A close friend asked me what properties can she buy because she would really want to buy a property for herself. I replied, ‘Regency Heights’. She said aiyo, why you have only one proposal? I am looking for something from RM400,000 – RM500,000 and I want it to be in Penang and I hope the size can be above 1,000sf. My mind was blank. I said, ok, let me do some homework so that both of us know what are the types of properties available if you are looking at the RM400,000 – RM500,000 bracket. A brief search in www.propertyguru.com.my revealed following:
Island: Sunny Ville Condo (the one near USM), Midlands Condo in Burmah Road, Desa Bukit Jambul, Halaman Sentosa (Gelugor), Lakeside Towers, Villa Emas, E-Park.
Well, I found quite a few. The next thing that we need to do now is to view the properties, do some online search for them so that we know more about them. Whether the management of the place is able to do a good job. Are the condos clean? Would there be huge parking problems if there is just one car park. Are there a lot of units rented out to students / foreign workers. Are there a lot of empty units? If majority of answers to all these questions are positive, my advice is just buy and stay.
Buying a good property is actually easy if only we do our homework so that the risks are minimised. In terms of 1,000 sf condo which is well maintained, RM400,000 is definitely a very attractive price because these sizes are perfect for upgraders from smaller apartments as well as families of 4. The only downside for these older condos would be the parking slots because newer condos of 1,000 sf typically comes with 2 car parks. That would be one point against you when you want to sell in the future. Car ownership will only increase, never decrease.
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