In this episode, I’ve address a question regarding a Singaporean audience trying to invest in JB. But her concerns was the stagnant property prices of highrise due to the overwhelming supply into the market. I’ve basically divided the answer into several parts:
RISK APPETITE & INVESTMENT BEHAVIOUR
Basically there are 2 investment MODES in property:
- Long Term- where you invest and manage it for more than 10 years, at the mean time collect rent to sustain the installments
- Short Term – you invest in new projects and expect to flip it for a quick buck once the project is completed
There are many different school of thoughts around this but in my opinion, there’s no right or wrong approach. Only what you’re comfortable with.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
This part includes knowing the local regulation foreigners purchasing property in different states of Malaysia. *I know it can get quite complicated but land is a state matter, which means there are different rules in different parts of Malaysia.
After that, the audience had the advantage of having upfront capital. The best option would be to go for sub-sale properties (secondary market) where you can afford certainty. She can afford to know the exact rental price around the property she wish to invest by checking around property portals.
For my oversea friends, you can always check out my property review series where I’ve visited around 100 different projects across Malaysia. This will give you a general idea of how our property look and feel like and this will greatly save your time.
JOHOR BAHRU VS KLANG VALLEY
This is a matter of political intervention as Malaysia has just changed our government around a year back, our new Prime Minister was not seeing eye to eye to all the mega developments in Johor Bahru, aka little China. Hence, there have been numerous restrictions imposed on them, unfortunately affecting the other local developers who are in that region as well.
Another matter would be job opportunities in JB vs KL. There are very limited MNC’s in JB to accommodate or cultivate high net worth individuals to occupy the houses. Every time a white collar senior manager gets promoted, he or she will be transferred either to KL or SG. However, I’ve observed that many foreigners love going to JB for affordable education results of the mushrooming international schools. If you hangout in the Iskandar region, the cafes and grocers really have that ‘international’ feel to them.
Johor Bahru landed homes are very costly in comparison to houses in Klang Valley because of the ‘Singapore Dollar Effect’. As many local Johor youngsters chose to work in Singapore, their income is considered very high and many prefer to get a landed terrace house or Semi D for their families.
On the other hand, Kuala Lumpur would anytime be a better choice for investment because of the high demand for housing as well as the continuous infrastructure improvement. There will forever be new graduates setting their foot in the city, and then building their family here as well. The best example would be KL was expanded to Klang Valley, then followed by Greater Klang Valley… and you can almost guess what’s next? The whole state is under KL hahahahaha.
Anyway, this inspired to cover more topics regarding the perspective of expats as my materials are now consumed beyond Malaysia. *time to cut down the local slang =)
realestateguy 