Fencing

Hi Mr. Khairil,

Thanks for the layout plan.

The estimation total length for the fencing is 400 long feet.

The cost for option 1 (full wood):

Building Chengal Fencing height 4'ft with 1"x4" chengal wood zig-zag both side will cost RM60000.

The cost for option 2 (full brick):

Building the 5'ft brick fencing will cost RM25000.

The cost for option 3 (half brick, half wood) :

Building the 3'ft brick fencing will cost RM19000 with the chengal wood Zig-Zag fencing 2'ft height will cost RM25000. Total fencing will consist of 3'ft height brick wall with 2'ft height fencing will be RM43000.

I do too Swimming pool design and construction,Koi pond and Feature Pond. If you would like me to quote, i could quote u a lower price if the fencing project is confirm. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information. Look forward to hearing from you again. Thanks.

Nick Woo

Project Director

La Revee Landscape & Florist

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I plan to meet Nick next week. He actually specializes in landscaping & his projects can be seen here. I like the half-brick, half-wood concept but as u can see - its quite expensive.

might need to settle with full brick, i suppose.. still nice though..

Tanah Pertanian di Hulu Langat

My parents have this one kebun in Hulu Langat. Tanah kebun is classified as tanah pertanian or Agricultural Land. When i was small, the family would go there during musim berbuah. My definition of musim berbuah - bila penjaga kebun call & bagitau my parents bley dtg collect amik buah.

I'd only been there once & that was maybe 20 yrs ago! My mom asked me whether i'm interested in that kebun. If yes, then the kebun will be mine. If no, they will sell it off. Since lately i've been so interested in anything that got to do with land - so i said yes. What will i do with it? Ntahhh la haha

Jom google "Agricultural Land Investment" and "Tanah Pertanian Hulu Langat". Tomorrow, i'll be going there for site survey. Hehe survey utk ape pon tatau. Maybe i'll ask around & call agents yg specialized in selling agricultural land. I'll try to post the pics tomorrow & hopefully with some useful info.

++++++++++ Dah pegi pon kebun.. ++++++++

Ok the kebun is not that far off from the Jalan Hulu Langat main road, abt 1-2km rasenye. Eh lupe nak ckp, i went there with my mom. Bapak malas nak gi. Takut pacat kot haha We met up with Pakcik Jumin, our penjaga kebun at IKBN Dusun Tua. He's been taking care of the kebun since 1981!! wow time tu i was only a year old..

Tanah tu luas 0.78 hektar = 1 ekar 3 suku camtu. The problem with the land is that there's zero development around it. So, no access road & lots of monkeys. My mom asked me again whether i still want it. "Jual saje la makkk". At least, she can use the money to buy another apartment in Subang Jaya. By the way, my parents bought the land for 18k back in 1981 & the going rate now is no less than 100k. Ok la tu...

Parking dekat lot org lain. Abt 50 meters to the actual site



Naik bukit sket (My mom and Pakcik Jumin)









Dulu kebun, skang hutan belantara



Pedestrian Walk.










Tade boot sawah, so pakai kasut golf :)

Meet the Architects

The first step to own a bungalow, is to design one.
The architect needs to gather your requirement, put it into a plan & submit to authority. Easy enough, rite? Hmm not quite.

My initial plan was to have a nice small bungalow. The built up should be more or less around 3000sf. And for phase 2, maybe in 5-10 years time expand it to 5000sf or more, konon2 time tu dah banyak duit haha. I tried to simplify the design process by choosing a sample from the internet. I came across Neuhomes website, it hosted a number of bungalow designs. And the Villa Impian design suits my requirement.












Architect #1 KCYS (Feb - Mar 2009)
The bungalow land transaction was completed when my family & I were still in UK. I think it was around Jan or Feb 2009. My thinking was as we would be back in KL in Sept - by that time, I hoped to have the plan approved & the house ready for construction. The Villa Impian design seemed simple enough, though wifekins thought it was very 'plain' & looked like a terrace than a bungalow. But because we were budget-constraint, I wanted to try anything possible to reduce the architect fees & of course, the cost of construction.

Mr Wong is a family friend & a trustworthy contractor. I told him about my bungalow project & that I needed an architect. He recommended a friend of him, Leong from KCYS. From the corporate website, I got to know that the firm focus mostly on commercial & condominium projects. We communicated thru emails & I showed her the Villa Impian design. After discussing with Mr Wong, she reverted back that it IS possible to construct that kind of a house for a budget of 300K. But, its exclusive of the architect fees & only using standard basic finishing. Fair enough. A week later, she sent me her quotation. The total fees alone was 68K.

68K?? That's more than 20% of the house cost! I told her frankly that I expected the fees to be much lower than that. And bear in mind, we were gonna use a design template from Neuhomes. Not designing from scratch. I don't blame her nor the firm. They have their standards. As for me, I need to scout for an architect. An affordable one.
And I've decided not to use the Villa Impian design. It doesn't make any difference cost-wise.


Architect #2 PAC (Oct 09 - Feb 10)
Is there an award for Architect from Hell?

