The living area in the show unit penthouse in All Seasons Park, Bandar Baru Air Itam.

Belleview Group has raised the living standards in Bandar Baru Air Itam with the successful completion and strong sales of the RM700mil residential All Seasons Park and the commercial All Seasons Place projects.

The All Seasons Park has, to date, sold 95% of its 808 condominiums, leaving only 5% for sale.

Its managing director Datuk Sonny Ho said in an interview that the effort to engage internationally known consultants to advise on the architectural and landscaping design paid off.

“Bandar Baru Air Itam was previously recognised as a housing-cum-commercial neighbourhood known for its affordable and low-medium cost property.

“Now it has All Seasons Park, comprising 808 units of lifestyle condominiums and surrounded by a three-level strip mall, All Seasons Place,” he said.

Ho said of the 5% units open for sale, eight were penthouses with built-up areas ranging from 1,602sq ft and 2,333sq ft, while the remaining were standard units, with built-up areas of 856sq ft and 1,323sq ft.

“The penthouses are priced between RM1.1mil to RM1.6mil.

“One of the penthouses is the show unit, which is completely furnished.

“The standard units are priced between RM650,000 and RM800,000,” he said.

Ho said when the All Seasons Park was first launched, the selling price ranged between RM300,000 and RM350,000 per unit.

“The price for All Seasons Park has more than doubled, which indicates the popularity of the scheme as a choice residential address among Penangites,” he added.

The success story was recently featured as a cover story in Trends, an internationally known architectural and interior decoration magazine.

There are three key factors that are crucial in accounting for the success of the projects, according to Ho.

“First, there is the surrounding panoramic view facing all the four condominium towers in All Seasons Park.

“Residents get a view of the Penang Hill and the historic Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam.

“Secondly, All Seasons Park comes with comprehensive recreational facilities such as viewing deck, flower court with water feature, relaxation and barbecue pavilions, Olympic-sized lap pool, reflection pond, meditation lawn, wading pool, recreational park, Jacuzzi and sauna, games room, and children’s playground.

“Thirdly, All Seasons Place provides integrated lifestyle facilities for the residents.

“There are branded lifestyle retail as well as food and beverage brands such as Giant Superstore, Subway, PappaRich, The Manhattan Fish Market, Guardian Pharmacy, Chatime and 7-Eleven.

“There are 120 shop lots, which are single-entity owned,” he said.

Opened in December 2012, the All Seasons Place strip mall is designed to cater to the needs of modern living.

“It is easily accessible by the over 350,000 people living in the nearby housing estates,” he said.

The show units are open to the public for viewing from 10am to 6pm daily at the Belleview Gallery in All Seasons Place.

Source: StarProperty.my

Comparison between primary, secondary and auctioned properties

Generally people buy a residential home to live in before moving onto property investments, so for someone who is looking to buy a residential home to live in, what are the options out there?

When deciding to buy a house you’ll have to make a decision early on, and that is whether you’re looking to buy a primary, secondary or auctioned property. What do these terms mean?

Buying a primary property means you are buying a brand new property directly from the developer; whereas secondary or sub-sale means you are buying a previously owned property from a private owner and an auctioned property is when a bank sells off a foreclosed property where the previous owner has defaulted on the payment.

So, which type of property stretches your Ringgit the most?

Brand new and shiny

There are advantages and disadvantages in these properties.

What are the advantages for a primary property?

• For a start they are brand new, and therefore less money is required to be spent on renovation and refurbishment, some units even come with basic furnishings such as kitchen cabinets and built-in wardrobes.
• Most units come “guaranteed” meaning there is a period where the developer will address defects on your behalf.
• You get to choose the unit that you want (if available), in other words you can choose your house number, street number, view etc.
• Most importantly you get special discounts when applicable: early bird, Bumiputera, staff discounts or member’s privilege which can shave off quite a substantial amount from the actual price. For example, a 7% Bumiputera discount will translate to RM42,000 saved if you are buying a RM600,000 property.
• You can also get special financing packages from developers in the form of rebates, which can help to reduce the upfront cash needed when buying the property.  Other developers may offer furnishings, either fully or partially, so the buyer can save on furnishing cost.
• You only need to pay interest during construction period, this helps in prolonging your full instalments to the bank.
• You get ‘Zero-Down deals’ sometimes through rebates, discounts or sometimes 100% loans, this means no need to come up with immediate cash to purchase the property.

