Property, to buy or not to buy now in year 2021? Seven (7) points to look at.

Everybody need a roof that is for sure. Currently the younger generations feel that to own a property is a burden. They prefer renting as they feel that they can pack their belonging and move to another property anywhere they like after the lease expire, be it lower lease or higher lease.

And we are not Germans. German prefer to rent than to buy as their government encourage property renting instead.

 Based on Q3 2020 Malaysia National Property Information Center (NAPIC), there are 16,765 units of high rise residential as in apartment or condominium which are overhanging.

If you prefer landed property instead, there are 8,607 units available. Service apartment which hold commercial title, has 24,267 units overhang in Malaysia.

 

 

To give a summary of this property report, based on popular price range they are:

1a) High rise condominium / apartment : RM500K - RM700K = 4,473 units

1b) High rise condominium / apartment : RM300K - RM500K = 3,871units

1c) High rise condominium / apartment : RM200K - 300K = 3,474 units

2a) Service apartment : RM700K - RM1 million = 8,905 units

2b) Service apartment : RM500K - RM700K = 5,517 units

2c) Service apartment : RM300K - RM500K = 2,307 units

So come back to this main question. To buy or not to buy property in year in 2021?

Before you jump into property buying, check this out.

1) The location you are looking at, what are the potential to rent out or sell in the future?  Are there many empty residential nearby?

2) Are you buying a new property or second hand property? For second hand property, try to rectify and check the property first before you commit. For new property, most developers will usually give grace period of warranty so it should be fine.

3) Is the environment easy access to transport, school, shopping center and amenities?

4) What is the surrounding area? Are there any empty land nearby which may build future high rise buildings, a mosque or a public school? You need to be careful with those nice looking forest!

5) Are you looking for own stay or investment? Do you have extra money that you can invest and wait for the market to pick up?

6) What is your age? Can you try to pay more deposit? The younger you are, of course it will be better too.

7) Where can you get your funding? Can your EPF and/or your parents help you on bigger chunk of deposit so your monthly installment can be lower?

 

  

To be honest, based on the current market situation whereby the pandemic is half the battle, it is better to look at property as your first property if you do not own one yet. The current situation do not favor on investment unless you have extra money to wait for the world economy to escalate. The present market price should be slightly lower than normal as this is the time some property owners are willing to go down on their expected price. As for the new units, developer are giving out more freebies.

We know that to own a property is better end of the day. The bank interest rate is lower too and our Malaysia government is encouraging people to purchase anything just to make the economy moving forward.

Take a look of the above Malaysia NAPIC report, there are many choices based on your budget. This report does not include the second hand market yet! So go around and scout for your property now based on your budget!

 

 

We have a property to rent out. 9 points to look at!

 We have a property to rent. Which scenario am I?

a) We have been staying in this property for awhile. Then one day, my wife and our family went shopping and there is a property show at the shopping center. We see different properties from various developer and then one nice salesman made an appointment with us and brought us to see the showroom. The beautiful interior design caught our eyes, and after some calculation, we decided to purchase this new property.

b) My wife and I have some extra money and we thought why not we buy another one for investment?  We have friends who have properties not just here in Malaysia, but in overseas too. That is how many property and real estate moguls make money like Donald Trump, Robert Kuok, and our very own Malaysian property developers. Unless you a an IT geek like Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Alibaba's Jack Ma, then most probably property is one way  to make money since everyone needs a roof. 

So finally one day my agent called me and she found a new tenant for us! We need to pay the property agent 1 month commission, and the rest of the rent we collected shall be our income. That is pretty much a good deal.

 

But the tenant disappeared without paying my rentals. 2 months rentals!  Why we did not check the payment online regularly is because the tenant were so prompt in their initial monthly rental payments. So it does not occur for me to check the bank online. They did not pay the electricity too and the TNB supply was terminated. Look at the mess they did before they left. The house need 2 whole days and 2 cleaners to clean. On the bright side, there isn't much in the fridge before the TNB was cut off 😓

Year 2020 is an unforgettable year for the world. The coronavirus pandemic caused many in the world lost their jobs due to this unprecedented event.  Tenants may suddenly have problems to pay their rental. If you are lucky, you may encounter someone who just ask for discount. What is the discount that shall depends on you. What about those that really cannot afford anymore because he lost his job and the wife runaway too? This a true story from a property agent. The nice owner actually did not ask for rental and instead allow the tenant to stay on until he find a job or look for a cheaper unit elsewhere.

