Johor Darul Takzim - Condos & Apartments

Finally settling down, as the owners delivered the appliances they promised. Now all that is remaining is the cooker-hood, the dvd player and also one of the light bulb sample. We thank God that this couple is not those kind of lousy owner who simply purchase any cheap, lousy product and put it in (after all its a rented unit right!) That is what we have encountered during our hunt for a place to stay in Johor in the past, although it is advertised as fully furnished, we can't help but think that it is merely a storage / disposal shed for second-hand furniture! (In which they put in old, moldy, smelly furniture and rent it at a fully-furnished price)

There are a lot of difference when it comes to condos & apartments in Johor & KL. Mainly are

• They are all pricey (you get old looking apartment for MYR2000 and below)
• They are all not that furnished even though they claimed it to be fully furnished, DON'T expect nice furnishing
• Agents can be not very honest, so do ask questions - a lot of questions (example: Who is the previous tenant? What race is the owner? What they do? What races mainly resides here? Any students? so on and so forth... Prepare those questions before going to view some units. Set some expectations on what you wanted - surf up Property websites to have a clear idea first before calling up agents.
• You might need to travel a bit on the road as there are not many condos and apartment around. (As I said, Johor is only starting to develop! They are not as forward as KL, Selangor or even Penang)
• They all claimed to be guarded & gated but do this little experiment yourself (Walk past the guard house by simply acknowledging them and then without any words just walk in, see if they come after you. Many doesn't!)

• Claimed to be guarded & gated, we just walk in with a smile and nobody seems to question us. When we punch into the dark lifts lobby, there is one Indian guy seems to have forgotten his key card or wasn't even a residence here, signal for us to open the door for him! The agent just ignore! 
• The pool looks more like a fish pond without maintenance, than one we can swim in it
• Dishonest agent who took chance to diss us! She told us that mainly Singaporean stays here and what we observed mainly middle or lower class Indians (no offence - just stating the truth) stays here! (Dishonest agent!) Judging from our simple dressing, the auntie told us that if we are looking for cheaper units, there are non here! (we were insulted! But we remain civilized! Nothing to fight about!) 
• Lift were small and one thing in particular, seems to remind me like those old Hong Kong flats when I went in! There are altars everywhere and it just makes me feel uncomfortable!
• Do I have to describe the units insides??? Well furniture far from acceptable, with no view at all! That is just too bad!

• Level of occupancy here is 30% all the other units are empty
• Boasting of the apartment with the best swimming pool in Johor Bharu but trust me it is not impressive if it is dirty
• We were waiting for the "already late for 3 hours agent" while walking around the park area next to the swimming pool, and we notice how quiet and how dark it is! With just two small lights shinning the pathway. Supposing this is the main area BUT nobody was walking around and it was posting to us "nobody walks around here after 7pm kind of feeling - (nothing scary just security purpose)
• Although this condo was just only 3 years but the exterior looks like it has been around for years and years 
• Most important of all : THE PEACE OF MIND. We both, hubby and I felt uncomfortable even standing there and we decided to leave! So hence NO! NO!

•  Was deceived to think that this is a luxury condo with a little bit of class, with the price of MYR3100 we get a run down smelly apartment and was told by the agent that our budget is too low. Average unit here with minimum furnishing is MYR4000 and above? Why? Not because it is new and classy it is because the residence here are mainly Japanese and European and Singaporean! What scares me and still haunts me today is moment the agent opened the door to the unit emit the smell of old furniture and non-occupancy for long time, the curtain is ugly and dusty with stains on it.
• The unit comes with bathtubs on all toilets and as a unit age, you will see stains and smells and just plain dirty! 
• The condo is old - about 10 years of age
• Although peaceful and highly guarded it reminds me of the Singapore HDB units
• Car park is without shades
• Very noisy with children running and playing around shouting and screaming
• Swimming pool is very huge (sort of like Olympic size) but OLD!
• The units are build in a way that they faces one another and there is one block which are abandoned halfway. So its not a good sight at all.
• The units front door is very close to one another and the walkway to the lifts are dimly lit making us feel uncomfortable and a little claustrophobic. 
• If you are looking for space, this condo unit is 1600 square feet and its very spacious.

Price : MYR1800 onwards 
Location: Johor Bharu (2nd nearest to hubby's work place about 15-20 minutes drive)
Our ratings: Our 2nd choice! Fair!

• This condo is brand new! In fact if you search in iProperty, you couldn't actually get the actual pictures so one of the pros will be brand new units without yucky stench!
• The security is fairly good but rude! I dislike the way they talk to us about not parking inside! But then it is good enough with triple security. We would have go with this if we did not find anything better BUT we have to overlook the cons - listed below
• Students - Like Casa Subang, we saw bus full of students coming back, so judging from experience it is bad! 
• The low cost flat behind the apartment which were only divided by a small fence and on the downside, the flat is on the higher grown and the apartment is on the lower
• The apartment is built so near to the street that the noise of traffic can be a bit disturbing
• The last one is the one that makes my hubby uncomfortable, since we are not allowed to park inside, we parked outside and saw so many beggars and drunkards sleeping in front of the empty shop lots.
• Shop lots in front of the apartment are occupied by cyber cafes and massage parlors

5) 

Suriamas Apartment

Price : MYR2300 onwards 
Location: Taman Dato Onn (Quite a distance about 40 minutes drive on a jam prone area)
Our ratings: OK! But No!

• Its a flat! But its brand new and the owner actually spend a lot of money to renovate the house 
• One good things about it is that it is very near to Woodland and you can actually cross over to Singapore in less than 25 minutes
• The design is in such a way where you can actually look into your opposite neighbors units, it is that near to them
• The walkway is very narrow and the neighbors are mainly factory workers and blue collars workers.
• Interior of the unit is very narrow and from the way the owner renovate it, there is no way at all to cook, not even instant noodle.
• The design in such a way like a semi-d where it is two by two and seperated by a small wall, I notice that the direct neighbors are some messy slobs! So I dislike it (call me picky and hard to please BUT this is a place to stay you know, we need to find a place that we really like it!)

6)

Datin Halimah Condo

Price : MYR2500 onwards 
Location: Larkin (Quite a distance about 30 minutes drive on a jam prone area)
Our ratings: Not really

• The owner is still living inside the unit & supposing we wanted the unit, he can move out instantly
• Security is so so! Required entry pass but did not ask us where we are going and unit details
• The moment I stepped in, I do not like it because it is old and the interior does not age well! The master bedroom is in a very bad condition, there are many things in which needs replacement so we do not want to waste time with it.
• Another thing is that we do not like is the house is full of things, just a lot of things, way too many things! From experience moving items are not easy, I have half or even a quarter of the things in the house and it took me some time to clear em up! So it gives us the reason all the more to not bother
• The owner do have this worship thing and I do not like it at all
• Next is that the kitchen has too many full items and stuff and it is very untidy and unclean
• Overall is that the units creeps me up and no point wasting any longer!

The main thing that we required is that the moment we walk into the unit it is peaceful, nice and pleasant. Security should be good and the surrounding is tightly secured. People that walked around should be of values and not anybody off the street. Location should be good and we should find a place that we will want to call home. Above has not fulfilled what we required but we did by God's grace!