Now let’s look at the disadvantages for a primary property:

• There are some incidences where the projects were abandoned by the developers. This is the greatest risk as  you would have lost your deposit and all that you have expended. On top of that you still will not have your property.
• There can be delays on the part of the developer. This would prolong your interest payments to the bank and throw a wrench into your financial plans. This can be painful as you would have to maintain a mortgage without the benefit of the property.
• Another pertinent issue is that the property can’t be sold during the construction period, so you would have to wait it out until keys have been handed over to dispose of it.
• Sometimes the property doesn’t turn out the way it was portrayed in the scale model, brochures or show houses. This can be quite disappointing and if the specifications don’t meet your expectations it can be something you don’t want – and prove difficult to sell of later on.
• With the current prices of materials and other financial uncertainties like the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and other new regulations, developers price their properties at future prices now. This means that the actual value of the property could be much lower, resulting in lower than expected appreciation for the buyer by the time the development has been completed.
• Due to the number of new units released to the buyers for certain developments, there may be an oversupply during the delivery period. This makes it tough for owners to sell right after completion or rent out due to the stiff competition.

What you see, you get— a better idea?

As with primary properties buying a sub sale or secondary property has its good points and pitfalls too. Generally secondary properties have lower risk, you can touch and feel and see exactly what you’re getting into. It is right there for you to view, not just the property but the area, the infrastructure, the neighbours, the amenities.

These can immediately be gauged as they are usually located in a matured area, with everything more or less established. At times you can get great value for money deals, good agents can actually show you houses with sometimes up to 30% below market value.

The pitfalls are the most obvious: renovation and repairs. Sometimes you may have to redo whole property’s electrical and plumbing works. Other extensive renovations may be needed if the unit is more than 10 years old or was badly maintained.

There is also a higher acquisition costs:  such as the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), loan documentations, and stamp duty among others. It also can be very challenging as you have to find a seller who agrees to sell at the agreed price, which will need three parties to agree mutually, the buyer, the seller and the bank. Once all these are settled you can move in which can take up to a year.

Before you can get your financing approved, banks require the property to be valued by professional valuers, and if the value is lower than the asking price, buyer may need to come up with higher down payment to make up for the shortfall. The home loan’s margin of finance is based on the market value, not the asking price.

More luck than due diligence?

For auctioned properties, luck plays a bigger role. If you are lucky you may get a place that is far below market value and that may be the only way to do so. However, these properties are as is basis, so if it’s a dilapidated old bungalow then that is exactly what you will get.

The upside is, often buyers are able to get their hands on properties in a prime area that are below market price.

However, what you save on the price, you may need to expend on renovation as it usually requires major repairs and renovation as most of these properties are left vacant for some time before the auction. There are also usually unpaid bills, such as utilities, building charges, tax assessments and others. If you are going into buying these properties, you need to prepare at least 30% of the asking price in cash in the event of outstanding bills by previous owner.

Sometimes, the previous owner or his/her tenant may still be occupying the unit and there may be a lengthy process of getting a court order to get them to vacate it.

Auctioned properties really are based on luck at the end of the day.

In a nutshell, these three types of property have their pros and cons. To choose the best one that suit your needs will depend on your risk appetite, financial readiness, needs and opportunities.

Source: iMoney.my

A few days ago, Charles, the founder of kopiandproperty.com, approached me to share with him some of my thoughts on Penang property market. As I shared my views with him, it is my pleasure to share them with the readers here.

Q1. Statistically speaking, property transactions in Penang has been on a downtrend. Based on all the new properties being announced in penangpropertytalk.com, do you see the numbers also on a downtrend? Why?

For new properties announced in PenangPropertyTalk.com, I could see a significant downtrend in 2012. Only 88 projects were introduced  compared to 137 projects in 2011. This represented a drop of nearly 40%. The downtrend continued in 2013 with only 80 projects announced. However, for 2014, I think it is on an uptrend again. Within first 8 months, I have already published 76 projects and there are 4 more months to go till end of 2014.

Secondly, developer are also shifting their focus to mainland . Please review the table below:

Of course, please be reminded that the potential uptrend in project announcement may not necessary translate into more transactions. I personally think that the demand (either for own stay or investment) for properties in Penang has not changed a lot while the property curbing measures by BNM and stricter loan approvals has contributed to the downtrend in transactions.

Q2. Between a new property launch in island versus one in mainland, which normally gets more attention. Why do you think that is the case?

Obviously, property launches in the Island gets more attention. There’s always a significant spike in the website traffic whenever I publish a new project in the island, particularly for projects in Tanjong Tokong, Bayan Baru, Relau and Sungai Ara area (most popular are those selling below RM600k). The demand for these areas mainly come from the buyers in the electrical and electronics industry. There are people buying for own stay, backup (for various reasons), and also for investment. More than half of the people I know has more than one property in Penang.

