The location is OK as it is a growth zone. It is not by accident that many of the major developers have land banks around the Tebrau zone up north. Setia, EW, , Glenmarie (Hicom), UMLand, JohorLand (sultan affiliated company, I heard), Land&General too. Why are they landbanking there? Because it is natural for population growth to move further north, along the EDL, and near more businesses and logistics near Senai. Take note also that the growth along that corridor is parallel and reasonably near to existing KTM rail line, which I expect to be upgraded to link to the RTS in JB in future. Further developments like AEON @ BDO shows that this will be a burgeoning township in the coming decade, similar to Subang Jaya in KL.
However, the location is more popular with Malaysians. It is not as popular for Singaporeans as some tamans in nusajaya like BI. You won't find many angmohs shopping around at Tebrau area, for instance. Singaporeans I think generally prefer much better environment and a more cosmopolitan crowd (although I may be wrong about this.) If one don't mind living a Malaysian kind of taman lifestyle, then it is an OK buy. The good thing about that EW/SEC area is that there is already some succesful existing townships there (AH, Setia Indah) and one can always find lots of makan shops selling pork (for chinese). for EW/SEC there also is the maslee market which is less than 5 mins away. for more upmarket cafes/ retail outlets / food joints water park, golf course, austin heights is just less than 5 km away. just a bit further are more amenities at desa tebrau, including a hospital, and tesco / jusco.
Another plus point is that the townships covering that 1500 acres at north tebrau will consist of mostly malaysian developer and new style landed housing, which means a neat and tidy environment with lots of greenery and eco features. with proper maintenance, i think the whole area will be very pleasant place to live in the future. Currently population is still a bit sparse there. When population booms (and it will as JB still attracts working migrants from the rest of the state) it will be a very different tebrau.
