Since I was at K.u.c.h.a.i A.v.e.n.u.e, I decided to go to the management office to pay the maintenance and sinking fund. I usually pay for 6 months at one go so that I don't have to go there every month to do so. Anyway, was informed that the maintenance fee has increased as there were insufficient funds to maintain the place. At the AGM, majority of the residents agreed with the price increase.

For the record:

Previous Charges
RM0.13 per square feet x 935
= RM121.55 Maintenance
= RM  12.16 Sinking Fund (10% of Maintenance)
= RM133.71 Total Monthly

New Charges Effective May-2012
RM0.17 per square feet x 935
= RM158.95 Maintenance
= RM  15.90 Sinking Fund (10% of Maintenance)
= RM174.85 Total Monthly

That's a 31% increment!!! WoW!!! Lucky thing the rental rate is really good there. Rented it out for RM1,350 monthly, more than enough to cover my monthly installment & maintenance fees.

While waiting for my receipt, I turned around and saw a familiar face. Blurted out his full name automatically (K.w.a.n B.a.n H.o.e) and he too blurted out my name in reflex!!! Hahaha. I bumped into my secondary school mate. He lives there now. We exchanged a few words, he took my number and gave me a missed call on my mobile. Hehe... what a small world! :)

Got several calls from the management of KA2 this morning stating that they needed permission to enter my unit to fix the box up outside my yard. Since the unit is rented out, I informed my tenant about it. The unit was rented out to an Indonesian Chinese couple in their 30s, Kenneth the husband and Felicia the wife.

In the afternoon, I got another call, this time from the maintenance guy of KA2 named Lucas. He said he went and checked out the yard but then he also found out that there were leakage near the balcony too and that the water marks are spreading. If left unfixed, it will eventually ruin the tiles and skirting!!! It sounded so serious that I had to call Felicia to say that I'll be going over to check it out during lunch time. Had to inform her cos' the building is of high security. Access card is needed to enter the lift lobby, the lift as well as the lobby of my unit; 10th floor.

So during lunch, I quickly fetched my parents there too to inspect the damages along with Lucas.

Found out that there were indeed leakage near the balcony. Water marks are slowly spreading too. I then quickly asked Felicia; who is 37 weeks pregnant btw if there are other damages. Might as well tell us one shot since we're all there. That was when she brought us to the master bedroom toilet where the entire ceiling was BLACK in colour with water marks all over!!! I was kinda fuming inside cos' if left unfixed the ceiling could collapsed!!! So I told her that she has to inform me of damages so that they can be quickly looked into before they pose danger to them living there!!!

That was when she told me that her mom advised her not to do any construction or renovation works during her pregnancy. She had wanted to inform me earlier but then she found that she was pregnant. Being a woman myself, I understand the taboos of pregnancy so I assured her that works will only be done after her confinement (since she's already pretty close to her delivery date). Upon hearing that, she suddenly lighted up (all along when we were there, she had this worried look on). Initially I thought she was worried that I'll get them to pay for the damages, haha!

Subsequently, she also told us that the water pressure is very low for both the master bedroom toilet and the kitchen! And oh, they accidentally broke the sink piping in the toilet too for which she said they will fix after her confinement. The management guy; Lucas was quick in saying that the water pressure issue is to be settled with the piping contractors.

Nevertheless, I asked Lucas how much he would charge if he were to fix the damages and he said, other unit owners used their contractors and the cost was about RM2,500! But then he said that it's too expensive. For him, about RM1,000 does the job (for the balcony leakage alone)!!! But what he doesn't know was the fact that my father used to be in construction business before he retired and has the ways and means of doing it via his contacts. Nevertheless, sensing lukewarm response, he told us he'll wait at the management office while we continue inspecting the place.