So what to do during this pandemic? It is difficult to get new tenants now. So instead of fretting and being upset about it, why not look into refurbishment and seek for new tenants later?

How to make my property to be attractive to potential tenants?

1) Painting

This is the most inexpensive way to make the whole house look nice and new. Everyone likes a fresh coat of paint. Your previous tenant may left some children's drawing on the wall or there are some cracks which you have not fix. Take this time to rectify and fix it while giving a fresh coat of paint is always good.

2) Wallpaper in the living room or in the master bedroom can always give a good impression. It maybe slightly more expensive than paint, but wallpaper always give a very nice feel and since there are tons of design to select, take your time to think!

3) This is the time to check all the cupboards and timber floor. Check if there are any loose or disappeared hinges, any drawers that are stiff, doors that are cracked, or any timber floor that need to be fix. Get the contractor in to do all these jobs and check all the room doors too!

 

4) Get the electrician to check all the switches, sockets and change the burnt bulbs. Unless you know how to do yourself, it is better to leave to the expert. 

 

5)  Check the house appliances. The oven, stove, microwave, are they working well? Are they dirty and need to clean up? Are the lighting working still?

 

6) Air conditioner is one of the most important item in homes since we are staying in a tropical country. Get the air cond man to come in to do the services. When was the last time the air conditioner was serviced? It is best to service the air cond every 6 months to keep the life of air conditioner. 

7) Take the curtains to wash. Most of the time, heavy draperies and curtain need the expert. There are professional curtain cleaner which can do dry cleaning. They will come to your place to dismantle, take to their shop to clean and bring back to hang up for you. Great!
 

 8) Check all the furniture. Are the sofa, dining table and dining chairs still ok? What about the bedroom bed frames, mattress and side tables? Are they still alright or need to change? You can always get the contractor to fix the minor problem without buying new ones..

 

9) Cleaning. This shall be the final part. Send in from the cleaning company to do this job and not your maid at home. The cleaning company will come in and do the entire place for you with a fixed price and you can just come back later.

 

Now is the time to do the final touch up. Lay clean bed sheets, place some soft cushion, place a mat, hang some picture, display some flowers, and now is ready for photo shoot. Grab your phone and take photos with good angle and forward to your property agent. 

Good photos always get attention. A newly touch up property is great when you are seeking in the competitive world of looking for tenant . Good luck!

Let us Recycle together! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

 

Do we need to do spring cleaning once a year only? Many of us normally would have a yearly spring cleaning, but some people will always clear whenever they want to.

But before we take out the black garbage bag and start to dump whatever we do not need anymore, why not let us look at places whereby some centers can collect our unwanted stuff and turn to something more meaningful? 

 

 

 

Do you know Alam Flora? I supposed many know or heard about Alam Flora but do you know much?

Alam Flora has the facilities of :

1. Knowledge Hub is a learning and information hub on recycling and its processes.

2. A boutique that collects used clothes for sale with proceeds donated to charitable organizations.

3. A Buy Back Centre that buys recyclable goods before sending them to the Integrated Recycling Facility (IRF). Earn cash and rewards points as an incentive, in return.

4. Library with books about recycling and general knowledge 

5. Integrated Recycling Facility (IRF) is a facility where recyclable items are collected, sorted and      baled before being sent to major recyclers for recovery processes.

