Mmm…. I’m back to Jakarta again, and went to the same fav place, STC Senayan. Things are getting better there, with more airsoft shops, including one shop focusing on an authentic US Marines merchandise! Lucky Bastards!! hehe…. Not really sure where he got it, but those things look awesome!
Bought a few stuff there…boy, things are no longer cheap there…
If you get down to Jakarta, don’t give this place a miss! It’s right in front of Senayan City, one of the 5 star mall available in this cosmopolitan city….
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE IMMINENT FINANCIAL COLLAPSE
There is one truth about money: if you live high on the hog on borrowed money, the day will come when your world will come crumbling down and the U.S. has been living high on the hog on borrowed money for too long. Things cannot carry on like this forever. I see no way out for them and actually, even Ben Bernanke (the Chairman of the Federal Reserve) agrees: “The large U.S. current account deficit cannot persist indefinitely because the ability of the United States to make debt service payments and the willingness of foreigners to hold U.S. assets in their portfolios are both limited.”
So now I’d like to share some thoughts about the matter, which may help you make a better decision about money and investments. After all, knowledge is good but there is nothing like money in the bank, or more appropriately in this case, gold in your hands. Being in Malaysia, we are far from where the action is taking place. So we cannot see it, cannot hear it and to some extent, cannot feel the heat from all the upheavals. It is therefore easy to be hoodwinked by the notion that we will be sheltered from any fall-outs from the excesses. Unfortunately, that will not be the case at all.
One of the coolest song for 2010….luv the dance and melody!
Jet setter
Go getter
Nothing better
Call me Mr. been there done that
Top model chick to your every day hood rat
Less than all but more than a few
But I’ve never met one like you
I wrote about the incredible opportunities at property auctions recently. To remind you about the possibilities here, I’ll share my own experience. A couple of years ago, I bought a double-storey link house in Subang Jaya at an auction for RM220,000, below the market price of RM300,000. I spent RM13,000 to do up the house and then sold it seven months later for RM280,000. Despite having to pay the RPGT that was still applicable then, I still made a decent profit. Just as important is the fact that I incurred zero risk during the whole episode. Decent profit, zero risk – it was a perfect investing story.
A couple of my friends did even better. One bought an apartment in KL worth RM200,000 for just RM98,000. A second friend bought a house worth RM360,000 for RM240,000. Both properties were purchased at auctions. And these are the ones that I have personal knowledge of. You can bet there are even more exciting and grander stories out there.
So there are great opportunities at property auctions. The main attraction is of course the low price of the properties. You can often get discounts of 20, 30 or even 50 percent from the market value of the property. What’s more, the supply is plentiful. You’ll run out of money before you run out of properties.
I’m back in Singapore for a week, a pretty much the same business. As always brought my camera anyway I go (rule#1 :), but too lazy to take photo. Takde kaki la bro..however, to my surprise, the local collegues (Australian, Malaysian) who work in Singapore, are actually a DSLR owner themselves..! Well, we setup a plan for a quick outing to Marina Bay, for a night shot…
Here’re the results…! Enjoy!
When talking about properties, one cannot avoid the subject of financing the purchase. Since few of us will have the money to pay cash to buy a property, this will mean taking a loan from banks or from institutions such as insurance companies, building societies and perhaps even the government. And because of the high price of properties, the amount of money borrowed run into tens and even hundreds of thousands. In fact, the housing loan (also known as a mortgage) is often the largest amount of debt most of us will take in our lifetime. Let me repeat that for effect: the mortgage is often the largest amount of debt most of us will take in our lifetime.
This being the case, you would think the average borrower would know a lot about mortgages. I mean, since it is their largest debt – taking up to one third of the monthly income for many many years – common sense would tell them they should know as much as they can about it. Yet incredibly, only a mere handful of borrowers know the workings of the typical mortgage.
Salam,
Unlike past years, we decided to do some local adventure this time around. It was Royal Belum, a reserved forest on the north of Malaya. I took us 4 hours to reach there by bus, as you may take a direct bus (Transnational) from KL to Grik, then someone need to pick you up by car to the jetty. It took us another 1 hour by boat to get into the base camp deep in the jungle of Royal Belum, well depend on where you wanna stay.
Unlike Taman Negara, Royal Belum is very much untouched and surprisingly you can see a lot of thing. Of anglers, this is the best place, and depend on the season, it can be very interesting able to catch Toman and other species of fish. You can also see the biggest flower in the world, ‘Raffleasia’, again, depend of season. You need to check with the local when is the best season to come.
Let me ask you a question: Is it easy to make money?
I can see some people shaking their heads. “Man, if it were easy, then I would be reading this article while lazing by the beach in Bora-Bora. The reason I’m still here at the office at 9 pm is because it’s not easy to make money. And don’t tell me any differently!”
“So Azizi, is property a good investment?” The question echoes around me on a weekly basis. “What do you think, ah?”
Since they have asked it that way, I would smile and nod approvingly. “Of course!”
But deep in my heart, I know that while the answer is correct, it is not complete. Of course properties make good investments. But then, the same thing can be said about stocks, unit trusts and a couple of other investments as well. Although they are all good investments, it does not mean anyone can make money from them. Buying the first house you see or the stock that takes your fancy is a sure recipe for disaster. It is a guaranteed formula for exchanging your hard-earned money for a long term headache.
Salam, Tahun ni aku plan nak buat adventure dalam negeri la plak.. bukan apa, pasal budget pun dah kurang..habih dah tahun lepas pi Himalaya.. Tapi hati teringin gak nak ber’adventure’ hehe…
AKu dah arrange dah ngan organizer, dah bayar deposit dah..harap2 semua OK lar… as all other trip before, the secret is to put the expectation right, as we never know how it’s gonna turn out. The only way to know is to try it out…
The times have been good for property investors in the past couple of years. Prices in certain areas, particularly in selected areas of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya have risen significantly, some as high as 50 percent. And as a result of this rise, practically all property investors had made money. In fact, some people have seen their net worth jump up by 30 or 40 percent because of the price rise. For example, a young colleague who purchased their house two years ago saw the value of their house increase from RM950,000 to RM1.3 million today. Of course, the owner was all smiles when they told me the story.
I am happy for them. As an avid property investor, I have benefited from the rise myself, so I am certainly not complaining. At the same time, I must admit that I have some reservation about the whole scenario. The price rise has distorted reality to many investors, including my colleague. Because the price climbed up as soon as he bought the property, and remained at a high level even today, his view on property investment is seriously distorted. He thinks that:
1. Prices will go up as soon you buy a property.
2. The gains will be in double digits per annum.
3. This is normal.
4. Prices always go up.
5. It is easy to make money in properties.
6. He is a super genius when it comes to property investment!
Kami di True Wealth mengucapkan selamat berpuasa kepada semua.
Semoga Ramadhan kali ini membawa seribu makna dalam hidup anda.
Why I Invest in Properties
There are a myriad of investment vehicles for the Malaysian public today. While the choices before were just shares, unit trusts and properties, the investment choices have exploded in recent years. For starters, there are over 500 different unit trust funds today. These include Islamic based Funds and Sector Specific funds. Even banking products have developed from the plain vanilla savings and current account. Maybank alone has 11 different types of consumer deposit products, which include Individual Foreign Currency Account. Also, futures, options and even online investments have arrived in Malaysia. In other words, the Malaysian public has a world of investment choices today.
Mmm…. I’m back to Jakarta again, and went to the same fav place, STC Senayan. Things are getting better there, with more airsoft shops, including one shop focusing on an authentic US Marines merchandise! Lucky Bastards!! hehe…. Not really sure where he got it, but those things look awesome! 
