You must be wondering what happened to our home in Malaysia. Be rest assured, progress is on track and it is now at its last stages. Even the roads and drains are up! Can’t help but to mention too that the developer has been diligently asking for money from the bank and the bank is also diligently deducting money from our home loan account. What efficiency!

If you want to know when the developers will deduct money, refer to our previous post on the schedular home loan drawdowns. The schedule shows the exact timing and stages where the developer will ask for money to fund their next progress. And the banks will release money according to a letter verified by an architect issued by the developer.

So whenever there’s home loan drawdowns, they also mean that home construction is progressing.

Be sure to check on the home construction site once in a while.

That was what we did recently and we will let you judge yourselves on the progress. Enjoy the pictures of our home in Malaysia!

This is the overall view of the housing estate as of May 2008.

The closed-up view of the houses. This is the particular design and model we bought.

By THEAN LEE CHENG

E&O launches seaside bungalows

FOR centuries, Penang has attracted traders, seafarers and adventurers from far and wide. Today, the island is no less popular, being one of Malaysia’s front-runners in the real estate investment market after Kuala Lumpur. It is against this backdrop of sun and surf, and city living that E&O Property Development Bhd is building the largest waterfront project there.

The company laid the foundation for the Seri Tanjung Pinang community by first selling double-storey terrace and semi-detached housing. It recently took things a notch higher by launching bungalows in three designs.

Martinique, one of three designs of waterfront bungalows with pool fronting the Straits of Malacca by E&O Property Development in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

Known as Skye, Abrezza and Martinique, the bungalows are set apart from other landed developments taking place on the island because of several factors.

The first is the overall ambience. Each home design draws inspiration from the different elements around the world that make living a pleasure.

Although the look, feel and design vary, a single thread binds them and the buyers who take to them – the desire for the finer things in life.

Those who have visited the show village and the show houses would probably agree that Martinique is the most spectacular of the three.

It blends classic lines with the best of materials like nyatoh balustrades, Italian marble flooring and Burmese teak.

Fronting the Straits of Malacca and enveloped by a meandering waterfront promenade, Martinique is a double-storey white sprawling mansion reminiscent of the white and beige plantation manors of the Caribbean Islands.

Read more »

(Editor :- Once again another a property outlook close to home) 

Bricks and Mortar
By TEH LIP KIM

WHILE last year was generally good for properties in Malaysia, particularly at the top end of the market, news of the credit crunch in the US stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis had become troubling by year-end. 

Still, we tend to remain optimistic about the prospects for Malaysian property. The government had put various measures in place for the property market and announced a series of liberalisations, financial incentives, and system enhancements even before the news of the credit crunch reached our shores. 

These included changes  changes to Employee Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals. Effective this Jan 1, EPF members will be allowed to make a withdrawal every month from Account 2 of their accounts to finance their housing loans. Previously, EPF withdrawals for housing purposes were permitted only once every three years, and subsequently, once a year.  

If all 5.4 million EPF members take advantage of this initiative, about RM9.6bil is expected to be released for home purchases, which will surely give the real estate market a nudge in the right direction.  

Drawing on the experience of our neighbour down South, home ownership in Malaysia, currently at 67%, is likely to increase with this new monthly withdrawal scheme. In 1980, when Singapore allowed its Central Provident Fund (CPF) members to use their CPF money for paying off monthly mortgages, home ownership was 59%. By 2000, according to the Singapore Census, home ownership had risen to 92%.  Read more »

We signed the title transfer for our house on Dec 26, 2007 with the Sales and Purchase lawyer’s office. This title transfer is important as it means that the title of the house was transferred to us from the developer. Meaning, the land and house is now under our name.

There is another document to sign with the lawyer handling the bank loan. This is to charge the title to the bank, because we took loan from the bank to finance the house. In other words, the land and house would belong to the bank as long as the loan is in effect.

As for the construction progress, we have taken some pictures end of Nov 2007.

We’ll let the pictures do the job as pictures speak a thousand words.

How the construction of the houses look right now. This picture was taken from the balcony of one of the houses. Can see the two-and-a-half storey houses and the double-storey houses?

This is the other end of the housing development, taken from the same spot as above.

Most of the houses are ready for the construction of fences and compound of the house.

The construction of the drainage system has already started. And of course, the bank has very promptly deducted money from the loan account…

And this, the classic ’spy room’ hehhe!
ok ok , this is an inside joke. can’t help it but present it that way! hahhaaha Some suspense is good for life ;p

Hiya everyone! New year’s here, a new beginning for all. A start of even better things to come. Cherish the moments you will have and make sure they are the best! Remember, you can make that choice!

Here’s wishing our wonderful readers out there who has been supporting us all these while by leaving comments and feedbacks on and about our site. We know we will see more of you this new year, right? Make that a new year resolution.

All da best for the new year and remember to take care~!

Cheers~

Editor :-Latest  Employee Provident Fund update on the monthly withdrawal scheme from Account 2 for the monthly mortgage payments. 

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced yesterday that members with a minimum balance of RM600 in their Account 2 will be able to withdraw their savings for payment of their monthly housing loan instalments beginning Jan 1. 

