Take a Peek inside Henry Golding's crazy rich asians Bangsar home

Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) asked us to design his house. This is what it looks like now.

Malaysian-born Hollywood movie star uses Recommend.my to find an interior designer for his home.

When the movie trailer of Crazy Rich Asians was released, Malaysians and Singaporeans collectively went nuts, and could not wait for the movie to arrive. The main reason? The leading man is Henry Golding.

As the son of English-Iban parentage, many Malaysians (and Sarawakians in particular) see Henry Golding as a local boy made good. Before breaking into Hollywood movies, he was a local travel host on 8TV and Discovery Channel Asia.

Settling down in Bangsar

In 2016, Golding married Liv Lo, an Italian-Taiwanese TV presenter and yoga instructor, in a ceremony in Sarawak. And when the couple is not jetting about, they live in the residential suburb of Bangsar whenever they are in Kuala Lumpur.

Their home in Bangsar is in a 30-year-old apartment, and when the couple purchased it, its age was certainly showing. The apartment was dark, parts of the walls were stained, and the floor tiles and kitchen cabinets looked dated.

So when the actor needed to find an interior designer that could help transform the property into his matrimonial home in Malaysia, he turned to Recommend.my.

Recommend.my is Malaysia’s top home improvement website, used by thousands of homeowners to find the best designers and contractors for their home. The company also operates Recommend.sg in Singapore.

After submitting his interior design request, our team got to work in sourcing for suitable pros to respond. And the interior design team that ultimately rose to the challenge was Mil Yung and Edward Lye from MIL Design and Construction.

Breathing new life into an old condo

As Mil explains, “The challenge of this project was to create a new home, a new living space within a very old structural shell, marrying in new functions and space planning with the existing.”

“Spatially there were a lot of restrictions we had to address: the narrow entryway, low ceiling height, noise from the elevated MRT train nearby, lack of sunlight, large beams, the overall cluttered and narrow space of the living area, the redundant large balcony, and a dark enclosed kitchen.”

“We chose to approach the whole project differently, rather than complying with the existing space. We seek to rebel and challenge the space.”

Once the actor was connected to the design team through Recommend.my, the design process began in earnest.

“He was very involved with the design process and even sketched his ideas out for us. We loved working with him it allowed us to design very accurately around their lifestyle needs” added Mil.

Above: Henry Golding and designers from MIL Design & Construction discussing mood boards. Source

After detailed design discussions and reviews, the initial plan and mood board was finalised. The materials used were kept as natural as possible. Bare bricks, white ash timbers, hexagonal black penny tiles and Volakas marble added a touch of finesse.

An unconventional approach

As Mil describes, “The client requested for a ‘kitsch-industrial’ style mixed with a slight ‘brutalist’ language. It’s something very unconventional in Malaysia.”

And because the client was keen to create an open space, the designers totally flipped the living room around, so much so that there was no clear boundary for living, eating and chilling out.

The result is a completely open floor plan that integrates the kitchen, living and dining into a single space. Taking it further, the false ceiling has also been completely dismantled, opening up the space vertically.

Above: Kitsch industrial interior design style for apartment in Bangsar

The kitsch industrial style has been applied throughout the property, turning it into a warm and inviting space to entertain and relax.

The colour theme is blue and gold (a play on the client’s name, perhaps?). The primarily white walls and white floors are punctuated with a storm blue feature wall, and exposed painted brick at the dining area.

The existing balcony area was closed up and turned into a long reading nook.

The old kitchen cabinets were replaced and backsplash done in black hexagonal penny tiles.

Before and after: Kitchen cabinets

The false ceiling was also removed in the bathroom, and the tiles updated to reflect the industrial theme.

The white and storm blue bedroom is now a tranquil retreat.

This project also won the residential property award at the 2017 Asia Pacific International Property Awards in Bangkok.

Above: Painted bare bricks with open shelving in blue, white and yellow theme

Before and after

source: https://www.recommend.my/blog/take-a-peek-inside-henry-goldings-crazy-rich-asians-bangsar-home/

你买的房子是资产还是负资产？

你不能单单靠房地产来赚钱，你同时需要管理的能力和敏锐的商业头脑。在商场中，只有手上握着真正的现钞才叫成功。而这一切，取决于您手上持有的利润率以及您实际上所真正赚到的钱。

首先，你必须有这些概念：

“潜质”是超级的，“未来的预期利润”是美好的，而“产权”是惊人的。但是，你试看看能不能用产权或潜质来偿还账单。”

‘Potential’ is superb, ‘future anticipated profits’ are wonderful, ‘equity’ is fabulous – but try paying your bills with equity or potential.

