SEMINAR PELABURAN HARTANAH MAMPU SIRI 2

My team is pleased to announce that the second series of the affordable property investment has been decided to be on 22 & 23 February 2014. The details is as per attached.

The seminar will be held in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

If you want to participate in this seminar, please bring your own notebook and smartphone to assist your understanding. You can still learn if you do not have any of the devices. But, we are going to show you how to optimize your expensive devices to good usage.

We are also going to show to participants how to apply the Rumah Mampu. Participants will be shown the preparation needed and the process flow of the application. Since, the main seminar content is to formulate a suitable strategy for each buyer, participants can gauge themselves what type of Rumah Mampu they can afford.

You should also bring your list of questions to be asked. The questions could be what are your concern which make you hesitate to invest or buy a property.

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I forgot to inform my readers, the 2nd series is postponed for another month. My team have planned something different which need a special prop. The vendor need another month to complete the task. I am sorry for any inconvenience.

Take Actions and Steps to Invest, No Matter How Much is Your Knowledge

I am pleased to inform some of the progress to our investment group members:

1. Dr. Baha has finally bought a single storey shop lot at Taman XXXXX XXXXX, Nusajaya for approximately RM450,000.

2. Mrs Jun has also finally bought a single storey shop lot at Taman XXXXX XXXXX, Nusajaya for approximately RM450,000.

There are still a few shop lots available at Taman XXXXX XXXXX. However, all of the remaining lots are for Bumiputera. So, if any of you want to buy the unit, feel free to use my mentoring service. All property types prices increase drastically lately. Last June 2013, I bought two storey shop office for RM528,000. Today, both of them have to pay a price which is almost equal to the shop lot I bought. I encouraged them to buy the units due to the strategic location, accessibility and potential number of population.

As shown in the picture above, the township is easily access by a highway from Gelang Patah to Bukit Indah, which you can see the flyover and exits on the middle right. From the highway, we can enter the 2nd link highway which connected to Tuas, Singapore, and connected to Kota Iskandar, Nusajaya (see below picture, middle top). This also means Legoland is only 5 minutes drive. Besides, this township is only one minutes to SiLC and 3 minutes to Setia Eco Garden & Industrial Park. These mean there are huge potential for future tenants from those who work in Singapore and the surrounding industry parks.

There are 8 phases of houses for about 3,500 houses. All houses were sold out! The developer is currently promoting the apartments. If all apartments are included, the population can reach 5,000 residential property. All the two and single storey shop lots are located at the main road as shown in the picture below. A small lake is located behind the two storey shop lots which can be seen from the highway. Thus, all shops located at the back will have a nicer view.

Originally, I recommended both of them to buy a two storey shop lot at Bandar Baru Kangar Pulai for about RM580,000. But, all of them were sold out. It was too late to buy. Those who acted faster got a better price offer.

You can attend as many seminars or workshop on property investment. You can also gain a lot of knowledge by reading as many materials as possible. But, mentoring program is the most powerful method to convince you that the property you choose is the best for your background.

I am also pleased to inform that Dr. Azli cluster house loan has finally approved after he followed my advice which bank and officer to deal with. The loan was approved for 90% from the purchase priced of RM650,000.

By the way, for foreign members, I would like to remind you that the opportunity is still available for you to make a property investment in Malaysia for less than RM1million. However, the property must be bought in Medini, Nusajaya area. The new RPGT rates are also not being used. Instead, the old RPGT rate is used if you want to sell the property later.

For those who have seen me in private discussion, I am looking forward for next discussion until you bought a property. For those who have not taken any action, you should ask what are the sources of your doubts.

1. Not enough capital to invest?
    This is a common answer I got for a beginner. In my seminar, I teach it is no. 5th. If you have not done no. 1 to 4, there is no point to think too much about it.

2. No sufficient knowledge?
    Read books, Internet, attend seminar and workshop. But, the faster learning curve is to learn from a mentor.

3. How to find a high quality property to invest?
    Read books, Internet, attend seminar and workshop. But, the faster learning curve is to learn from a mentor. But, you have to be careful, the knowledge you gain must be suitable for a specific big city. Most seminars or workshops are more on general knowledge.

4. Not familiar with the area?
seek advice from local people or local mentors

5. Not sure if eligible for the loan amount?
find financial consultant or mentor

6. Still not sure property is a good investment?
Read, read and read successful people, why they invest in property even they are already rich. Read how successful people start from a humble beginning by investing in property, Read why in many countries millionaires can easily be made in property investment, what are their common attributes, history, population, economy growth etc.

7. Still not sure property investment suite you?
 Check your personality whether this investment suites you. You can use a mentor help to evaluate your personality.

Anyway, I am relief that I already made two major investment for high quality property this year. Now, the government already declared various cost increase. But, the property investment can hedge any inflation while grow my wealth.

Good Hunting!

Safety and Security Always the Priority

Sunday at around 5 am, I completed my blog titled Hartanah Sebagai Perlindungan dan Pertumbuhan Kekayaan which can be loosely translated as Property as Wealth Protection and Growth. After slept for a  few hours and spent some time with my family, I spent the night to do some work for my official job. I had to postpone my plan to translate the material to English language due to the workload.

One of the main topics I discussed was what will happen in 2014 in property market. One of the items being mentioned was the rental fee will keep increasing. In fact, the rental fee will increase much faster provided the landlords in the surrounding area realize how bad it is the lack of houses for rent in the area. I predicted for gated and guarded terrace house, the rental fee may go up to RM2,000 per month. Unfortunately, on Monday morning at about 3 am, a burglar attempted to break into my car as shown in the pictures on the left and below. I was lucky enough I have not slept yet. Immediately when my car alarm was triggered, I stormed out of my house to expel the burglar. As I mention in the previous article, burglary, robbery and snatch thief are still common occurrence in Johor Bahru. I parked my car outside of my house since I thought I will have another business to attend to at the night before. Based on this experience, once my gated and guarded cluster house is completed in 2015, I will rent it out for RM2,500! No less. If not, it is better for my family to live in the new house. Beside safety and security, the gated guarded township includes swimming pools, gym and a few outdoor sports facility.