Find out more on their link : 

 http://www.alamflora.com.my/home/facilities-2/recycle/fiks/#Contact

 

 

 

Have you heard about Lovely Disabled Home in No.1, Jalan SS2/5 Petaling Jaya?
Lovely Disabled Home provides job opportunities for the special needs which was founded in 2005. These special needs people gets to work here and being paid. At the same time the center collects items  such as : Paper, Carton Boxes, Aluminum, Iron, Toys, Clothes, Electrical Appliances and Plastic.  They welcome donations as well, so do it as little or as much as you can! Check out their link below :

 

 https://www.lovelydisabledhome.com/our-workshop/recycle-centre

 

 

Kloth cares. Look at the logo and you should know it is about cloth. Kloth cares was founded in 2013 and made a very good impact for the society. Remember how normally charity centers only collect good condition clothes for them to resell? Kloth cares collect any clean cloth and fabric because they sort the good ones and giveaway people in need. Those unwanted ones will be collected and cut up to make industrial cleaning cloth or re engineered to fuel cement kiln. They have many kloth cares boxes at Shell petrol stations so go check it out :  

 

https://kloth.com.my/

Are you moving to your new home soon? Do you have furniture to giveaway and do not know where to send to? Xim Phou Moon was founded in 1992 and they collect Furniture, Electrical Items, Old newspaper, Clothes, Bags, Shoes and Aluminum. Please make sure they are usable and clean as there are people who think that charity centers are their garbage centers. 

http://xpmcaringworld.com/our-services-contact-us/

In 1966, Tzu Chi was founded by a nun in Taiwan. She dedicated her life and helped many which to date there are 101 countries that is having the foundation's foot prints. Tzu Chi has a long term humanitarian emergency aid which Covid-19 is one of them. They have dialysis center, free clinic, school and many more. Their recycling center collects : Clothes, Plastic, Electrical items, Batteries, Computers, Metal, Aluminum, Glass bottles and paper.

https://www.tzuchi.my/en/join-us/recycling-centres

In fact there are many more recycle centers out there and sometimes we do see a lot of recycle boxes placed at the road side whereby people throw stuffs and abuse them. These people treats them like a dumpsite and throw anything in the boxes which is totally unacceptable. Think about how the volunteers need to sort out those 'donations' and only to find out a lot of them are not in good condition. We need to put ourselves in others shoes, how do you feel if you are the volunteer?

During this MCO or CMCO period, kindly find out if these centers have any change of time or collection point. Please based on their link and find out more if you need them.

Concept of Facebook "I like you, you like me"

When we approach vendors to advertise with us for Zero Cost , we get a lot of funny responses. Why do you do this? What is the strategy behind? Are you sure it is free? Is there something behind? Is it just another cheating online stuff?

How many times you see random people in Facebook posting : "Learn how to make 5 figures in a week?'' "How to make money in a week?" 👎

What about story that some random person's goods stuck at custom and need help to release. This X will call or email to Y saying it is urgent and all they have to do is 'help' him with a small amount of money (which compare with the actual goods, the price seem small) So X decided to transfer money to Y thinking by doing so, he will get the stocks which he can sell later with a huge profit.👎

Then stories of receiving email saying that someone have inheritance and need help? X send email to Y saying he has some inheritance which he need someone to assist him to retrieve and promise that he will share 50% with him?👎

There are endless type of scams online and all these are huge money.

But for us PitpitHome is different. We are giving you Zero Cost advertising for real.

Facebook let all of us to 'I like you, you like me' concept and for those looking for business in Facebook is free too. Did you ever question why you join Facebook is free and you can create groups to look for business which is free too?👍

We are doing 'You help me, I help you'. We provide a website for you to advertise and you help us by coming in to advertise' It is that simple.

So come and join us now and let all of us enter a very good 2021. 

Coming soon!

Happy New Year!

 

 

PITPITHOME , Who are we? What do we do?

 Who is Pitpithome? We are an upcoming new kid on the block for your beloved HOME.

 We spend most of our time at home after work, and especially now. This year 2020 is a special year. This pandemic is forcing more people spend their time at home to do their work and study at home too. The world has been asked to stay home for almost a year now. Schools are closed, offices and shops are closed. We are not encouraged to go around to shopping centers, malls, children's park, entertainment outlets, or sit in cafe to have a cuppa.   

The world is changing and buying habits changed too. Many bricks and mortar businesses failed and those that cannot survive has closed. While some may just close certain branches, some closed totally like Robinson's in Malaysia and Singapore.

  

We Pitpithome wish to bring in vendors into our online 'shopping center'. We wanted to bring in all home related products and interior designers to come in for our future potential customers. The only difference is your potential customers do not buy from our 'shopping center'. We provide convenience.

