Our home at Taman Sutera after 9 months

Taman Sutera Kajang

It's been ages since the last entry i made on our house project. From March to Now December, progress has been very smooth and i believe, according to schedule (should there be any delay, there's no way the purchaser may know unless the period stipulated in the S&P has already passed!).

Our last visit to the project's site and observation from afar indicate that the developer is now completing RC works for the block near the main entrance. Our house suppose to be located in the middle row has shown practically good progress. RC works has now completed, staircase casted and formwork removed, brickworks has already taking place at the 1st floor and roof should have all been installed, except perhaps those at the corner.

The first row, which is the earliest block to be constructed, has received almost all it's bricks and i assume soon, finishing works ie plastering and all those internal works will commence.

In term of bank facility, 2nd payment has been made by the bank to the developer and this second claim amount to rm52k +. We do hope that the project will run smooth (no delay!!) eventhough it's been raining most days in December.

Update Rumah - 1st site visit

Loan progress

Our loan has been approved and we have already signed all documents required. I have returned the document to the bank personnel and up to date, we haven't heard anything whether it was ok or ko (amend etc..). We assume should there be no calls from bank, well we guess everything goes just fine.

S&P

The last call I received from the panel lawyer mentioned that the document has been stamped and ready for collection at the developer's office. We don't have plan just yet to drive all the way to Kajang at the moment. So we just leave it there or perhaps some other week.

Site progress

We eventually went to the site last Sunday just to feed our curiosity as what is the current progress. The earthwork stage has already passed and we seen piling plants around the site depicting piling works is now underway. Last Sunday they managed to complete the 1st block and base to our experience, by the end of this week, the first row should have been completed. Our propose home is at the second row and I think by the end of May 2010, the overall piling works can definitely complete. I was told by the sale person that phase 4D shall complete together with the 4C. They don't launch this phase just yet, I think they will start on the 4D after 4C is sold out. We don't take photos last Sunday as it was raining. Perhaps we shall include some photos after this.

Loan Update

Fresh from the bank

Just came back from bank checking on the loan agreement document prepared by them. As I have thought, the document is thick (don't mentioned how many copies they made!) and full with 'I don't know what' words and terms. Having two times experience before with the same bank, I am quite familiar with the way they arrange the terms and where to find certain clause on something. Being 100% Islamic Bank, I can understand the bulk of financial commitment waiting us for the next 30 years. My 1st installment will amount almost RM 1, 700.00 that that will be revised following the increase and decrease of the BLR. Peace though that islamic banking system has this capping rate which they used for 'akad' purposes. The rate has been capped at 10.50% and whilst I am borrowing them RM 360,000.00 the akad for the property will be at RM 1,200,000.00!! yes, 1.2 million. I wonder if let say, I still can work at 80, do I have all the sufficient to keep and raise 1.2 million? Well beyond imagination.

Other terms

Other terms seem similar which I don't bother so much to read. I just go and checked the upfront that need to be paid upon signing the document and to my suprise I just need to pay RM 200.00 for processing fee or something. Just hope that the lawyer that the bank appoint now will be okay. Not like the previous one who easily karap my money hoho. Their service okay though but when this refund issue come to surface, ooooo. hate to mention this.

Note to those who plan to purchase a property

Don't worry if you don't have much money. Well planned, organized and structured plan will save the day. But, if you don't have at least the deposit, then perhaps some other time hahaha

Rumah

Dapat call dari developer pagi tadi, asyik2 tanya pasal progress documentation. So far selepas hampir sebulan proses ni berjalan sekarang ni lawyer developer dah prepare S&P (kitorang decide nak try loan dulu baru nak sign S&P) dan Bank tengah prepare loan offer letter dan agreement. For this loan kitorang decide buat join name since name sendiri dah agak ketat. Itu pun pakai panel tempat kerja pasal nak dapatkan high margin (yahoo!! dapat 95%) meruncing gak la masa nak tunggu result loan pasal fund pun limited.