Nowadays, it is much easier to predict the worldwide economy than predict a crime to occur in your neighborhood. My own experience shows that it is very important to choose a quality property. The criteria may be different. But the general idea is always the same. In my case, the quality criteria is to ensure my family and belongings are fully secured either in daylight or at night. If you are struck with this kind of unfortunate accident, your property are affected, you have to spend some time and energy to make police report and repair your property. In addition, your psychology suffers for a few days. In other words, your lost is multiplied several times! This also means even the crime is small, the economy repercussion is much bigger than the physical calculation. This also means no matter how small a crime is it is bad for the economy of the neighborhood and country.

You can hedge the economy by buying properties as much as possible. But, it is hard to hedge any crime from happen to your family. The best precaution you can do is to live in a gated and guarded township. You should make sure your house is as close as possible to the shops, malls, public institutions etc. so that you really know the surrounding area whenever you want to do or buy something.

When I was an undergraduate student, I wrote an extended essay about why there are more crimes in urban area or cities compared to villages. One of the reasons was people spent less time in activities to mixed together. As a result, the community does not really knew each other. When unknown people move around the area they can be potential suspects for crime. However, living in modern society where people are getting more specialized to increase their value, they have less and less time to spend time with each other. Therefore, the only long term solution available is to live in a gated and guarded township. However, little did I expect in the future (now) these type of crimes will become so common in Malaysia!

Anyway, as an investor, I prefer to select quality properties rather than having large number of properties. With more properties, I have to spend more time to entertain my customers whereas I already have a good full time job. A quality property also means the property price can easily increase its value overtime. Thus, it is better to keep the property than flip it. In other words, I am a long term investor, not a flipper. But this does not mean I am not going to sell my property if the offer price is very attractive. I always believe to be successful in the future, I always plan for a long term return rather than an immediate return.

A high quality property also means less headache with tenant idiosyncrasy. My first investment was a medium low cost house. Since it was a low quality property, the tenants were also from lower quality of people. From 16 years of investment on this house, I accumulated more than 12 months of unpaid monthly fee. For the past five years, the township has become very high quality properties. As a result, I can easily get high quality tenants. And I don't have any unpaid monthly rent anymore.


Additional information on why a gated and guarded houses are getting more important.

Loan sharks going after wrong house

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/01/02/Loan-sharks-going-after-wrong-house-Teacher-worried-for-familys-safety/

Hartanah Sebagai Perlindungan dan Pertumbuhan Kekayaan

Peribahasa Melayu mengatakan Sudah Terhantuk Baru Tergadah. Ramai orang apabila sudah mendapat musibah baru hendak berhati-hati. Tetapi Nasi Sudah Jadi Bubur. Perkara yang telah berlaku sudah terlambat untuk dihalang. Yang tinggal, hanya usaha untuk memperbaiki keadaan.

Begitulah juga di dalam pengurusan kewangan peribadi. Ramai orang tidak bersedia, leka dengan apa yang ada, tidak berhati-hati atau tidak mengambil sebarang langkah untuk melindungi harta mereka. Walhal tanda-tanda awal kemerosotan ekonomi negara telah jelas dan nyata beberapa tahun sebelum pilihanraya ke 13 diadakan. Seperti yang telah saya perjelaskan di dalam blog terdahulu bertajuk Personal Finance and Investment), ekonomi Eropah telah mengalami krisis yang hebat.

Kelemahan ekonomi Eropah merupakan rententan krisis ekonomi pada tahun 2009. Ketiadaan kesungguhan pembaharuan dengan menghukum mereka yang bersalah menyebabkan sesetengah negara Eropah menjadi lebih parah. Tindakan negara Iceland membiarkan negara mereka bangkrap amat dikagumi. Ini disusuli dengan tindakan memenjarakan Perdana Menteri dan pihak bank mereka yang menyebabkan ekonomi negara runtuh telah membantu negara mereka sekarang makmur dengan pertumbuhan yang tinggi berbanding lain-lain negara Eropah.

Ekonomi Eropah tidak dapat dibaiki dan menjadi semakin tidak stabil. Ia berlanjutan hingga ekonomi negara yang kecil terutama Greece tidak dapat bertahan dan terpaksa diselamatkan oleh Persatuan Eropah dan IMF melalui pinjaman menyelamat (rescue loan) bermula dari tahun 2010 hingga 2012. Penyakit ekonomi Greece akhirnya berjangkit kepada negara Cyprus dan menjadi semakin buruk semenjak 2011. Menjelang Januari 2012, Cyprus terpaksa bergantung kepada pinjaman kecemasan daripada negara Russia untuk menampung defisit belanjawan negaranya. Peristiwa ini merupakan salah-satu penyebab pilihanraya ke 13 Malaysia tidak diadakan pada tahun 2012. Peristiwa-peristiwa tersebut juga menyebabkan saya terdetik untuk menambah pelaburan hartanah untuk melindungi nilai kekayaan dan menambah-nilainya.

Saya percaya ramai rakyat Malaysia yang lebih mampu daripada saya. Tetapi ramai yang tersilap apabila terlalu bergantung kepada simpanan wang, insuran, selesa dengan apa yang ada atau hanya menunggu sehingga mampu membeli rumah idaman yang menepati citarasa untuk diduduki sendiri. Pembelian hartanah merupakan dua kebaikan di dalam satu. Setiap pembeli hartanah "digalakkan" untuk membeli insuran perlindungan. Insuran ini bertujuan untuk melindungi bank jika pembeli hilang keupayaan bekerja. Segala baki pinjaman (bergantung kepada jumlah yang dilindungi) akan dibayar oleh pihak insuran kepada bank. Oleh itu, ahli keluarga pembeli akan mewarisi hartanah tersebut sepenuhnya. Ahli keluarga hartanah boleh menggunakan atau menyewa hartanah tersebut untuk menjana pendapatan.

Di samping kebaikan di atas, pembelian hartanah juga bermaksud anda terpaksa menyimpan untuk hari akan datang. Hartanah yang dibeli pula akan bertambah nilainya mengikut peredaran masa. Jika pembeli menyewakan hartanah tersebut dan kos hidup semakin bertambah, pembeli boleh menaikkan kadar sewa hartanah tersebut. Ini bermakna pembeli dilindungi daripada kesan inflasi negara!

