Alam Sanctuary Mandola Townhouse

After about 8 months and I have almost forgotten about the booking in March this year, the sales person from Permatanah, the developer for Alam Sanctuary Mondola townhouse rang me up last week to secure the purchase of the townhouse. The project has finally gotten its approval and is launched officially on the 27th Nov 2010.

This is the Phase 4 of the flagship Alam Sanctuary's project by Permatanah Sdn Bhd. The duplex townhouse project worths RM45 million covering 11 acres of land and has a total 138 units available. The duplex townhouse has 2 types of units
(i) Lower Unit : 3 rooms + 2 baths - Gross built up of approximately 1,614 sf
(ii)Upper Unit : 3 rooms + 3 baths - Gross built up of approximately 1,797 sf

The sales person informed that the units are now sold at RM360k for lower unit and RM390K the upper unit with the official launch and the show house. I also noticed that the developer has reseved 3 rows of the townhouse of at least 60 units for future sales, wth the intention of fetching higher sales prices in the future.

A visit to the show house units on the 27th Nov has also cleared some of my doubts as they are defintely more spacious with the improved square design (and less sharp corners) when compared to the floorplan given in March. They looks contemporary cater to the taste of the younger generation with the smaller family. The upper units are designed with much more spaces and with an addtional one more bath room. However those families with many cars will probably have some complaint on the car porch which caters for 1 car per unit only. I can almost imagine now on how competitive parking spaces will be in the future.

I definitely like the location of Alam Sanctuary at Seri Kembangan, which is linked to several highways (LDP, ELITE, SILK, KL-Seremban, SKVE). Several hypermarkets such as Jaya Jusco, Giant and the proposed Tesco are just well within the short distance. Not to mention about the walking distance to the Pasar Borong Selangor and also travel time of about 10 minutes to Cyberjaya and Putrajaya.

3 -Storey Townhouse @ Taman Tasik Prima

Bolton will be launching the 3 storey townhouse (lot size : 24' X 85') at the Taman Tasik Prima, Puchong in the coming Apr or May 2010.

The sales launch comprises of

(a) Lower Unit

Quantity : 81

Built Up : 1600 sf

Layout : 3+1 rooms; 1 study area; 3 bath rooms

Indicative price : RM300K

(b) Upper Unit

Quantity : 81

Built Up : 1660 sf

Layout : 3 rooms; 1 family; 4 bath rooms

Indicative price : RM290K

Both types can fit in 2 cars, back to back. Refer to the floor plan

According to sale rep, the first row facing the lake is going to price from RM350K - RM400K, about an additional 20% from the inner rows

Based on the sales info collected, the developer will be providing the sales package as follows:-

- 5% rebate

- Early bird discount

- Bulk purchase discount

- 10/90 free interest scheme (Developer Bearing Interest Scheme)

- Free SPA legal fee, disbursement & stamp duty on MOT

- Buyer get buyer incentive

Registration is in progress now. Booking fees of RM1000 is refundable. After the site visit, my major concern is not on its relatively pricey for the leased hold property, but its location which i feel is a bit too close to the high electricity pylons, close to the Lake Vista Link house. I have subsequently cancelled the booking the following day for the same reason.

The developer will also be launching the serviced apartments in Taman Tasik Prima which will comprise of 3 blocks of 33 storey serviced apartments with the size of 800sf and 1,100sf, Indicative prices are approximately from RM220K to RM290K

Domain 3 @ Cyberjaya

While investigating for the condominium investment opportunity in Cyberjaya, the intelligent city with the beautiful and well-maintained landscapes, I came across the NeoCyber project, a 21.2 acres freehold mixed development project that will span over a period of approximately 6 years in 4 phases.

(i) Phase 1 - consisting of 67 units of shop-offices (Biz Avenue 1) and 272 units of serviced apartments (The Domain) which are already completed

(ii)Phase 2 - consisting of 138 units of shop-offices (Biz Avenue II) and 1 commercial lot (6,555 nett land area)

(iii)Phase 3 - consisting of 2 blocks of office towers (262,000 sf of nett floor area)

(iv)Phase 4 - consisting of 4 blocks of 600 units of apartments.

There are only a few units left for the apartments in “Domain 2” launched last year. “Domain 3” is currently in registration stage and the project will be launched for sales by end of this month. According to the sales rep, there will be 4 blocks of apartments with the similar sizes as Domain 2.