EPF senior general manager (organisation development) Hizwani Hassan said the minimum monthly withdrawal that can be made was RM100 for a period of not less than six months, while the maximum amount should not exceed the total monthly housing instalment. 

“The savings in Account 2 allocated for this withdrawal cannot be used for other withdrawals,” he said in a statement, adding that members must also be below the age of 55 and not have any housing loan arrears. 

The monthly withdrawal facility, announced in the 2008 Budget, allows members to withdraw their savings from Account 2, with the payment being made directly to members’ personal bank accounts on a monthly basis.  Read more »

Editor :- I came across this interesting article on the Star newspaper on Saturday. Read it and feel free to share your comments with me. Kudos to S.DALI for publishing this article. 

THE Cost of Living (COL) survey by ECA International is carried out twice a year, comparing a basket of 128 consumer goods and services commonly purchased by expatriates in over 300 locations worldwide. Multinational companies use the results to help compensate their internationally mobile staff. Living costs for expatriates are affected by inflation, availability of goods and exchange rates, all of which can have a significant impact on expatriate remuneration packages. They concluded the following on Asian cities:  

“In Asia, Seoul maintains its position as the most expensive city in Asia for expatriates, moving from 8th to 7th in the global ranking over the past 12 months. During the same period, Tokyo, Asia’s second most costly city, dropped out of the top ten for the first time moving from 10th to 13th.   A 6% overall rise in the cost of goods and services typically purchased by expatriates has meant that despite the weakening Hong Kong dollar, Hong Kong’s position in the ranking has remained steady and is still the fifth most expensive location in the region and ranked 79th worldwide.  The recent rise in GST in Singapore from 5% to 7% has contributed to pushing up living costs in Singapore, which has risen 10 places in the ranking since 2006. This, together with no change in Hong Kong’s position, means that the gap is closing between the two locations.”  Where does Malaysia stand? 

1       (7) Seoul 

2       (13) Tokyo 

5        (79) HK 

6        (94) Taipei 

7        (95) Beijing 

8        (100) Shanghai 

9       (122) Singapore 

11       (153) Jakarta 

18       (168) Bangkok 

24       (177) Mumbai 

25        (178) New Delhi 

29        (191) Manila 

32        (195) Hanoi 

33        (197) Kuala Lumpur 

35        (203) Karachi 

36       (204) Ho Chi Minh City 

  Read more »

The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA Malaysi) Johor Branch organised a property fair showcasing mostly developers of projects in the Johor state.

Date : Nov 1, 2007 - Nov 4, 2007

Time : 10am - 10pm

Venue : Podium Area, City Square Shopping Centre in Johor Bahru, which just right next to the Causeway linking Johor Bahru and Singapore.

About 40 developers were said to be participating but not all were there.

Nevertheless, the developers that had a booth there had a wide-range of properties to offer, from high-end luxurious housing to middle-class and even low cost housing.

Areas range from right smack in the vibrant Johor Bahru city to the outskirts like Kulai and not forgetting, the up-and-coming Johor administrative centre Nusajaya.

Some of the participating developers include Nusajaya Land, UEM Land, Danga Bay, Plenitude Tebrau, Johor Land, IOI Properties, SP Setia, Mah Sing Properties, Permas Jaya and many more.

In the next post instalment, we’ll post information about Read more »

WE managed to get some beautiful pictures of the luxurious landed homes in the famed tourist spot Batu Ferringhi on the Penang Island.

Imagine living admist lush greenery, with a mesmerizing sea view, all you could wish for in your dream home.

The pictures would be a waste if they just sit there looking pretty on our laptop, so we thought we might as well share them with our readers. Good things must share right?

The front of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang

The living room of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang

The dining room of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang

The kitchen of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang

The pond garden of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang

The garden of the Hilltop Villa bungalow in Penang, which overlooks the beautiful Batu Ferringhi beach and the sea. You can even see the horizon! Amazing!

You could be the proud owner of this dream home. Give us a buzz on our email myhomemalaysia at gmail dot com and we will be glad to furnish you with more information.

While our mailbox awaits your notes, do enjoy those beautiful pictures and imagine yourself inside there, enjoying it in real person. Have fun!

Imagine this.

It’s a normal Monday and the kids are back from school. Out of curiosity, you log on to your home webcam just to see what they are up to :). There they are, the two kids are up to their naughty mischiefs again. “Ha ha”, you laughed, knowing where those pesky ”booby” traps are that they have “lovingly” set up for you at home.

Next you ”ping” your refrigerator and make a download of a list of foodstuff available. Going through the list, you realised that you may not have enough food for dinner later. As such you make a quick order to your friendly neighbourhood grocery shop or hypermart which then drops off your groceries at your door step as you return from work. Phew, that sure saves the trouble of queuing up at the counter. 

Amazing scenario? Well it may well come true in the township of the future which all Malaysians may one day live. This is provided that all the government efforts to increase the rate of Internet penetration in Malaysia bears fruit.

The foundations for this has already begin to take shape. The government is offering its expertise in a private-public partnership to improve the telecommunications infrastructure to existing and new housing estates. 

Read more »