5 Factors to Choose the Right Residential Property There are five guidelines towards choosing the right residential property that provide you with good appreciation value as well as high rental yield. It is very important especially for first time buyer to learn as failure to do so may result in long term liability, with property unable to rent out or with low capital appreciation. A very good example is property in Bukit Beruntung (nickname: Bukit Tidak Untung), with anticipation of KLIA to be built nearby the area in the past, but it is just a rumour resulting in little appreciation in value for this area (There are other factors that cause it to have low appreciation which shall be discussed later). 1) Location Location, location and location… Perfect location is often very subjective and depends on the individual’s needs. The most important factor is the availability of working and business opportunity. With people migrating from other states to capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, this category of people will look for place to stay nearby their working places. Thus, the complementary factor or sub-factor to this is:- Distance to KLCC (6-10% of migration) – Has the highest income group and working opportunity. Ideal and acceptable distance from your desired location to KLCC is within 45km. Distance to suburb city (25-30% of migration) – Has high income earner as well as job opportunity. Suburb cities are Puchong, Cheras, Mont Kiara, Damansara, Petaling Jaya, etc. Ideal distance has to be around 15-30km to your desired location. Distance to neighborhood (65-75% of migration) – Mature with working/ business opportunity. Distance between 5-15km to your desired location. 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 1 Case study 1 Setia Alam (Starts 2004) KLCC 38km to KLCC with NKVE Suburb 20-30km to Petaling Jaya & Damansara Utama with NKVE highway Neighborhood 5-15km to Meru, Klang PASS Case study 2 Nilai (Starts 1994) KLCC 49km to KLCC with North South Expressway Suburb 30km to Cheras & Puchong Neighborhood Nilai town (not much SME business) Fail 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 2 2) Amenities Basic amenities are important to sustain the basic needs of a township. It is categorized into 2 types:- Primary Amenities (within 3-6km) School (Primary or Secondary) Neighborhood shop – convenient shop, clinic, food, café, etc These are the places that you may frequently go more than 3 times a week. If it happens to be located further away, your wife may complain to ask you fetch your children home from school. A very good case study is Kota Kemuning. The development starts in 1995, but it has higher appreciation since the availability of Chinese school, SJKC Chung Hwa in 2008. Chinese community from Subang and Klang starts to move to Kota Kemuning (KK) or else the parent has to drive 18km from KK to the nearest Chinese school in Subang which is SJK(C) Lik Hung in SS19 at the time. Secondary Amenities (within 6-20km) Hypermarket/ Supermarket ( Giant, Carrefour, Aeon) Shopping mall (Sunway Pyramid, Mid Valley, Publika etc) Hospital These are the places you will go maybe once or twice a week. 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 3 3) Security & Design Concept In the past, security and good landscaping are for luxurious developments. However, it has become necessity for current development. If developer does not offer guarded and gated concept or with poor facilities and landscaping concept, it will affect the sales as other developers are offering these basic in the package. Guarded and Gated With the rise of robbery cases in Malaysia, a good security gives a peace of mind to the residents. People do not mind paying more for good security for the safety of their family. The better the security system, the higher the market price of the property. There are some developers that even come with 6 tier security for the launches to attract buyers. Design Concept / Landscaping A good landscaping design is essential to a new project. With the introduction of Green Building Index (GBI) as well as the mandatory to have Landscaping Architect in a project, future projects will incorporate more green concept. Condominium with little landscaping will lose out in future, or experience lesser appreciation. With 45% of Malaysia population below the age of 24 years old, the younger generation will opt for modern design and great landscaping for their family. Population 30,073,353 (July 2014 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 28.8% (male 4,456,033/female 4,206,727) 15-24 years: 16.9% (male 2,580,486/female 2,511,579) 25-54 years: 41.2% (male 6,277,694/female 6,114,312) 55-64 years: 7.6% (male 1,163,861/female 1,122,746) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 777,338/female 862,577) (2014 est.) Source : http://www.indexmundi.com/malaysia/demographics_profile.html 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 4 4) Branding & Scalability The home address represents your status. There is a friend of mine who stay in Bandar Menjalara, but when asked, he will state that he stays “near to Desa Park City” as Desa Park City has better branding. What determines a good branding is when the residents feel safe, comfortable and proud to live in the area. If conditions 1-2-3 are satisfied, it will have a good branding effect. Another factor is the scalability. If there is sizable land for development, then it will have sufficient area for future development. Puchong : 12,778 acres Setia Alam : 4,000 acres Kota Kemuning : 1,820 acres Cyberjaya : 6,960 acres 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 5 5) Developer’s Branding & Commitment A committed developer do not only build, sell and deliver the houses, but also complete it with the basic infrastructure like main road, highway access, neighborhood shops and schools. Developer has to also deliver on time as well as provide exact things mentioned in the sales package. As there are many developers in the market, it is best that buyers do their due diligence on these developers’ background and past projects. Besides that, taking a step further by getting reviews and feedbacks from their existing buyers in forum would also help to determine the reliability of the developers. In a nutshell , filter the information above and derive your own investment strategies. These guidelines are due diligence you need to perform before purchasing your residential property. Commercial property has different guidelines. New Launches chosen to be published in www.newpropertylaunch.my are within Kuala Lumpur and Selangor area (good location) developed by reputable developer as well as offering good security and facilities. Do drop us any enquiry about the property and we will reply within 48 hours. 5 Factors to Choose Right Residential Property www.newpropertylaunch.my Page 6 .