Genting Highland Condominiums Review

New Condominiums At Genting Highlands

Thanks to the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) plan, especially the expected 20th Century Fox Theme Park (now cancelled),  5 new condominium being constructed and completed at Genting Highlands. It actual location is at Genting Permai.

The new condominium are:

  1. Windmill Upon Hills
  2. Vista Residence
  3. Geo 38 Residence
  4. Midhills
  5. Ion d’Element

I would like to do analysis on the first 4 condominium as they are nearer to each other. Which condo is the best to invest in? What unique value the condo can offer vs its competitor?

The Condominium Buildings / Scale Model

windmill upon hills genting
windmill upon hills genting
Vista Residence Genting Highlands
Vista Residence Genting Highlands
geo 38 residence genting highlands
geo 38 residence genting highlands
midhills genting highlands
midhills genting highlands

Relative Locations

relative location windmill upon hills - vista residence - midhills - geo 38 residence
relative location windmill upon hills – vista residence – midhills – geo 38 residence

Unit Photos

Windmill Upon Hills
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
windmill upon hills unit photo
Vista Residence
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
vista residence genting highland unit photo
Geo 38 Residence
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
geo 38 residence genting highland unit photo
Midhills
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo
midhills genting highland unit photo

Layout

Windmill Upon Hills
windmill upon hill typical unit type a
windmill upon hill typical unit type a
windmill upon hills dual entry type b
windmill upon hills dual entry type b
Vista Residence
vista residence layout dual entry
vista residence layout dual entry
vista residence layout
vista residence layout

Geo 38 Residence

geo 38 residence layout typical Type A
geo 38 residence layout typical Type A
geo 38 residence layout Type C
geo 38 residence layout Type C
Midhills
midhills layout type d
midhills layout type d
midhills layout type c
midhills layout type c

Property Comparison

Features \ CondominumWindmill Upon HillsVista ResidenceGeo 38 ResidenceMidhills
TypeServiced ApartmentServiced ResidenceCondominiumServiced Residence
Land Area5.57 acres1.33 acres3.80 acres5.35 acres
TenureFreeholdLeaseholdFreeholdLeasehold
Land TitleCommercialResidentialResidentialCommercial
Price RangeRM492,000 - RM1,685,000RM889,350 - RM3,442,537RM408,528 - RM1,873,281RM495,000 - RM2,247,437
Size Range362 sqft - 1,523 sqft844 sqft - 3,144 sqft642 sqft - 3,038 sqft557 sqft - 2,450 sqft
Price per sqft RangeRM1,359 per sqft - RM1,106 per sqftRM1,053 per sqft - RM1,095 per sqftRM636 per sqft - RM616 per sqftRM889 per sqft - RM917 per sqft
Maintenance Fee & Sinking FundRM0.40 per sqft inclusive sinking fundRM0.30 per sqft + 10% sinking fund??
Completion DateJuly 2019July 2018July 2019November 2017
FurnishingFully FurnishedFully Furnished??
Location3.386096, 101.7747893.388038, 101.7727293.388104, 101.7747803.387214, 101.784745
DeveloperOSK Properties Sdn BhdFututech BhdPesat Bumi Sdn BhdLBS Bina
Number of Blocks4?13
Number of Levels42 Level for Tower A, B and C and 32 Levels for Tower D33. (1 level Facilities + 23 level Service Residential + 3 level Shoplots + 6 level Carparks)3819
Number of Units 1,108 378 579610
Tower A (266 units), B(267 units), C(262 units) and D(313 units)378 units of Serviced Apartment
31 units of Retail Lots + 11 kiosk
Tower 1 - 192 units
Tower 2 - 251 units
Tower 3 - 167 units
WebsiteLinkLinkLinkLink
Facilities
GardenYesYesYesYes
GymYesYesYesYes
Swimming PoolHeated Lap Pool & Kids PoolHeated PoolSwimming pool & Kids poolLap pool, Family pool & wading pool
JacuzziYesYesYesYes
SaunaYesYesYesNo
SpaYesNoNoNo
Children PlaygroundYesYesYesYes
Jogging TrackYesNoYesNo
Barbecue AreaYesYesYesYes
Squash CourtYesNoNoNo
Tennis CourtYesNoYesNo
Games RoomYesNoYesYes. Foosball, pool table, chess, dart, carrom & table tennis
Multipurpose HallYesYesYesNo
Convenient ShopNoYesYesNo
Other FacilitiesSky Deck
Sunken Deck
Celebration Alcove
Changing Room
Reflexology Path
Parcouse
Brooks & Bridges
Private-owned roof-top sky-loungeSky Garden and Multi Tier Security with Access Card
Laundrette
TaiChi/Yoga Deck/Reflexology Path
Exercise Pole Park
AV/Entertainment Room
Library
Kindergarden
Meeting Room
Aqua Wall
Reading Nook
Waterlily Pond
Hammock Deck
Reading Room
Kick Boxing
Spin Cup Fun Zone
Air Hockey
TV Room
Kiddy Bowling
Chilled Out Area
Sky Aerobic
Yoga Deck
Hopscotch
Social Corner
Reflexology Path
Reflection Corner
Gazebo
Zen Deck
Aqua Deck
Open Air Messamine Fitness Station
The Plaza

Property Developers Reputation

When choosing a property, we also must evaluate its developer as it will tell whether you will get quality workmanship, deliver on time and as advertised. To evaluate that I compare based on The Edge Property Excellence Award (as it is easy to find info and the award relates on property quality as well).

