Should I semiretire in JB now?

[henrylbh]

Have a nice trip. From train station, how do you go to your jb house. And the time taken and cost?

 

[mummy1234]

Have a nice trip. From train station, how do you go to your jb house. And the time taken and cost?

Just going to Citysquare. Will buy car if staying here which takes 10 min or so to our home...

Train departed on time...quite good...

After dinner at Tang ShiFu , now enjoying free wifi after a manicure and pedicure...

 

[henrylbh]

2016 is a very good year for rabbit

 

[mummy1234]

2016 is a very good year for rabbit

Thanks, I hope so...

Bought our milk powder at KomtarSC and saved S$50 for 2 1.8 kg equivalent tins...can buy more but legs aching and too tired to walk back to Citysquare so having too sweet mocha at Starbucks and enjoying free wifi...while waiting for our 10 pm train...

There is a big carpark at the JB Sentral checkpoint where I can park in future if I stay there and commute and it is really convenient with link ridges to city square and Komtar SC from the checkpoint...

Yet to fully explore Komtar SC where the Angry Birds park is...maybe next time....the shopping Centres are really very nice with many restaurants and saw a Thai massage place in Komtar SC too where a 60 min massage costs about rm109...will try that out next time we visit...

And my manicure and pedicure costs only rm65 which is like 50% that of Sg, 2 medium sized mocha costs less than S$10....man....really look forward to this lower costs of living if we move here...

It is pretty late now but feel pretty safe too so I think JB is really not as unsafe and undeveloped as what many of you think....in fact the shopping Centres are even better than the HK ones I saw in my recent trip...

 

[henrylbh]

If you stick to inside city square or those big ones, it should be safe, except for your car. But our papers ever reported that we had 3 or 4 of our army boys robbed at city square itself

 

[rrr2015]

If you stick to inside city square or those big ones, it should be safe, except for your car. But our papers ever reported that we had 3 or 4 of our army boys robbed at city square itself

car break in can even happen near of police station!

 

[mummy1234]

Clearing customs was not as tedious as I had feared...takes only 10 min so about half an hr to cross the causeway including customs which should be faster than driving during peak hrs so my plan to semiretire there and work twice a week in Woodlands seem very viable...

 

[agenda]

Any sexperts here can give advice on buying property in JB? Everytime I cross custom and see the agents trying to sell units, it gets very attractive cause of the exchange rates. A nice 2/3 br can cost 800k rm which is very cheap by singapore standards

But I heard foreigners can only buy if its more than 1 million rm? And the interests for loan is more than 4%?

Is it still valuable to buy a place to rent out as airbnb or what not and maybe sell to flip profit after a few years?

 

[mummy1234]

Any sexperts here can give advice on buying property in JB? Everytime I cross custom and see the agents trying to sell units, it gets very attractive cause of the exchange rates. A nice 2/3 br can cost 800k rm which is very cheap by singapore standards

But I heard foreigners can only buy if its more than 1 million rm? And the interests for loan is more than 4%?

Is it still valuable to buy a place to rent out as airbnb or what not and maybe sell to flip profit after a few years?

Certain areas can buy below 1mil but more than 500k...buy near Ciq for better rental potential especially if RTS gets built, rental demand for condos near JB Sentral should skyrocket but there is also oversupply so safer if prepared for own stay if cannot flip...hubby was just saying we should have bought nearer CIQ instead of Austin Heights...

 

[nanobond]

Hi everyone,

I happen to chance upon this forum discussing living/retiring in JB. Hope you all don't mind me joining in the chat....

I also wonder if retiring in JB is a possibility for some of us Singaporeans. Other than the safety concerns, it's the traveling time across the causeway and back that is the killer.

I don't know how some Singaporeans can do it now. I heard they got to wake up very early in the morning and leave work early or very late (after 9pm). Some think it's worth it as they get to live in a big house in JB. But I feel the quality of lifestyle gets heavily compromised instead.

Personally, I've bought a home in Medini but I am having cold feet now. I've read about the oversupply issue in Iskandar and how rental may be difficult if one is trying to invest in JB. But others told me to not worry so much and think long term when JB and Iskandar become more developed next time.

Anyone has any thoughts on the above?

Some say in property investment, one has to hold and view the investment long term. For eg, those who bought Singapore properties in the early days are now all multi-millionaires. I don't expect to earn much in JB properties but I wonder if their value will rise years later.

I can't imagine what Singapore will be like 15-20 years time. As it is, many of my juniors at work who graduated from university recently are earning no more than those back 8-10 years ago! But public housing has risen by more than 100% in the last 5-10 years.

The Singapore government will continually have us believe we write the "Singapore story" and determine its success. I don't buy all that stuff. The fate living here is more or less determined.