结果，您只会发现一个残酷的现实：大部分的人们希望您能以现金支付这些账单，而非所谓数字上的财产。

成功的房地产投资，在于确保资产仍属于是资产，而且会带给你正面的现金流量（Positive cash flow）。当这些房地产需要金钱来维持，而您又不能将它们以满意的租金出租给人时，资产就变成了负债（负资产）。也就是说，这些房地产就为您提供了负现金流量（Negative cash flow）。

相反地，一些房地产专家会告诉你，如果你遇到了现金流失的情况，要立即抽身。无论前景或是所谓的房地产投资上升空间多么乐观，如果你需要自掏腰包补贴，那么你也只是在玩盈亏平衡的游戏而已。

那么，我们到底在谈论什么样的上升空间呢？选择正确的房地产将会为您确保您的资产不会变成负债。当然，谨慎的财产管理也会减轻其风险。

为了买而买的大量购置房产 那只是虚荣心作怪！

为了拥有很多而去拥有大量的房地产，那只是虚荣心在作怪。精明的物业资产管理是成功的关键，而你完全不需要负荷过多的物业资产，从而可以拥有财务自由。

成功的关键是，你所做的与你所得到的——即是只是一些精心挑选的房地产，若能精心谨慎地管理，也能创造出远远超过许多人日常工作中所赚取的金钱的收益。

早前我和一位资深的投资者共享午餐。这名投资者目前拥有7个商用房产，但他每个月所收到的租金足有将近RM400,000。对于我们这些普通的投资者来说，这个金额可能有点太多；但我只想让大家回到重点：你所拥有的房地产数量真的不重要。

重要的是它给你带来了什么。你可以拥有十间中等成本的公寓，其中一些给你带来正向现金流，而另一些则给你带来负现金流，最后盈亏相等。问题是，结果你是花了多少的时间和经理来管理这些房产，这真的值得吗？

拥有大量的房地产不代表你赚钱！

成功来自于选择正确的资产，并有效地管理它们，从而确保你能够在你的投资中得到最大幅度的增值。资产需要努力到底，贷款安排需要完善规划，而任何的投资潜质是需要从交易中的每个细节去发现。

最后，拥有大量的房地产并不等于你赚到大量的金钱，但将时间花在积极有效地管理投资组合，将会为你带来回报。

因此，请将你的努力集中在管理以及充分地利用你所拥有的；因为这就是商业成功的底线，而不是在于你的投资组合有多大。

5 Changes to the STRATA LAWS you should be aware of

If you live in a condominium or apartment, you and your neighbours each own a piece, or “parcel”, in the building.

Hence, the building would have to be subdivided, and you each get a separate title, called a “strata title”, to prove your ownership of your part of the building.

When lots of people live together, share and manage a property together, there can be lots of legal, financial and social issues that need to be handled according to certain policies and rules.

For a long time, Malaysia did not have a single comprehensive law covering strata titles until the Strata Titles Act 1985 was introduced. This governed the subdivision of buildings and the issuance of strata titles, but not the management of that subdivided building.

So there was another Act — the Building & Common Property (Maintenance & Management) Act 2007 (BCPA 2007) — introduced to address the maintenance and management of high-rise buildings and their common property, whether by developers, joint management bodies or management corporations.

With overlaps and even contradictions in these laws and policies (parts of which were under different ministries), and changes in the property landscape, the Acts became inadequate and in need of an overhaul.

The New Strata Regime

Significant changes were made with the Strata Titles (Amendment Act) 2013 (STA 2013) and the new Strata Management Act 2013 (SMA 2013), which have been in force since June 2015.

It has been seen as a big step forward to increase efficiency and give buyers better protection.

Our lawyer friend Geraldine, from Teoh Pek Wei Advocates & Solicitors, helps us explain 5 main legal changes to Strata Laws that you need to know:

1. The Proprietor (registered land owner, not necessarily developer) must apply to sub-divide the parcels in the building at “super structure stage”

Previously, the Proprietor would apply for separate strata titles after the building is completed, that is:

• within 6 months from the issuance of the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) if the property was sold before it was completed; OR
• within 6 months from the date of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), if it was sold after it was completed.