Besides I try to find the developers QClassic Scoring. Unfortunately not easy to find information for the correspondent developers.

The Edge Property Excellence Award

The Edge Property Excellence Award (TEPEA) is an award given to property developers based on their quantitative attributes:

  1. Shareholders’ funds
  2. Revenue
  3. Profit before tax
  4. Net gearing

and its qualitative attributes as follows:

  1. Quality of product (service, finish, timeliness)
  2. Innovation and creativity (product, marketing)
  3. Value creation for buyers (capital appreciation)
  4. Image market perception (credibility, management style, effectiveness)
  5. Expertise (management, experience)
DeveloperTEPEA 2018TEPEA 2017TEPEA 2016
OSK141618
Kerjaya ProspekN/AN/AN/A
Pesat BumiN/AN/AN/A
LBS1924N/A
QClassic Scoring

Quality Assessment System in Construction (QLASSIC) is a system or method to measure and evaluate the workmanship quality of a building construction work based on Construction Industry Standard (CIS 7). QLASSIC enables the quality of workmanship between construction projects to be objectively compared through a scoring system.

The accreditation is done by CIBD.

So far I can only find OSK QClassic for Emira Shah Alam Project scored at 80.28%. It means that OSK already doing QClassic to ensure that their property development follows high standard.

Conclusion

Windmill Upon HillsVista ResidenceGeo 38 ResidenceMidhills
Location1.01.01.01.0
More Facilities1.10.51.01.5
Less Density0.61.81.21.1
Less Price per sqft0.70.91.51.0
Total3.44.24.74.5

*The higher the scores, the better it is.

The best condo is Geo 38 Residence while Windmill Upon Hills scored the lowest.

Windmill Upon Hills has good facilities but more dense and more expensive.

Vista Residence has less facilities.

Geo 38 Residence has good facilities, most affordable pricing among other condos.

Midhills is less dense and has good facilities.

References:

Windmill Upon Hills Price Min & Max
Vista Residences Price Min & Max
Geo 38 Residence Price Min & Max
Midhills Price Min & Max

 

Maid Work Permit Sticker Transfer to New Renewal Passport

I decided to renew my maid passport here in Kuala Lumpur instead of waiting for her to return back from her 2 months hometown leave.

So when she returns, only leave 1 month to settle with her work permit renewal. https://www.awesomegrasp.com/steps-for-maid-permit-renewal/

To avoid hassle from my pass encounter I decided to renew her passport 15 months before expiry (due to expiry date which will lapse less than a year if I were to renew her work permit upon her returning).

After settle passport renewal, just realised that I bought her flight ticket before her renewal. Luckily during booking with Airasia to Surabaya, Indonesia i didn’t need to enter her passport number.. Alhamdulillah…

But only one thing need to settle, when I ask employee at KBRI they said no need to transfer her valid work permit sticker to new passport. Just clip together old and new passport and show to Immigration at departure.

windmill genting highlands 6 pax 2 rooms with balcony
Advertisement ~ Genting Highlands ~ 6 pax ~ 2 rooms with balcony

hmmm… I decided to not 100% believe it and went to Immigration at Bandar Damansara. The friendly immigration staff told that I need to transfer sticker because once new passport release the old passport consider expired and not valid. Only one valid passport can a person carry at a time.

My maid permit still valid for around 6 months. I have two options;

  1. renew (but will waste that 6 months validity), 0r
  2. transfer sticker permit at new passport with a cost.

I chose option 2. Below i share the costing and documents needed for this option.

cost (RM200.00)

  1. Visa Multiple Entry (RM15.00)
  2. Lanjutan PL(KS) (RM60.00)
  3. Proses PLKS Pembantu Rumah (RM125)

Required Documents

  1. Letter request (Permohonan sticker permit kerja berikutan pembaharuan passport pembantu asing)
  2. Letter authorisation (for representative)
  3. copy of work permit (old)
  4. copy of old passport (front and back)
  5. copy of new passport (front and back)

This process took around 2 hours (subject to crowd of the day). That’s all. Thank you.

Chicken Pad Krapow Recipe

We discover this menu from Absolute Thai Restaurants and later at Boat Noodles. Husband been loving this dishes and requested me to add in my home cook menu list.