Apabila kerajaan menangguhkan pilihanraya ke 13 pada tahun 2012, pelbagai kos yang mempengaruhi kehidupan rakyat telah ditangguhkan daripada kenaikan. Perkara ini telah diperhatikan oleh saya dengan sepenuh perhatian dan kemungkinan. Jika kerajaan menangguhkan kenaikan pelbagai perkara, ini bermakna selepas pilihanraya perkara-perkara tersebut akan bertambah naik. Tetapi ramai yang tidak menyedari kenaikannya akan menjadi lebih berlipat-kali ganda dan menyakitkan! Ini bermakna, jika saya boleh membeli hartanah sebelum pilihanraya ke 13, saya boleh melindungi nilai harta dan mengembangkannya.

Ramalan saya sungguh tepat! Tetapi pengiraan yang tepat tanpa keyakinan dan tindakan yang bersepadu hanyalah tinggal ramalan. Apabila saya telah yakin sepenuhnya masalah yang akan melanda negara, saya telah melakukan tindakan bijak sepantas mungkin seperti yang telah diceritakan di blog laman Property Investment Growth - value added house and shop.

Berikut adalah kronologi kenaikan kos hidup di Malaysia:
1. GST diumumkan semasa belanjawan negara 25 Oktober 2013. Penggunaan GST akan menyebabkan semua kos pembelian dan perniagaan bertambah bermula pada tahun 2015.
2. Minyak dinaikkan bermula 3 September 2013 RON95 dan Diesel sebanyak 20 sen
3. Gula 26 Oktober 2013, RM2.50 sekilogram kepada RM2.84
4. Kos elektrik diumumkan pada 2 Disember 2013 dinaikkan sebanyak 15% bermula 1 Januari 2014
5. LRT & monorail diumumkan pada 10 Disember 2013
6. Bas dan Teksi diumumkan pada 10 Disember 2013 dalam proses kenaikan
7. Cukai pintu mengikut negeri telah bermula untuk pertengahan tahun kedua
8. Tol diumumkan pada 13 Disember 2013 untuk tahun depan
9. Dan kita akan menerima pelbagai lagi kenaikan pada masa akan datang.

Namun, segalanya masih belum terlambat kepada mereka yang belum membuat sebarang langkah untuk melindungi kekayaan mereka. Pembelian hartanah lebih terjamin jika anda pandai membuat analisa lokasi yang bersesuaian mengikut sasaran pelanggan anda. Oleh itu, kejarlah ilmu melalui pelbagai bahan bacaan, menghadiri kuliah atau mencari mentor yang sesuai. Sesetengah manusia, masih kurang yakin walaupun telah mempelajari pelbagai ilmu. Dengan sokongan dan dorongan seorang Mentor, kita boleh menjadi lebih yakin di dalam membuat keputusan. Pastikan hartanah yang dilaburkan bersesuaian dengan personaliti dan keupayaan anda. Bagi saya, pemilikan hartanah berkualiti lebih penting daripada jumlah hartanah yang dimiliki.

Tetapi lain padang lain belalang, lain tempat lain ragamnya, di Johor Bahru agak sukar untuk mencari hartanah berkualiti tinggi pada harga berpatutan. Kepada mereka yang berminat melabur untuk rumah kediaman perlu lebih berhati-hati. Ini kerana kadar sewa kediaman terutama rumah bertanah agak murah di Johor Bahru. Kebanyakan kediaman yang disewa tidak mempunyai pulangan yang mencukupi untuk menampung bayaran bulanan bank. Namun sejak akhir ini, aktiviti ekonomi di dalam kawasan IRDA amat rancak. Para pelabur luar negara mengambil kesempatan daripada pengecualian cukai selama 15 tahun. Ini merupakan tempoh pengecualian cukai yang paling lama di Malaysia.

Kerajaan melalui Bank Negara Malaysia telah mengumumkan beberapa langkah untuk memperketatkan pinjaman hartanah:
1. had tahun pinjaman dari 45 kepada 35 tahun sahaja
2. pinjaman rumah ke tiga dan seterusnya hanya 70% dari harga pembelian
3. pinjaman semula (refinance) hanya selama 10 tahun
4. RPGT 30%, 20%, 15% dan 0% (jika dijual dalam 3, 4 atau 5 tahun pertama dan selepas 5 tahun pemilikan)
5. DIBS tidak lagi dibenarkan
6. Pinjaman selepas harga diskaun

Apakah akan berlaku pada tahun 2014?
1. Harga rumah dan lain-lain hartanah tetap naik
Anda usah bermimpi harga rumah akan turun. Jika ekonomi negara tidak mengalami krisis seperti tahun 1998, harga rumah tetap akan naik terutama sekali kerana pertambahan jumlah penduduk. Harga rumah lelong juga akan naik lebih tinggi daripada tahun sebelumnya. Sebagai contoh di Taman Universiti, satu tingkat 3 bilik dilelong pada harga RM100,000 pada tahun 2012. Sekarang untuk rumah yang serupa, ia dilelong pada harga RM120,000. Ada juga rumah yang berukuran hampir sama telah diiklankan pada harga RM150,000. Pada harga ini, ia masih jauh lebih murah daripada harga rumah baru yang hampir mencecah RM300,000 untuk saiz yang sama.

2. Sewa Makin Naik
Disebabkan pinjaman semakin sukar, dan bayaran bulanan yang semakin tinggi, terdapat penurunan pembelian untuk pelaburan (disewa kepada orang ramai yang belum mampu membeli atau ingin tinggal berhampiran tempat kerja) yang ketara. Ini menyebabkan sewa rumah akan naik mendadak terutama jika tuan-tuan rumah sedar akan perkembangan ini. Di kawasan yang hampir matang pula akan wujud satu corak baru: bilangan bilik untuk disewa akan bertambah daripada menyewa sesebuah rumah. Kadar sewa rumah atau bilik-bilik di kawasan berpagar dan berjaga juga akan meningkat lebih tinggi. Pada masa ini kadar sewa rumah dua tingkat teres berpagar dan berjaga adalah RM1,300 sebulan. Pada masa hadapan, tidak mustahil kadar tersebut akan meningkat kepada RM2,000 sebulan. Di Johor Bahru, isu keselamatan sangat penting kerana masih banyak berlaku kes pecah rumah, rompakan dan ragut di kawasan rumah tiada pagar dan jaga.

