Friday, October 16, 2015

Activities After Received the Keys

I got my new house's keys about three weeks ago. Finally, the waiting is over. It is a big relief knowing that there was no delay at all to complete the house. There is a big difference waiting for a house to complete compared to a shop to complete. One thing for sure, there are more tasks to do after a house is completed compared to a shop especially if you plan to stay in the house.

I already settled all my financial obligation to the developer such as interest on any late payment by my bank. It was only RM153! I really appreciate my lawyers and bankers who have done the fantastic job. My current house was bought for about RM144,300 in the year 2000. But, I have to pay more than RM2,000 for my interest on late payment penalty. I also paid the SAJ and TNB deposit and registration before I can get my house's key. Since my new house is a gated guarded development, I have to pay RM756 for a six months advance of RM126 per month fee.

I did not get any free maintenance fee for any month because the maintenance management is already under the community i.e. the developer is no longer taking care the maintenance management. I congratulate the current Joint Management Body for their superb job to take care the area. I cannot find any stray dog in the area. Children freely move around especially to the club house in the afternoon to take a swim. And the guards are really strict to their tasks that outsiders have to follow specific procedure to enter, regular inspection around the gated area, and always watchful if everything is OK with the house's owner especially if there are visitors to the house.

So, what is next? Currently, I am still waiting for the utilities services especially SAJ and TNB to be connected to my house. But, the most important thing to do is the house inspection for defect claims. I have to make sure to list out any unsatisfied work by the contractor to be remedy in 30 days. Once the repair being done, and I am satisfy there are no other defect I want to claim, only then I can do the house renovation. If the renovation is done before any defect claim completion, the defect cannot be claim under the warranty. I have submitted the defect claim on Wednesday last week 7 October 2015. And today, when I inspected the house with my brother, the house is under repair work.

I am quite lucky, internally, there are not much defect. But, there are many cracks on the outside walls. After these repair works, I still need to do inspection on the electricity and water system in the house. If there is any defect, I can ask for repair.

Meanwhile, I should not wait for the defect claim to be completed. I already started to invite renovation contractors to visit my house. I briefed them separately what are the modification my wife and I want to do. What is my master plan for the renovation. And what is the minimum renovation that I want to do if my budget for the master plan is not enough. They should provide the the floor plan drawing and quotation for further discussion. This time around, the renovation is quite extensive. We have to be careful when do any renovation especially a major renovation. This issue is a big topic itself.

I am so anxious to complete the renovation ASAP because since the time I got the keys, two of my neighbors were robbed! That is one of the possibilities you have to face when you live in a non-guarded and non-gated house. And, starting this month, I have to pay full monthly installment. Once my family move in the new house, I need to do some minor renovation on the existing house before I can rent the house. Once I get a tenant, I have less burden to pay the loan.

Anyway, since I already paid the maintenance fee, I should not wait to get any benefit from it. So, I always bring my family to enjoy the facilities especially the swimming pool! We also enjoy the view from the balcony. The surrounding area especially the North and East are about two meters lower than my house. This also means the wind is always breezing through my house. I am planning to capitalize on these advantages.


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