He's a freelance architect. The first encounter was a pleasant one and the second, when he showed us the proposed layout - i was really impressed. And he only charged 30K for the fees. After agreeing the terms, we paid the 10%. Thats when the problem starts.

He didn't show up for the next meeting. I waited n waited. He didn't reply my sms or answer my calls. After a week or so, he called me up & told me he got knocked down on that particular day & during the accident, his hp got stolen. Ok, whatever. We set for another appointment.
He came with a 3D design & it looked awful. I told him I wanted to see improvements on the next meeting. Next meeting was canceled the very last minute, reason - makcik sakit kene balik Penang. And then he cancelled again, reason - maid problem, family problem bla bla. He promised to email the updated design the following week, but noneeee. He didn't answer my calls and after a month - i sent him an sms "Please send me the design by tonite. Else, I have no choice but to terminate you". And no - i didn't get the design that night.

I got his email the next morning with a screwed up design. And few minutes later, got his sms "I dah email smalam. Cuba check.".
I replied him back "Please stop with the lying. I know u just emailed me the design. It wasn't last nite. I'm an IT consultant, I'm not stupid. And the design is all wrong, even the orientation is terbalik. I made a mistake by appointing u."

Never heard of him since.


Architect #3 RAM Architects (Mar 10 - Present)
The PAM website contains a large database of architect firms in Malaysia. It lists down the firms contact person & details. Majority have their own websites where you can view the portfolios. I studied the companies & contacted those who are specialized in bungalow projects. I have also increased my budget from 300K to 400K, to allow more flexibility in the design.

I contacted (mostly by email) more than 20 firms. I got less than 5 replies.
The first 3 told me that its quite impossible to do a bungalow with that kind of budget.
The fourth, was actually the Architect of Neuhomes. I was invited by one of the associates, Ken to his office in Mont Kiara. Coincidentally, he proposed the 'Villa Impiana' design, which according to him, the only design that suits my budget.

The fifth, was Jasmadi, a senior associate from RAM Architects. He invited me over for a meeting at his place in Shah Alam. He took time to explain the process, the options, materials used & what can be achieved with the said budget. As for the fees, they only charge 10% out of total housing cost. And 8% if I appoint them as contractor.

The first week was fruitful. Few days after our first meeting, they went over to the site for survey. The following week, they presented some options on layout which were impressive. After more than a month, the layout is nearing the final stage.
Alhamdulillah :)

Should I get the dream bungalow

This is a nice read - "Should I get the dream bungalow - Head or Tail?"

The writer faces a dilemma.
You are approaching 40, with wife n 2 kids.
You have found the perfect home, a 1.6m bungalow in a perfect location.
You know you can afford, but barely. Meaning, savings need to be cut down, overseas vacations will be limited & instead driving a 5 series beemer, u have to settle for a 3 series.
Is it worth it?

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Personally i think overseas vacations & luxury cars are the 'wants' in life. Things that we can live without but nice to have.
Retirement savings, kids education, insurance are the ones that need to be factored in. If you earn 10k, and your dream home requires a monthly commitment of 4k - ideally you need to have the comfort of allocating at least 1k for savings & if possible, 1k for your parents (Yes, its top of my priority list). Then, the balance 3k can be used to pay off bills, groceries & other misc stuff - including cars. Car is a wasteful liability. Try not to overspend on it. Unless, you got a really good bargain like I had :)

With that being said, the decision is not quite straight forward. I had the same dilemma before. Based on what I need - a standard 2-storey terrace will do me & my family of four just fine. But paying more than a half-million ringgit on a landed property without land?? Hmmmmmmm

Lets consider a 2-storey house in Bandar Utama. The built-up is 2000sf. The current market price is RM700K. So, the price is RM700000/2000 = RM350psf.
The cost of building a bungalow house with basic finishing = RM150psf (Few contractors even quoted me RM100psf - RM120psf).
Meaning - the land value for the Bandar Utama house must be somewhere around RM200psf.

I bought my land for RM465K (RM50psf x 9300sf)and that was 2 yrs back. The market value now is RM665K (RM70 x 9500sf).
The house will cost me another RM500K (its just a small bungalow around 3500-4000sf). So, in total my cost will be RM465K + RM500K + RM35K (Architect fees) = 1 Mill.
My total loan will then be 80% of initial land cost + house cost = RM370K + RM500K = RM870K. Assuming that I'm eligible to apply for a 1.2 million loan, I will get a total cashback of 1.2M - 870K = 330K!
Yes, i need to pay RM5000 for the next 40 years. But in return, i will have my dream bungalow & RM300K++ cash!
Imagine this - in 5 yrs time, if i'm able to sell it off for 2 Mill. That's an additional 800K cash in hand!