Pikir2 pasal nak beli rumah ni, mula2 tak budget pun nak beli lagi, last attempt beli tahun 2008. Rumah tu rumah lelong, aku mana la ada experience beli rumah lelong. Rupa-rupanya banyak isu kalau nak consider beli rumah lelong. Kes aku yang tak boleh nak setel hari tu pasal maintenance fee tertunggak dekat 12k. Abisnya, surat undertaking dari DBKL selaku developer asal tak boleh nak kuar. Last2 kes rumah tu tergantung dekat 2 tahun. Nasib baik ada tenant masa aku beli hari tu, dapatla gak recoup balik 5% deposit yang dah lebur kat auctioneer. Beli rumah lelong ni nasib la, ada orang cakap nak beli rumah lelong ni kena pakai duit banyak. Banyak mana tu ikut harga rumah, tapi shortfall nya, legal fees semua kena tanggung sendiri, tu tak kira disbursement fee lagi, untuk rumah 60k haritu, legal fee campur disbursement je dah dekat 4k. Duit lagi tu, dahla masa tu dengan nak kawin lagi. Tapi memikirkan nak ada rumah, tahan je la penangan dia.

Lepas 2 tahun kes rumah tu hang camtu, aku decide withdraw je la purchase tu. Agak rugi jugak la memikirkan kos2 yang dah dikeluarkan seperti:

1- Duit deposit (5%) harga rumah - RM 3,500. Ni duit saving sendiri.
2- Upah agen: RM 1,000.00 - Mamat ni memang gunting dalam selimut la, ambik kesempatan je kerjanya. Kerjanya cuma buh iklan kat tiang lampu, pastu teman gi auction. Masa sebelum auction kerjanya cuma menakutkan kita dengan macam2 cerita sampai aku pun percaya yang agen ni penting. Abis auction, dia karap RM 1,000.00 tu, call apa semua dah tak layan.
3- Upah valuer - RM 300.00 - ni request by bank, so nothing much I can say about it.
4- Upah lawyer - RM 3,000 lebih including disbursement. Aku setel semua, cuma kalau boleh disbursement tu aku tak bayar dulu lagi ok. pasal apa, sampai sekarang aku tulis surat mintak refund disbursement fee haram dorang tak layan. Lawyer patutnya kena la adil betul tak? aku rasa lawyer2 ni cuma requirement je la, interest kita bukan dorang jaga sangat la. Business tetap business. Money matters maaa..

Uihhh.... dekat 10k jugak abis, tapi rumah tak dapat pun. Ding dong2 camtu, so early this month, aku cancel loan agreement dengan bank (terima kasih banyak bank), call lawyer mintak refund. Boleh gak la cover untuk rumah yang baru nak beli ni pulak. Tapi sadly, biasa la, duit bila dah masuk poket orang susah nak dapat balik. Masih ding dong2. Ni pun surat last yang aku hantar dorang belum reply. Tak harap sangat la dapat balik, cuma kalau nama lawyer tu, patut kena adil dan saksama la. Legal fee tu faham la, mungkin tak dapat refund 100% pasal kes dah jalan 2 tahun tapi disbursement fee, tu patut kena pulang la, pasal presentation kat land office pun tak buat lagi. Tapi jangan sebut nama firm la, dorang pun nak carik makan hehe

ok enough the sad part. Sekarang kalau ikut salesperson tu kerja earthwork dah jalan balik, completion date expected to be around nov. 2011. mean still ada almost 2 years from now. For the time being, aku tengah chase lawyer pasal S&P dan bank untuk loan agreement.

Just kalau yang tengah berkira nak beli rumah, ada strategi yang korang kena plan la. Tak boleh main buh je. Duit tak semestinya kena banyak, kalau kena dengan game plan tu, insyaallah boleh berjaya, ni attempt yang ketiga. Harap2 ada rezeki anak kali ni

Sabah

Dah alang-alang malas nak buat keja arini, jom kita post banyak-banyak haha.

