buying in Kuala Lumpur

danster

hi all
im thinking about buying an apartment in Kuala Lumpur. you put down a 10% deposit then dont have to pay anymore until the building is finsihed (2009). they also offer rental packages (they organise the rentals and everything for a small fee). with house prices rocketing there, i would have probably doubled my £5k deposit by the time the building is finished, and as long as the rental income is more than my mortgage payments (which it hopefully will), then it will be ok..... or will it?
any advice/suggestion would be most welcome. has anyone experience of buying in Kuala Lumpur or similar?
thanks

dolce_vita

Who are you buying off?

Who will be renting it?

Conrad

I considered KL a couple of times but found capital growth to have been very sluggish. A friend of mine did buy an appartment there and was well looked after but the returns were not really worthwhile.

Ive been investing abroad a few years and have made some mistakes and learned a lot.

Here's a few pointers;

It can be VERY complex for your next of kin were you to die
The costs can eat your profits, and dont forget to factor in the cost of lost interest on your deposit
Think about the day to day realities of getting bills in a foreign language - you'll be amazed how many you get once you become an owner and NO managing agent will deal will all of them

So where is the most attractive foriegn investment:

It's as close as Southern Spain, it has had government that began a 10 year exhaustive plan to make it one of the worlds most popular destinations (no such plan existed with Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey et al)

It is attracting the middle and upper markets (this distinguishes it from Mediterreanean competitors).

It is attracting the worlds most prestigious developers.

It's backed by the Government - so I think its very very safe unlike Spain.

THE RESORTS ARE SPECIFICALLY BEING DESIGNED TO ATTRACT YEAR ROUND TOURISM - THIS REALLY IS A FIRST FOR THE MED'.

On site rental agents manage everything.
Money transfers are recorded carefully by the developer to ensure repatriation of funds (to include upon death) is pre organised.

Year round weather.

MEGA RESORTS - nothing in Spain or anywhere else come close, you really should not under estimate this statement.
The Meds largest marina is being built in my resort and there are 500 up market brand shops, and world class sports facilities on a scale that dwarfs anything in Spain or Portugal.
3 golf courses within the site and a 7 km beach, plus large hospital, carrefour supermarkets and 11 hotels

And the place to invest is............








Saidia, in Northern Morocco
http://www.lejardindefleur.com

If you cant afford thier product there are other developers on the same site that are cheaper, such as Azure resorts

Why go all the way to KL when this is right on your doorstep and will be something I suspect you will never want to sell. These resorts have NO competition in the Med.

danster

hi dolce:
this is what ive been looking at: http://www.urbandelta.com.my/index.htm
hi conrad:
very informative, thanks. i shall have a look at the website you sent.
thanks.

fc123

How do I report Conrads post?? It is NOT appropriate to the thread and it promoting a business...not in the spirit of MSE.

fc123

Conrad wrote: »

I considered KL a couple of times but found capital growth to have been very sluggish. A friend of mine did buy an appartment there and was well looked after but the returns were not really worthwhile.

Ive been investing abroad a few years and have made some mistakes and learned a lot.

Here's a few pointers;

It can be VERY complex for your next of kin were you to die
The costs can eat your profits, and dont forget to factor in the cost of lost interest on your deposit
Think about the day to day realities of getting bills in a foreign language - you'll be amazed how many you get once you become an owner and NO managing agent will deal will all of them

So where is the most attractive foriegn investment:

It's as close as Southern Spain, it has had government that began a 10 year exhaustive plan to make it one of the worlds most popular destinations (no such plan existed with Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey et al)

It is attracting the middle and upper markets (this distinguishes it from Mediterreanean competitors).

It is attracting the worlds most prestigious developers.

It's backed by the Government - so I think its very very safe unlike Spain.

THE RESORTS ARE SPECIFICALLY BEING DESIGNED TO ATTRACT YEAR ROUND TOURISM - THIS REALLY IS A FIRST FOR THE MED'.

On site rental agents manage everything.
Money transfers are recorded carefully by the developer to ensure repatriation of funds (to include upon death) is pre organised.

Year round weather.

MEGA RESORTS - nothing in Spain or anywhere else come close, you really should not under estimate this statement.
The Meds largest marina is being built in my resort and there are 500 up market brand shops, and world class sports facilities on a scale that dwarfs anything in Spain or Portugal.
3 golf courses within the site and a 7 km beach, plus large hospital, carrefour supermarkets and 11 hotels

And the place to invest is............








Saidia, in Northern Morocco
http://www.lejardindefleur.com

If you cant afford thier product there are other developers on the same site that are cheaper, such as Azure resorts

Why go all the way to KL when this is right on your doorstep and will be something I suspect you will never want to sell. These resorts have NO competition in the Med.