So, in my case - is it worth it? Time will tell :)

Zero-Lot Bungalow

When I first saw an advert on Zero-Lot Bungalows in Glenmarie, i thought 'Zero-Lot' was the project name.
Then, i came across few others. Zero-Lot Bungalows in Putra Residence, Kemuning Residence & Seputeh. So, i made some research (and by research, i mean googling)

Here's the answer:
A zero-lot home is a new concept of living that has become increasingly popular around the world. Houses are built in a way where the sidewall is on the boundary line of the land, giving you a wider and more open garden, on the other side. Compared to a conventional bungalow where you have to leave a setback around the building, this zero-lot concept gives you more useable space and increased privacy, especially on the garden area. (source: www.iproperty.com.my)

Basically - a bungalow needs to have a standard setback 10ft both side. Zero-Lot is a loophole from semi-d, with only 1 side 10ft setback but the house sits on 1 side of the boundary to make it look like bungalow. Imagine you split a semi-d and align them all to the right. And the reason they do this is due to limited land area. But still, the house is a stand alone island with surrounding greens (limited greens ofcoz). If that what matters, then Zero-lot might be good enough for u.

Loan for Bungalow Land

The major obstacle that deprives the average joe from buying bungalow lots = limited financing options.

Last time i scouted 2 years back, the best margin that i got was 80% with 20 years tenure. Its from EON bank. The interest follows Islamic rate of 2.5% (1st year), 5% (2nd year) and 7.5% from 3rd year onwards.
The second best was Bank Rakyat with MOF of 70% and 15 years tenure.
Others, Maybank, Alliance, Hong Leong - the margin max to 50-60%.

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Summary (2008):
EON Bank - MOF 80%, Tenure 20 yrs, Rate 2.5%(1st), 5%(2nd), 7% (3rd onwards)
Bank Rakyat - MOF 70%, Tenure 15 years, Rate 2.5%(1st), 5%(2nd), 7% (3rd onwards)
Maybank & most banks - MOF 50-60%, Tenure 10-15 years, Rate (i didnt even bother to ask)
+++++++++++++++

So, clearly EON bank was the way to go. The mathematics works like this:
Land price - RM50psf x 9300sf = RM465000.
Loan amount (MOF - 80%) - RM465000 x 80% = RM372000.
The rough monthly installment - RM2400 (1st yr), RM2800 (2nd yr), RM3000 (3rd yr).

Back then, the EON broker told me that the cost of house construction can be merged later into 1 single package with the benefits of normal housing loan package. Buttt somehowwww, this year they had a change in policy & the single package offer is no longer valid. Meaning, i need to apply another home loan, on top of the inital loan for the land. Warghhhhh.

Again, i began scouting but this time for land refinancing + home loan. Alhamdulillah. I managed to get a good package from CIMB. For land + house, they can offer MOF of 90% out of the total current land value and house construction cost. The tenure can stretch up to 40 years, with maximum age till 70 years. The rate? Uses conventional rate of BLR-1.9.
I love CIMB!! haha. And your total monthly commitment must not exceed 85%, which i think should be alrite for me. Even for bungalow land financing, CIMB can offer MOF up to 85% with max tenure of 30 years.

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CIMB Package (Land + House) - MOF 90%, Tenure 40 yrs, Rate BLR-1.9
CIMB Package (Land only) - MOF 85%, Tenure 30 yrs, Rate BLR-1.9 or -1.8
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Now, i just need to finalize the layout plan with my architect and the architect will have it submitted & approved by MBPJ. Then only i can send all the required docs to CIMB. Hopefully, there won't be any catch like 'a change in policy'.

Rimba Riang @ Kota Damansara

The D'Rimba bungalow land price has appreciated more than 150% since 2004/05 and will continue to appreciate further with the rapid development of Kota Damansara township. With property booming approaching its record height in the next year or so, this offer represents the best opportunity for investors or premium home owners to own a piece of real estate land within the hot vicinity of Damansara.

Even the current market rate for an intermediate double-storey terrace in Kota Damansara lingers above half-million ringgit mark, with Bandar Utama surpasses with above 600K and Taman Tun reaches beyond 800K. The prices for bungalows in these areas are nothing below 2 million mark.
Hence, Land represents endless possibilities and unimaginable freedom to those select few.

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Those are the words I would've put in the advert if in unforeseen circumstances, i need to sell the bungalow lot. Interested? hehe

I bought the land for rm50psf back in early 2008, the area is ard 9300sf. A good bargain, i suppose. Its quite a gamble, i wasn't sure how much it would appreciate in the next 2-3 years. There were only 2 or 3 bungalows and the place looked deserted. But my instinct asked me to go with it, wifeskin also didn't seem too convince at first.

Here's the site plan.

Fast-forward.
Last week, i just had 3 offers for the land. I did not even advertise on the papers or websites. I created a blog: kdland4sale.blogspot.com and listed my bungalow details there, just incase if i wanted to sell it off. Maybe these guys been doing extensive googling ;)

I declined their offers and politely told them it was not for sale. As for the blog, i put a password so that people won't be able to view it.. for now.

In 2 years, the land appreciates from rm50psf to rm70psf. And i've engaged with a land surveyor & got to know my land area is actually 9500sf! Untung 200sf woo. ehehe
If i sell it now for rm70psf, my profit will be rm200k. Hmm not bad. Not bad at all.