Is the Singapore lifestyle really that sustainable for the commoners? I know the rich will thrive but I'm not sure about the normal man or woman in the street. Very soon, many of our kids will have to make do with tiny 2 or 3 bedroom HDB flats that cost more than S$500k to buy. Not hard to imagine that happening.

So I wonder if JB is the answer to the problems commoners face here.....

 

[mummy1234]

I think RTS will make JB the answer...

 

[henrylbh]

I think RTS will make JB the answer...

May not be especially for those who may want to stay there long term. When there are too many of us with higher spending power, there may be resentment and the first screw they tighten will be foreigners living there.

 

[mummy1234]

May not be especially for those who may want to stay there long term. When there are too many of us with higher spending power, there may be resentment and the first screw they tighten will be foreigners living there.

They r already raising the bar...to above 2 mil rm for landed and only at international zones and leasehold only...

 

[mummy1234]

That is a big jump from 250krm not too Long ago...

 

[henrylbh]

That is a big jump from 250krm not too Long ago...

Raising the purchase price will not deter foreigners as prices are still affordable and developers will just build bigger properties for foreigners. It will be more effective if they introduce high seller stamp duty on foreigners. In such case, even loser need to pay duty on selling price.

 

[OngHuatHuat]

@nanobond

I have seen elderly uncle aunty going through Malaysia custom using Macs lane, think they are not working anymore but retiring in jb.
Not sure why they made the choice, I think most likely due to lower expenses in Malaysia.
If they have fully paid hdb in Singapore, it is easily doable.
Furthermore, now Singapore extend the use of medisave to certain private hospitals in Malaysia, it helps to reduce medical cost as well.

Security wise, frankly speaking, I lived in jb for 5 years before coming to sg, non gated and guarded home with a lot of Indians in my neighborhood, sometimes worry about security but never been robbed before. Think need to raise self awareness.

Jb is safer compared to kl or pj, but now seems even kl and pj are improving.

Daily commute decreases quality of life a lot, so not advisable to do so. Even my work schedule is very flexible, I don't do that due to waste of time. I rather spend more time and money in Singapore.

 

[OngHuatHuat]

2 million ringgit only applicable to kl, pj certain area and Penang landed if I am not wrong. Jb still 1 million ringgit. Not sure when will they raise the bar though, given current situation, most likely they won't raise it in the near future.

I wish to buy a Penang landed too, but the price seems out of reach at the moment.

They r already raising the bar...to above 2 mil rm for landed and only at international zones and leasehold only...

 

[OngHuatHuat]

You can pay attention to r&f and jb suasana if you are interested. I hope there will
Be some fire sales once the condos are completed. Hopefully Singaporean owners see depreciating ringgit as a liability and willing to
Sell their jb suasana home at a loss.

Certain areas can buy below 1mil but more than 500k...buy near Ciq for better rental potential especially if RTS gets built, rental demand for condos near JB Sentral should skyrocket but there is also oversupply so safer if prepared for own stay if cannot flip...hubby was just saying we should have bought nearer CIQ instead of Austin Heights...

 

[nanobond]

Thank you for the advice, yyhwin.

Yes, I share your thoughts. I also think maybe when one has reached retirement age, retiring in JB makes sense. But for those still working or have kids in Singapore schools, it's not advisable as a lot of time is wasted. Can be tiring and emotions may be affected. I've watched a local documentary and know some Singaporean families do it though.

Is it true that JB condos become old very easily? I regretted buying a condo in Medini so early as I'm far from retiring. If I keep it till 15-20 years later, I'm just afraid its condition will become bad very quickly. Thinking of giving up the unit now as I think it will eat into my finances along the way.

@nanobond

I have seen elderly uncle aunty going through Malaysia custom using Macs lane, think they are not working anymore but retiring in jb.
Not sure why they made the choice, I think most likely due to lower expenses in Malaysia.
If they have fully paid hdb in Singapore, it is easily doable.
Furthermore, now Singapore extend the use of medisave to certain private hospitals in Malaysia, it helps to reduce medical cost as well.

Security wise, frankly speaking, I lived in jb for 5 years before coming to sg, non gated and guarded home with a lot of Indians in my neighborhood, sometimes worry about security but never been robbed before. Think need to raise self awareness.

Jb is safer by kl or pj, but now seems even kl and pj are improving.

Daily commute decreases quality of life a lot, so not advisable to do so. Even my work schedule is very flexible, I don't do that due to waste of time. I rather spend more time and money in Singapore.

 

[nanobond]

You can pay attention to r&f and jb suasana if you are interested. I hope there will
Be some fire sales once the condos are completed. Hopefully Singaporean owners see depreciating ringgit as a liability and willing to
Sell their jb suasana home at a loss.

Good point there. Actually, there are 2 ways to look at it. Some say now it's a good time to buy Malaysian properties as the Ringgit is low. And analysts say it can't stay at this level for long.

Another way to look at it is that the Malaysian properties one is holding now are losing money. But it may not be forever....