Saturday, July 18, 2009

University Place Bukit Gambier June09 data

My uncle from Germany wanted to invest in property in Penang, I introduced him university place, along Bukit Gambier in Penang Island as an option to consider. We have viewed a few units during his 2 weeks stay in Penang late June09. I have summarized it as below for your ref.

unit#1: high floor >20th, asking price is RM330k, come with 2 car parks, fully furnished, a lot of the furnitures are not built-in, normal kitchen cabinat and old sofa. Very expensive. The unit is vacant now.

unit#2: high floor >20th, asking price is RM340k with 1 car park, fully furnished, very nice and clean english style decoration. negotiated to RM325k. owner stay now.

unit#3:middle floor<20th, asking price is RM295k with 1 car park, fully renovated and funished, tenanted at RM1500k.

unit#4: high floor>30th, asking price is RM300k with 2 car-park, it was an show house before, fully furnished and renovated, all built-in cabinet and kitchen, currently tenanted at RM1600. Offered made at RM300k but sold at RM305k the next day to other buyer.

unit#5: high floor>20th, asking price is RM280k with 1 car park, 1st and 3rd bedroom with built-in cabinets, 2nd bedroom with built-in study table, no sofa, built-in kitchen cabinet is ok, come with 1 air-cond. owner occupied and moving to landed house.

So, unit#3 and unit#4 worth considering to invest with positive cash flow. unit#4 already sold and my uncle did not purchase unit#3 because the floor number is not "chinese friendly".

Friday, July 10, 2009

Tips from Soon on HOW TO SCREEN GOOD BUYS FOR AUCTION PROPERTIES

I come across this article written by Soon on Livintrend magazine about tips on aution properties and would like to share with you.

“Fristly, you need to know if the auction property that you are interested to bid is occupied. If the unit is unoccupied , taking over possession will be relatively easier than those being tenanted or owner occupied.”

“For tenants who expressed their intention to continue renting after the sale is completed, the new owner will be saving time and cost to look for tenants!”

It is better to reconsider bidding for a property that is owner occupied. Although this scenario consists of some workable solutions, Soon advised seeking for proper assisstant before bidding.

“Do not wait for the price to drop if you think that the reserve price is fit to bid because the lower price will attract more buyers to bid. Eventually the selling price will be sold higher than the previous reserve price!”

Since the different bank have different conditions of sale, Soon said, “You must know who is absorbing previous owner’s arrears such as quit rent, assessment and maintance charge up to the date of auction.

“Generally, most banks will absorb the developee’s arrears but not th utility charges like telephone, electricity and water bills.”

“For the banks that are not responsible for any of the above, check on the arrears from the relevant authorities, developer and land office. You must take note that certain auction properties are still a good buy after add on the arrears”

Source: LIVINTREND (www.livitrend.com)