For the past few mths of daily researching n reading up on Iskandar's properties, have found many useful info n insights frm various forums, of which 1 would be right here...and happy to say that i have secured a new unit myself. However since the beginning up till now, everyday i read up on new posting with mix emotions. 1st-ly im a msian myself (a spr), like many im buying a house for own consumption yet do not want to be too far away frm spore as i've spent most of my life in SG, where all my good friends are sporean, thus johor properties seem like a natural choice. Next , i belive what im gona say will probably ruffle some feathers.
On 1 hand being a m'sian i would love to see msia (specifically in this context, johor) prosper and achieve economic progress, on the other hand, i feel upset whenever i hear abt sporean getting ripped off doing business in msia, or paid for a housing project that gets abandoned halfway thru or...take the plunge into a purchase and got confused into buying something that's overpriced.
Now my rantings....in this particular forum which draws thousands of readership regarding properties in iskandar johor, im not surprised that there are many many johor real estate agents amongst us here, and i see some really clever marketing of properties. Well fine, as long as genuine house hunters get useful info, then all is good. But increasingly i smell many rats n smelly fishes doing their rounds in a bid to apply pressure on potential purchasers to committ on a purchase (there are only a handful of active agents in johor's market, by coming together to promote properties, its only a matter of time when the units they are marketing gets picked, so its really ok to remain anonymous n continue posting here). So genuine home hunters, do not just believe all that you read, property purchase is (no matter how cheap, or no matter how strong SG currency is) proceed with care and do your own logical research b4 you take that plunge.
Last but not least, to our friend spidey's post, here's my 2 cents worth:
My summary /interpretation is this: From a fresh reader's perspective, i would have interpreted it as: Damn, i better hurry up n buy smthing cos even at 500k i cant get a decent gated&guarded house....wat the heck, 600k quickly go grab 1st. After buying n move in, realise neighbour's house for sale for 400k for past 6 mths still no buyer, end up either auction or sell to his/her agent for 350k. End of the day sporean buy expensive/overpriced house, poor uneducated johor uncle sell house away cheaply, housing market gets inflated, local johorean blames sporean for high property prices. Well, i might get shot n flamed for this long posting, but i sincerely hope there are as many who will benefit frm my sharing.