3. Kadar Penjualan Perlahan kecuali IRDA
IRDA khususnya kawasan Medini dianggap istimewa kerana kadar cukai RPGT masih menggunakan kadar lama. Ini untuk memastikan pertumbuhan ekonomi di kawasan tersebut tidak terjejas. Kadar pelancongan akan meningkat naik di Johor Bahru dengan pelbagai pekej pelancongan, taman tema dan aktiviti ekonomi seperti JPO, Pine Studio dan pendidikan. Oleh itu peluang pelaburan yang berkaitan seperti homestay dan perhotelan akan meningkat.

4. Saham Berpotensi untuk Jatuh
- kecuali saham mempunyai asas kukuh
- perkhidmatan dan makanan akan terjejas kecuali tahun melawat Malaysia berjaya (tiada jerebu)
- pelabur akan menjual saham dan lari kepada hartanah menyebabkan hartanah tetap naik harga

Kepada mereka yang mengeluh kerana rumah semakin naik harga, sebenarnya inilah waktu terbaik untuk anda merebut peluang membuat pelaburan sebelum harga hartanah di dalam kawasan IRDA mencapai maksimum.

Majulah dengan Melabur Hartanah!

Affordable Property Exhibition - Landed & Affordable Houses

Before I posted this blog, I have shared most of this edition information with my Affordable Property Investment Seminar participants for the past few days. I was waiting for any kind of feedback, question or respond from any of them. However, none of them done so in the group mailing list. May be most of them are too busy with daily Rat Race that they don't have time for themselves. They have time for other people either their employers or customers. Yet, they don't seem to have time for themselves! That is the tragedy for being a full time employee when very little investment was done. As I shown in my previous blog, the more investment you have done, the more time you have for yourself. Hence, the less miserable your life will be. Your 'extra' time can be used for charity, religion, volunteering or other passion you like.

However, if you have time reading so many material over the Internet, yet you do not know what you do not know, or you do not know what to ask that mean you still have a long way to go to be a successful property investor. I always remind myself, to make any property investment, knowledge is always the key. Capital is the fifth. Schools and universities didn't teach us to be a business owner. We were trained to be a good employee. Worst, they don't teach you to be a successful investor. But, they taught you how to manage funds for other people. It is up to oneself to learn those additional knowledge from successful people or seminars. Some people are more suitable to learn from a seminar by asking the right questions. If you do not know where to start, you can read my previous blog or enter as many basic and intermediate property seminar as possible. You better write down all your doubts or inquiry while they are still fresh and find opportunity to ask in seminars, mentors or experience people.

However, if you are an introvert person, chances are after you have read so many material and attend many seminars, you still do not know where to start. If you still have no sufficient confident to proceed, you better sign up or look for a mentor. You need a third party to evaluate the property you want to invest so that your emotion cannot dissuade you from making the correct investment. You can show your plan to a mentor so that the mentor can criticize your plans and strategies to improve them further. An experience mentor can also quickly accessing and evaluating your strength and weaknesses so that both of them can be used to achieve your investment goals. I was glad some of the participants were willing to meet me in person to discuss their concern. Most of them will be surprised how within an hour of discussion, many strategies, tactics and plans can be formulated specifically based on their background. I hope they will keep seeing me until one or two properties investment were made.
 

As I mentioned in my previous post, Carnival of Affordable House Ownership & Bumiputera Property is not about low cost house. It is about affordable house. Non-bumiputera were also welcome. It was a good opportunity for middle and lower income group of people to buy their first house or invest in a property. Some developers had also shown their more expensive development projects. This is a good strategic branding so that potential buyers know that they will not live in a jungle without any prospect of future development! There are two types of affordable house being shown: apartment and landed. My main focus was on landed affordable houses since my investment focus are on landed house and landed commercials.

There were only three developers who offer attractive landed affordable house:

1. Mutiara Rini at Taman Mutiara Rini, RM220,000, Semi-D, 30' X 50'

2. UEM Sunrise at Taman Nusa Bayu, RM175,000, Cluster, 28' X 60'

3. SP Setia at Setia Eco Garden, RM140,000, Terrace 18' X 60'

You should see their exact location using Google Map so that you can evaluate their future potential. Mutiara Rini is close to Nusajaya while Nusa Bayu and Eco Setia Garden are just next to Nusajaya where all of them are getting expensive every week. How expensive have they becoming? I bought a two storey shop lot in 2008 for RM306,000. Last month, Mutiara Rini had just launched a new shop lot (Phase 1M) which is in the same area with my shop. For two storey intermediate, the price is RM1,388,000! For three storey corner lot, the price is RM3,800,000. Anybody interested to buy my shop should contact me ASAP or else I will sell mine in the future for more then these new prices! :)

Looking at how much profit the developers can get from the new phases, they definitely can afford to offer landed affordable houses. Actually, Mutiara Rini was the first developer who offer various types of landed affordable houses. I attended the launch event officiated by former Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman on Jun 2012.

The pictures for Taman Nusa Bayu, UEM Sunrise Bhd are in sequence of:

 

  

    a) 2013-12-01 15.59.07.jpg - RM175,000 at the top

    b) 2013-12-01 15.59.15.jpg - masterplan of the affordable house, below

    c) 2013-12-01 16.03.40.jpg - side view

    d) 2013-12-01 16.03.48.jpg - top view

    e) 2013-12-01 16.03.58.jpg - front view

    f) Cluster 28' X 60'

Do you know how to buy property with almost ZERO (0) deposit? Or 100% loan?

Join our seminar on 8 Nov. 2014 to learn about it

Their 1st phase of Semi-D or cluster houses were sold around RM400,000 to RM450,000. So, the offer price for the affordable cluster house is very cheap.