However, the gated and guarded housing schemes (especially those with facilities and easy access to Penang bridge) in the mainland are gaining traction since last year. Many are buying for upgrades and some are from Island.

Today, a 2-storey terrace house in mainland is selling at around 600k and achieves more than 80% take-up rate within a few months after launch. I was also told that a gated & guarded 3-storey semi-detached nearby Jalan Song Ban Kheng in Bukit Mertajam was recently transacted near to 1.2 Million in the secondary market.

Q3. Most of the time, what is the type of property which gains the most attention? number of views or comments etc.

In Penang Island, a condominium in a desirable locations which is selling around 600k or less will gain the most attention. The desirable locations includes Tanjong Tokong, Bayan Baru, Sungai Ara & Relau.  For the mainland, there are a lot focus on gated and guarded housing scheme. Properties with prices below 600K seems to be a sweet spot. This is especially when coupled with easy access to the Penang bridge, such as Jalan Song Ban Kheng, Jalan Baru and Seberang Jaya.

Q4. Personally, do you agree that properties in Penang are getting more unaffordable or do you still see lots of values both in new launches and secondary properties?

To be more accurate, I would agree that newly launched properties in a desirable location are getting more unaffordable.

Affordability issue is very subjective. If you start your house search by fixing a location and the new project you wish to buy, that is when the question of affordability comes in. This is worsened with all the new launching by developers and property fairs. Those events would actually further emphasize how nice the new project is and how expensive it is.

However if you start by setting a budget, then only start looking around to see where is the best location based on your affordability, you would be surprised that there are actually a lot of reasonably priced decent houses in secondary market. In fact some of them are in matured and nice location with good accessibility.

To bring the awareness level up, for Penangites, I would like to suggest that the state government or Rehda can organize some kind of affordable housing fair that focuses only on affordable housing projects together with a large collection of affordable houses from the secondary market. Of course, the property fair is not about having a long list of affordable houses from the secondary market. Instead, it should offer an AFFORDABLE LIVING SOLUTION – bringing awareness to the people of decent affordable homes in the secondary market, where you can easily find schools, markets with good accessibility. In Penang, that’s not too hard, really.

by Ken Lim
(Founder and Principal Reviewer, PenangPropertyTalk.com)

The government is open to reintroducing the Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) for the residential property market if there are indications that the ban is creating a negative impact, said Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

“There are some suggestions made by the industry, we will look into it. There are pros and cons, there’s no hard and fast rule on this. If it is not abused, it’s a tool for everybody to sell their houses and to make it more affordable for the people. We will look at it on a case-by-case basis. It’s not cast in stone. Some policies can be changed mid-term,” he told reporters at the 17th National Housing & Property Summit 2014 yesterday.

“If there are some indicators that DIBS can reintroduced we have no problem with it but the most important thing is we must be flexible and nimble,” he added.

During the Budget 2014 announcement last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced the removal of DIBS, amongst a slew of cooling measures for the property market. Since then, some developers have urged the government to allow DIBS for first-time home buyers.

MKH Bhd group managing director Tan Sri Eddy Chen who spoke at the summit debate titled ‘Are the Cooling Measures Good for the Market and House Buyers?’, for one is confident that DIBS can be reintroduced in a manner which could deter past abuses from happening again. He however did not elaborate on this.

National House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong, who also spoke at the debate, is adamant that it not be reintroduced in any shape or form saying that DIBS encourages speculation which artificially inflates property prices.

“In the event of an economic downturn, banks saddled with too much DIBS end-financing could collapse as the losses from such DIBS end-financing will erode the banks’ capital,” he added.

Meanwhile Abdul Rahman said in his keynote address that the ministry is proposing to apply for funds from the Ministry of Finance to buy strategic land in urban areas to develop low cost and affordable housing in the future.

“Some people say that government should not buy land. I disagree. We should be aggressively buying more land in the urban areas. The government of Sarawak is doing it and I know Johor is looking into it but for the federal government, I find it increasingly difficult to find land in good strategic location to build PPR (People’s Housing Project) within urban centre.

“That’s why buying land now would be a very interesting strategic policy. It may be expensive but you all know the price of land will always go up. The government will not lose in terms of value,” Abdul Rahman said.

Chang questioned the ministry’s move to buy land, stating that it would be more meaningful for the government to take over responsibility for all low-cost housing in the country instead.