Yang ni pasal trip kitorang ke KK bulan Januari hari tu. Dapat tiket murah gak la, RM 400/2 orang/to and fro (MAS). Kitorang pergi sekali 8 orang, geng lain yang 6 orang tu nak panjat gunung, tapi since kitorang fitness setakat panjat tangga rumah flet ni je, terus lupakan je la haha.

Flight pergi biasa-biasa je la, pasal check in lambat, ktrg pun duduk sorang sana sorang sini, tak dak hal, yang penting sampai.

Sampai KK dah dekat pukul 1 pagi, terus carik uncle yang bawak kitorang ke Lodging kat area Jalan Gaya. Nama pun lodge, sampai setakat campak-campak barang terus tido. Plan sok nak ambik keta sewa, drive sendiri ke Kundasang atau mana-mana lagi. Zzzz

Sok pagi nya, sabtu bangun2 terus semua turun carik makan pagi, me and wife kalau ikut plan akan check out untuk ambik keta around pukul 10 pagi. Kitorang sewa dekat 3 hari, lepas tawar-menawar dapatla bargain at RM 300 untuk viva otomatik. Boleh la since this is our first time drive sendiri masa trip.

Lodge tu namanya stay in lodge, dapat number pun kat internet, murah gak la untuk standard backpackers hostel. Air panas semua ada, uncle host tu pun friendly, boleh kaw tim nak kuar lambat lagi. Nice. Airport transfer kitorang dari KKIA ke Jalan Gaya pun dia yang arrange kan for RM 100 per van of 8. kira ok la

Saturday

Dapat je keta pukul 10 tu, terus drive ke Kundasang, mula2 nak stay kat area kinarut je pasal memikirkan jalan yang agaknya bengkok2. tapi pasal wife dah berjaya convince yang jalan sure ok, ok la try gi kundasang. Jalan KK Kundasang ok sikit dari Jalan Tapah Cameron, jalan dia pun besar. Maybe pasal tu antara main road dorang ke east side of Sabah Ranau etc. Bas besar2 lalu situ, climbing part tak berapa trilling macam gi genting atau cameron la, tapi view breathtaking la.

As we climb up to Kundasang sayup2 nampak la Mt Kinabalu punya peak. Memang mighty looking from afar, Sayup je awan kat atas tu, Masa nak approaching Kundasang (highest point of the winding road), kitorang masuk gak la ke Mt Kinabalu Park, just pusing2 janji masuk, ambik gambar skit. Dari Park tu, kitorang terus ke Kundasang, kitorang sebenarnya ikut signboard je, mana tau hala mana haha

Masa sampai kundasang, siang lagi, tapi temperature mild, suasana macam cameron jugak, cuma messy skit pasal ada projek buat jalan, pekan tak besar mana pun, tapi ada bank (hebat!), Hotel yang kitorang pick tu kat atas bukit skit, tapi viva tu kuat, siap boleh naik.

Pasal nak adventure skit, kitorang ambik chalet kat hotel tu, rate ok la dekat 2 rat, tapi view memang dasyat, depan nu gunung kinabalu. Time tu dah sejuk gak la, tapi the worst is yet to arrive haha

Chalet itu (tobat tak mau dok chalet lagi dah!!)

Chalet tu ok. spacious, tapi dinding semua bukan solid brickwall, tapi drywall, kalau ketuk bunyi memang kuat. Sampai2 dah order mumy buat nescafe, ambik gambar skit. Malam tu kitorang pakat stay kat chalet je, hujan pulak SEJUKKKKK GILERRR!! wei. Baju sejuk ke hapa memang tak bawak pasal bajet nak dok beach area kat kinarut je. Tak dinner dah malam tu, pasal ptg kitorang dah tour sampai ranau sana makan jom jimat KFC haha.

Malam tu memang sejuk gile, lantai dia sejuk sangat sampai kaki rasa kebas kalau pijak. Tapi kitorang gagahkan jugak la tido malam tu. Pagi soknya, awan kabus ntah apa lagi tebal gile, water heater pulak buat hal. Sejuk sangat sampai air pun tak nak panas dah. Tobat la wei dok chalet. Tapi view dia that morning memang excellent (minus the bitter cold!).