Under the new changes, the Proprietor has to apply for a Certificate of Proposed Strata Plan (CPSP) within 3 months from the “super structure stage”.

What is “super structure stage”? Generally, that’s the point where the walls dividing the different parts of the buildings are completed to such a stage that is necessary for measurements of your unit, your neighbour’s unit, the common property, etc.

Once the Proprietor gets the CPSP, then it has to apply for sub-division of the individual parcels and common property within a month. A Certified Strata Plan will be issued, followed by the opening of the book of strata register.

How does it affect you? With the head start, hopefully, your strata titles will be ready by the time you get your keys; unlike before, when it could take up to several years after the building is completed.

2. Time Periods for Perfection of Strata Title Has Been Reduced 

Once the strata titles have been issued, buyers will now have to transfer the strata titles to their names within 30 days, instead of 12 months previously.

This is so buyers don’t take their own sweet time to do the transfer. This move is also expected to curb speculative activity for investors who buy properties under construction, with the intention to flip once it’s completed.

How does it affect you? You would need to have enough money to pay the stamp duty for the transfer sooner than before. So start saving up!

(Stamp duty calculations can be found on the Government’s Valuation and Property Services Department website.)

3. Limited Common Property & Subsidiary Management Corporation

With the many upcoming mixed-development projects in Malaysia — combining residential units with offices and retail shops — it’s now possible to manage the various components separately.

The concept of “Limited Common Property” means certain common areas can be designated for the exclusive use of a certain group of owners, such as a resident-only swimming pool or an office-only lift.

The Management Corporation (MC) can also create subsidiary management corporations (SMC) to better manage different types of Limited Common Property. For example, a residential SMC would manage the resident-only facilities, the office SMC would be manage the office block amenities, while the shop lot SMC would manage the shop lot facilities for owners, such as the central air-conditioning.

How does it affect you? This system is meant to better serve owners’ interests by improving management efficiency and use of resources, such as the maintenance fees you pay. However, it is still a relatively new concept, and owners need to be educated on their rights and responsibilities.

4. Presumption of Defect

You know the situation where the bathroom in the unit upstairs is leaking into your ceiling and nobody wants to be responsible for it? This common problem is known as an “inter-floor leakage”.

The supplementing regulations to the new Strata Laws — the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 — make it easier to determine who is responsible to fix the problem and how long they have to do it.

Firstly, you must give a notice to whoever is in charge of managing your property — the Joint Management Body (JMB), MC or SMC — of the inter-floor leakage. The management would have seven days to carry out an inspection to determine the cause of the leakage and the party responsible for rectifying it.

(Under the new Strata laws, it is presumed that there is a defect in the unit or common area above, unless proven otherwise, and this has to be taken into account by the management bodies)

If the property is still within the defect liability period, the developer may be responsible. If it is due to a common area, the owner may claim from the Common Property Defects Account.

After the defect liability period, if the leakage is found to be from the unit above, the owner of that unit is responsible to make the repairs. If he or she refuses to do so, the management body may fix it and have a right to recover all cost and expenses from the party responsible for the inter-floor leakage.

How does it affect you? Hopefully you won’t have to live with the drip, drip, drip longer than necessary anymore.

5. Increased sanctions on owners who fail to pay Maintenance Charges

Previously, the Joint Management Body (JMB) or MC could only file a civil suit against owners who fail to pay maintenance and service charges. Now, free-loading owners may have to face criminal charges and fines.

The JMB or MC would first issue a notice for payment, with at least a 2-week window for the errant owner to pay up. If the owner fails to do so and is convicted, he or she will be liable to a fine of up to RM5,000, or imprisoned for up to three years, or to both. And the fine meter continues running at up to RM50 per day after conviction, until payment is made.

How does it affect you? Don’t play play. Quickly pay!

In conclusion, the new amendments to the Strata Act are good and much needed to protect buyers and to keep up with changes in the property construction and development industry.

However, implementation and enforcement are key for the success of any law and to ensure we do not end up with lots of run-down and badly managed high-rise properties.

* The information in this article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice. Propertypricetag.comand/or our solicitors accept no liability for any loss whatsoever arising from your reliance of the information in this article. If you have any questions regarding legal matters or legal issues, you are advised to obtain consultation and professional legal advice from a lawyer.

source: http://www.propertypricetag.com/display_properties/163711