Author: Charles Tan
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HAVOC Hartanah Kuala Lumpur. “2015: Property Doom or Boom”
Whenever and wherever possible, I always attend talks / seminars by those whom I feel know more than me. After all, learning is a continuous affair and your knowledge today may be obsolete tomorrow unless you continue to update it. In fact investing five years ago versus investing today or even five years later would…
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Higher maintenance fees due to GST
Until today whenever anyone were to ask me if a certain condo is worth buying, I have always asked them to look at the maintenance of the condo. Even if it is a 10 year old project, if the maintenance is ok, they should go ahead. However, for a new condo, if the maintenance starts…
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Honestly, is ONE property enough today?
The first time I told my parents that I was buying my second property, their first remark was, ‘is there any problem with your current home?’ That was many years ago. Their understanding of a property is that of a home sweet home. Simple right. You save, you buy, you stay and if can, let…
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What we want, What we need. Be real.
A close friend asked me the other day about two properties in Penang island. One is in Tanjung Tokong and another is in Jelutong. Both are high end condos and both are RM1,000 psf if not higher. In other words, RM1 million or higher. I told her, actually based on my needs I would not…
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MRT accident today. One killed, one injured.
Today, another accident happened at the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project at the Semantan work site. The accident involved steel rod bars which fell on the workers as they were trying to make a circular frame. Somehow during the assembly, the tie gave way and five or six steel rods fell onto the workers. It…
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Hua Yang: Manageable land cost, healthy gross margin.
If a developer tells you that any land purchase it made will be below 20% of the total gross development value (GDV) and that its gross margin is over 30%, would you buy its shares? I did not but many did. Perhaps I should just buy one thousand unit and keep as ‘fixed deposit.’ Hua…
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Another happy news. Good increment in 2015.
According to Hays Asia Salary Guide, Malaysia is second only to China when it comes to salary increases in Asia. In fact, 10% of employers will be offering more than 10% salary increment to their staffs in 2015. In other words, you should get that increment letter soon, should you have performed very well and…
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Loan Rejection. Who’s Fault?
How many times have we heard of loan rejections on the rise? Well this has been happening even before the cooling measures started. Perhaps it got worse after the stern warning from BNM to all commercial banks. Actually who’s fault is it? Is it the Bank Negara Malaysia’s fault for forcing the banks to be…
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Emerging Trend or Desperation?
Did you notice that advertisements by property developers on television (TV) are increasing? Especially during the Chinese New Year period of 2015? There used to be just one name a few years ago. This year, I have counted 5. Eco World, SP Setia, Mah Sing, R&F and Country Garden. If anyone saw more than 5,…
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47 MNCs and 6,312 work opportunities
Many years ago I read about an entity called InvestKL. Their goal was to attract 100 multinationals (MNCs) to set up their regional hubs in Greater KL. As usual, lots of questions such as what is the size of these 100 MNCs, is the goal realistic, how much can these 100 MNCs help Greater KL…
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Taiwanese outbound investment growing. Malaysia included.
In an online news article, one Taiwanese consulting firm, Asia Pacific International Property forecasted that the total overseas investment from Taiwan will increase 50 percent to RM8.6 billion from the NT$50 billion (RM5.75 billion) recorded in 2014. Two reasons stated are due to the slowdown in the domestic market as well as the growing interest…