Wednesday 14 August 2013

Things to consider finding a rental house in JB

Among the things I'm considering are the following:

1. Location.
But of course. It's already inconvenient living in JB and working/schooling in Singapore, I think we must try to keep the inconvenience as low as possible.  As such the location in JB should easily be accessible by the highway from 2nd Link and also accessible from Woodlands causeway.  Somewhere in the middle.  That gives us the Nusajaya area (Bukit Indah, Horizon Hill, Nusa Duta etc).

The Causeway Link bus must also pass that place - as a backup to our own transportation arrangement with the kids.  In case of emergency, they are still able to take the Causeway Link Bus to/from Jurong East MRT.

2. A bit bigger than our current house with spacious hall for better peace of mind.
Also with a small area for gardening. To compensate for the inconvenience and anxiety.

3. House is maintained.
We've gone to see a few houses for rental and have learnt quite a bit ourselves.  If we are going to rent out our place and get people to view, clean up the place first!  Every time I see the land area looking messy with unkempt grass growing to my knees, I'm already turned off. It doesn't matter if the owner says that he will have it cleaned up.. will mow the lawn etc.

And then the house is messy inside.  Children's school bag all over the place.  Used cloths on the bed.  I need not say more.

The best is if we can get a new house.  But that usually means that the area will not be fully populated.

4. Enough bathrooms for the kids to get ready every morning.
I imagine that every morning it'll be a mad dash, getting ready.  We NEED to have enough bathrooms so that 3-4 kids don't have to line up for the single bathroom.

5. Partially furnished.
The least is air-con, water heater, kitchen cabinet with stove, bedroom wardrobes and day/night curtains.  Because these things, are mostly permanent fixtures in the house, and we most likely will not be able to buy something that would also fit into the new house.

Some people prefer fully furnished - which would also include sofa set, dining table, fridge, washing machines and beds.

Oh yes, auto-gate is also a requirement for us.

6. Near shops, especially those mini-marts.
Ok, it may not be so near like only few doors away.  But also not so far that you need to drive a car 5-7 mins out. Something accessible by bicycle.

7. A nice and kind landlord.
We strongly believe tenant and landlord need to be on good terms always.  It'll be hell for both if there is animosity because of any unhappiness.  As such, to start with, rental agreements need to be mentioned and agreed clearly and both sides are happy about it.


That's all I can think of now.

Security

So, as of now, we've decided to rent a house for 1-2 years and meantime purchase another house, which will be ready about end of next year. I imagined renovation would take about 3 months.  Someone told me that it's impossible.  It'll take at least 6 months.  Yes, I forgot that when we were doing some renovation to some rooms in our apartment, it's already took 2 months.  What more a bigger house with some exterior renovation??  Learning journey.

One of the concern about moving to JB is security.  With the rising crime rates in Malaysia, we need to take some measures.

The rented house that we'll be getting is in a gated and guarded area.  However, it's a bit secluded because surrounding areas are still under development.  So I've been thinking of other security measures, besides the gate and the guard.   Alhamdulillah, the house we are renting already comes with an alarm system, which we have totally no idea how to use yet. We'll learn.  We also need to think from the psychological aspect.  Having the alarm system, with the red box at the front of the house is good. It may deter robbers from attempting to do the house.

Other than that, I plan to make it look troublesome to get in and out.  It's not an ideal house to rob.  I plan to obviously hang plants over the gate and the fence.  Meaning if they want to climb over, they know they risk dropping and breaking pots.  I was thinking of making an indirect access to the door also by putting plants in front of the door - but I think I will be irritated by that also. So I think this should do for now.

Bismillahi tawakkal. In God we place our trust after putting our effort.