 Are you an Interior Designer or Contractor? Are you manufacturing or selling Custom Furniture, Home Furniture, Bed Frame and Mattress, Home Appliances, Large Appliances, Small Appliances, Kitchen and Wardrobes, Bathroom Sanitary Wares, Bathroom Accessories, Curtain, Blind, Flooring, Timber Floor, Tiles, Wallpaper, Paint, Tiles, Art and Decor, Water Heater, Water Purifiers, Wellness products, Security and CCTV, Artificial Grass, Landscape and Nursery, what else we miss? We need you as long as you are Home related.

We help you by providing ZERO COST ADVERTISING and you help us by advertising in our website. We hope your future potential customers can shop and look for what they need in their home and head straight to your website or shop without any commission being paid to us at all.

If you wish, you may purchase a very low cost advertising but it all depends on you. It is a Zero Cost Advertising after all, so you may choose what suits you.

Our website is coming soon and we hope to see more registered vendors to be part of us.   Just remember, no cost hidden. 😆 Watch out for our live website very soon.

                                         Interior & Home products search start here..

 

 

 

 

6 different types of kitchen top , which one shall I choose?

 

In many homes, people spend a lot of time in the kitchen, preparing victuals to sustain them throughout the day. More so when they have a family to feed. In these homes, a kitchen with a high-quality kitchen counter is really necessary since that is where food is prepped for cooking and eating. Especially so in Malaysian homes, where the usage of highly stainable food such as turmeric and soy sauce, and the use of the mortar and pestle to prep food for cooking calls for kitchen countertops that are made of durable material that is easily cleaned and maintained. In this article, we will highlight the 6 most commonly used material for Malaysian kitchen countertops, and the pros and cons of each.  

1. Solid Surface

Solid surface countertops are usually made of acrylic or polyester with fillers and are designed in such a way that they can resemble other materials yet cost a fraction of the price. Acrylic can be moulded in a huge variety of designs and colours. They are among the most popular choices for countertops as they are not too expensive and require little maintenance. Although scratched, this is easily taken care of by buffing and sanding out the marks. The material is also non-porous, ideal for food prep as the risk of harbouring bacteria that cause food contamination is low. 

 

 

 

2. Marble

The natural marble countertop is quite popularly used as kitchen countertops due to its heat resistance. This material is available in many colours and no two countertops have the exact same pattern. However, marble is not as durable a granite, as it is a soft and porous material, and easily scratched up. Spills also can result in stains if not cleaned up quickly enough. It thus has to be sealed often to avoid damages to the surface. 

 

3. Quartz

Quarts countertops are human cultured which combine natural quartz stone with a variety of materials such as resin, broken granite, marble, or glass. This is the most expensive countertop material on this list but due to its premium quality, it is worth investing in. Its durability is increased due to its non-porous nature, being highly heat and scratch resistant. The fact that quartz is manufactured means that it can be customized to imitate any style, including granite and marble. Its durability is increased due to its non-porous nature, being highly scratch resistant, and thus doesn’t need to be re-sealed as often as granite and marble There are also many colours and styles to suit different tastes. 

 

4. Granite

Granite is one of the most common countertop materials and is very solid and durable. Granite is natural stone; like marble, no two countertops will look the same. Granite can withstand extremely high temperatures, and quite hard to crack or scratch. The colour options, however, are quite limited, and it needs to be maintained by using sealant. It is also cheaper than marble or quartz.

 

5. Solid Wood

Wood countertops are popular with homes that are going for the warm, rustic, cottage-style look, and easily matched with any design. Like marble and granite, wood also has a natural vein pattern, so every wood countertop is unique. However, wood can be expensive as it is a rarer commodity than stone. The regular wear and tear do not show up as obviously on wood. However, it needs regular maintenance and needs to be sealed, as it can easily acquire damage from heat, water, and corrosive substances. 

 

6. HPL High Pressure Laminate

This material is able to mimic the style and texture of other materials. There are many layers and it consists of plywood being encased in a layer of plastic resin where the designs are printed. The material is easy to maintain and durable and is the cheapest material on this list. It is easy to clean but great care needs to be taken as damage from scratches, cracks, and heat cannot be repaired. Always remember to dry up the table top in case the water sipped into the surface and long term is not advisable.

