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.