After he left, my father told me that RM1,000 is ridiculously exhorbitant!!! My father can get his contacts to fix them under RM300!!! What an idiot!!! Lucky thing I brought my parents along!!! After Lucas left, my father asked for a plier and within 2min, water was flowing FREELY and STRONGLY in the kitchen!!! We were all so amazed!!! Turned out that there is this round circular filter attached to the opening of the tap head and that filter was filled with sands. Just remove the filter, clean it and walla, water flows ok. Nothing to do with pressure nor the piping contractor!!! My father then proceeded to fix the tap in the toilet and within minutes, done!!! :)

While my father was fixing the taps, I asked my tenant if all is ok with them living there and that was when she told me that the house is very lucky! They were married for 3 years and had been trying to have kids. Even went to the extent of seeing specialists and traditional Chinese sinseh but nothing happened. At the advise of her mom, she decided to move and within several months of moving into my unit, she was PREGNANT!!! How auspicious indeed!!! :))

Am so happy cos':

1. I brought my father along. Else I would've been cheated by the stupid guy!!!
2. My tenant thinks my house is lucky! If they are happy, I am happy too!!! :))
3. My tenant is very clean. The kitchen and yard cabinets were in excellent condition too!!!
4. My father said that the damages were minimal, his contacts can fix them within 2 hours!
5. Best of all, everything can be done for under RM300!!! :))

When my tenant walked us to the lobby, she touched her pregnant stomach and then touched my flat stomach wishing me good luck in trying to conceive!!! Hehehe... so nice of her. Hopefully, my turn is soon too!!! :))

Another long overdue post.

Once the place was done up (renovation took less than a month), my father got hold of an agent to help us rent out the place. Basic unit fetches RM1,000 to RM1,200. Since we renovated the place, we asked for RM1,300.

Family 1
The first family came to view the unit with my parents while I was away at work:
- Couple in late thirties
- With a young son; few years old
- Happy with the place
- But....
1. Wants additional grille installed in all rooms
2. Wants all LIGHTS removed, she has her own
3. Wants a cheaper rate

Family 2
The next family came to view the unit at night. As I was working in KL back then where traffic was unpredictable, I had to call to push the viewing 20min later. When we reached, the family called our agent to say that they have rented another unit!!! Felt a pang of disappointment!!! :((

Family 3
Again came after work at night. This time I made sure I leave office punctually!!!
- Indonesian Chinese couple in early 30s
- Hb works in IT industry
- No kids yet
- Happy with the place
- But...
1. Wants additional unit of air-cond
Note that aside from the free unit in the master bedroom, we have already added another unit in the living room! With this additional request, this brings us to a total of 3 air-conds!!!

I discussed the matter with my parents (since they have several houses that are being rented out and are well experienced in handling situations like these). In the end, we said that we will add 1 air-cond in the 2nd room but... we'll have to raise the monthly rent to RM1,350. They immediately agreed!!!

So on 22-October-2010, the Tenant Agreement was signed and stamped!!! Yippieeeeeeeeeeee, am now a landlord / landlady!!! Feels great!!! :)

Long overdue post.

Initially, Hb and I intended to renovate the place and move in together. But then within 3 years, once the property was ready, the price increased by over 35% in value!!! The market rental rate too was pretty high at RM1,200 for a basic unit. At that rental rate, it is more than enough to cover my monthly installment and maintenance so the decision to rent it out was an easy one. This was ahem back in 2010.

The place comes with the following:
- Full high wall bathroom tiles (instead of 1/2 or 3/4)
- Wooden skirting around the entire house
- Nice, fancy switches
- Free air-cond switches in all 3 bedrooms
- Free aircond x 1 unit
- Free water heater x 2 units
- Free shower screens in both bathrooms
- Free grille for front door
 
But then we felt that the yard was too bare and hence to boost it's attractiveness to potential tenants (since thousands of units are available for rental at the same time), we decided to:
- Renovate the yard and turn it into a wet kitchen
- Install kitchen cabinets in both the wet & dry kitchen
- Add in the aluminium frames & windows at the bare open yard
- Add in the built in stove

