PROPERTY: Where to BUY?

I have been telling everyone that my forte is ultimately and geographically within Klang Valley. Ask me anywhere outside - let it be Ipoh, Kampar, Penang etc... I am perhaps as clueless as you are. But within Klang Valley... I reckon I can give some rather good recommendations on WHERE TO BUY if you are looking for a property. =)

A personal favourite is always Bangsar area. In my opinion, whether you are buying to stay or to invest, you really cant go wrong with Bangsar. Being in between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya gives Bangsar a great advantage in terms of location; and ideally, the surroundings, the people... it is a vibrant place, and a vibrant crowd. I would reckon that properties within Bangsar area... should ultimately hit RM700-900 psf for bungalow lands, and within the next 3-5 years, reach a support level of RM1,500-1,700 psf for a new high end condominium. =)

One Menerung, an upscale condominium development behind BSC.

Another favourited location is the Old Klang Road area. Recent launches such as Saville Residence are fetching prices of RM450-500 psf - with units going for at least RM550,000 now - which to me feels like a very good entry level price for a 1,250 sf unit. In my opinion, the prices should shoot up to at least RM800-900 psf within the next 3-5 years, making this a choice investment for investors. =)

A dark horse location to invest in remains at Mont Kiara. As far as the expat market is concerned, I think that is rather slow though - so dont put too high hopes on the expat market for your rental yields in the area. I would put my money in Mont Kiara in the smaller units; units sized between 500-800 sf remains attractive to investors as the entry costs are still within reach, and the rental yields remain good for the smaller units. Units are going from RM900-1,000 psf for these smaller sized units - so I would think, if you can find units going at below RM800psf for the smaller units with good facilities, it is indeed a no-brainer to snap it up. Once the Bangsar area hits RM1,500psf, I think Mont Kiara properties should comfortably hover around RM1,200-1,300psf.

Cyberjaya, a future investment stronghold.

Other dark horse locations include Cyberjaya, as well as places around Damansara Perdana/Mutiara Damansara area. Prices in Cyberjaya would move, but it will take quite awhile before you really experience a massive capital appreciation. Damansara Perdana/Mutiara Damansara remains a choiced location due to its easy accessibility to LDP and the vibrant community living within the area.

The 2020 Countdown Clock Urban Design Competition.

My architect has been shortlisted for this competition... =)

They do have an awesome design - one that will change the face of Dataran Merdeka.

Go on.... and vote!!! =P

7 Top Engineering Wonders of The World.

I did civil engineering, and I am involved in construction and property development currently. Anyways, I have always been interested in various engineering feats and wonders of the world; I decided to listed to list down my 7 favourites. =)

The AKASHI KAIKYO Bridge, Japan.

The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world and is a spectacular visual delight. It apparently took 2 million workers 10 years to construct the bridge, 181,000 tons of steel and 1.4 million cubic meters of concrete. The four-mile bridge links the island of Awaji and the mainland city of Kobe.

The bridge has three spans. The central span is 1,991 m (6,532 ft), and the two other sections are each 960 m (3,150 ft). The bridge is 3,911 m (12,831 ft) long overall. The central span was originally only 1,990 m (6,529 ft), but the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995, moved the two towers sufficiently (only the towers had been erected at the time) so that it had to be increased by 1 m (3.3 ft).

The PALM ISLANDS, Dubai.

The Palm Islands are artificial archipelago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on which major commercial and residential infrastructure will be constructed. They are being constructed by Nakheel Properties, a property developer in the United Arab Emirates, who hired Belgian and Dutch dredging and marine contractor Jan De Nul and Van Oord, some of the world's specialists in land reclamation. The islands are the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira.

The creation of the Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001. Shortly after, the Palm Jebel Ali was announced and reclamation work began. The Palm Deira, which is planned to have a surface area of 46.35 square kilometres, was announced for development in October 2004. Construction was originally planned to take 10–15 years, but that was before the impact of the global credit crunch hit Dubai.

The BAILONG ELEVATOR, ZHANGJIAJIE, CHINA.

The Bailong Elevator has set three Guinness world Records i.e. World’s tallest full-exposure outdoor elevator, world’s tallest double-deck sightseeing elevator and world’s fastest passenger traffic elevator with biggest carrying capacity but due to the potential harm caused to the surrounding landscape, its future remains uncertain.

