Real Estate 101

I thought it will be interesting to just take this opportunity to blog about what are the key factors or forces which can contribute to a property price uptrend? Just give it a thought......I am sure there are few reasons you could come up with right? Ok, just bear with me here and hold on to your thoughts for now while I make an attempt to come as close as I can to tackle this topic.
Some of you readers will ask what inspired this topic, well recently after chatting with some residents a remark somehow stuck in my head......the remark basically stated that with all the issues being brought up by the RA and possibly in reference to this blog, would it not affect the property price in Taman Mutiara Puchong?
I am no real estate agent/property broker but I am pretty sure the price of a particular property is determined mainly by the forces of demand and supply and can be enhanced if there is positive expectations from the area of which the property is situated.
It is more likely for the said property price to be affected if the infrastructure and amenities of the property not properly developed and maintained in the short (6 mths - 3 years), mid (3 years upwards) to long (above 10 years) term that will affect the said value negatively.
Having said that it is crucial for any developers to properly developed all aspect of a project to the very best of their abilities or should I say fulfill all promises as advertised in the papers and in all A & P materials distributed throughout their marketing campaign.
Sometimes developer will do their very best to add value to the said housing development project by including lakes, parks, clubhouses with swimming pool etcetera.......to try and separate their projects from the many that is available especially in Malaysia to avoid being generic.
Just do a simple survey by flipping the newspaper and what do you see? Quite a number of housing development being advertised all over the place..........looks like there is a race going on right? There is a race, there is definitely competition and of course why not! There is a property boom in Malaysia, have you not heard? Now do not get me wrong but these are all great for house buyers as competition is always a good thing provided it is a healthy competition and all developers follow a strict code of ethics.
There is also the other side of the coin where competition is bad, especially when developers have too many projects at hand and spread too thinly, rushing to complete one project hurriedly to move to the next or just a small fish in a big ocean developer unable to keep up to their end of the bargain. All of the mentioned plausable reasons might contribute to the end product of not delivering to house buyers a property that is expected or of quality.
My point, well simply put there are more houses available than there are buyers hence supply is more than demand, some might disagree but with reference to the relaxation of certain policies pertaining to the property sector like abolishing of the capital gains tax, easier application for foreign home ownership, aggressive promotion to own a property in Malaysia (Malaysia 2nd Home Program) etcetera you can conclude in which quarters you belong to. You only advertise to sell when supply is more than demand, you seldom advertise to sell when demand is more than supply.
Now taking all of the above into careful consideration it is important first and foremost that the parcel delivered by developers must be of reasonable standards and totally fulfilling their obligations, especially a "Gated and Guarded" residence, because the responsibility or should I say burden at the end of the day (after official handover) will be on the RA's shoulder to maintain the security and safety of all the residents thereon.
Hence pertaining to the property price of a house in a "Gated and Guarded" residence not only depends on the current economic indicators which affect the demand for consumption and investors sentiments but also depends on how well the residence is developed, quality of security, safety, amenities and the quality plus cleanliness of the surrounding neighbourhood or township as a whole.
Within the residence of TMP it is the residents responsibility to look after the entire taman as a whole and to work as a family to maintain the beauty and serenity of the common area as well as the houses we live in. This can only be done by paying the monthly maintenance fees, MPSJ rates/fees, IWK rates/fees, SYABAS etcetera.
Monthly maintenance fees looks after the cost of hiring all security personnels, MPSJ looks after all the common area i.e. park, street lights, street and roads within TMP and all surrounding area provided if already handed over by the developer. IWK of course looks after the biological waste treatment and SYABAS the water supply and pipes which brings us the supply. Lastly we also need proper policing by the police personnel from the nearest beatbase which is the duty of our government as we all pay income tax.
Overall the immediate challenge we all face is to look after our own backyard first which the RA will do its best to help achieve with majority support and teamwork while interacting with the local state governmental agencies mentioned above to improve the neighbourhood and ultimately PUCHONG as a whole. We need PUCHONG to improve as a whole before there is hope of property appreciation or boom. Remember Subang, Sunway and many other suburbia? It will take time and many more years to see the kind of property appreciation to be motivated with as a property investor but if you are a resident then the immediate concern is the security, safety and beauty of the residence.
Good news is the "LRT" will be coming this way soon! This will be one of many positive catalyst we need which will affect the price of a property in Puchong positively.
Good reference I found to validate my piece above after I wrote it........Reference Article