Buying an Apartment in Malaysia

yes indeed and its only in Kuala Lumpur area. Elsewhere such as Selangor is min RM2M.

ohh 

Hi
Foreigners can buy properties in KL provided that it is RM1M if it is under residential category or RM2M for service residences which r  normally built on commercial land

xxx

Cheers ☺

yes, this is a rule imposed several years ago. minium sales & purchase price is RM1 mil. Unless you are looking a new project development where sometimes developers offer rebates where you are potentially buying a property at RM800-900k after discount.

Selangor area is much higher at RM2mil. Penang is at RM500k but thats no where near kl

Thanks for the info.. "Unless you are looking a new project development where sometimes developers offer rebates where you are potentially buying a property at RM800-900k after discount.".. I was unaware about this part.. Can give me more details on this??

1) If you are married to a Malaysian woman and you give her the money to buy in her own name, then whats the price--any?

2) If you own a local Sdn Bhd and the company buys the house in its name, then whats the price--any?

There's no minimum or maximum purchase price for locals to buy a property in their own country, as well as purchasing under Malaysian Companies. They can also buy property as many as they wish, they just have to deal with taxes! Lol
All those particular rules only apply to foreigners.
so if purchasing under Malaysian wife's name, no worries, no worries at all!

Ok thanks. Previously, an accountant said the government might block a purchase if the Malaysian was married to a foreigner, the logic being that the foreigner still benefits from the purchase. Id like to hear from someone who has done it recently.

And what about the second question, can a local company buy at any level? Again, the same problem comes up, if a foreigner controls the shares, its the foreigner who benefits.

If foreigner has share in the local incorporated company, he (foreigner) should not have controlling stake (<50%), where local has the controlling stake (>50%) stake, then can purchase under the company.

If you buy under a wife's name BIG worries.

Never do that.

I was referring to Malaysian Law.  There is no written law about......

But hey!......Yeah! Don't because she might divorce you ASAP and run away with your so-called love-nest!!!!!!
If you don't or can't trust her, why marry her in the first place? Lol
Is it because it's very common these days to get married out-of-love?
How sad!

Many marriages start with love and end in lawyers.

Although this isnt thailand where so many "grieving" widows cry as they hand over 30% of asset value to the police for a death by accident verdict (eg fell out of 16th floor balcony with hands tied behind back. Obviously an accident) but many a man has regretted it. I could fill a small football stadium with such victims i have met over the years. Jealousy and revenge here means fleece the foreigner. Multi cultural marriages have a high failure rate so buying in name of a local partner is just a bad idea. Better if have kids of course so atleast they get it (unlesss some theiving relative or lover gets it - seen that happen as well)

He who pays the highest gets justice here!

Is your property for you to live in or for investment reasons?
If it's for investment reasons you have lots of other options that will cost you a lot less and yield a higher return. I know a guy who can help, if you would like his details feel free to drop me a message !

All true, all true.

Nemodot, the lawyers in my family often talk about your point which is that the best marriages have the best divorce planning. My brother said in 40 years of being a lawyer he never once had a divorce case in which the couple actually planned for the divorce as part of the marriage planning. I dont mean pre-nuptials but answering the question "how do we separate should we need to? how do we get away from each other? what are the steps to breaking what we have?" Those answers are the work of a good lawyer.

I too know juicy stories involving mystery, intrigue, betrayal by asian spouses and the thing they have in common are 1) sudden appearance of family members the other spouse never knew existed 2) h-ll hath no fury like a woman's scorn. However it started, for love or visa or anything, it instantly evaporates when the chips are down at the moment of separation and then you are at the mercy of her wrath which usually mimics the local laws.

Does any of that mean you WILL lose all? No, but the fact that it easily can necessarily means the other person 1) must consider writing it off from the start or 2) taking steps to protect ones self by keeping tight leashes and reminders going every single day. There are ways to secure money spent for a big asset and a lawyer will sort it out. Some people will give the house to the wife but take a promissory note back in return.

I wont judge or pre-suppose why anyone got together. They wanted a visa, grew into love; they lost love and grew into a visa. All kinds. But the character of the people mean more. Not intelligence but, for example, how do they talk about and treat their parents, their friends, how do others treat them?  If you see consistency and a lot of mutual respect going among outsiders to the relationship, those people are the least likely to be troublemakers later as they are the wrong type for it.

But how many expats are attracted to nice girls? If you pick up a skanky whore in a bangkok bar, how can you really expect her to suddenly be the kind of girl your mom always had in mind? The horror stories are sad but like they say, you cant make a silk purse out a sow's ear so you get what you get. Horror or whore, whats the difference? Same meaning. Yeah, so, dont be afraid to throw the dice on something like a house....but only when youve got the winning elements.

NewToMalaysia wrote:

Is your property for you to live in or for investment reasons?
If it's for investment reasons you have lots of other options that will cost you a lot less and yield a higher return. I know a guy who can help, if you would like his details feel free to drop me a message !

When I came to Malaysia the returns for condos were about 12% and about 6% for a house. This has evaporated through time. Last I looked, it was about 0-1.5%. But a house is special, investment or not. Even at 0% its still worth it because you have an equity nest and the utility of a living space when everything else in your life has turned to sht, even if the house value goes to zero. Its still there, the land cannot evaporate. No investment on the planet can ever top a house. Even the house is worthless and then burns to the ground, still there is the ground. Show me what tops that.

If you're buying a house to live in I agree, it's not a house it's a home. But I was talking as an investment that you don't live in.

Many old time expats stick to

"No honey no money"

They make sure if the other half walks away she does so with only the clothes on her back.

NewToMalaysia wrote:

If you're buying a house to live in I agree, it's not a house it's a home. But I was talking as an investment that you don't live in.

And id agree with you when people have a lot of money to diversify with. For most people, buying a property will be the most major, and only, investment they will ever make--if they are even able to at all.

Ive been a property agent for more than 35 years and if I seem tainted towards property its for a good reason.
1) you can pay it off and have something to show for your life which can also be a source of capital later if needed.
2) you can live in it.
3) you can rent to others and not only have income but pay it off on someone elses back.
4) you can change its use. Bare land can become a farm for yourself or for profit, it can become a house, an apartment block, shoplots, an airport, a skyscraper. You can drill for oil and/or a permanent WATER source and that alone is a reason. Changing its use can sharply increase its value and utility.
5) you can multiply that property by buying more on a systematic schedule. When you are 70 and retired, those 30 properties you bought over the years will bag you an insanely wonderful retirement. Even a run-down, decrepit property still has monthly rent value.

What other investments give that versatility?

If a person has a lot of money to risk, they can branch out into anything they like. But first have a property, second have gold/silver for the coming USD crash and the transition to the next world reserve currencies which are likely Ruble and RMB. After that, who cares whats tried--stocks, futures, forex, casino gambling, buy-sell of some crazy idea. Anything. But start with something solid which is ONE property, and that will work for a person even if they never invest in anything after that.

Anyway thats my opinion, one of billions.

Actually property is a BAD investment. The only reason why in last ten years that it  has been a "good investment" is because cheap money and easy debt has allowed massive gearing on property and any idiot almost can make a lot by keep buying properties. Like the south sea bubble or tulip mania when the doodoo hits the fan then property will revalue back to realistic prices.

This massive ponzi scheme called housing is destroying the real economy.

When the doodoo hits the fan it will hurt as all unfortunately.

It is easy to prove that the highest returns comes from stocks over the long term. Indeed apart from a house to live in returns are far higher but the gearing aspect has distorted this and lowered overall investment in real assets.