This elevator was one of the facilities that has really angered many scientists and tourism specialists who cited it as being one of the most unnecessary tourism facilities in history. The 326 metre elevator runs for two-thirds of its height down the outside of a cliff and the lower third through the rock, ending in a damp cavern. A long tunnel leads out to the fresh air. Check out the video below.

*wooots* breathtaking.... =P

The VENICE TIDE BARRIER PROJECT.

Venice is a city in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry, and is the capital of the region Veneto, with a population of about 272,000 (census estimate 1 January 2004). Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000).

The Venice Tide Barrier Project will be the largest flood prevention project in the world. The project has been debated in one form or another for over 40 years as a way to protect this historical city-on-the-water for future generations. With Venice slowly sinking, and the water around it slowly rising, and floods always a fear, Italians have known for a long time that something needs to be done. Finally, the Prime Minister of Italy approved the second phase of the plan, including 80 hinged barriers, each approximately 6,500 square feet.

The THREE GORGES DAM.

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind, and second in production, only exceeded by Itaipu Dam, Brazil and Paraguay's electricity-generating plant.

The Chinese state regards the project as a historic engineering, social and economic success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines, and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, the dam flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people, and is causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides. The dam has been a controversial topic both in China and abroad.

The MILLAU VIADUCT.

The Millau Viaduct, or le Viaduc de Millau is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. Designed by the French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343.0 metres (1,125 ft). The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier. Construction cost was approximately €400 million. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004, inaugurated the day after and opened to traffic two days later. The bridge received the 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.

The Millau Viaduct consists of an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete pylons. The roadway weighs 36,000 tonnes (40,000 short tons) and is 2,460 m (8,070 ft) long, measuring 32 m (105 ft) wide by 4.2 m (14 ft) deep, making it the world's longest cable-stayed deck. The six central spans each measure 342 m (1,122 ft) with the two outer spans measuring 204 m (669 ft). The roadway has a slope of 3% descending from south to north, and curves in a plane section with a 20 km (12 mi) radius to give drivers better visibility.

The CHANNEL TUNNEL, connecting UK and France. =)

The Channel Tunnel, (also informally known as the Chunnel) is a 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi) undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent near Dover in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is 75 metres (250 ft) deep. At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), the Channel Tunnel possesses the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall at 53.85 kilometres (33.46 mi), and deeper at 240 metres (790 ft) below sea level.

The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest in the world—and international rail freight trains. The tunnel connects end-to-end with the LGV Nord and High Speed 1 high-speed railway lines. In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Out of the 7 - I have only experienced the Channel Tunnel. =) That was back in 2002 lorr... ahahaha...

Rental Yields - To Fall.

Recently, many people have asked me about yields and rental yields. I mean, I have been telling everyone out there about the dangers of property investments in recent volatile times, and it is highly critical and essential what you invest in, and what you decide to buy. =)

In my opinion, I believe that rents in Kuala Lumpur is likely to fall a bit. By looking at the prospective projects coming up, looks like there are quite a number of high end homes to be completed in the coming months, right up til end of next year - and that is a rather healthy supply of high end condominiums coming along. Further to that - from what I have been hearing, the expat remuneration packages in Kuala Lumpur have somewhat turned to be less lucrative as compared to before. In fact, not many companies pay the luxury RM25-30k/month rental for a high end KLCC property nowadays.

Mont Kiara is still amongst the preferred locations for investments.

If we were to look at our neighbours Singapore - I have read that luxury home rents have dropped by two percent in six months... in fact, in some cases, rents had to be reduced by almost 10% to attract tenants. Similar to KL, the pressure on rents is also seen in a lot of multinational corporations - who have tried to apply local terms for expats. This means the expats must now pay for rent from their salaries instead of enjoying a separate housing allowance.

However, properties in Singapore generally have low yields, but exorbitant capital appreciation figures - a vast difference as compared to Kuala Lumpur.

SO... back to Kuala Lumpur.

Where would be an ideal property to invest in and still get good yields? For the higher rents, Mont Kiara is still perhaps the best areas to invest in, especially with all the international schools and so on in the area - but in smaller sized units though, cos rents are rather fixed. Go for the 700-900 sf units - that somewhat is the most ideal investments. The larger units... say 1,500 sf and above, would face resistance in getting similar rental rates. Units with nice facilities... i.e. infinity swimming pool, gym etc... those are ideal properties to get.

Marc Residences, KLCC.

KLCC vicinity would still be an ideal location too due to its close distance to KLCC and the prime financial centre of the city. But same thing goes... invest in smaller sized units for the best yields. =)