Goodbye Indahria ;)

This will be the last post from Indahria Apartment blog. Adios!

To the people who accidentally reach here from Google, I thank you for visiting.

To the residents of Indahria, I wish you all well and hope everything goes well with the cracked carpark.

To the person who purchased my unit, I congratulate and thank you for purchasing your first property.

To the JMB (Joint Management Body), buck up please!

To the developers of Indahria Apartment, Shanghai Realty, fuck you. I am watching you closely.

Bimbang Retak Menunggu Belah - Disaster Waiting To Happen

Kosmo! Online - Negara

SHAH ALAM - Kira-kira 1,000 penghuni Pangsapuri Indahria di Seksyen 22 di sini dilanda kebimbangan ekoran masalah rekahan tanah yang menyebabkan struktur kediaman mereka retak sejak setahun lalu.

Penduduk mendakwa ia berpunca daripada beberapa batang tiang struktur bangunan letak kereta bersebelahan blok pangsapuri 15 tingkat itu patah awal tahun lepas diikuti rekahan tebing akibat hakisan tanah di tepi Sungai Damansara.

Tinjauan Kosmo! semalam mendapati, jalan raya di tepi pangsapuri itu yang menghala ke kawasan letak kenderaan turut retak dan hanya ditutup dengan plastik oleh Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) sejak September lalu.

Timbalan Pengerusi Persatuan Penduduk Pangsapuri Indahria, Anuar Pin berkata, pihaknya telah merujuk masalah itu kepada pemaju, Shanghai Realty (M) Sdn. Bhd. tetapi setakat ini tiada tindakan diambil.

Dakwanya, pemaju sebaliknya menyalahkan Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) kerana menjalankan projek mendalamkan anak sungai yang terletak bersebelahan pangsapuri itu pada bulan Mac tahun lalu.

"Pemaju sebenarnya tahu masalah keretakan bangunan pangsapuri telah berlaku sebelum kerja-kerja mendalamkan sungai dijalankan.

"Sebenarnya projek JPS ini telah berjaya menghalang keretakan lebih besar berlaku selepas mereka membina tembok penghadang hakisan," katanya di sini semalam.

Anuar berkata, penduduk kecewa dengan kegagalan MBSA menyelesaikan masalah itu walaupun beberapa perbincangan dilakukan sejak Mei tahun lalu.

Seorang penduduk, Hishamudin Ali, 39, berkata, masalah serupa pernah berlaku pada tahun 2010 namun ia telah diselesaikan pemaju setelah mendapat perhatian media.

Dakwanya, syarikat pemaju telah diberitahu oleh syarikat perunding yang mereka lantik sendiri mengenai pergerakan tanah yang boleh menjejaskan struktur bangunan itu.

"Sekarang bukti sudah di depan mata. Mengapa pemaju dan MBSA masih gagal menyelesaikan masalah ini sedangkan ia sudah setahun berlaku.

"Kami harap mereka mengambil langkah segera untuk menyelesaikan isu ini dan tidak memperjudikan nyawa penduduk," tegasnya.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Pengarah Korporat MBSA, Shahrin Ahmad ketika dihubungi menjelaskan, pihaknya akan memaklumkan masalah itu kepada kerajaan negeri pada mesyuarat Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Selangor pada minggu hadapan.

"MBSA akan memastikan sebarang tindakan yang diambil hasil mesyuarat tersebut akan dapat mengatasi masalah tersebut secepat mungkin demi keselamatan penduduk," ujarnya.

Tenant Drama #2

Believe it or not, my friend's Indahria apartment also faced similar problems...

Tenant Drama #1

Its been a while since i last post anything on this blog. Well, life has been good to me and my family. By the way, attached below are some serious artwork from my previous tenant. Didnt realised that my tenant was Picasso? ;) Fucking Hell!

Rain Water Down Pipe ("RWDP")

Look what i found in my mailbox today. They even had a code for it! RWDP! RWDP! Indahria folks, i urge you to send.

Living in fear of another Highland Towers tragedy

New Straits Times, Sunday, 8th August 2010 - Original Article

To download scanned article please click on this link - Scanned Article

By Mazlinda Mahmood

SHAH ALAM: Looking at the condition of the open parking lot of the Indahria Apartment in Section 22 here, many would think that an earthquake had struck.

Residents of the 15-floor apartment have been living in fear that shifting soil which has resulted in the cracks forming across their parking lot for the past three years will soon destabilise the foundation.

Indahria Residents Association deputy chairman Anuar Pin, 42, said small cracks had been detected at the parking lot, located a metre from the Damansara River for the past three years, and they had become much worse lately.