The pictures for Eco Garden, SP Setia Bhd are:

a) 2013-12-01 16.13.46.jpg - Eko Impiana, RM140,000

b) 2013-12-01 16.19.43.jpg - front and side view

c) 2013-12-01 19.54.33.jpg - front and top view

d) 2013-12-01 19.54.54.jpg - top view
e) Terrace 2 floors, 18' X 60'

The offered price is very cheap considering that for a two storey 20' X 65' gated guarded house was sold for RM380,000!

What are the conditions in order to qualify to buy these houses?

a) If you already bought a house, the existing house must be bought below RM100,000 and for more than 10 years.

b) Salary below RM3,000, RM4,000, RM5,000 and RM6,000 (depend on the property price you want to buy)

c) Married people are top priority though singles can also apply

d) The affordable house cannot be sold within 10 years.
e) For other details you can refer to SUK Perumahan Johor.

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Here are some of the analysis you have to make:

1. If you are a potential buyer, which one will you choose based on: 
    a) location 
    b) attractiveness 
    c) growth potential 
    d) accessibility 
    e) affordability (there are many levels of affordability if you know how)
    f) others 

2. Why are these factors important? You should formulate your own plans to achieve these interesting and valuable investment. If you cannot do at least the above basic analysis, you should attend my Intermediate Seminar on Affordable Property Investment. If you think you don't have sufficient income to buy the advertised affordable houses, you are in serious trouble. You should attend my Basic Seminar on Affordable Property Investment. You can also subscribe my mentoring program so that I can guide you personally how to formulate your strategy, tactics and evaluating potential properties to be invested. It is better to invest on me (or other mentors) to tap my experience and expertise rather than making a huge investment mistake and carry along the wrong investment for almost the rest of your life!

3. Based on your affordability, formulate several strategies based on your current understanding how you can buy the house if your income is:

    a) RM3,000 
    b) RM4,000 
    c) RM5,000
    d) RM6,000 

4. What is the impact of these types of houses to your property investment?

I give you a hint by showing the picture of people queuing to register their names at SUK Perumahan Johor counters. 
    a) 2013-12-01 17.24.25.jpg 
    b) 2013-12-01 17.24.43.jpg 
    c) 2013-12-01 17.24.48.jpg 
    d) 2013-12-01 17.24.55.jpg 
    e) 2013-12-01 17.24.59.jpg 
    f) 2013-12-01 17.25.04.jpg 

Why do you bother to buy affordable house whereas you can buy a bigger house with 100% loan and guaranteed income?

Join our seminar on 8 Nov. 2014 to learn about it

And be mindful, this was in Sunday afternoon around 4 pm. You can image the same number of people who attended and registered from Friday to Sunday, and from morning to afternoon!

Better have a headache to plan your property investment rather than a headache after made the investment

Carnival of Affordable House Ownership

Yesterday, I finally managed to find some time to visit Karnival Perumahan Mampu Milik & Hartanah Bumiputera (Carnival of Affordable House Ownership & Bumiputera Property) which was held from 29 Nov. to 1 Dec. 2013 at PERSADA Johor Bahru, Johor. The event was officiated by the current Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Hj. Mohamed Khaled Nordin on Friday.

(courtesy from Datuk Seri's facebook)

The event was held due to the success of the development of IRDA which resulted in property skyrocket in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Many people especially middle to lower income group complaint that they cannot afford to buy a house due to the price keep increasing every year. However, those who have attended my seminar should realize that property price is not the main concern. It is their lack of knowledge and skills in property investment which make their life difficult. Many people are willing to waste their money for entertainment such as buying expensive handphone, subscribing with ASTRO or broadband which may have little or no financial benefit to them. But, they are not willing to spend some money to attend short courses or mentor program to learn about personal financial planning. One of the many short courses they must attend is property investment.

There are many opportunities for all of us provided if you know how to take advantage of them. That is why I taught in my affordable property investment seminar, knowledge is first while capital is fifth. There were many interesting developments with good future potential growth. Can you identify them? If you can, you can incorporate your future purchase planning in order to maximize your return.

The exhibition is not about low cost house. It is about affordable houses. After visiting the exhibition yesterday, I saw there are two types of affordable house being shown: apartment and landed. Most of the affordable apartments are in attractive locations. However, with selling price more than RM200,000 plus pricey maintenance fee, I doubt many buyers from lower income group would quickly grab it. Although I watched all of them, my focus was on landed affordable houses since my investment focus is on landed house and commercial units. There was only one developer who show their commercial development. I hope in the future, all participated developers would also show their affordable commercial units.

There were only three developers who offer attractive landed affordable house:

1. Mutiara Rini at Taman Mutiara Rini, RM220,000, Semi-D, 30' X 50'

           - picture not taken

           - detail in my next reviews

2. UEM Sunrise at Taman Nusa Bayu, RM175,000, Cluster, 28' X 60'

3. SP Setia at Setia Eco Garden, RM140,000, Terrace 18' X 60'

Wealth Within

You can see their respective location using Google Map. I didn't take Mutiara Rini affordable house pictures because I have seen them before, If you like, you can go to their showroom at Taman Mutiara Rini to see the models.

Besides the affordable houses, developers also showed their priced development. Although SP Setia Bhd had won many property developer awards, in this exhibition I prefer to award UM Land Bhd as the best booth based on the information and the way the information was displayed to the audience.

Bandar Seri Alam overall current development plan was clearly shown. For an investor, information is the main key in order to make a decision to invest. Without accurate information, capital can easily lost in an investment. As a City of Knowledge, all confirmed learning institutions were clearly shown. Each learning institution was shown their potential maximum students size although I believe they can still be expanded in the future. To my surprise, the number of institutions are now greater than the last time I followed their progress (two years ago). I should review my investment in the area from SELL (get the profit now) to HOLD (can appreciate a lot further). The latest information also indicate that the rental income can easily be increased next year!

However, the commercial development in the area was not properly shown. Beside the shop lots, I cannot see any information on other commercial activities especially shopping complex. Bandar Seri Alam has TESCO and Pasaraya Today. This information is crucial if a long term investment is to be considered. The existence of IPD should be stressed to show that the area is a safe place to live in.