What to consider when doing your Home Renovation - 8 Important Tips

Finally you got the keys to your new home! You are so excited with your family because you and your family have been hoping that you can have the set of keys to your new home as soon as possible so that all of you can move in asap. 

You have been flipping home magazines, browsing in the internet, checking in showrooms and dream about how your new home is going to look like. It should look like that showroom we saw last week. Oh hang on, what about the other showroom we saw the other week in Kuala Lumpur? Maybe I should engage an interior designer to design our new home! Why not?

 1. Do you intend to take care of your own project full time or are you engaging an interior designer or contractor? Do you have the time? It depends on what you want. To have an interior designer is good whereby they can help you to design based on your concept. You tell the interior designers what you want and they are able to come up with visuals for you to see. It is great to have visuals as you may not able to visualize in your mind sometimes. Get the list of your bulky stuffs so that when you plan your layout you will not miss it. Example : piano!

 

 2. Most of the times, new homes come with very minimum socket points. Even if purchase an existing home from another owner, you need to check this as well. Always install more socket points rather than ended up like this.

Do not think that after you have counted all your home appliances that you have, say 10 numbers, you decide to fix on that quantity. What about areas like corridor, hallway, bedroom, study rooms, kitchen, for your oven, microwave, steamer, blender, vacuum, internet, WIFI, charging port for all the phones that you have in the family! Those extensions for plugs and cables are just not ugly and unappetizing, it is hazardous to seniors and children as well.

 

3. Hooks for your clothes. If you intend to have hooks behind your door in the bedroom, remember to tell your contractors not to fix too high up.

A good height for back hooks should be around 5' 6" or for children's room, 4' should be good enough. I have seen real life experience before in my friend's house, the hook is so high even a 5' 7" can hardly reach. 😢 

4. Taps in the toilet. Sometimes, some new homes do not come with the outlet for bidet. So before you move in, you could have check if there is any near the WC. If there isn't, you may want to get your contractor to fix one. Bidet cum tap is very convenient not just for cleaning bathroom, it is also for collecting water if there is any water ration! 😁

5. Paint for your walls. Have you seen that beautiful interior design photo in that home magazine? You love the color so much that you ask your interior designer to find that particular color.

 

There are thousands of color in the paint section. Those special colors that you have selected has a certain code number. It is good that you keep that color code in your renovation file just in case if your child dirtied that wall, you can get another small can in the shop and paint that spot. But if you do not have that color code, then maybe you need to paint the whole wall!

 

6.Remember to plan as many storage space as possible. Drawers, pantry, cabinets are always not enough. There are always books, toys, cooking utensils, yearly Christmas decor that you use once a year. Of course it is fine if you decided to giveaway some of them before you move. In fact it is a great time to get rid of those old clothes that doesn't fit anymore or out of fashion. To have more storage doesn't mean to keep stuffs that you do not need. It is more for putting away your things so your home looks tidy and impeccable.

 

7. The air condition outlet position has been set by the developer. When the developer's Interior designer plan the showroom, it is always amazing and most of the time we can easily get attracted to it forgetting how we should design our own, and may blindly wanted to follow. After you collected the keys, check where is the outlet. Are you going to place your bed in the middle of the room or against the wall? Avoid having bed UNDER the air-cond. This is a no no as you may ended up drenched one morning when you wake up if the air-cond is leaking!  

 

8. By the way, did you plan a budget on your renovation? This is the most important part in fact but I placed in the last point. :) Because I do not want you to feel stressed!

Do you have unlimited budget? Regardless if you have a tight budget or money is not a problem, just make sure you make a list of needs and wants. Do I need that new sofa set or I can still use the existing one? Do I need that beautiful chandelier to hang it down from the ceiling at my living room or I can live without one? It is always wise to put a list of what you really need versus what you want. You can always make that list by rooms. Start with the kitchen, living room, bedrooms, study room, bathrooms, balcony etc. I will also recommend to have a pest control to come in to your home before moving in as an annual pest control spray is good to keep away unwanted insects and crawling friends. 

So now you have the whole lists before you start your dream home renovation. Plan and do not rush. Think wisely and have a great time doing your renovation!