"We have complained to the developer and they have repaired the cracks many times, but they would reappear.

"We are worried now as the cracks have reached about 0.4m deep and are only 10m away from the apartment. It gets worse when it rains.

"We hope the relevant authorities will take immediate steps to stabilise the soil and not postpone the repair work any longer," he said yesterday.

Another resident Mohd Shukri Sulaiman, 33, said the cracks were now about 100m long.

"I live on the eighth floor with my wife and two children, and I worry for their safety. "I do not want a Highland Towers- like tragedy here."

Batu Tiga assemblyman Rodziah Ismail of Parti Keadilan Rakyat said in a press statement that a meeting was held on June 7, involving representatives from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS), Shanghai Realty Sdn Bhd, Joint Management Body and Shah Alam City Council to discuss the problem.

"The developer in his report said the Damansara River de-sedimentation work by JPS was the reason that the cracks keep forming, but JPS has denied the claim.

"Therefore, we have suggested that an independent consultant or third party like the Public Works Department or the Malaysian Institute of Public Works to conduct further investigation to find out why the cracks keep forming."

To other Indahria Owners, are you aware of this? I certainly dont wish this crack goes to the building!

Opportunity Found, Opportunity Lost

I have been spending quite some time thinking and planning on buying my 2nd property, appropriately code-named #002. Brief description of #002 is that it is a medium cost apartment, some would even say its a low cost flat because the condition of the place and the number of foreigners staying there. Located in Sunway, close to various colleges, factories and offices, this is one of the properties that i have been targetting since #002 was ever mentioned in my blog. Regardless to what the public may think, as a "self claimed" property investor, i believe that #002 would be a worthy investment to own. The return on investment of this area is around 8%-11% consistently and the rental is between RM700 up to RM1200 depending how i would plan to lease it out.

Sometime in February, a dear friend of mine whom was dealing with one agent in purchasing a unit in Indahria apartment informed that there is currently a unit being sold for around RM105K - which is a bargain! Even 'rumah lelong' starts at around RM90K - RM100K. Reason why its a total bargain is because the market value of #002 is around RM120K-RM140K. Sweet, aint it?

So i hooked up with this agent and went to see the house, currently being rented by a few students studying in a local college nearby. To my surprise, it wasnt as bad as i would expect it would be. Agent told me that the owners are in the process of a divorce and need to let go of the property urgently. There and then i decided, this was mine! Opportunity. So this agent sealed the deal with the owners with regards to my intention to buy the place. Home loan applications were made to several banks and several banks offered me various packages available in the market. Come to think of it, it was only a property of RM105K. There should not be a problem at all. Being an extra careful person about his own credit report, i know very well that i will not have any problem in getting any loan.

What happened?

There were some delays in processing for one of the banks that i was interested. Public Bank offered me 80% where by CIMB havent got back to me in time. So i decided to go with PB first, in which few days later CIMB got back to me and offered 90% home loan package. Yup, this was the package that i wanted. really really wanted. So the plan was to ditch PB once CIMB comes back with a firm offer. Deal is made with CIMB, so CIMB it is!

Loan was approved, what happened then? To be continued...

The Palace @ Sydney

I am in love with this house that my family and i stayed while we were on holiday in Sydney, Australia. Mad respects to the homeowner! 

Its just minimally-extraordinary! More stories of my holiday in the next post

1 Year Review

It has been a year since i received the keys to Indahria and it has been a joyful ride being a home owner, well an apartment owner. Less postings to the blog now as i am awfully busy with work. Hehe. Everyone is! With regards to #002 (my second investment apartment), its on the way. More updates on #002 very soon. Now its in the bank loan application part. I believe there shouldnt be any problems there.

There was also the Joint Management Body Meeting @ Indahria on 28th March 2010 which i wasnt able to attend to. Any owners/tenants went to the JMB? This should be a good way to meet and communicate with everyone.

I have also managed to pursuade a friend to get a unit @ Indahria and he has also bought it and received a bonus (tenant ready). More stories soon.

Adios 2009, Hello 2010

So, that was 2009.

Hopefully it has been a great year to all of you. It has certainly has for me. Fruitful experiences in 2009 which also includes worked like a dog, being hospitalised for 2 weeks + medical leave for almost a week, worked like a dog, shifted office, became a home owner, became a landlord, worked like a dog, went to see lots of crappy movies and dreaming everyday to buy Kawasaki ER6-N (haha). Highlights for the year was in fact receiving the keys to my apartment in late March which was an extremely good feeling.