I believe exhibition like this should be an eye opener and an education platform for those who want to learn about property investment. So, if developers can show a better picture of their projects, those who attend the exhibition can learn something from them although they may not necessarily buy any property. I only spent RM15 for food and RM5 for a car parking in order to learn about the event. I arrived at PERSADA around 3 pm and was hopeful to finish visiting all the booths by 5 pm. To my surprise, the event was extended to 9 pm! I left by 8 pm. It was a good investment.

Another booth that I was attracted to was IRDA booth. There were so many information to be read that I don't have time to digest all of them. Thus, I took a lot of pictures, hoping to read in the future. The staffs were wonderful and very informative. Unlike some of the developers' staffs who cannot answer many of my basic questions (which means why should I buy from them or recommend to my seminar participants), two of IRDA staffs I met can answer all my basic questions. In fact, I managed to get some crucial information without getting the direct answers. I was already too tired and have limited time to ask hard questions. The overall picture of the IRDA development was clearly shown. However, as an investor, I still need some more details in order to improve my property investment plans and assisting other people to improve their property investment plans.

I hope in the future, IRDA can publish the number of potential new jobs can be created in each flagship economy activities. It is highly appreciated, if IRDA can also identify high income economy activities so that general audience can learn a lot especially in planning their future. If people know where they can get high income, they can plan ahead to work in the city and contribute back to the state.

Overall, the exhibition was a success although there are many improvement can still be done. Just because the event title has the AFFORDABLE keyword, it does not mean audience does not want to learn as much information which can affect their well being in the state.

TAHNIAH!

Starting Your Affordable Property Investment

Most young workforce would think they are too young to start thinking about investment. They prefer to enjoy their life for several years before thinking to start an investment. Only if they know how precious and critical is an investment to their financial well being, they will immediately make an investment. Known people will ensure any first financial commitment should be an investment instead of protection (insurance) or worst a luxury (cars, credit cards, superbikes  etc.).

Figure 1: Rate of Prosperity: the more you invest, the more prosper you are, why?

Prior 2011, I had very little investment. My salary was always not enough although it was more than average people. I was not really happy but I did not know why. All I knew, my income was not sufficient. Like most people do, I spent more time to find additional income. Then, it came to my attention to increase my investment. As I increase my investment, my family well being getting better. I have more time to spend on other things. Early 2013, I made two major investment. I just got new tenants for the properties. Thus in 2014, I anticipate my family's life will improve much better. However, if I stop my investment in 2015, the inflation and additional expenses in my family will catch up with my investment income. Thus, my prosperity will be reduced.

However, making a hasty investment can make you easily trapped in a bad investment especially in a Quick Rich Scheme investment. Funny, how my acquaintances do not want to put effort and actions in any real investment, yet they can easily entice in a Quick Rich Scheme.  To make it worst, some of my acquaintances who made these bad investment are educated people including religious men. Sometimes, they forgot that having knowledge is not sufficient without any experience. Without experience, you can easily tempted in a bad investment. Nowadays, Quick Rich Schemes are getting more complex and creative to be understood by inexperience people. That is why you need to attend short courses on financial planning and the best is to have a mentor.

Many people cannot differentiate between businesses and investments. Both may have similarities, yet both need different set of critical thinking. So, if you really have realized that an investment is important, what type of investment is best for you? Everything is based on affordability. However, most people underestimate their affordability due to many waste in their expenditure. Throughout the ages and in many civilizations, property investment has been proven to be the best for those who need less hassle to face with human idiosyncrasy. And if a property investment is best for your personality profile, what are your steps? You should learn good principles in investment by asking successful people. But, you can learn good principles in investment at a faster learning curve by attending my short courses and personal mentoring.

As mention before, waste is an obstacle in your investment plans. Thus, personal financial planning is is critical: identify your expenditure and waste. It may not an exact science. Yet, if one know the psychology behind it, it is not that hard to control your expenditure. To learn the details and how to control your waste, you can attend my basic financial seminar. Without trimming your current and future waste, any additional future income will also be wasted. That is why we seen many high income people always claim that they cannot afford to buy a property either for their own use or for investment!

So, let us back to the most important topic. How to start an investment for anybody? Many people have misconception that saving is enough for them. Saving in your current account is not sufficient to generate additional income. You should look for a higher return investment such as ASB or Trust funds investment. It is a good start for those who have very little money to invest. Many people argue in Internet blogs between monthly saving in ASB and using a ASB loan. In reality, the actual calculation of a ASB loan is far profitable than if you save your money monthly in your ASB account. Most of the ASB loan calculation I have read in Internet blogs are flawed. I will share the detail calculation between both of them to those who attend my short courses.

Many people also have misconception that property investment is only for the rich people. In UTM Skudai, we have a staff who at one time, the income was less than RM2,000 per month. Yet today, he has more than 20 houses. Everything is based on your affordability. If you cannot start high, you should start low. To start an investment is difficult. Once you get the investment return, you will learn how to improve on another investment. How much are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your investment goals before you can reap the fruit of your investment? You need to make the investment plans based on your affordability. The plans must be more than one. The plans must also cater for different scenarios and circumstances. The plans must have best and worst scenarios. Plans must be updated as time goes on. You can spend your entire life to learn many plans from different successful people. But, without sufficient minimum basic investment knowledge, it is hard to know what to ask from them. Therefore, you can save your miserable life faster by attending short courses. I offer different type of plans, strategy and tactics for different background of people in my basic and intermediate short courses of Affordable Property Investment. If you still don't get it, you can sign up for the mentoring program. The hardest part in an investment is how to make a good plan.

Most people don't plan to fail,

But, they fail to plan!

If you do not have any plan and just follow other people's plans, you can easily made a bad investment. But, you can follow other people's plan provided you really understand the plan, make your own contingency plans and be prepared. Thus, if the situation get worst, you should know what to do ASAP. In many occasion, people made slow respond to a bad situation which made the situation worst.

If you have made all proper plans and take all necessary actions, 

only then you can DOA and TAWAKAL.

Happy investing!

Affordable Property Investment Seminar

The Seminar was conducted by Wise Path Sdn Bhd with the collaboration from Investment Club of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on Sunday 17 November 2013 at UTM Skudai, Johor. The main purpose of the seminar was to educate and encourage people to buy property either for home use or investment as soon as possible. Property investment is a misconception where most people taught it is for rich people only. Different level of income can invest in property if the principles of investment is fully fulfilled.