That what i loved to hear, since he doesn’t eat seafood and meat. Always the chicken and i need varieties and options. After few attempt i believe am good at it. I share with you here the recipe;

Thai dishes – Chicken Pad Krapow

Ingredients;

  1. Minced chicken
  2. olive oil
  3. shallots (smash or pounded)
  4. ginger (pounded)
  5. onion (slice)
  6. chilies (small slice)
  7. oyster sauce
  8. soy sauce
  9. chicken broth
  10. white sugar
  11. brown sugar
  12. Basil leaf (finely chopped)
  13. salt

How to cook;

  1. heat your frying pan and add some olive oil
  2. fry the minced chicken until brownish
  3. squeeze the chicken to the side of the pan
  4. add shallots, ginger, onion, and chilies until – fry until yellowish.
  5. then mix together with the chicken
  6. mix ingredients for the sauces before hand (oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, white sugar, brown sugar)
  7. Add in the ready mix sauce into the pan.
  8. stir until the sauce caramelize with the chicken.
  9. add some salt and turn of the stove.
  10. Lastly mix the chopped basil leaf and stir with the chicken.

Ready to eat!! I would suggest to eat together with Tomyam Soup, Omelette and Salted Fish Fried Kailan. 

Refinance Mortgate Rule of Thumbs

I want to refinance one of my properties. I want to know what is the differential interest rate that worth it for me to refinance. I read few articles some articles suggest to refinance if the interest difference is 2%. But sometime it is acceptable if 1%.

Without getting firm rules of thumb from reading few articles. I decided to calculate myself what would be the good rules of thumb to refinance mortgage.

Reasons to Refinance Mortgage

First let say what would be possible reasons to refinance.

  1. To Lower Monthly Payment
  2. To Change from Floating Interest Mortgage to Fixed Interest Mortgage
  3. To Cash Out To Use the Money for Personal or Investment
  4. To Shorten The Mortgage Tenure

In my case, I want to cash out and use the money for investment. My intention is to park the cash out money into ASB (Amanah Saham Bumiputra) earning yearly dividend of 7%.

Refinance Analysis

Below is the scenario that I use to do my analysis.

Initial Loan Amount (Before Refinance): RM100,000
Loan Tenure: 30 years
Interest Rate: 5.35%
Monthly Payment: RM558

housing loan RM100k
housing loan RM100k
Assumptions:
  1. The current housing loan is already being paid for the last 10 years. So the tenure balance is another 20 years.
  2. The interest is fixed during the tenure even though it is a floating interest.
Refinance Mortgage Costs:

When refinance, there will be cost as follows:-

  1. Legal fee for the loan documents.
  2. MRTA or MLTT (I use MRTA and wants its to cover the loan for 10 years only)
  3. Legal fee on strata title or MOT as to charge to the new bank
  4. Property valuation fee.
housing loan refinancing cost
housing loan refinancing cost

Explanation Of Terms Used

analysis refinance interest spread
analysis refinance interest spread

Interest Difference
The difference between the current loan interest rate vs the refinancing loan @ new loan.

Effective Rate
Interest of the refinancing loan.

Tenure (years)
In the analysis, I use the remaining 20 years to refinance the previous loan balance.

Monthly Installment
The monthly payment for the refinancing loan.

Total Interest Paid
Total interest paid for the refinancing loan over 20 years of tenure

Total Saving Over Tenure
Total saving from reduction of interest paid (the difference between previous loan vs  refinancing loan) plus total monthly installment save from the previous loan vs refinancing loan over 20 years of tenure.

Net Saving
Total Saving Over Tenure minus out the refinancing cost.

CAGR Net Saving / Financing Cost
CAGR is over 20 years. The bigger the number the better.

Opportunity Lost @ 7%
By how much the refinancing cost will grow by putting it into ASB and earning 7% per year over 20 years.

Conclusion

The acceptable return is when the interest difference is 1.25% as CAGR is 6.60% and Total Saving / Opportunity Lost is 113.70% means total saving can cover the refinancing cost with dividend 0f 7%.

Important to notes even at 1% interest difference the CAGR is at 5.16% and Total Saving / Opportunity Lost is 92.43% which I think is commendable return.

 

References:

Excel used to calculate, you can download and do your own conclusion.

SK Bukit Jelutong Sport Day 2019

First time I watched SK Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam Sport Day 2019. It was conducted at Stadium TUDM.

I watched it because Aliesha participated in running 200M x 4.

I was impressed with their dance and Marvel Heroes theme. The kids took it seriously and enjoy doing their show. Thumbs up for the kids and teachers.

stadium tudm shah alam
stadium tudm shah alam
sk bukit jelutong sport day 2019 show
sk bukit jelutong sport day 2019 show
current standing of team points
current standing of team points
wolverine for yellow team
wolverine for yellow team

 

iron man for the red team
iron man for the red team

Investment Properties Criteria – Shah Alam Area

I have few properties and mostly of them at Kota Damansara. Kota Damansara is leasehold area so all my properties in Kota Damansara are leasehold.