Check out this mashup of 2009 #1 Hits based on Billboard by DJ Earworm. This pretty much sums up my year! =)



As for #002, i'm afraid i'm still not able to find the right and the best apartment for my next project so #002 will be the #1 priority for my 2010 resolution along with a new job! ;) more update on this soon.

Happy New Year Folks! Make sure no regrets and hope you find what you are looking for this year. If you dont know what to find, then think of something to find yeah?

Adios 2009. Hello 2010.

Indahria Residents Association (IRRA)

I was just googling Indahria and i have managed to find that Indahria Apartment Resident Association has an online blog Well done to the residents! I'm very sure that this is one step closer in creating a better living community of our own. Its unfortunate that i am not living there myself but i'm glad to know that residents of Indahria has its very own residents association and also a blog! Well done! I have also included the link on this site, and on the blog there is also an email address that any residents can email with regards to anything about Indahria eg. feedbacks, complaints, etc. I would believe that all owners/tenants/residents of Indahria are welcomed to participate in all activities of this community.

Browsing through all the articles inside IRRA's blog, there is a very concerning article which was rightly named Apartment Safety ! What Say You ? A must read for all residents/owners/tenants of Indahria. A very very concerning article and i must say thank you to the folks who had the time to point this out. Now i want to know what the management going to do about it.

#002

Hi all, it has been a while since my last post. It has been an eventful past 3 months (hospitalised, shifted office, etc, etc) Just a quick update about my apartment, it has been 3 months since my tenant moved in and so far there hasnt been any issues (hopefully). I like to think that my tenant love the place and will take care of my first ever property (#001).

Referring to the title post, i am right now seriously searching for my second property which i will call #002 from now onwards. The area that i'm searching is around Shah Alam & Sunway as i believe that there are high appreciation in this areas. Surely there are other areas that have higher appreciation than these two areas, but for a newbie like me, these areas suits me just fine.

Question that comes to mind now is whether to buy a yet to be built apartment or a proven good for rental apartment. I have several ideas in mind but i have yet to sit down and really think which one shall i call #002. Till the next post...

LRT Extension

Taken from LRT Extension
View Proposed Extension

The proposed Kelana Jaya LRT extension line will commence from Lembah Subang – Kelana Business Centre, through Subang, USJ, Alam Megah and ending at the hub in Putra Heights. The proposed line will consist of 13 new stations and approximately 17km of guideway.

The proposed Ampang LRT extension line will commence from the present Sri Petaling station, passing through Puchong, Kinrara and ending at the hub in Putra Heights. The proposed line will consist of 13 new stations and approximately 17.7km of guideway.

All stations will have facilities such as lifts, escalators,public telephones, suraus and toilets. The stations will also be equipped with facilities for the physically disabled such as ramps, lifts, tactiles, low ticket counters and toilets.

Both lines are expected to be commissioned by end of 2012.

Start Hunting! If you already have, well done!

Indahria Apartment Location Map

View Indahria Apartment / Pangsapuri Indahria in a larger map

Why Should I Invest in Real Estate?

Original article can be found here

I have been doing lots of thinking (more like calculating) lately regarding as to how can i own and manage more properties of my own and why i should be doing it in the first place. I even asked myself, why bother & why should i invest in real estate? Then i found this article over at about.com. Have a good read!


Most of the 1990's, The Standard & Poors Index posted earning yields of 5% to 6% on average. At the same time, the dividend yields of the S & P were only around 2% or less. Since dividend paying stocks tend to be much less volatile, the gains on the appreciation side would not normally be a significant factor.
At the same time, bond yields taken as a composite, showed only around 5% returns. Better yields were riskier, while safer bonds returned lower yields.

During the same time period, real estate investors were realizing much more attractive returns due to the multiple income streams from real estate investment:

Rental yield - This is the percentage yield from direct rental income, and can be calculated as either gross or net. Experienced investors prefer to calculate the Net Rental Yield, which takes the expenses, taxes and other costs into account, and divides by the property value/cost. It could be a negative cash flow, as it doesn't take mortgage payments into account. For this reason, many investors prefer to look at Cash-on-Cash rental yields. The example at the link shows a 6.4% example return on cash invested. Though the investor can purchase and manage for a yield on this single component that exceeds average stock or bond dividend yields, it is only one of the ways in which real estate returns on your investment.

Appreciation - Rental properties normally appreciate in value with inflation. Increased value can mean sale and reinvestment in higher value properties, or provide an equity line of credit to use for other investments. This is the second, and a historically proven value component of real estate investment return.