So, this short course is more suitable for beginner (those who have not buy any property or only have 1 or 2 properties). Property price keep increasing in Malaysia and especially very high increment in Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu. In Johor Bahru, the property price escalate due to the success of IRDA (Iskandar Regional Development Authority). There are five zones of development in Malaysia. UTM is in zone E which is Senai-Skudai zone.

Figure 1: Morning session

As the main speaker, I started the short course with the need to invest in order to avoid rat race in our life. There were several issues being pointed out which were not discussed in any seminar. This is very important because if one really realize why their life getting worse or never improve financially, they should realize property investment is one of the best investment to do as their spare time. In Malaysia, property price will never go down unless the world wide economy went down like in 1998 or the country became a communist country!

This topic is followed with the next topic on the Successful Principles in Investment. Many people realize that there is a need to invest. However, in their eagerness to invest, they forget to apply sound investment principles. As a results, many people lost their money. This is especially true for lesser knowledgeable people. They simply follow other to invest and lost their capital. Many people were cheated in Quick Rich Scheme (Skim Cepat Kaya) in various forms and origins. In order to learn more, I encourage participants to read The Richest Man in Babylon. I have translated the book into Malay language since the original book is using King James English style which is difficult to comprehend for average people.

Beside learning sound principles in investment, participants also learned pit falls in investment especially in property investment. The Power of Mind is crucial in property investment where the concept of Doa and Tawakal was discussed. All essential works must be done first before one can Tawakal to ensure success. They are encouraged to read a book titled The Sword of Allah. The book was written by the late Lieutenant-General A.I. Akram of the Pakistan Army, in October 1969. Although the book is about Muslim wars with Persian and Roman, there are many practical aspect can be learned and adopted in life especially property investment. Participants are encourage to learn the basic as fast as possible so that it is much easier for them to ask around and learn from more experience investors.

After lunch break, Mr Zabri Mokhtar, a multimillionaire in property investment gave his taught. He is not a trained or experience speaker. He touched on philosophical and psychological views based on his experience. He encourage participants to have a huge dream. It is easy to have a small dream. But having a huge dream can ensure at least we can achieve something bigger than the original small dream. His talk became more interesting as more audience ask about his property investment experience. He discussed the strategies he used which lead to his meteoric rise in property investment. However, due to several government regulations, some of his method cannot be used anymore. Participants are advice to keep update the latest government regulations.

Figure 2: Mr Zabri gave pieces of his mind

The short course was passed back to me by showing recent examples how to minimize the capital in property investment. Knowing the tricks, it is much easier to buy a house even if it is more than half a million Ringgit Malaysia. However, the most important thing in property investment is how to ensure to get quality property. This also means how to ensure the buyer is able to service the bank loan. Combining a quality property and sound strategy to get tenants, the property can easily generate profit to the buyer. For further study, participants are encouraged to visit developments at Taman Pulai Hijau, Bandar Baru Kangkar Pulai and Taman Seri Pulai Perdana 2 for comparison.

Many people have misconception that property investment is for the rich. In the morning, it was shown that capital is the 5th out of 6 principles in investment. There are people who have less salary which manage to have many investment in property. These people concentrate on less expensive property such as auction low cost house. However, to give some idea how to prepare their capital, several idea on zero down payment tactics were discussed by Mr Zabri and me. I also gave two recent property purchased to demonstrate the investment principles learned in the morning.

Based on this short course, it is now easy for the participants to buy a house based on their affordability. However, as beginners they should realize that it is much harder to maintain the property or paying back the bank loan. Several tactics and strategies to ensure the property can generate income were discussed. However, for some people further detail study is needed in the Intermediate Affordable Property Investment course.

Figure 3: With two participants

The short course was supposed to end at 5 pm. However, due to many questions from the participants at the end of the course, the course was ended at 6.30 pm! It looks like the mixed participants from undergraduate students, graduate students and those who are working in various fields lead to different kind of interesting questions.

Figure 4: Surprise gift to 3 winners

The short course was priced at RM200 per head. This included breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. It is considered cheap compared to the similar short courses conducted in Kuala Lumpur where a one day short course has a minimum cost of RM500 per head. We are planning to organize another basic short course. While the intermediate short course will show in detail for different scenarios how a property investment can be made and planning for good returns.

I would like to thank Mr Zabri for his willingness to spend some time to give a talk. As a very successful property investor, participants and myself learned a lot from his experience. I would also like to thank to the organizing committee. Although the team is small, they have done a superb job!

Figure 5: With Mr Zabri and organizing committee

Personal Finance and Investment

(This article was originally drafted in April 2013)

With rising inflation and unofficial inflation, people are getting harder to make end needs. New workforce have difficulty to start their life especially buying a new house. However, many are not aware the economy is getting worse as shown by Cyprus economy crisis. It is a strong signal that the European economy recovery is a false. In fact, there is a huge possibility after Cyprus, Italy and Spain economy will also go down. It was announce yesterday, a major investment in Penang from a Bosch valued for RM2.2 billion has been canceled. It is a telling sign the economy is not getting better.

However, all is not lost. If one is willing to look for information, there are still many locations in Malaysia where the economy is bubbling such as in Johore, Sabah and Selangor. For a lazy and misinform people, being in the right location at the right time give them the better opportunity. But, knowing the exact industry which is getting better is the key for future prosperity.

The government has spent many scheme to improve the life being of the society. However, it is up to the people to chart their own progress. My past experience shows that even if one have a strong income, but lack proper planning, the income is easily wasted.

Having a high income is not necessarily a hundred percent securing your future. It is only a step in the right direction. To grow your wealth, you need to attend extra short courses depending on your interest. No matter what is your interest, a personal financial planning is a must. I am not talking about attending a personal financial planning given by an insurance or trust fund agent. They only want to sell their products. For them, everything is good for investment as long as it is their products. And I am also not talking about short courses conducted by academician in the field. If they are successful and multimillionaire, they don't become an academician in that field anymore!