That morning tak buat apa2, pegi breakfast and then pusing2 kat area hotel tu je. Around 10am kitorang check out and head back to KK. Kalau orang tanya beside the view tu ada apa lagi kat kundasang tu, memang takda apa2 la weh. Kalau honeymoon pun, kalau boleh la ngadap muka satu sama lain 24 hrs ok la. Aku ada tanya budak front desk tu semalam nya, ada swimming pool tak? dia kata sini dah sejuk, orang tak mandi swimming pool, lol.

Turun bawah (the route)

Driving down the mountain is a breeze, cuma masa kitorang pegi aritu, baru lepas landslide somewhere at the route. Sisa2 tanah masih ada lagi, tapi JKR dorang excellente, lepas sehari dah bersih. Lagipun route tu penting, kalau tutup, orang2 belah2 sana camna nak turun belah sini.

Jalan dia lebar with sufficient area to overtake the big and heavy vehicles. Senang la, driver dia pun berhemah tak ingat (credit to sabahan) tak macam KL/JB, wooh.

Passing jambatan tamparuli we head straight to one roundabout and turn right the signboard showing sandakan. Mentioned to wife the other day yang aku nak try jalan lain balik ke KK (passing port kapal selam and kingfisher park). We just follow the map I bought in KL and just follow signboard KK.

The highway

Highway yang kitorang lalu ni, pass many reclaimed swamp area, sampai kat satu tempat ni we passed signboard showing Shangri La rasa ria, masa nak pegi dulu ada check, the cheapest rate somewhere RM 600!!. Way too expensive la for budget traveller macam kitorang ni, tapi kitorang masuk jugak, park and walk around the premise. Pantai dia memang putih la, silau ni mata tengok pasir dia hehe.

Lepas dari rasa ria kitorang singgah pulak kat nexus karambunai, nama gempak, just nak check out the place mana tau 10 tahun lagi mampu hehe.

Dari nexus kitorang follow signboard straight ke KK, sampai KK, terus check in ke cititel express kat jalan singgah mata. New hotel and we got very cheap rate RM 60 kut semalam (or lesser + breakfast which is add on). Sebelum masuk bilik, front desk pesan bilik kecil and don't get suprised. Who cares if air con and shower power!!

Other attractions

Beside kundasang, wife ajak ke pasar philipine and KK punya waterfront. Petang tu ada pasar malam ke hapa, tapi havoc dengan orang jual seafood. Sotong dia, peh, besar lengan. Harga tak tau, kitorang tak survey. Pasar Philip. tu sebelum ni pernah pegi masa on official business some 3 years back, so tau gak la what's inside. Wife beli some girl's stuff (tak tengok pun apa bendanya) dengan apa ntah.

Tepat pukul 7, kitorang carik kedai seafood lain, just nak try betul ke murah. Sampai kat kedai makan yang banyak2 tu terus order ketam la, udang dengan ikan. Wife melantak 3/4, katanya sedap ni.

Nak balik KL

Flight kitorang ke KL pukul 7 camtu, pukul 5 kitorang dah sampai airport pasal nak check in early takut duduk jauh2 hehe. Flight kitorang MH81, flight transit dari Narita dalam tu banyak la orang Jepun. To be honest, this is my 1st experience la on board aircraft other than B737-400 dengan A320 (ye lah, paling jauh pun bangkok dengan bandung je, semua pakai kapal A320-Air Asia), jakun memang jakun la, BESAR AMAT weh.

Sepanjang flight weather ok (ceh, boleh tengok skrin-takde pape pun). Makan ok (balik2 ikan atau ayam?). Take off dasyat, lajak dia terlebih semacam je (kapal panjang kut), landing pun ok, satellite terminal KLIA. Ni lagi 1st time, NAIK TRANSIT TRAIN dari satellite ke MTB. Kuar2 sangkut kat imigresen, orang lain pakai passport, officer tu tanya awak ni dari mana, hehe.