Now, I want to find potential freehold properties nearby my house.

My Property’s selection criteria as follows:-

  1. Nearby house within 30mn drive
  2. Price range for B40 refer to previous post
  3. Freehold
  4. Neighborhood is well maintained
  5. Nearby jobs opportunities
  6. Low rise apartment not more than 5 levels
  7. High occupancy
  8. Level: 1st or 2nd
  9. Parking at least 1, better still ample parking
  10. Size around 800 sqft

My Watch List

NoNameSectionAddressLatlong
1SerojaBukit JelutongJalan Arca U8/80, U 8, Shah Alam, Selangor3.110105, 101.537065
2DelimaBukit JelutongJalan Arca U8/80, U8 Shah Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor3.110722, 101.536139
3Sri IxoraShah AlamTaman Bunga Negara, Seksyen 273.027259, 101.567949
4Alora / MediterraneanShah AlamJalan Damai 25/603.030146, 101.538405
5Sri AngkasaShah AlamSeksyen 28 Alam Megah Shah Alam3.004857, 101.567455
6Sri KemuningShah AlamJalan Anggerik Aranda 31/42, Kota Kemuning, 40460 Seksyen 31, Shah Alam, Selangor2.991299, 101.549183
7Pangsapuri JayaTTDI JayaJalan Ilham U2/14, Seksyen U2, Taman TTDI Jaya3.099714, 101.556064
8Mutiara SubangShah AlamJalan Utarid U5/6 Seksyen U53.182917, 101.536082

 

Hadeef Practices on Yamaha Digital Drums

I bought Yamaha Digital Drums DTX-452K for Hadeef to practice his drums.

I chose digital drums because we can control its volume and it doesn’t require so much space like acoustic drums.

As advised by Hadeef’s drum teacher, we bought Edifier XM6BT as DTX-452K sound system. The Edifier can be controlled via my smartphone and at same time has its own remote control. The Edifier I bought at Harvey Norman and it costs RM319.

Edifier Speaker XM6BT
Edifier Speaker XM6BT

I bought the Yamaha Digital Drum from Yamaha Setia Alam.

Yamaha Setia Alam DTX-452K
Yamaha Setia Alam DTX-452K
Yamaha Digital Drum installation by Yamaha Setia Alam
Yamaha Digital Drum installation by Yamaha Setia Alam
NoItemBought AtPrice (RM)
1Yamaha Digital Drum DTX-452KYamaha Setia Alam3,190
2EdifierHarvey Norman Setia Alam319
3Yamaha HeadphoneYamaha Setia Alam80
4Audio CableAll IT, Ikano61
Total3,650
belkin audio cable - to connect from Edifier to Yamaha DTX452-K
belkin audio cable – to connect from Edifier to Yamaha DTX-452K

Overall I’m satisfied with the drums except the bass drum pedal screw is not correctly tighten. I have to send back to Yamaha Setia Alam.

bass pedal screws not tighten properly
bass pedal screws not tighten properly

Bank Negara Reduces OPR by 25 Points On May 2019 & Which Banks Follows

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Bank Negara Malaysia decided to reduce the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) to 3% at its meeting on Tuesday 07/05/2019. This was the first time since July 2016,

It said the ceiling and floor rates of the corridor for the OPR are correspondingly reduced to 3.25% and 2.75% respectively.

I would like to see and monitor which banks follows accordingly, so it would be easier to decide which bank is suitable for property loans.
NoBankLoan RateFixed DepositLatest Base RateLatest BLR/BFRAnnounced
1Maybank-0.20%-0.20%3.05%6.70%08/05/2019
2CIMB-0.25%-0.25%4.00%6.85%11/05/2019
3OCBC-0.25%-0.25%3.83%6.76%12/05/2019
4RHB-0.20%-0.20%3.80%6.75%13/05/2019
5Bank Islam-0.26%-0.26%3.77%6.72%10/05/2019
6Affin Bank-0.25%-0.25%3.95%6.81%10/05/2019
7BSN-0.25%-0.25%3.85%6.60%13/05/2019
8Ambank-0.25%-0.25%3.85%6.70%15/05/2019
9Public Bank-0.25%-0.25%3.52%6.72%10/05/2019
10Hong Leong Bank-0.25%-0.25%3.88%6.89%15/052019
11HSBC-0.23%-0.23%3.66%6.76%14/05/2019
12Al Rajhi-0.25%-0.25%4.10%7.00%13/05/2019
13Standard Chartered-0.25%-0.25%3.52%6.70%18/05/2019
Reference: