathroom, 1,650 square feet.
  • RM 8,000/m – penthouse, 4 + 1 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms 2,950 square feet.

Business Idea: Home Inspection

Housing, investing, , ,

Reading a post on the Iskandar Living Forum got me thinking of a business opportunity. There is lots of interest in buying new homes (condos, link houses and bungalows) but lots of people express concern about buying used houses. There are several reasons for this but I think one of them provides a business opportunity.

In the USA there are professional home inspectors. They often used to be general contractors (and some still are – doing both). Pretty much every resale has a home inspector look through the house. Those doing it, do so many times each week and have checksheets (with dozens of things to check) and they know the area. So they know for example if some developer used bad wiring for a condo or whatever and can take special care to check things that are problematic.

If these don’t exist in Malaysia yet it seems like a great business opportunity (if they do, then just doing a great job at it is still a good business). If you can stake out ground as a reliable expert purchasers will gladly (smart ones anyway that are not home inspector experts) pay fairly well. You don’t need to do a lot of work (once you become expert) to provide a huge amount of value. This is a great place to be for a business (provide a large amount of value for not much work) as you can provide the customer a great value and still make a nice living yourself.

The smart ones in the USA have developed very extensive handbooks to then turn over to the new homeowner with all sorts of useful info. Again this is a great way to set your business as professional. If I were interested in creating businesses here there are lots of opportunity, but this seems like another great one. What you want to do is talk to lots of real estate agents and have them refer there clients to you. I think it is best if you just provide a great service that makes the agents look good (because they provide a good referral to their customer) but if it is legal in Malaysia you could even pay the real estate agents a portion of your fee.

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Investing in Palm Oil Plantations

investing, Malaysia, ,

I was in the KSL Mall a couple weeks ago and one of the temporary pop up displays they often have selling real estate (often to be build condos…) or wedding materials or… was for investing in palm plantations. Since it was the middle of the week and no-one was around I talked to the salespeople a bit. I am a pretty skittish investor. I am willing to take investment risks but I want to understand what the risks are. I can’t see myself actually investing in this now, but it was somewhat interesting.

They, Golden Palm Growers Berhad claim a 6% guaranteed rate of return. I asked who guaranteed it and I couldn’t really get an answer I understood. They did seem to agree the guaranty wouldn’t protect against some natural disaster or if palm oil prices feel below a certain level (I think the equivalent of $40 a barrel for oil). They seem to be able to use guaranteed much more liberally than would be allowed in the USA related to investments.

Palm trees, with rubber trees in the background

Palm oil trees, with rubber trees in the background by John Hunter, in Thailand.

On top of that return there was a “discretionary bonus” that in initial years was based on income earned on excess capital. I still couldn’t really understand the investment totally but it seemed similar to a limited partnership where the company was the general partner (owning the land and managing the care of the palms and selling the palm nuts to processors). I can certainly understand that the general partner may want to take on limited partners. In such situations the general investment market (palm oil) is important but it is also extremely important to trust the competence and reliability of the general partner. Their interest can be somewhat shared with yours but they have an interest in high management fees (to pay themselves) which is exactly counter to all the limited partner investors.

As I understand it, after 6 years the palms should start producing. The scheme is for 23 years (I think palms have a productive life span of about 17 years, so 17 + 6 = 23). During the productive years investors enjoy 100% of net profits with a minimum return of 9% expected, if crude palm oil exceeds RM 1,500 per metric tonne (today close to $US 500) and I believe equivalent to $40 a barrel for crude oil. It looks like the price might be at about RM 2,500 today (but I am not clear if this is

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Wadihana Condo: RM 2,000 to RM 2,500 per month

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Wadihana condos are large condos in Johor Bahru CBD with only 6 units on each floor.

The Johor Bahru market continues to favor renters. If you are looking to rent feel free to take your time and compare what options you have. And feel free to bargain for what is most important to you (if you want some improvements made to the unit or furnishings, or a reduced price…).

Most all condos expats are looking at come fully furnished. A few are partially furnished. You should always check, but normally the listing will make it very clear if it isn’t at least, largely furnished.

See our overview of the Wadihana condo.

  • 1,667 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, RM 2,500 per month
  • 1,852 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, RM 2,500 per month
  • 1,750 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, RM 2,000 per month

2, of the 6, penthouse condos are currently for sale, both for RM 1,100,000. They are 2 story condos with over 3,300 square feet. Regular units are about RM 450,000.