Bag yang kitorang check in kat KK kuar lambat pulak, dah la kitorang kejar ERL pukul 11, tapi memang close, aku sampai lagi seminit je pintu nak tutup.

Tu la, a bit of our travel ke KK. Penat memang penat tapi the experience dia memang thumbs' up. Together we have been to Bandung je before this others, local destination (peninsular Malaysia). Our next trip ke Langkawi (Januari 2011!!) tiket dapat RM 36 (2 orang/to and fro). Tapi pending tiket our daughter (belum lahir lagi the time of purchased hehe). Kalau anak aku dah lahir baik beli seat 1 lagi, RM 18 je. In between now and Jan 2011, takda plan2 jauh2 lagi since my wife is now pregnant and I think better wait for our child to grow a bit before bawak jalan lagi haha.

Bocor pulak

Aku dah dok umah sewa ni (especially blok ni) dah dekat 4 tahun ada kut. Sebelum ni, masa bujang pindah randah 2 ke 3 kali pasal macam-macam sebab, tuan rumah tetiba nak masuk balik la (2 kali sebab yang macam ni), sebab lain pasal nak kahwin la bulan mei tahun lepas.

Pindah rumah ni tak seronok pun sebenarnya, nak kena buat perimeter defense baru (dari tikus dsb), tukar paip (nak masuk water filter), kena beli tikar getah baru dan yang paling haru, nak angkat barang-barang. Sekarang even dah kahwin pun, masih maintain cam puak nomad (minus the camel and tent!) mana tau sok lusa tetiba tuan rumah cakap nak masuk balik.

Luckily, rumah yang kitorang dok sekarang ada tenancy agreement untuk 2 tahun, at least rest assured yang tuan rumah tak tetiba nak masuk balik sebelum agreement abis. Camanapun, rumah tu, yelah, tuan rumah punya la kan. kut2 dia nak masuk balik, nak buat camana.

The house (sebenarnya unit low cost flat) serve us well all this while, until recently we noticed small fungi attack somewhere kat siling above our main bedroom. Bentuk spread dia cam cerita seram yang ada budak mati dalam tong air tu and it keeps on spreading its size. The most recently, water start to seeps in through the ceiling and the last weekend was the worst. The rain water drips in and drenched our bed. Haru beb, aku angkat sorang (kesian wife tengah pregnant) nasib baik esok nya dah kering hehe.

A day after that, aku kerjakan katil tu, move to the other side kasi nampak view luar la katanya. Wife cakap macam pindah rumah baru, cuma view dia belakang rumah orang la hahaha. Rumah belakang kitorang pulak asal sepanjang masa riuh, dah tu mesti nak bukak lampu kat dry yard belakang. Last2 kitorang memang dah tak peduli la, kalau dan ngantuk, terang rembang pun terlelap gak haha.

Sewa murah je area tu, RM 450, kadai makan dekat (faktor penting masa bujang dulu) walaupun kadang2 try gak la masak kalau agak2 nak save skit bulan tu.

Ni pun tengok dah gelap ni, dah 2 hari tak hujan tahap banjir, rasa hari ni mesti banjir kat mana2. Rumah tu memang dah banjir, tahan2 pun tak guna, banjir pun banjir la haha janji siling tak jatuh dah la. dah la tikus kat atas siling tu asyik buat drift.

Rasa dah dekat masa gak kut kitorang pindah, tengok la bajet camna

Nak buat ke camana ni..

Dateline nak kena hantar studi suppose by end of this year. Tapi maklumla, mesti proses nak ambik masa lagi, nak kena pergi research method course lagi, proposal ntah apa cerita la (bila nak start pun tak tau lagi kaka)

Tapi kena positif la, baru bulan 3, tapi dah macam-macam nak kena buat (ada lagi tak mention kat sini lagi hoho). Slow and steady la. Kita tengok bulan 4 camna