Property value appreciation at Ideal - Queens Waterfront venture

Dear Penangites and Expats living in lovely Penang island,

I am planning to invest in Penang by buying a flat in Queens Waterfront Condo. This project is being handled by Ideal property management. And this venture is very close to Queensbay mall with sea/Pool view.

My question here, If i invest 1.1 Million  now in Penang and when can i see a good appreciation of value. Is this venture can be considered as a investment option with focus of 5-7 years?

Please advise and share your feedback. Appreciate your help!

Thank you!
Regards,
Viswa

Hi,

I believe you can refer to transacted data on Brickz Malaysia, if the price gap between what you are buying and what the market rate actually is is high, you might want to be a little more cautious.

https://www.brickz.my

Looks like it's in a good location on the waterfront and not far form a mall. However, there is a huge difference between having a unit facing the sea and having one facing inland. So my guess is that there may not be so many remaining with a sea view, but correct me if I am wrong.

I can't say if it will be a good investment in 5 - 7 years. My general feeling for Malaysia is that you need to look beyond that time scale in order to make a much of a profit. Since the completion will be in 2022, my advice is to get an interior designer to do it up as soon as it is completed and put it for rent. If you are getting a bank loan then opt for a long repayment period. That way, if you have difficulties finding a tenant then the repayments will not be too heavy.

Also, how much discount are you getting from the launch price? Even those early bird discounts of 5% or so can mean the difference between profit and no profit since the property market is generally stagnant in Malaysia.

Thank you my friend...

Thanks for your detailed inputs.

This site is really useful. But Queens waterfront is not listed yet here.

New developments are sometimes listed on property sites before the projects are completed, and usually just show the name of the condominium with some general information provided by the developer. Any valuations are probably not realistic.

The best way to get a good idea of whether this is a good investment or not is to speak with someone from the mortgage department of a bank. All my mortgage loans were with a foreign bank in Malaysia and I got to know one of the officers quite well. He was an investor himself and knew almost everything about every new project, the good points and the bad points. He will tell you about the Developer and whether it is a reliable one that does or does not have past problems, he will tell you what kind of profit you might make in 5 years (you often need to hold onto a property for 5 years to avoid being taxed heavily with Malaysia's RPGT). He may either recommend the project or tell you he has his doubts. He may suggest better developments. Also, some banks have a relationship with certain developers or certain projects and may offer some special discount, perhaps an additional 3% discount from the buying price. You can only know this kind of information by meeting and speaking with the bank's mortgage department.

Yes. what you can do is compare it with neighbouring properties that are transacting and use that as a reference point. So as to get a better gauge of the pricing along the same street.

The above point is only valid if the neighbouring property is of a similar standard to Queens Waterfront in terms of location, views, facilities, quality, looks, prestige, age and desirability etc since every condo is different. I would still stick to speaking to someone at a bank.

Also, you might already know that an apartment on a floor with the number 8 and an apartment with the number 8 are more desirable by Chinese which also means you could potentially sell it for a better price. The last apartment I bought originally was on the 27th floor but the sales guy from the developer let me know that someone with a unit on the 28th floor had dropped out and I managed to switch apartments before they had begun the foundation work. Additionally, the unit number has an 8 in it and my parking lot number is 0088.