 

 

 

Are you buying a new home or condominium?

 

Are you considering buying a new home or condominium and have started visiting the developers’ show room? If so, you would be very excited by the concepts of their designs and how good they look, right?  What you need to understand is that the sales people are almost always very professional and their sole objective is to get you to commit to a booking fee for the residence even if you are not 100% certain this is the right fit for you.

Firstly you must take the time to understand the floor plan and the actual area size as looks can be extremely deceiving. A friend asked me to go with them for a second look at a condominium that she was interested in purchasing. She showed me the layout plan and was very excited as it was a great location. She took days admiring the layout and have decided to place a booking fees. She insisted I go with her again and then suddenly we realized one thing. The presentation layout has a darker shade and the column is almost similar color. We cannot really see unless we use a magnifying glass.

We went back to see the showroom again and realized the pillar was being wrapped up against a high table. Then we counter check again and true enough, after a couple of days only, we realized the problem.  Also the use of mirrors in show rooms is very common to make the area seem larger than it actually i. This is another very good reason to understand the dimensions of the floor plan.

 

You will also see the furniture used in these show rooms are always perfect for the size and shape of the area you have which means you have very little chance of buying furniture which actually fits the space if you are shopping from furniture outlets or looking to buy off the shelf.

 

For the bedrooms, make sure that the size and shape of bed you want to have in your room can actually fit!  Generally, show rooms will have smaller beds or small wardrobe space (if any) which means when you actually move into your new dream home, half of your existing furniture doesn’t fit in or you have the added cost and inconvenience of custom make to suit the layout.

 

I would suggest before you purchase your dream home, always at least visit the property / showroom on 3 separate occasions and preferably another person to visit with you to give their opinion on the size, space and furnishing.  It is also great to see how the showroom looks at different times of the day providing this is a showroom located on the actual site or near the site on which you have purchased. There is a big difference when you look at a bare unit versus a made up showroom.

 

I hope this is a help and guide to you and wish you good luck on your new house hunting!  Check out our website for your home needs! 

Home is where WE want to be

 

Thinking about going home everyday after work.. unless you work from home now. If you work from home, it means you are in your HOME for 24 hours apart from heading out to buy groceries or maybe pop into your office if you required.

What do you want? Do you want to go back to a nice comfy home or you just don't care as long it has a roof, electricity and water?

 

Everyone would wish to have this living room. Big, spacious, comfortable sofa and a clean environment. But it doesn't mean that you can't have a small area but warm and loving? Isn't it as long as our family is around with us, any small or big home is fine? The concept of our home is more about the people with us and even though it is comfortable to be in big home, but think about all the dirty jobs you need to do! To have helpers is important, so think properly if you want to settle for big or smaller home.

 

Then the bathroom. The place whereby some may spend minutes in there, some may spend more than an hour. 😉 Bathroom needs to be clean definitely, and if you are looking into buying and renovate your new home, check the floor and wall tiles! Are the tiles on the darker shade and not just plain white? Darker color is easier to clean that's for sure.

New condominium bathrooms nowadays mostly are in white or whitish color. But what if that condo unit is already my new home and it is in white tiles? Well, either you use it for awhile and after a few years, do some renovations and get new tiles, or live with it! 😅 To be honest, if that home is where you are going to stay for a long long time, spend a little some years later and make good is fine.

 

And yes, kitchen! Kitchen cabinets are white too.. What is going on? A lot of developments are provided with white kitchen cabinets too if you did not notice. So there must be a reason 😬 But some developers allow you to omit those kitchen cabinets and give you a discount. Some do not allow so depends on your luck. Basically, kitchen cabinets with darker shade would be better too. But of course, white kitchen cabinets can look very grand too. 

Then our....snoozing area.. bedroom!

 

This is everybody's favorite spot. Bedroom is for everyone. After a hard day's work, we need that firm mattress to rest and have sweet dreams. Bedroom is very important so plan properly for your new home. The color should not be strong color and pale is good. Hopefully the curtain installed are sun proof like those in the hotels. This significant area is definitely important and everyone just want to lie down and laze in the bed. Get a good mattress for your good night sleep. zzzzzzz