Developed versus Under Development Property

     My first house was bought in May 1997 after it was launched. It is a medium low cost and 2 storey house. At that time, my salary was small as a fresh engineer. I just worked in the industry for almost two years when I seriously started looking for a house. I did not have much money allocated for the down payment. There was also supply shortage which drive the house prices up. The ratio between house price and salary was as bad as in 2013. To make the situation worst, the loan interest was very high. 9% loan was common. The only good news was job vacancies were abundant. You can demand higher salary if you were willing to do job hopping.  Since my salary was still below average, I had to choose among various medium low cost houses. It was a bad mistake.

Renovated last year with new poach, walls and gate

     By the time my loan was approved, the house was about to be completed. I had only to pay for 2 months interest under development. The house allocated to me was not a strategic one. It was located almost at the edge of the whole phases of development. The master plan of the whole development in the next 10 years looked attractive. But, I was not familiar with the concept of developer's track record and reputation. The worst mistake I  made was failure to anticipate national economy health. After struggling for 16 years, it was fully paid. Now the rent rate is very attractive and all the income is mine. :)

The poach can only fit a car

My second house was bought in July 2000 after the house was completed. It is a medium cost and 1 1/2 storey house. There were surplus of new houses in the market since the market still in the process to recover from 1998 crash. Many completed new houses were not sold. This is an advantage to me since this gave me the luxury to choose the right house for me. My main priority was the house for my living must be very close to my work location. It looked a bit expensive at the time. But my employer has a strong economy effect to surrounding area even for the next 30 years. This greatly justify my house selection. Buying a completed property has the advantages to look closely the quality of the house, checking the surrounding area, and gives better picture of the future situation.  By the time my loan was approved and the fund was paid to the developer, I had only have to pay for a month interest.

     My third house was purchased in February 2013 before the phase was launched. SPA was signed in October. My original plan was to buy a shop office at the area. While surveying the area with my wife, the salesgirl insists us to take a look at the pre-launch houses. It was the last phase of the entire development. It is a medium cost, cluster and 2 storey house. There was no exact show house for the phase. Thus, I have to rely on the show houses of previous phases. In addition, developer's reputation and track records were the benchmarks. Currently, the house is almost finished its development as shown in the pictures.

The architecture is the latest state of the art

At the center right is the traffic light of the main road to UTM (right) or Pekan Nenas (left)

     I choose the house because its close proximity to my work place, gated guarded and there is a swimming pool! My extra bonus was it is a corner house. So there are a lot of extra land. As you aging, land and security will become more important. The time taken to go to UTM is almost the same as from my current house. But the housing development area is only about half of my current house is located. This is fine for me because I don't like crowded area to live in. The monthly maintenance service is a lot cheaper than living in a service apartment.

 

 The club house with a swimming pool and gymnasium on the left door

 Children pool on the right

The pool size is sufficient for relaxation

     To my delight, early this year I learned an adjacent housing development has finally started the 2nd link highway exit construction. The rumors and promises were around for the past five years, but no one believed it anymore. Many buyers cancelled their purchased houses due to late development including my friends. The developer have to return the deposit to the buyer. So, my new house will only be two traffic lights away from the highway exit. It seems my estimation that my new house will worth more than a million upon completion is coming true!

The 2nd link highway exit close to my new house

     There are many differences this time. I have to pay monthly interest during the entire development period. The interest amount is increasing depending on how many development was done, and claim done to my bank loan. During 1st six months, the amount was below RM500. Then it increased to be less than RM1000. Now, it is below RM1,500. The amount should stay the same until the completion of the house in September this year. Normally, the interest amount is slightly greater than 50% of monthly loan payment.

     I hope my experience is useful for your future purchase plans.

HAPPY INVESTING!