Sunday, December 4, 2011

The mobile view of this blog

Google Analytics shows that about 15% of my visitors to this blog are actually reading with mobile device. Last month, 37.37% of the mobile visits are from iPhone, 29.43% from Android, 27.31% from iPad, 1.86% from Symbian, and the rest from others.

If you are accessing this blog (or any other blogs hosted in Google's Blogger a.k.a. Blogspot platform) with your mobile device, you will be able to browse its mobile view, which is a simpler, faster loading version. Here is how it looks like:


Scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can find the "View web version" option to switch to its web view.


Actually, web view is also pretty nice when browsed with my favourite mobile browser - Dolphin Browser.


It is even better if you rotate your phone to read in landscape mode.


Actually, there is a trick in the blog's URL to switch it to mobile view and vice versa.
If you are also blogging on Google's Blogger a.k.a. Blogspot, you can check how your blog looks like in its mobile view by accessing it with your mobile phone, or by accessing from any browser using the mobile view URL as above. There are several templates and settings which you can configure in the Settings > Email & Mobile tab.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The cost of selling a property in Malaysia

If you were to buy a property for investment, you should be well aware of the cost involved in buying the property, as well as the cost to sell it later.

The typical cost of selling the property consists of:
1. Advertisement fee to look for buyer (if any).

2. Agent fee (if you engage property agent to help you to sell your house): between 2%-2.75%. Officially, it is 2.75% if the selling price is below RM500k, and 2% if the selling price is above RM500k. There is a 6% government tax on this agent fee too.

3. Lawyer fee for Sales and Purchase Agreement (calculated based on the property's selling price, if you engage a lawyer on your behalf. You can save on this if you use the buyer's lawyer):

  • First RM150k = 1% (or minimum RM300, whichever higher)
  • Subsequent up to RM1 million = 0.7%
  • Subsequent up to RM3 million = 0.6%
  • Subsequent up to RM5 million = 0.5%
  • Subsequent up to RM7.5 million = 0.4%
  • Above RM7.5 million = negotiable
4. Deed of Receipt & Reassignment, Revocation of Power of Attorney, Letter of Undertaking, Statutory Declaration, etc. = a few hundreds                      

5. Miscellaneous legal fee = at least a few hundreds

6. 6% government tax on total lawyer fee

7. Submission of CKHT 1A form per seller = RM300 (RM600 if the house is jointly owned by 2 owners) 

8. Real Property Gain Tax = 5% of net profit if selling within 5 years of acquisition

9. Penalty payable for early mortgage settlement (if still within lock-in period) = depends on the loan agreement

Besides, you can get back some surrender value (partial refund on premium paid) from the following (if applicable):
  • Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA)
  • Fire insurance
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    Monday, November 28, 2011

    The cost of buying and owning a property in Malaysia

    The property market in Malaysia has gained quite a lot of interest, especially over the past 3 years when the mortgage loan interest dipped to historical low.

    If you were to buy a property for own stay or for investment, you should be well prepared for the cost involved.

    The typical cost consists of:

    A. One time cost

    1. The booking fee, down payment and subsequent unfinanced payment of the property (normally about 10%-20% of the property price)

    2. Lawyer fee for Sales and Purchase Agreement (calculated based on the property price):

    • First RM150k = 1% (or minimum RM300, whichever higher)
    • Subsequent up to RM1 million = 0.7%
    • Subsequent up to RM3 million = 0.6%
    • Subsequent up to RM5 million = 0.5%
    • Subsequent up to RM7.5 million = 0.4%
    • Above RM7.5 million = negotiable
    3. Miscellaneous fee for preparation of Sales and Purchase Agreement = at least a few hundreds

    4. 6% government tax on total lawyer fee for Sales and Purchase Agreement

    5. Stamp Duty of Sales and Purchase Agreement (calculated based on the property price):
    • First RM100k = 1%
    • Subsequent up to RM500k = 2%
    • Subsequently onwards = 3%
    6. Lawyer fee for Loan Facility Agreement (calculated based on mortgaged amount):
    • First RM150k = 1% (or minimum RM300, whichever higher)
    • Subsequent up to RM1 million = 0.7%
    • Subsequent up to RM3 million = 0.6%
    • Subsequent up to RM5 million = 0.5%
    • Subsequent up to RM7.5 million = 0.4%
    • Above RM7.5 million = negotiable
    7. Stamp Duty of Loan Facility Agreement (calculated based on mortgaged amount) = 0.5%

    8. Miscellaneous fee for preparation of Loan Facility Agreement = at least a few hundreds

    9. 6% government tax on total lawyer fee for Loan Facility Agreement

    10. Land/Strata Ownership Title Transfer = at least a few hundreds + 6% government tax on legal fee

    11. Stamp Duty of Land/Strata Ownership Title Transfer (calculated based on the property price):
    • First RM100k = RM1 for every RM100 or fractional part of RM100
    • Subsequent up to RM500k = RM2 for every RM100 or fractional part of RM100
    • Above RM500k = RM3 for every RM100 or fractional part of RM100
    12. Consent to Charge (for leasehold property) = at least a few hundreds + 6% government tax on legal fee

    13. Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA, optional) = a few thousands

    14. Deposit for water and electricity = at least a few hundreds

    15. Deposit for telephone, Internet service, satellite/cable TV (optional) = at least a few hundreds

    16. Renovation and moving cost = depends on you, easily more than RM10k

    B. Recurring cost

    1. Quit rent (yearly) = around RM50

    2. Assessment tax (yearly) = a few hundreds

    3. Fire insurance (yearly) = a few hundreds

    4. Mortgage Level Term Assurance (MLTA, yearly, optional) = a few thousands

    5. Housing loan repayment (monthly) = at least a few hundreds

    6. Severage treatment fee (half yearly) = RM48

    7. Water, electricity, telephone, Internet, satellite/cable TV, etc. = depends on usage

    8. Cooking gas = depends on usage

    9. Security fee (for gated & guarded community or apartment/condominium) = depends

    10. Maintenance fee and sinking fund (for apartment/condominium) = depends

    11. Car park rental (optional for certain apartment/condominium) = depends

    12. Pest and termite control service (yearly, optional) = at least a few hundreds

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    Hint: Click on the "Older Posts" link to continue reading, or click here for a listing of all my past 3 months articles.