Obviously, we also had to buy lights & fans for the entire place. Oh, the lady in photo below is my mummy... hehehe, while my father and I walked around taking photos:

Workmanship & Materials:
RM    500.00 Hack Yard Walls & Plaster Wall
RM    800.00 Workmanship; Yard
RM 2,500.00 Kitchen Cabinets; Dry & Wet
RM 1,285.00 Lights & Airconds Installation


Additional Materials:
RM    840.00 Tiles & Sink
RM    100.00 Additional 35pcs Tiles for Yard
RM    148.00 Cement, Sand and Wood
RM    540.00 Aluminium Window Frames
RM    285.00 Gas Stove
RM    466.00 Lights & Fans

Misc:
RM      70.00 Garbage Disposal

Total Spent: RM7,578.00

Next up; showing the place to potential tenants. :)

I am truly a master procrastinator. I can't believe I put of submitting the defects form for K.u.c.h.a.i A.v.e.n.u.e for close to 3 months! If it wasn't cos' my parents lectured me, I would've still taken my own sweet time. Tsk tsk tsk, quite the hopeless.

Prior to keys collection, I had to pay 6 months worth of maintenance fee and deposits for electricity and water bill which I promptly did on 07-May-2010. Thereafter, an appointment has to be made for keys collection. I collected the keys to my condo on 11-June-2010. But then there's really no use cos' for as long as CF is not obtained, renovation cannot begin. It was during that period that home owners are supposed to inspect the house properly and submit the defects form.

In my mind, it was ok to delay la, CF not obtained yet what. But "timji" on 01-August-2010, I got a letter from the developer stating that the CF is now obtained. And that got me scrambling to submit my defects form after my parents lectured me in M-16 mode. So ok lor, today I took a day off work to properly go through the unit for possible defects with my parents.

Lucky thing, the defects were fairly minimal; I think. And upon checking with condo management, was told we can proceed with our kitchen and yard reno as it doesn't affect the rest of the defects-affected area. Here's the list of defects I submitted:

• Wavy wall with some part protruding and some part with paints falling off
• Skirting for the entire house not nailed in, leaving huge gaps between walls & the skirting
• Visible gaps all around the master bedroom window frame
• Master bedroom toilet bowl leaks when flushed
• Hose for the 2nd bathroom connecting the water heater was missing
• Window handles for the 3rd bedroom was missing

And that was it! Walla! Can't believe I took so long in submitting a stupid piece of paper. What the fuck is wrong with me man. Sigh. Now I have to wait for at least another month before I can rent it out. I really really cannot believe that it's been close to 3 months since I last collected keys! Time passed so quickly one???!!!

And oh, collected the access cards today too. Tomorrow onwards, one will need an access card before they can use the lift. There are another 2 points - think the lift lobby on my floor and to the car park. Which reminds me, I can't even remember my car park lot no. (better find out before my parents lecture me again!).

Unlike most couples with "normal" relationships, Hb and I have been in semi-LDR ever since we started our courtship. So while it took us 12 years of courtship before we tied the knot, in actual fact our courtship was only 5 years ++ if we discount the days we spent apart. But yala, quality over quantity! So anyway, even after we got married, we continued living apart on weekdays due to our work commitments. This post documents our journey in making ourselves a nesting place... a place we can both call home.

3 years ago; I bought a service residence called Kuchai Avenue. It was supposed to be ready early 2010 but was delayed and hence our plan of making it our weekday home too was affected. The only consolation is perhaps the escalating prices over the years that saw the property increase over 35% in value. The market rental rate too was pretty high at RM1,200 for a basic unit. At that rental rate, it is more than enough to cover my monthly installment and maintenance so the decision to rent it out was an easy one.

Since Hb has his own home in KS all to himself (his parents lived 2 min away), we decided to make it our weekend home. In our quest to change the bachelor pad into a homely home, we embarked on a home improvement project that lasted close to 6 months where we changed every single piece of furniture! The project was truly a FUN one that somewhat strengthened our bond as husband and wife for it heightened our anticipation of going home every week. I leave office 6 sharp every Friday and Hb will already be waiting for me at my parents home to fetch me back. Though tiring, this has been our routine for the past 7 months.

In the same period also, Hb and I have been hunting high and low for a landed property with my parents & brother as we intended to get 2 units in the same garden. So one fine day, all of us went to Setia Alam with the intention of checking out a sub-sale unit which was newly completed with CF but not occupied yet. Unfortunately, there was only 1 unit where we liked. On our way back, we stopped by the Setia Alam Welcome Center and looked at the model of a previously sold-out soft launch. Coincidentally, there were 2 units available due to loan rejections and both units are on the same row; 6 houses apart. To cut the long story short, that was how we ended up placing the deposits for both units!

And last week was truly an EXCELLENT week! Loan for the landed property was approved and CF for the service residence was finally out after months of waiting! Definitely more on this later. :-)

Just the other day, I received an unsolicited mail from a real estate agent who claimed to specialize in the area where my place is located... and that he knows I'm one of the owners with a unit there... Hence, along with the mail, was his name card... which I should apparently keep so that I can call him whenever I feel like selling my place... It all sounded pretty professional until I read his card... his name is King Kong O_o...

So anyway... the following day... I got an unsolicited call 'pulak'... and this time round, it was a lady... from another realty... Same thing... knows that I'm an owner of KA... and that she has a serious buyer who is willing to pay RM250k for the place! If I'm ok to sell, she could immediately draft out the contracts!

To be honest, I could hardly believe what I was hearing... cos at RM250k... it's a whopping 30% increase from the price I paid and best of all, the development is only at best 80% completed...

So anyway, I politely declined by saying that I'd think about it... and went online to google the prices of KA... Surprise, surprise... the market rate is indeed RM250k!!! So that means... it has indeed increased by over 30%!!!

So the big question is of course... do I sell it now and use the so-called return of my investment as downpayment for a bigger place? Btw, current unit's a service residence at 935sqf only... Or should we wait a few more years when OWLoon and I have our own little family unit before settling down in a bigger nest? Hmmm...

Including Saturday and Sundays, I was away from work/office for 2 full weeks!

Since it was such a long holiday, I told myself that I ought to make everyday as productive as it can be and here's an account on the daily highlights... :)

Day 1: 20-Dec (Saturday)
Had a talk-cock-sing-song session with OWLoon & friends...

Bought a new 22inch monitor for my brother...

Day 2: 21-Dec (Sunday)
Fetched parents to replenish new bamboo shoots...
Had family reunion dinner on Dong Zhe day... and ate Tang Yuen...

Day 3: 22-Dec (Monday)
Went to serviced my Honda City with my father...

Placed deposits for new Honda City 1.5 (for my brother) and Honda Civic 1.8 (for me)...

Day 4: 23-Dec (Tuesday)
Fetched parents to EPF office to print out my mummy's annual statement...(for fun cos' her previous employer cheated her EPF... RM700 bucks became over RM7k... 27 years later!)

Day 5: 24-Dec (Wednesday)

Opened a new EON Bank account... and bought House Insurance...to satisfy some stupid housing loan criteria though my loan amount was only ~55% of property value...

Christmas Eve dinner with family...

Day 6: 25-Dec (Thursday)

Fetched parents to buy praying "materials"...

Day 7: 26-Dec (Friday)

Alan's parents visited my parents... Thereafter, OWLoon treated us to a 10-course dinner...

Day 8: 27-Dec (Saturday)

C.l.u.b H.i.t.z at B.a.r C.e.l.o.n.a... more on this later...

Day 9: 28-Dec (Sunday)

Short trip to Kuala Selangor with family + niece and nephew

Day 10: 29-Dec (Monday)

Short trip to Kuala Selangor with family + niece and nephew

Day 11: 30-Dec (Tuesday)

Return from Kuala Selangor...

Collected wedding bands... cos' OWLoon's one was custom-made...

Day 12: 31-Dec (Wednesday)

Spring cleaning my own room...

Day 13: 01-Jan (Thursday)

Haircut at Saw's

Drinks with friends at T.h.e S.o.c.i.a.l at B.a.n.g.s.a.r (my favourite hangout place now)

Day 14: 02-Jan (Friday)

Bank draft for Honda Civic down payment...

Collected my new Honda Civic from Jln 222, PJ... Yippee!!!

Ordered 2 units of Garmin GPS nuvi 205... 1 for me and 1 for my brother!

Day 15: 03-Jan (Saturday)

Handover my old Honda City to OWLoon's relative who owns a Used Car business in Kuala Selangor... Price offered was RM3K more than market value!

Day 16: 04-Jan (Sunday)

Haven't figured out what to do but I intend to lepak all day...

To sum it all up... everything I did during this 16 days period revolves around:

Come to think of it... my 16 days of leave was pretty productive! Hooray! :)

Occasionally, Alan and I will drive past our future home to check out the development progress. This photo was taken on 21st of Sep. Looks like they've finished 4 out of the 5 levels of car parks...

The first time I visited the show unit for the launch of Phase 1, I fell in lurve with the place.

Open Concept
I've always liked to have the kitchen, dining and living room in one space separated by an island. The perfect place to spend time preparing ingredients for dishes just like Jamie Oliver you know... with friends and family surrounding him at the island.

Plus hor... I don't like to do household chores, so the concept is even more appealing to me... Heck, if I have to do the dishes, you jolly well sit near me to accompany me ya...

Size-able Yard
Although it is an open concept, there is still a yard at the side of the kitchen which would be the perfect place to cook and to store the washing machine... So ok la...

Right Size
Although the place is not huge. Only 935 sq ft, it comes with 3 bedrooms so I'm fine. But I think I'd likely turn the kids room into a study room instead...

Walk-in Wardrobe
The best thing bout the layout is that I can have a walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom (area marked in green):

Flooring

What's good is also the fact that they will be using large tiles for the living, dining and kitchen and laminated wood flooring for all 3 bedrooms...

PLUS hor, the house comes with following:
[Top Left] Bathroom upgrade to full high wall tiles (instead of 1/2 or 3/4)

[Top Right] Wooden skirting around the entire house

[Bottom Left] Nice, fancy switches + free air-cond switches in all 3 bedrooms

[Bottom Right] Free water heater x 2 units

+ free shower screens in both bathrooms

+ free grille for front door and balcony

+ free legal fees for both loan and S&P

Decision Point

Though I liked the place, I wasn't very comfortable with the fact that there'll be 16 units on 1 floor... cos that's like DOUBLE the occupancy of normal condos... So, when they re-launch phase 2, I went back to have another look... This time round, it has lesser units; 12 per floor... but when we scrutinized further, the facing directions were not in my favour and so we were ready to walk away...

Sensing interests, the salesperson was quick to tell us about Phase III (Kuchai Avenue II):
- Only 8 units per floor (just like the one I'm staying in now)
- Facing North i.e. Kuala Lumpur (one of my best directions)
- Every unit's a corner unit (at this point, my parents & I were already sold!)

Unit Selected

We selected the following unit because of its' facing (outwards):

• Cos if it faces inwards, noise level could be higher
• Plus face outwards would also mean nicer view (cos facing KL instead of other people's balcony) but then again, if you like the view of chicks in undies from your balcony, then maybe you should opt for those facing inwards (hehe)
• Not located next to the lift
• Facing North - one of my good directions la...
• No. 7 - my lucky number, cos I was born in July...

Final Step
The last phase was finally launched on 11 April 2007.
So last week (15 April 2007), I placed the actual booking of RM2,000 and brought along the necessary documentations for a loan application:
- Latest 3 months salary slips
- Latest EPF statement
- Latest bank account statement

I got a call from EON Bank yesterday (the panel bank) informing me that my loan's approved.

This Sunday, I'll be going over to sign the following documentations:
- Loan Offer Letter
- Loan Agreement
- Sales & Purchase Agreement (S&P)

As well as to pay the 10% down payment of RM16,750 (RM18,750 – RM2,000 paid for deposit). And although the purchase would mean a huge debt for the next 15 years, I am still ecstatically happy! Hooohooo...

I bought my first property! Since it’s my first, I will try to document everything and anything about it… So please bear with me k!

Project Name
First thing first, the development is called Kuchai Avenue.

Location
The condo is located in Jalan Kuchai Lama, a very established and matured neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city. It has always been seen as a connecting part of Old Klang Road, Happy Garden, and Sungai Besi. Plus, it is also very near to Sri Petaling, KESAS, National Stadium and TPM from there on. And heck, I studied in Kuchai Lama so I practically grew up in that area ler!
Given the strategic location, Kuchai Avenue is also easily accessible via the main highways (North-South Highway, LDP, KESAS, NPE) as well as from the neighbouring city and suburbs (Bangsar, PJ, Subang Jaya, Mid-Valley). But most importantly, it is a walking distance from my parents’ house.

Land Type & Development Size
Kuchai Avenue is set on a massive 5 acre plot of previously vacant land. On the plot beside it, the developers are currently building a medium size commercial area with shop lots (Kuchai Business Park). Actually, this would mean more jam to an already congested area but I’m pretty bad with roads and have only now familiarized myself with a few roads thus the fact that this is near where I’m currently staying will be a plus point to me.

Description
Kuchai Avenue will itself be a commercial development. There will be shops on the ground floor of the entire area. The parking for the commercial area is located on a basement floor. Above the shops are a few levels of parking for the condo, followed by the condo units. Was rather worried that there will be shops beneath the condo but was informed by the salesperson that the shops were restricted to F&B outlets and since I don’t know how to cook, should be OK gua. And oh, it's freehold (but my friend mentioned that free or lease also, it's not really relevant cos either way, we we won't live up till 99 years to witness the day... hehe)

No. of Units & Price
Kuchai Avenue comes with 3 different blocks (with a total of 612 units)
Phase 1: Kuchai Avenue I (272 units, with 17 floors and 16 units per floor)
Phase 2: Kuchai Avenue III (204 units with 17 floors and 12 units per floor)
Phase 3: Kuchai Avenue II (136 units with 17 floors and 8 units per floor)
Ya, terbalik one… last phase was KA II instead of III...

Since there were 3 different launches, there were also 3 different prices. But the price below doesn’t include the parking bay which is mandatory at RM20,000 per bay (restricted to 2 bays per owner). 2nd bay can purchased at a discounted rate of RM15,000:
Phase 1: from RM146,500
Phase 2: from RM151,500 (increased RM5K)
Phase 3: from RM161,500 (increased RM10K)

I bought Phase 3 for RM167,500 and with the additional RM20,000 for parking, the price comes up to RM187,500. Although the price is steep, Kuchai Avenue II comes with the least number of units per floor; 8 units vs. the KAI with 16 units and KAIII with 12 units.

Unit Size
Kuchai Avenue comes in only 1 size: 935 sq ft. I know it’s not very big and kinda steep for the price above but since it’s my first property, I think it’s sufficient la:

Amenities The condo comes with what I would term the basic amenities but having stayed in a condo for so long... I've only used the pool once so these will not be the judging criteria when it comes to buying a place (for me la). And with that, the maintenance fee is set at 13sen psf which is equivalent to RM121 per unit for each units.

Other Info

• Completion date: Estimated mid 2009...
• Developer: Akisama Properties & Construction Sdn. Bhd. (the same developer that developed Continental Heights in Happy Garden and Dynasty Garden in Kuchai Enterpreneurs Park)

:) More on this later...