“Domain 3” Apartment with the size of about 800 sq feet will be selling at the cost of RM250 – RM270K tentatively. The price is on the higher end with more than RM300 per square feet. The main attraction for the investors is of course the rental income, eyeing on the limited apartments in Cyberjaya and therefore the good demand from the students or ex-students from MMU and Lim Kok Weng University and probably the IT professionals who works in Cyberjaya. The apartments are popular among the middle-east students. Given the potential monthly rental of RM1500 for unfurnished unit, the rental yield is about 6-7%.

My concern is the shop-offices within the same project are still not fully occupied yet and therefore the commercial zone is actually not that busy yet. We only see tenants such as pharmacy, mamak restaurant and of course the developer which occupies a few units of the shop-houses. A check on the Friday evening revealed that there are not many people hanging around and therefore it is not a happening area at night. The fact that franchise restaurants such as Old Town, Papa Rich do not choose this part of Cyberjaya to operate their business does reveal the potential for capital appreciation is probably limited given the already high selling price.

The Domain Serviced Apartment

Office Towers still in construction stage

From the back


Junction in front of the shop houses

SetiaWalk Serviced Apartments

The Ambitious SetiaWalk Project

The serviced apartments in the Brio Tower, the central tower of the 3 tower blocks residence apartments from the ambitious Setia Walk project, were selling like the hot cakes ever since it was launched on Oct 09. Apparently only 2 units from the total of 254 units were left when I made a visit this morning.

According to the sales representative in the SetiaWalk Galleria, the developer will be launching the remaining block (The Vio Tower) for sales by March this year. It is expected to launch with a 10% appreciation from the previous Brio tower. Phased launch is definitely a brilliant move from the developer even though all the 3 blocks of serviced apartments are all in the same development stage, about 20% of completion now.

The smart developer is inviting the potential buyers to attend the Chinese New Year celebration on 26th Feb 09 for the potential goodies in terms of Angpau of up to RM1ok for purchase of the apartment in the forth-coming Vio Tower. However the developer may be reducing the benefits offered under "The Best for the Best Setia Homeownership Package" for buyers which the developer will bear the legal fees for SPA, legal fees for loan agreement, stamp duty on MOT & loan agreement, 0% interest during the construction period of 36 months.

I have been considering purchasing a property in the rapidly growing Puchong area for investment purpose. This serviced apartment fits into my expectations in terms of the strategic location (with the LRT station to be built opposite near Tesco hypermarket, under the LRT extension project), reputable developer with good track record and the layout of the apartment. However the budget seems far from favourable. The serviced apartment with the built up area of 1138sf will be selling at RM450K (after the 10% appreciation) is definitely on the higher end. To achieve a rental yield of 6%, the serviced apartment would need to be rent out at the rate of RM2,250 per month, which I feel is too high for the middle class living in this area.

I would give it a pass as it does not fit my personal investment purpose.

Platinum Lake Condo - PV12

I accompanied my younger brother yesterday to collect house keys for his newly completed condominum at Platinum Lake Condo PV12, which is located at Danau Kota, Setapak. Setapak used to be familiar for me during my Stapak high schooll days decades ago. I have not been here for more than 10 years and all I could only recall is the old toll established near the Pahang roundabout which is of course long gone by now.

The condo is ready now with Certificate of Fitness (CF) and as expected the management office was filled with house owners eargerly awating for their keys. This is of course a wonderful moment for many house buyers after placing their orders 3 years ago. The condo is designed with covered parking in the first fourth floor of the building. An big open area dedicated to the swimming, wadding pools and playground is located at the fifth floor. Thumbs up for the modern concept, similar to the setup of many commercial hotels.

Fifth Floor - An open area

The swimming Pool with two small wadding pools at the side

Nice View at the open area of the fifth floor


Children Playground

For light exercise

The condo tower is 26th floor high. My brother's unit is on the 23rd floor with the Genting view. Although the units with KLCC view are more sought after according to the real-estate agent met, I would personally prefer the Genting mountain view as it is more scenic and less commercial

Mountain View

Mountain View

Mountain View

The real estate agent informed me that the condo unit with the size of 1207 sq can fetch the selling price as high as RM280K or the monthly rental of RM1300 due to the popular demand from the TAR college students. A handsome capital gain of more than 45% for investors. Another good selling point is the Platinum Walk, a street mall with the shaded boulevard ambience and now a rapidly growing happening site, is located just right beside, within the walking distance of the condo.

Platinum Walk