Do they also provide "Low interference foodstuffs ? Is the loans market a little slow at the mo Conrad?...no matter..flog some stuff in N Africa to the unsuspecting eh??

dys

im thinking about buying an apartment in Kuala Lumpur. you put down a 10% deposit then dont have to pay anymore until the building is finsihed (2009).

IF the building is finished. What happens if it doesn't get finished or if any part of the development runs into financial or legal difficulties? There are a lot of similar types of holiday developments, they run into difficulties, then guess what? bye bye deposit because you have no legal protection.

they also offer rental packages (they organise the rentals and everything for a small fee). with house prices rocketing there,

"Rocketing" is not the word I would use, the rental market demand for this type of property is pretty stagnant. If you really want to learn about the property market in Kuala Lampur go and live there and learn about how much established apartments (as opposed to holiday) that are aimed at the people who live and work there sell for, then buy one and rent it out, and you will see that yields and capital appreciation are nothing to write home about.

i would have probably doubled my £5k deposit by the time the building is finished, and as long as the rental income is more than my mortgage payments (which it hopefully will), then it will be ok..... or will it?
any advice/suggestion would be most welcome. has anyone experience of buying in Kuala Lumpur or similar?

You should talk to a solicitor who has good experience in exactly this type of investment... show them what you have in writing from the developer in terms of legal documentation. Make sure they know property law there inside out and that they explain all possibile eventualities and also about how or if your deposit is protected in any way.

Personally I think this type of development generally will make money for only one party: the developer, why else do you think they want your cash so soon and are desperate to get rid of it as soon as it's finished? Why don't they rent out through their own subsidiary company? To say it's a scam may be exaggerating it, but it's not that far off: heads the developers win, tails you lose.

Generali

Pretty high risk investing in Malaysia. During the 'Asian Crisis' in the 1990s, the finance minster went on TV to announce that the currency (the Ringitt) would be unconvertable from the point forward. If you had a contract to complete in MYR and you had USD or GBP then you had to apply to the govt for the right to be able to fulfill the contract.

Perhaps the govt will next decide that they don't want foreigners owning prime bits of downtown KL.

I don't wish to put too much of a dampener on your plans but think the risks through carefully. What happens if the currency moves by 30% in either direction? What happens if there's a coup? Are you even allowed to hold property in Malaysia? (Lots of Asian coutries don't allow it, no idea about Malaysia).

IveSeenTheLight

danster wrote: »

hi all
im thinking about buying an apartment in Kuala Lumpur. you put down a 10% deposit then dont have to pay anymore until the building is finsihed (2009). they also offer rental packages (they organise the rentals and everything for a small fee). with house prices rocketing there, i would have probably doubled my £5k deposit by the time the building is finished, and as long as the rental income is more than my mortgage payments (which it hopefully will), then it will be ok..... or will it?
any advice/suggestion would be most welcome. has anyone experience of buying in Kuala Lumpur or similar?
thanks

I went to a convention in KL for properties in Malaysia only a few months ago.
Looking at the figures in KL and the surrounding state Selangor, I concluded that if you were to buy a property it would have to be in the KL federal state and not outside.
Even then, condominiums are going up so fast in KL, the best market is detached and semi-detached houses. Even terraced is providing a better return.
If you decide to go for it, you really should look to capatilse on where these is a large ex-pat community.
Try areas like Mont Kiara, Damansara and the increasing popular Sri Hartimmas. There is also an area called Bangsar, which was the main place for ex-pats but is declining now as they move to the afore mentioned places.

My advice, is not to invest in Malaysia. They have a 2020 vision but it is hard to see this being fulfilled.
We also found that detached and semi-detached properties matched those sold in Scotland, so you don't even have the security of being able to buy much cheaper.
I doubt even your 5K would be sufficient in KL

IveSeenTheLight

danster wrote: »

hi all
im thinking about buying an apartment in Kuala Lumpur. you put down a 10% deposit then dont have to pay anymore until the building is finsihed (2009). s

Watch out for buying off plan as well.
I can see many unfinished apartment blocks and have heard of many builders who get grants from the government, cyphon out the money and declare bankrupt before the building is finished.

I also see many build areas which remain unsold after completion.

To be clear it is not all bad, just be very sure and do your market research before buying

danster

wow, thanks guysd. lots of food for thought there. I appreciate the turthfulness. I know it is such a massive gamble. Im trying to think how i can get a good return on my savings. ive maxed out my isa allowance and my savings have just been sat in an account earning 5% interest! i dont want to be sat here in 5 years time thinking 'if only id gone for it, my £5k is now worth x amount more now'.
maybe ill have a look at some forums dedicated to buying property overseas (i pressume there is one).
thanks for all your comments