http://forum.lowyat.net/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 17:22:53 +0800 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5131459 I&#39;m raising the issue on how does one go about calculating what would our retirement needs be. <br /><br />I&#39;m now 45 and worked for the same company for 24 years cumulatively. <br /><br />In a recent strategic review the position I&#39;m currently doing is being axed and I&#39;ve been offered a mutual separation scheme of 1.25 months for every year of service. My feel on this is this isn&#39;t something I should say no to as I&#39;m doubtful to ever getting my hands on such a large lump sum payment. <br /><br />I do an engineering position that is very niche and 2 companies dominate 85% of the market while the rest isn&#39;t worth mentioning. If I do take that separation scheme there is a clause that prohibits working for the other company for 5 years. <br /><br />I&#39;m doubtful if I take this scheme that I could get back into a similar role or an engineering field that pays similarly. Also quite possibly it&#39;d be tough due to age to switch careers or industries. <br /><br />I&#39;ve been offered a different role but not too keen on it as it involves moving to a country I&#39;d rather not relocate there. <br /><br />How much would be required to retire comfortably in Malaysia assuming our place of residence is fully paid off. Bjorn1688 Serious Kopitiam Tue, 13 Apr 2021 15:29:25 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4801699 Some of us work and have jobs where we need to do claims either for general expenses or travel. <br /><br />How do you keep track of them and how often do you do it? Bjorn1688 Serious Kopitiam Tue, 02 Jul 2019 14:32:17 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4798518 Why hasn&#39;t Federal Hill properties made it big in a big way or in the same way Damansara Heights, Bangsar, MK, KLCC and Kenny Hills? <br /><br />Interestingly many people actually have no idea where this place is and it rarely ever seems to be on investor radars. Bjorn1688 Property Talk Tue, 25 Jun 2019 22:14:20 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4797421 Some of us have are just starting out to buy our first car and some perhaps have had more than a fair few. <br /><br />Come let&#39;s share some of the cars you&#39;ve owned and do tell a bit about what you liked or disliked about it. <br /><br />I&#39;ll get the ball rolling, here is mine :-<br /><br /><!--SPOILER BEGIN--><div class="spoilertop" onClick="openClose('4817701cbb59c88f1d7129b0ad3ab852')" style="font-weight: bold"><u>&raquo; Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... &laquo;</u></div><div class="spoilermain" id="4817701cbb59c88f1d7129b0ad3ab852" style="display:none"><!--SPOILER END--><br /><br />1995: 71 Morris Minor, it was dark blue with a dark pink interior. I paid £50 for it as it needed a fuel pump and some welding. Couldn&#39;t complain much it was wheels and as someone who was then new in England it meant I had a car to get to work. Surprisingly this car still survives as according to the MOT registry it is still registered on the road. <br /><br />1997: 76 Morris Marina 1300 coupe, this was mustard yellow with beige interior. It was a free car but needed work on the brakes and electrics. Had it fixed up and drove it 4 months and it got nicked. Was compensated £400 for it from my insurance. <br /><br />1997: 76 Rover SD1 3500 V8, this one was aquamarine with beige interior. Paid £400 for it but it did not survive, sold it 2 months later. <br /><br />1997 : 77 Ford Capri 3.0 this was a full black car. I nicknamed it Brutus. Paid £1000 for it but it had £1800 worth of modifications on it including a supercharger and a Cosworth gearbox. Scary car as it is a RWD, no ABS, ESP or any safety features modern cars come with, weight around that of a Myvi but 180bhp and 270nm of torque. You could take off on 4th gear with it no issues, it could leave tyre marks on the road on 4th gear. Had it at a time when England wasn&#39;t littered with speed cameras and attitudes to speeding and racing on the streets wasn&#39;t what it is today. In fact you could challenge a Bobby in his Escort or Rover to a burnout and he&#39;d give you a thumbsup and smile at you and at the traffic light he&#39;d tell you to becareful when doing it in places with people about. Used to drive around with anything from The Beatles, Roxette and your usual 90s era music blasting from the kickass stereo system it had. It was one of those cars each time there was a reflective window I had to put down my window to see how good I looked driving it <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://static.lowyat.net/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Went for raves, long road trips including one from Land&#39;s End to John O&#39; Groats. Did the usual &quot;bad boy&quot; stuff as well, quite a few birds got it at the back seat. Am still surprised till today I didn&#39;t kill myself in it as had quite a few harrowing experience with it as that car could easily swallow an