One must look for people who are willing to impart their experiences. Experience is the best teacher. Based on one's experience, one should know what to read, learn and do. Since I have a full time job, I have decided to focus on property investment. Property investment does not need to deal with human on daily basis. It is only once in a while activities which usually when you want to buy, sell, rent or repair the properties. And many of these activities can be subcontracted to a third party to reduce your hassle.

However, property investment is a misconception. Most people assume, property investment is only for rich people. For me, since I am not rich yet, I have to invest in property! In UTM Skudai, we have one security guard who was previously not an officer. Yet he own more than 20 houses!

Property Investment Growth - value added house and shop

Last year, after finishing my car loan for RM897/month in May 2012, I decided to take a rest from any investment. I would like to have some time to relax and enjoy my new freedom. However, as I watch the world wide economy turmoil, I became nervous. Usually, it takes a minimum 6 months for whatever economy problem that hit Europe or USA to be at Malaysia's doorstep. As a result, from September 2012, I frantically looked for any property investment.

At the moment, I already have 4 property investment. However, the growth is slow considering I started to buy a house since 1997. The economy turmoil in 1998 really slow down my property investment. In a way, I was forced to buy my second house in 2000 since it is very close to my work place. JB property market for the last 10 years have not recovered from 1998 financial turmoil. If you buy a house, you still need to top up the rental fee you can get every month. In worst times from 1997 to 2002, I have to top up almost 50% of the monthly loan even I got tenant. However, based on my observation, commercial market especially shop office market is very good. You can easily gain profit upon first tenant rent your shop.

I have the opportunity to invest in a single storey shop lot in 2002. However, my financial was not in good condition at the time. I have to let go the opportunity. But, this does not deter me from finding the best strategy to buy a shop lot. The best opportunity came in 2008. I saw an advertisement in a newspaper about a shop house located close to my house. I didn't let the opportunity pass by. Immediately, I went to the developer to inquirer about the property. At that moment, I only have RM5,000 in my hand. The property cost RM306,000. It means I need to come up with RM60,000 as the deposit. After further discussion with the developer, I managed to buy the property with 100% loan. And I only paid RM1000 for the deposit!

2010 is a breeze for me. I acquire a one acre land at my hometown. As a Muarian, it is normal to buy a land at our hometown. Normally, a Muarian will build a house at their hometown upon retirement. Thus, the land acquisition is a mere additional option for me. Originally, the land was planted with fruit trees (Dusun). But, I converted the plantation to palm oil. Income from a Dusun is inconsistent and getting lower every year. And since I live far away, I have no time to take care the Dusun. By converting to palm oil, I can easily contracted the work to a third party. And I get a consistent income every month.

End of 2012 was a busy schedule for me. Although I already have 4 properties, I don't feel I have reach financial freedom or independent. My investment income is still far away from my monthly salary. I also kept wondering, what was going on. A few of my friends already very successful in their property investment. Thus, I started reading about property investment from Internet or bought a few books. Finally, I decided to attend a property seminar. The first seminar was presented by Mr. Milan Doshi at Mid Valley Mega Mall. He is well known from his property investment books and seminars.

It was an eye opening. Although, it was only 4 hours, I learned a lot from the seminar. Even though some of the material are known to me, the seminar enforce my strategic thinking. I have thought some of the tactics and strategies, but without any friend with common interest, there was no one to discuss the matter and bring them into realization. From there on, I have attended several more property seminars. All were conducted in KL. Meanwhile, I already booked an SOHO apartment in KL, next to Sg Besi highway toll. The price was RM570,000 but it was difficult to get the loan at the time.

With all the seminars I have attended, doubts were still lingering in my head. Then, I remembered an old friend from JB town. He was already successful with more than 30 shop lot units. I seek and managed to have a long and hard discussion with him for more than 3 hours. My first question was how he make money in property investment. And his first answer was even surprise to me. I cannot said the exact words, but the gist is successful people never hide their successful formula.

Based on this discussion, I have decided to focus my property investment in JB. I cancelled my SOHO apartment booking. Instead, I booked a shop office at Taman Pulai Utama, and another shop office at Taman Seri Pulai Perdana 2. I have to decide which one from the two should I buy. I decided to bring my wife into the planning and discussion. My first shop was bought without discussing the issue with her. Now with enough experience, she is ready to be my partner for discussion.

When, I bring my wife to the developer of Taman Seri Pulai Perdana 2, the saleswoman also promote the houses. It was a pre-launch sales. As part of our hobby, we decided to take a look at the houses. To our surprise, the architecture design and workmanship was excellent. It was a gated guarded houses. A couple of months before, my neighbor who are graduate students were robbed at around 10pm. From that day, I was thinking to buy a house in a gated guarded environment. Since, my wife and me like to plant some trees, we decided to buy a house with vast area of extra land. We have to choose: a RM640,000 or a RM560,612 houses.

Upon coming back from the window shopping, I made a detail calculation whether it is possible to buy a shop and a house at the same time. At that time, BNM just introduce a new regulation where the third house to be loan can only have 70% margin. The solution to the problem was to made full settlement to our first house at Pasir Gudang. Then, I also have to calculate the worst case scenerio where there might be hidden fee since it involves commercial unit. Based on my part time projects projection, it is possible to buy a shop and a house.

The house loan application was a breeze. The loan was approved on 29 March 2013 at IBR - 2.5. It was 90% loan for RM504,550. The monthly payment is RM2,641 for 28 years. However, my shop loan got stuck at the bank application. Due to incoming General Election, it was harder to get a loan especially commercial loan although the shop was only at RM528,000. The developer kept insisting me to pay for the full 10% since there are other buyers ready to take over the shop if I cannot get the bank loan. Thus, before end of May, I paid the 10% deposit. It was a huge gamble since if my loan is not approved, the 10% deposit is not refundable. Due to this pressure and to ensure my reapplication for loan is approved, I have decided to include my wife's income to apply for the commercial loan. We got the loan approval on 3rd June 2013. It was a huge relieve! The approved loan amount was RM448,800 with BLR-2.2. The monthly payment is RM2,585 for 25 years.

The next headache was how to prepare the remaining deposit money and fees.