Swordie Bloggie

If you look around Kota Kinabalu lately, there seems to be loads of construction going on… hotels and residences. And that don’t include those completed recently. Right now, there are more than 105 hotels, hotel residents, resorts and resort condos in KK alone.

The 105 are not including budget hotels which don’t have hotel star ratings. Boutique Hotels are everywhere too… it seems that boutique hotels are gaining popularity in KK the last couple of years. When I see all these hotels popping up everywhere, I’m wondering if they have enough guests to survive the stiff competition among them. But looking at the on-going mega hotel constructions, the demand must be more than the supply at the moment… which is good for our economy.

Constructions for residence such as condominiums and housing estates are quite a number too. 1Sulaman which they called self-contained neighborhood which has more than 2000 of condominium units is one example which is going to be completed soon.

Another example is the Aeropod Tanjung Aru which was launched recently. Construction have not started, but this one is going to be mega too… and it is right next to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Aeropod will span approximately 60 acres with mixtures of retail, offices, F&B, serviced apartment, SOHO, Corporate Office, boutique hotel and 5-star hotel… and I like this. Probably this is where I should buy an apartment.

But with world economy condition which is not favorable at the moment, will there be properties bubble burst soon?… will there be foreclosures effects… like foreclosures chicagoland? If burst going to happen, then it is not the right time to buy properties… but if economy going to turn great, then collecting properties is the way… real estate business will be good… 😀

Should the authority impose a limit to the number of houses each individual can own at one time for a certain period?… I think they should, so that the properties price can be stabilized and not keep on increasing every month… 😛 If not, those can afford will keep on buying houses and sell it later at a higher price or rent them out to those who can’t afford buying house since properties prices keep on increasing every month. Renting out properties like Calgary rentals is a very lucrative business… 😀 But why am I talking properties rental… well keep on reading…

Buyers Complain of Prime Units Being Taken Up Before Launch… that’s what in the newspaper headlines today… what’s the issue here?… Well, it seems that properties developers are ‘cheating’ genuine buyers during their property launching… I think it’s not exactly cheating, it’s more like the properties offered to the public are not in totality… meaning some part of the properties are not offered to the public… mostly the hot properties like the corner lots which has bigger land or surrounding areas.

Buyers complained that although they came early during properties launching, the hot lots like the end or corner lots are all marked taken or sold. It seems that the developer has given the hot lots to their family members, staff or friends before the launching date which according to them is unfair. To be fair to all buyers, they want the authority to intervene and they suggest ballot system should be used for these hot lots.

But according to National House Buyers Associations secretary-general, prime lots in new housing projects were usually offered to selected groups of people before the launch… so, it is true then that hot lots are given before launching… now, is this fair or unfair?… Those can afford will collect the hot lots to be sold later at a higher price… and this will make the properties price goes up… which is bad to those who can’t afford and end up only able to rent house instead of buying. If this is the case, I might as well start doing properties rental business… 😀

So what is the solution?… Should the authority impose a limit to the number of houses each individual can own at one time for a certain period?…