E36 BMW 328i without even trying. Sold it in 1999 for £1800 on eBay, felt really sad and cried when I passed on the keys and the V5 to the new owner. On the flipside am thankful the car is still on the road today. <br /><br />1999: I was given an R-reg Vauxhall Vectra, it had a 1.7 diesel. It wasn&#39;t anything special just your standard boring ole repmobile. Didn&#39;t get to choose it as it was a hand me down, the company I worked for had an account with Vauxhall so all company cars were Vauxhalls. <br /><br />2002 : 82 Volvo 244 Turbo, paid RM2000 for it, spent some money fixing the brakes, giving it a tune up and PJ to CyberJaya it is everyday with it. Unfortunately it was written off when an idiot in a Satria GTI lost control and went head on into it. Absolute pity because it was one of the very few original 244 Turbos left in the country. <br /><br />2002 : 88 Volvo 245, this one was owned by a British expat who imported it in from England. Paid RM5000 for it and replaced the brakes, clutch and timing belt, car was in mint condition despite having 230k miles on the odometer. Car was driven to Malaysia overland when they moved here in 1997. Alas this car was destroyed by the ex-wife with a sledgehammer and a knife. I was too angry and sad to salvage it, this car&#39;s engine, gearbox and doors lives on in another Volvo 245, the car was later rebuilt to have a RB26DETT engine in it as I saw the car a few years ago on the road and was surprised as I thought it had been scrapped. <br /><br />2004 : I was sent to a new agency and provided with a Proton Waja, not sure how old it was, it was a dark green one with a WHT plate, manual and had 70k on the clock. Yes the power window and locks did not work, had plenty of squeaks and rattles everywhere. It was a fun to drive car and it is a pity Proton did not improve the quality of it and made other variants of this car as overall everything there was a good base just the quality was absolute rubbish. <br /><br />2005 : I was given a Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8l, it was one of those cars I preferred not to admit to driving. It lacked any soul, it was just that a box with 4 wheels. But since I wasn&#39;t paying for it I couldn&#39;t complain though the company declared every year RM12k on income tax for it. <br /><br />2005: I bought a 95 Fiat Punto GT, it was white and had an Italian go-faster stripe across the bodywork. It definitely had the soul of that Ford Capri but it just never gave the same experience, unfortunately this one was sent to car heaven by a leaky fuel injector and went up in flames. Had it for 7 months. <br /><br />2006 : I bought a non-runner 98 Mazda RX-7, I rebuilt the engine and turbo, converted it to a manual and updated the brakes and suspension. Original plan was to make a replica of the one that appeared in Fast and Furious, it had most things except the paintwork and that Veilside bodykit which was crazy expensive. Drove it 2 years and let it go as had too many projects to deal with. <br /><br />2007 : I bought an 86 BMW 635csi, it was a non-runner, engine had overheated and left to rot. Bought it for RM2k, replaced the engine from an Alpina B7 complete with a manual gearbox, took me 4 years to rebuild and drove it twice before someone made an offer for it that I could not refuse. <br /><br />2009 : I bought a 95 Saab 900 Turbo SE Convertible. It was also a non-runner, paid RM1000 for it, thing that was actually wrong with it? The fuse for the immobiliser. Did quite a lot of work to it, decided was going to keep it as a forever mine car as at that time I had just met my missus who comes from the same town where this car was manufactured at, lots of good memories with this car as we would often drive it to Frasers Hill, Genting, Cameron with the top down. Lots of good memories with it but we let it go earlier this year as it was getting difficult to source for parts globally for this car, someone bought it for the double digit number plate. <br /><br />2010 : I was given a Toyota Hilux, again nothing too special, just a truck and since I did not pay for it couldn&#39;t complain I suppose? This one was hijacked at knife point while being refueled 4 months after I started driving it. They replaced it with a similar one 6 months later. <br /><br />2011 : I took over a 61 Morris Minor Tourer. This one was black with dark pink interior. It used to belong to my late granddad, needed some work which I slowly did on my own. Earlier this year this car returned to its home country as someone bought it and exported it back. <br /><br />2011 : I bought 7 Land Rover Defenders through a government tender. 4 were 90&quot; wheelbase and 3 were 110 wheelbase. Cannibalised all 7 of them and made 2 working ones which I had it repainted and sold. Was left with 3 chassis 1 90 and 2 110. The rest were simply too rotten to even attempt doing anything to it. The 90 wheelbase I converted it to be a Tomb-Raider lookalike with a Mercedes 3.0l TD engine. Did not keep it for long as someone bought it from me to bring it back to Sarawak. The 110 chassis, first one I converted it to have a GM5.7l V8 in it and had it as a standard 4 door pickup. Was a fun one but was more suited for off road, someone bought it for the engine. The final one, I had it built as a 4 door pickup as well, it was powered by a tuned 4.4l V8 Range Rover diesel engine. Built for fun off road and work on road. It was a fun one to irritate nasty neighbours or those that irritated me on the road, it was basically a go-anywhere off road vehicle. Sold this one off recently as feel am getting too old for these type of toys. <br /><br />2014 : I bought a non-runner 07 Fiat Grande Punto, issues with the gearbox and it had been sitting at a workshop for 2 years. Paid RM7000 for it, then a further RM6000 to fix the issues with the gearbox and drove it till earlier this year when it was traded in. <br /><br />2015 : I bought a 91 Alfa Romeo 75, 2.0 Twinspark. Why? It was the car I wanted when I was in England but couldn&#39;t afford to buy one. Fun car especially the handling and no it did not break down but the parts on it definitely wasn&#39;t the easiest to find. I let it go earlier this year as felt time had come for someone else to enjoy it. <br /><br />2015 : The same person who sold the 75 also had a 76 Alfetta 2.0l, this was a former police car. it wasn&#39;t in the best of shape but a runner as the body was rusting at many places. Bought it on the cheap, fixed it up and was one of those cars that each time I took it out I would only go out with it at night and drive it to its redline like an Alfa Romeo is supposed to be driven. It was sold to a retired policeman who used to drive it when he was in the police force, he even had a picture of him as a young man driving it when it had the police lights and siren. Said when he passes on he would donate the car to the police museum. Its a pity our police now only uses crappy Protons when at one time they went around in such good cars. Interestingly this car was manufactured in Malaysia, pity it still used the crappy Soviet steel that made it disintegrate like a piece of cheese. <br /><br />2016 : I bought a 2008 Alfa Romeo GT, it was having issues with the Selespeed gearbox and the engine needed a rebuild. Nice car to drive and considering after fixing it up it was cheaper than a Toyota Vios but delivered far more fun for the money. Sold this one off last month as <br /><br />2017 : I was given a Toyota Hilux 2.8, just another piece of boring agriculture machinery. This one recently was returned as I no longer work for the company that provided it, now follow a mileage claim and car allowance system. <br /><br />2018 : When the GST was set to 0 I bought a Kia Sportage GT-Line 2.0d. This is the first brand new car I&#39;ve purchased. Bought it mainly because just had a baby and did not have any suitable vehicles to go out as a family in. <br /><br />2019 : Just after CNY bought a Kia Picanto was supposed to be a runabout car for the times we needed to go places where we wanted to be unnoticed. Unfortunately a drunk driver did not notice it as well and sent it to car heaven just before the fasting month. <br /><br />2019 : Bought a Peugeot 3008, it was one of those cars that we tested many cars but bought the one everyone said we shouldn&#39;t buy mainly because we liked how it drove and the comfort as well as refinement delivered at the price point. <br /><br />For the 3rd car? Thinking of buying a Mazda MX5 manual or a Ford Mustang 5.0l if I find one that&#39;s going for a song and worth buying. <br /><br /><!--SPOILER DIV--></div><!--SPOILER DIV--><br /><br /> Bjorn1688 The Fast &amp; The Furious Sun, 23 Jun 2019 18:13:42 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4795751 Anyone familiar dealing with property management agents? <br />How does one go about finding a good one? I&#39;m presuming these are not your usual RENs? <br /><br />Is it better to give all properties to be under 1 agent or separate them? 27 properties in 12 areas and mix between high end and upper mid range types. <br /><br />Any idea how are their fees charged? Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Wed, 19 Jun 2019 23:40:36 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4795035 Let&#39;s have a chit chat on Mont Kiara properties. <br /><br />Let&#39;s also be clear what constitutes Mont Kiara properties, places such as Segambut Dalam, Dutamas etc isn&#39;t MK. <br /><br />Prices have mostly fallen atypical with 99% of condos that as they age they also fall in value especially as many start to touch that 10 and 20 year mark. <br /><br />Build quality for most of the original ones built by Sunrise seem to be holding up. <br /><br />Vacancy rates are extremely high these days but let&#39;s be realistic its always been higher than average. <br /><br />Who are still into buying this place? Anyone dumping it? Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Tue, 18 Jun 2019 14:57:35 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4791620 Hi has anyone here been involved in the cultivation of stingless bees for the purpose of collection of honey? <br /><br />Any idea how exactly is this done and whether there are any programs on it at governmental level?<br /><br />Also is it legal for export purposes? Bjorn1688 Finance, Business and Investment House Wed, 12 Jun 2019 03:03:53 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4790988 Does anyone here use Panther Protect Screens? <br /><br /><a href='https://www.panther-asia.com/' target='_blank'>https://www.panther-asia.com/</a><br /><br />Anyone knows if there are any other alternatives on the market these days especially one that performs just as good and not as pricey. <br /><br /> Bjorn1688 Home Renovations and Interior Design Mon, 10 Jun 2019 20:56:08 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4787574 Am looking into buying a new Mac. <br /><br />I&#39;ve never bought a Mac before and actually I&#39;ve never bought any computer before this as always had company issued ThinkPads. <br /><br />Reason for this is my wife runs a V-Log and YouTube channel and recently moved on to 4K for the detail. <br /><br />The videos are becoming bigger these days as some are 3-8 minutes long while some are up to 40-50 minutes long. <br /><br />Previously videos were shot on an iPhone 6S and a GoPro but now will be done using 2 iPhone XRs. <br /><br />Main editing are the Voice Overs, combining for a split screen and plenty of shortening as well as censoring (to remove the swear words obviously) <br /><br />Was looking at an iMac or a Macbook Pro but unusure how to go about with the specs. <br /><br />Anyone can help on this? Bjorn1688 Apple Byte Mon, 03 Jun 2019 04:53:32 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4785541 OK, am hoping someone can shed some light into this. <br /><br />Trying to ascertain if it is legal or not. <br /><br />Car is now for sale. Still has roadtax and insurance.<br /><br />Car in question has a 5.0l (4951cc) engine. Is a coupe. <br /><br />Car is now in Kuala Lumpur. <br /><br />Car bears a single digit plate from Sabah. <br /><br />Owner has a house in Kuala Lumpur where I viewed and had a test drive of the car at. <br /><br />Owner said car is registered in Sabah. <br /><br />Interestingly I noticed the roadtax paid is around RM3.6k. <br /><br />Owner said car will have a new number plate unless I wanted to pay RM50k more but must have a same Sabah district plate. <br /><br />Car been registered for 14 months. <br /><br />Any risk to this? <br /><br /><br /><br /> Bjorn1688 The Fast &amp; The Furious Wed, 29 May 2019 12:56:10 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4784024 As per the thread title. <br /><br />Which is the easiest grass type to maintain and ideally don&#39;t not cost a bomb to plant. Bjorn1688 Home Renovations and Interior Design Sat, 25 May 2019 22:43:37 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4783802 Any idea what&#39;s happened to that sledgehammer Tropicana Uncle? <br /><br />Any idea if the developer carried out the DLP or decided to continue with the court case or an out of court settlement has been reached? <br /><br />Thinking of doing a similar video on Electrosux products. Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Sat, 25 May 2019 13:06:23 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4783686 Does anyone know? What reason(s) the Ford Mustang never really took off here? I don&#39;t suppose the reason is because everyone is a Chevy Camaro or Dodge Charger fan instead. <br /><br />Quite surprised how few are on the road here and equally surprised their resale values are as poor as they are considering how few of them are about. <br /><br />Also quite surprised that there are no shortage of owners wanting to offload after owning for just a year. Bjorn1688 The Fast &amp; The Furious Sat, 25 May 2019 03:21:58 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4783254 OK, am not very good at this as 20 years of working since graduation I&#39;ve never actually parted company with an employer on bad terms but it seems I will be hitting this minefield very soon. <br /><br />Basically there are 4 parties involved. <br /><br />Party A : The Principal company in UK that is technology provider, manufacturer and supplier. <br />Party B : The regional office of the company in Singapore. <br />Party C : The main distributor and stockist of parts. <br />Party D : The Bumi agent ie &quot;3% Alibaba company&quot; (Though to give them credit they are actually quite a good company)<br /><br />Previously and for the past 10+ years, it worked out this way Party B paid Party C for my salary, bonus, commission and claims. On my name card it is printed on both sides that am an employee of both Party B and Party C. <br /><br />Things worked out quite well, we mostly got on pretty well with each other as our numbers have always been good. <br /><br />Party D, when they get a government contract we allow them to quote and give them a 3% for the logistics and generally allow them a 3% markup on any parts or services sold.<br /><br />Last year there was a strategic review, Party A decided to change my role from country to regional. One of the major change they implemented was I would be employed and paid directly by Party A. Claims and expenses would come from Party B operations. <br /><br />The other changes are :-<br /><br />Both Party C and D together with several interested parties were invited to give proposals on being stockist, in the end Party D was selected on the basis that they were willing to invest in 4 warehouses, a datacentre and agreed to carry quite a high number of stocks, this obviously interested Party A and B and I did tell Party C they had to up their game but they kept to their guns and wanted to keep on doing it the way they were doing it, minimal inventories on stocks and no real commitment to modernising the way things were done. <br /><br />As a result, Party D was appointed stockist for SEA but they have no authority to sell except Malaysia government contracts. <br /><br />Now if there is a service job to be performed, the order must come from Party B as it had always been the case, Party C carries out the job at a price we tell them, they have to buy the parts from Party D at the price fixed by Party B. <br /><br />Bosses at Party C are upset as they always viewed me as their staff and that I was jumping ship and that I jumped ship and did not help them. Some of the staff Party C each time I see them always seem to give me the sour black face. <br /><br />Best way to navigate this situation and not burn any bridges? Bjorn1688 Jobs &amp; Careers Fri, 24 May 2019 03:09:05 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4779766 Most of us aren&#39;t lucky enough to buy a property with cash and usually it isn&#39;t such a good idea either less the taxman visits.<br /><br />When buying a property, do you apply for 1 bank or all the panel banks of the developer? <br /><br />What if your favourite bank isn&#39;t on the panel? <br /><br />Is it normally the case that when you use a mortgage from a bank not on the developer panel that the fees the developer offered to absorb would not be absorbed? Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Thu, 16 May 2019 11:52:50 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4778119 Just asking, which would be a better one to hold long term. <br /><br />Both houses in the same area in KL. <br /><br />House 1:-<br />-Strata (fancy facade) and GnG (no fences or gates between units except at the back there is a separating wall. Has semi-d, bungalows and terrace units within the development. Iconic and unique looking but not necessarily the most practical for this climate. <br />-10 years since VP. JMB very strict on collection, any type of modification to the facade and place is impeccably maintained and will be impeccably maintained in time to come. Several &quot;high profile&quot; residence within the development. <br />-Double storey Semi-D 4 bedrooms 3300sqft. <br />-Built by a well known developer and equally well known architect and consultant. <br />-Current price RM3.5m thereabouts. Rental average RM12000 for an unfurnished semi-d. Semi-d are the most sought after ones here as the terrace is a triple storey. <br />-Part of the development will face a busier main road but the unit in question does not face the main road. <br />-A major high end mall, some high end residential and commercial development is under construction in the area. <br /><br />House 2:-<br />-Strata but no fancy facade and GnG. <br />-10 years since VP and JMB fairly easy going on what you do to your property for as long as you don&#39;t do any extensions or damage any common property. Maintenance, isn&#39;t bad but not fantastic. <br />-Is built on a hill, rear portion of the development will face a busy main road and MRT track, around 300m away, site is 40m above the road. If you are outside in the back garden can definitely hear the traffic noise, inside not so obvious. All units face this issue. <br />-Built by a decent developer and build quality was decent but starting to look tired. <br />-Double storey semi-d 4+1 bedroom 3800sf. <br />-Current price between RM3.2-4.2m as no 2 units are alike in terms of build up or design. Rental RM10-14000 for an unfurnished unit, only 18 units in the whole development. <br />-Not the easiest to get to and access road a bit narrow and hilly. <br /><br />House 3:-<br />-Non-strata and some roads barricades by RA to make it residence only access. <br />-Neighbourhood is nearing 50 years old. Bungalows, semi-ds and DSL are plentiful here. <br />-House in question is a double storey semi-d corner with 40ft of land on the side of the house, 20ft at the rear and 30ft to the front gate. <br />-RA collects money for security. <br />-Is at a cul-de-sac and 3rd lane to the top of the hill. Quiet and airy. <br />-Had some mix and match renovations over the years but will need some work done in the coming years. <br />-Pricing for a semi-d between RM2.5-5m, rental RM7-10000 <br /><br /><br />Which type would you buy to keep over the long term and why? Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Mon, 13 May 2019 00:00:01 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4777702 In the market for a SUV. <br /><br />Anyone here owns one of these? <br /><br />Any feedback on this model? <br /><br />Seems quite a nice car, day before yesterday saw one at a used car dealer. Looked quite nice and well taken care off. <br />It was a 2017, Sorento 2.2d with 87000km and seemed quite a decent spec. <br /><br />Went to test drive a new one that was a diesel, alas it has had a facelift and presumably a totally different car. Enquired with the service dept about that unit I saw, was told still under warranty. <br /><br />Today went back to the dealer, it had been sold. Was told by the dealer usually the diesel model always very fast will sell and seldom on the market. <br /><br />Any particular reason this one doesn&#39;t seem to have bad resale value? Was hoping the resale value would be lower since I want to buy a 2nd hand one. <br /><br />Interested in feedback, not too interested in comments such as it has low RV, general statements such as parts are very expensive etc are of no value unless it is followed with clear and precise examples. Bjorn1688 The Fast &amp; The Furious Sat, 11 May 2019 22:04:38 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4777336 I am in the midst of looking through some designs for a cove lighting. <br /><br />Standard square box. Place where the lights go in is removable for cleaning and maintenance purposes. <br /><br />Just wondering, seems the designer for it listed that it is a LED strip which is held on by a double sided tape. She however can&#39;t seem to explain to me why she chose that type of lighting source <br /><br />My question is, what are the benefits of using a LED strip? <br /><br />My initial thoughts were a LED batten would be better suited as :-<br />1) Don&#39;t have to rely on a double sided tape to mount it. <br />2) Easier to replace. <br /><br />Or over a standard T8 LED tube:-<br />1) Easily replaceable. <br />2) Mounting doesn&#39;t rely on double sided tapes.<br /><br /><br />Can someone please explain this to me? Bjorn1688 Home Renovations and Interior Design Sat, 11 May 2019 02:09:59 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4776457 Has there been a property that the first time you saw or came across it you said to yourself I would buy one without thinking twice thrice or 10x?<br /><br />Which property was it and what was it that made it a love at first sight property? Bjorn1688 Property Q&amp;A Thu, 09 May 2019 11:06:43 +0800 http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4775757 I have 2 vacant and 2 soon to be vacant properties to rent out. <br /><br />Been dealing with quite a number of agents including some so called &quot;Area specialist&quot; or &quot;Project specialist&quot; <br /><br />1st property:-<br />Type : Condo in Bangsar area, not the latest but still popular among expatriates especially from ANZ. <br />Current condition : Floors = 5 years old full hard wood floors. Bathroom and toilets = Done up 2 years ago, modelled after one I saw in a boutique hotel in China. Kitchen = 2 years old from IKEA. Bedrooms = all have matching wardrobes, beds, dressers, chest of drawers and bedside tables and a mattress, all are IKEA and around 5 years old and all 3 rooms are matching. Dining and Living Room = Full IKEA, all similar colour but a mix and match of styles between 3-7 years old. Newly repainted and new air conditioners. <br /><br />Previous rental :- RM3500. <br />Market rate :- RM3-4k <br /><br />Agents that met 4 of them all had these to say :-<br /><br />i) Cannot get that rental unless have full ID. <br />ii) Replace the IKEA furniture first then only can get that rental. <br />iii) If full ID and fully furnish can get RM4000 per month. <br /><br />2nd property:-<br />Type : Big unit KLCC area condo, not the latest but still considered a nice place. Popular with American, British and French expats. <br />Current condition : Recently renovated, new oak floor boards, new birch wall panels, new custom built kitchen cabinets in solid wood with new appliances. New bathrooms modelled after one I saw in a 5* hotel in Singapore. Pine board ceilings and new lighting system. <br /><br />Previous rental :- RM8000 with what the developer provided. <br />Market rate :- RM7-20k depending on the unit and whether the living room has that all important KLCC view. <br /><br />What the agents said :-<br />i) Your unit no ID and considered unfurnished. RM5k also difficult to rent. <br />ii) I intro you a ID guy, he can do up and furnish this place and guarantee can rent for RM12k.<br />iii) Boss this one considered basic unit, my wife is ID, you budget RM200k I get her to help you fully furnish and ID then guaranteed can rent RM15k <br />iv) I don&#39;t do units unless it has full ID and furnished otherwise wasting my time. If you want I can help you arrange ID then guarantee in 1 month can rent out RM12k but budget RM100k for ID ok? <br /><br />Anyone knows what the deal is these days? <br />Have RENs suddenly become reps for expensive ID persons as well?<br /> Bjorn1688 Property Talk Tue, 07 May 2019 22:06:01 +0800