Source: The Sun Daily

Owning your first home is a great achievement, especially recently, where the prices of property exceed the income of the people. Most people start to think about buying their first home when they get married, to accommodate their growing family.

Obtaining a home loan can be easy if you know what to do, and how to prepare for it. However, if the your property is in an undesired location, then getting your loans rejected or being offered unattractive loan packages may be expected.

There are various factors that can result in a home loan being rejected – from bad credit score due to defaulted or late payments from other credit facilities, to low debt service ratio (DSR). However, even if you have stellar income and credit report, you may still be at risk of having your property financing rejected by the banks, due to the following factors:

1. Types of land

If you find yourself unable to get a loan for the property you want to buy, it may be due to the land tenure. If the property you are buying is a freehold property, this probably won’t be a problem.

However, for leasehold (with less than 60 years left) and Malay reserved land, it may be difficult to secure financing from certain banks. These lands are considered high risk for banks as they are difficult to resell in an auction, due to its restrictions.

For example, if you purchased a property on a 60-year leasehold agreement, it may be difficult to refinance or resell it 15 years later, as the balance tenure is only 45 years.

As for Malay reserved land, if the loan is in default by the owner, it will be difficult for the banks to auction it, as only Malay buyers will be eligible to purchase.

2. Price of properties

Believe it or not, most banks are skeptical about giving out loans for properties below RM100,000. Even if you manage to find a low-cost property that costs less than RM100,000, it will be difficult to secure financing for it.

Though the repayments may be low for properties in this price range, the risk of defaulting is generally higher. Hence, banks would rather not take the risk for the minimal interest earned.

3. Developer of the properties

If your housing loan is rejected by the banks due to this reason, you can treat it as a blessing in disguise.

Most banks will do a Credit Tip-Off System (CTOS) check on the developer or seller to make sure the company or individual is not under bankruptcy. If the result is not a favourable one, you may not be able to complete the house purchase transaction.

This is to safeguard the bank and also you, from dealing with an incomplete project due to the developer’s bankruptcy.

Most of the developments by MBF raise the banks’ red flags due to the company’s controversialfinancial turmoil when the company fell in the late 90’s.

4. Location

As everyone is adamant in buying a Klang Valley property, it’s time for a reality check. Not all properties in the Klang Valley are good for investment.

You may find yourself unable to get a loan for properties in certain areas due to various reasons.

Some locations may have slow movement of appreciation or due to a history of landslide – namely places like Bukit Antarabangsa.

Some other areas that are not favoured by lenders are certain housing areas in Rawang, Puncak Alam, Sungai Buloh, Puchong, Semenyih and Bandar Mahkota Cheras – to name a few. The reasons for the lack of enthusiasm by the banks to approve loans for these areas are the low marketability, occupancy, and increasing cases of auctions.

Some of the areas frowned upon by bankers due to natural disasters like landslide and flood are certain neighbourhoods in Batu Caves, Hulu Klang, Ampang, Wangsa Maju, TTDI Jaya in Shah Alam and Bukit Gasing.

5. Maintenance and upkeep

If you find an affordable property in a hot location, don’t celebrate yet. There could be a lot of reasons why the property is at that price point.

Most banks are not willing to approve home loan for old properties (more than 10 years) especially if it is badly managed and maintained.

There have been a number of properties in a good location that buyers find difficult to obtain a loan for – namely, Palm Court Condomimium in Brickfields, a few properties in Batu Caves, Perdana Residences in Selayang and De Tropicana Apartment in Kuchai Lama.

There are many more properties that fall under this category. One factor that new buyers must look out for before deciding to buy a property is the surrounding area. Certain properties that are located too near high-tension cables (Sri Sentosa Apartment, Taman Sri Sentosa), or have bad parking access (Palm Spring Condominium, Kota Damansara) may face difficulties in getting financing, too.

6. Title

Most property buyers don’t consider the status of the property title when deciding on a property. However, this is important as it may be the reason why your home loan did not go through.

A title deed is a document showing the land registration number. The property title starts with the master title under the developer and later on will be split into individual (for landed properties) or strata titles (for non-landed properties such as condominiums and apartments).

These titles will grant the owner of each unit a title number and banks will usually expect buyers of sub-sale properties to have these titles. If a property does not have an individual or a strata title after 10 years, most banks may not want to finance the property, leaving the buyers with limited options when it comes to financing.

Deciding to buy a home is not just about affordability as there are various factors when it comes to getting a home loan approval. Unless you have a few hundred thousand ringgits in cash, you may want to consider the above factors before making that jump to buy a home.

Source: iMoney.my