Property & Co 2nd Session - July 2011

After 2 days of content-packed, fun-filled sharing session, we have successfully completed the 2nd sharing session by Property & Co.  This time, we had a change of venue which is conveniently located near LRT and monorail stations.  And we have a special guest speaker, AE, who shared his experience and tips from the bottom of his heart.
All in all, another fun and successful session with loads of positive feedback. The presentations were serious and fact-packed.  But the intervals were fun and relaxing, like this exercise session to wake participants up.

Strange TNB bill at the Domain

In June, the Laketown manager contacted me and said they finally managed to transfer the owners' name from Laketown to me on the TNB bill.  For that TNB has taken Laketown's deposit for the current month's bill.  It so happened that my tenants had paid the TNB bill as well.  So this month's bill should reflect a double payment.

But when July's bill came, there was no credit in it, only the amount to pay for July.

And the best part is, while the name has been changed from Laketown, the owner's name is not my name!

This is strange because when the manager emailed to me the acknowledgement, the owner's name was mine.

I have written to En. Jauhari to clarify the matter, let's see what his answer is to solve the problem.

Domain Neocyber, Water Clamping Notice

Today my Domain tenant informed me that there is water clamping notice in the post-box.

When I called the management office, apparently my tenants were owing 2 months' water bill and I owed the current July-Sept maintenance fees - total amounting to >RM700.
However, my tenants cleared the water bill 2 months ago, and I was submitting the payment for maintenance in this 2 days, so the whole affair was a storm in a teacup.  Imagine the panic it caused my tenants.
The management is very strict about collecting fees, which is good, but not good at updating records, which is poor.

Choosing a Commercial Shop

Here is one point that I learnt from Dr Peter Yee regarding choice of commercial shop.

Photo  courtesy of Auswandern Malaysia http://www.flickr.com/photos/carworld/

For example, a shop which has the TNB box or tree right in front is less desirable if you have other choices.  It tends to block the frontage of the shop making it less visible to patrons.  Just one of the points to consider when choosing commercial property ;-)

Experience of a Tenant in Cyberjaya

Recently I met a new tenant through word of mouth by ex-tenant.  This guy is an Asian expatriate and had been in Cyberjaya for only 1 week, having arrived to work at his company.  Through company contacts, he ended up renting a middle room in one of the other Cyberjaya apartments.
The rental that was told to him by the landlord was RM1,150.  When I heard this, I thought it was for the whole apartment, but he clarified to say that it was only the middle room.  Then he realized that the price was too exorbitant, so he negotiated with the landlord and the rent came down to RM850 (which I think is also not a normal rate).  There was never any tenancy agreement, and the instructions kept changing.
The other part of the story is the apartment does not even have a washing machine.  The laundry service at the apartment had washing machines with coin slots.  It was RM3.50 per wash, and the machine only took 50sen coins.  So he said that he had not done his laundry for many days since it was very difficult for him to collect 50sen coins.

Image from: http://simplywash.com/doing-laundry/

Generally he had a bad impression of the landlord and the place.  Stories of how the landlord is not responsive but only delivers a one-sided instruction to the tenant on what is required, and landlords not returning deposits when the tenants move out were things that he was worried about.  He was very grateful to move out of that apartment after one week, and grateful that he is now finally able to wash clothes.

Repairs at Domain

A year has passed since I took over the keys to my Domain apartment, and it is time for repairs.  The sliding door lock needs to be replaced, and I engaged Mr Sam from the hardware store downstairs to change the lock. It took him a long time because the sliding door lock was difficult to position.  Only 1 type of lock, St. Guchi can fit and that also took a lot of adjustment.  

Mr Sam had mentioned that locksmiths from other areas who are not familiar with the Domain sliding door often bring some other brands of lock to do the replacement, only to find, after hours of trying, that nothing will fit.

When the job was finally done, I left a note to my tenants to use the key and lock "gently".  Even though it is a new lock, it is easily damaged if you turn it by force.  What an inconvenient and unpractical door design!

Property & Co is back!

If you missed the first sharing session in March, now you have a chance to participate in the coming July session from Property & Co.  
This is a property sharing session that is run by a group of friends, all eager to teach how they make money in property investments.
Have a look at this website and decide for yourself if it is worth investing in education to jump start your property investments.