Inflation is Rent-Friendly - Rents usually increase with inflation, while mortgage payments on the property remain stable. This increases cash flow, with more rent income without increased expense for holding the property. When inflation is up, it can also mean more renters, as the affordability of homes can be negatively impacted by inflation. More renters increases demand, so rents can escalate.

Leverage - Using leverage, while being careful to buy properties with good rental yields, provides greater returns. Using $100,000 to purchase three properties with down payments, instead of one for $100,000 cash, can greatly increase returns. Of course, all leverage involves risk, so the successful investor must understand how leverage impacts their real estate investments.

Paying down the loan - Amortization, or paying down the loan, frees up more investment resources to increase leverage. Some investors use increased equity in one property to free up funds to invest in others.

Property improvement for equity - Many investors intentionally purchase properties at a value because they lack some feature or could use some improvements in condition or amenities. They have calculated that the value of the improvements will exceed the cost, resulting in an immediate increase in equity.

Slowly but Surely

I guess its time for me to look for new projects and new development. A lot of good developments around in Shah Alam coming up.. As we all know, currently we are experiencing some sort of an economic downturn but the property market is still flourishing in Malaysia and to anyones surprise, people are still buying new properties. Just have a look on your daily newspapers! Theres tonnes of new housing development and all are offering affordable packages and people are still buying. Economic downturn? Theres something for everyone! You just have to look carefully. Indahria will be coded (#001) from now onwards for my future reference. Hopefully by the end of year i can add up a new property (#002) to my listing.

Moving forward, everything is looking pretty good. The tenancy agreement is all completed and will be given to my tenant to be signed. Didnt even manage to become a resident of my own home but i believed i made the right decision by renting my place out. My passive income column is growing, slowly but surely.

Tenant Found!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

The apartment has now found its new tenant today and i hope that this would be a great and long win-win situation between myself and my tenant. As i have previously mentioned, i was in no hurry to find a tenant but hey, why not? Of the many types/places that i have put up my ad (mudah.my, forums, etc, etc) my tenant found my ad from a channel that many of us would not even think of putting up an ad there but it definitely works for me (& i am not telling how) Boo!Hoo!

More stories regarding this later. In the mean time, i am getting myself occupied with a Tenancy Agreement to prepare, got minor repairs and adjustments need to be done to the apartment, final checks with the management office to be sorted out and heyyy, finally, postive cash flow starts flowing... i can just feel it.

Apartment for Rent

Monthly rent: RM 1 000
Bedrooms: 3
Type: Apartments, For Rent
Size: 1008 sq.f

- Brand new unit facing Federal Highway
- 3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms- 15 minute walk to KTM Batu Tiga
- Easy access to Tesco, Giant, Stadium Shah Alam
- Nearby to MSU & PTPL College

Facilities/Amenities:
* 1 Carpark
* 2 A/C Units (master bedroom & living hall)
* Lights & Fans (all rooms & living hall)
* Curtain Railings (all rooms & living hall)
* Shower Railings
* Water Heater (master bedroom)
* Window Grill
* Simple Kitchen Cabinet

- Deposit 2 + 1 + RM400 (utility)
- View to appreciate
- Agents are more than welcome
- Available immediately!
- Please sms/email me your name and contact number and i will contact you back if i am not available to answer the call
- Interested parties please email/call/sms:

Spring Cleaning #4

Went to Indahria yesterday & did a massive spring cleaning to the place. Washed the whole house & wipe all windows, grills & railings. Good day indeed. It has been almost 4 months since i have received the keys & i have decided to rent the place out as i am in no hurry to stay here just yet. Its time to do some massive advertising & marketing promotion to get the place rented out before August.

Checklist of items that i will be providing:

• 2 air conditioners (master bedroom & living hall)


• lights & fans (all rooms & living hall)


• curtain railings (all rooms & living hall)


• water heater (master bedroom)


• window grill


• simple kitchen cabinet


• shower railings

Simple Kitchen Cabinet Installed

Managed to get the kitchen cabinet installed last week. Although its nothing great (compared to the previous showrooms) but to me it is definitely better than the what the developer gave initially. I actually wanted to build doors for the cabinets but i postponed the idea as i think this might actually work without using doors. In the event that i'm renting the place out & the tenant wants doors to the cabinet, it can easily be done. In the middle of the cabinet, there is a roughly 1 inch hole to fit gas tubes in the event it will be used as a cooking area.

It has been a while since i last posted anything here. Anyway, here are some pics: