So I finally am back to tanahair-ku, Malaysia and after a week of re-adjusting my body clock, I am now back to blogging. On top of my must-visit list of developments is Kiaramas Ayuria, which has already been handed over to its buyers (Block A & B) early April. When my friend offered me to view her unit, I quickly jumped on it. Kiaramas Ayuria is located at Jalan Desa Kiara, on the eastern side of Mont Kiara. I particularly love this side of Mont Kiara because of it’s lush greeneries. Ayuria is current located at the highest point of Mont Kiara.

The first thing that you would realise as you drive up to the development is the big water tank. Truth to be told, for first time visitors, this can be quite overwhelming as I felt the same too. But after a few visits, I didn’t even realise it was there. We zoom pass the simple guardhouse…I must say that Kiaraville & Hijauan had better entrances, where sometimes less is more. After parking the car, we headed to lobby and as we strolled pass the lush greeneries, there were birds chirping! It was a really nice environment to be in, and there was no apparent highway noise from the nearby Penchala Link. Felt it was so so serene.

After viewing her unit, I must say that I came out truly impressed. I am not going to comment about the landscaping or the common areas (will let the photos do the talking), because the most striking feature for this condo, in my opinion, is it’s amazing views which you can see from the master bedroom and the living area.

Just look at the above photo. This is the view from the master bedroom. Imagine yourself waking up every morning and have that view to greet you! It’s really to die for, really. I also loved the choice of color of the flooring, not too dark, just nice. The more neutral color makes the rooms more spacious. The living and dining were appropriately sized, though the bedrooms, especially bedrooms 2 & 3 were a tad small for me. I noticed some minor defects like chipping on the flooring, and some water stains on the wall.

At the end of the viewing, I was truly impressed. Next on my list would be Kiaraville and then Hijauan Kiara. That way I could compare them more equally after viewings.

Meanwhile, more photos after the jump (bandwidth heavy!).

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Clearwater Development will be launching their next development called Clearwater Estate at Bukit Tunku, an exclusive five villas only development. Their first maiden development is Clearwater Residences in Damansara Heights, launched last year and was sold closed-door. Utilizing their best assets to promote this new development, they have of course opted to splash Dian Lee, the 24-year old daughter of property tycoon Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, on the cover of City & Country (The Edge) issue this week. She is the founding partner of Clearwater Development together with Sim Boon Yang, a Singapore-based architect. Here are some of the details of Clearwater Estate.

• Comprises five individually crafted villas, inspired by five different art movements
• Sits on 15,000sf plot, built-ups ranging from 16,000 to 19,000sf
• Each villa spread over four levels, with uninterrupted views of KL skyline
• Each villa will house six bedrooms, a covered garage, a car lift, a passegner lift, home theatre, home spa, walk-in wine cellar, a lap pool, ‘floating’ pavillions
• Launch date: 8th August 2008

Indicative price at RM1,200psf to RM1,500psf. That’s about RM20million for each villa. More photos after the jump

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With Binaderas ‘ Seni Mont Kiara playing with ‘affluent’ names by naming its blocks from Monet, Mozart and what not, Suncity decides to follow the trend and name its latest offering, Sunway Vivaldi. Sunway Vivaldi is their latest condominium offering after Casa Kiara 2 and Palazzio at Sri Hartamas. The location for Sunway Vivaldi is just down the road if you are coming from Sri Hartamas side towards Mont’ Kiara side (Jalan 19/70A), right after their own Kiara Hills bungalow development. The land has been cleared for the longest time and had no activity until recently and finally the billboard was up. The development is also being launched in Hong Kong (see report below).

Location

While the immediate location is not so favourable, higher floors facing Hartamas side will definitely have unblocked views of KL city skyline and I would expect these to be priced at premium and would be the first ones to go too. The location this development is sitting is a plot where it has power lines at one side, and Penchala Link highway on the other. Having said that, with so many development popping up in Mont’ Kiara, a good view is harder to get by the day.

Click for larger pic

As with any other Sunway development, existing buyers may be entitled to the 3% rebate under its PALS programme. I will need to confirm this though. That’s all the details I have now, but will definitely pay the office a visit for a full picture, so stay tuned!

17th April 2008 – Site plan & floor plans update, after the jump.

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Finally a new launch to perk up the quiet property market a bit! If you have driven along Jalan Ampang before, you will probably see this rather small billboard previewing a new development around that area. I recall the façade was rather sleek, with a very contemporary and modern building with full glass façade… and now it’s finally being launched. Called Panorama, the smallest 1 bedroom unit will start at above RM 1 million!

Panorama is just about 5 minutes away from KLCC, and located right behind Hotel Corus. I have yet to visit the site but I have always liked the Hampshire area as it looks rather secluded but in actual fact it’s just a few minutes away from KLCC. More photos and layout plans after the jump.

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Finally, new season of Property Ladder is here! After months of repeat of old episodes, I’m quite interested to see what Sarah Beeny’s got up her sleeves! Property Ladder is an UK show that documents property developers journey to climb up the ladder and is assisted by Sarah Benny, a well-known developer herself.

I just love the way Sarah puts facts in front of the would-be property developers’ faces; and some of them seriously have got totally no clue of what needs to be done! She speaks so much sense that I couldn’t help but to agree with every single suggestion that she has put out.

For instance, when dressing a property, ensure that you don’t over personalise it, remember you are selling it, it’s not for your own stay, and think the mass market and never narrow your target market. Or for rental property, how it’s advisable to opt for more durable worktop in the kitchen, or a darker shade of sofa. Pretty 101 to me, but some of these newbies really have no clue! And at times they just go against what Sarah advised and at the end, they all somehow regret to have not follow Sarah’s advise earlier on.

Recommended watch for all property developer and real estate enthusiasts! For Malaysian peeps, you can try to download the episodes off torrent sites. In tonight’s episode, it seems that Sarah’s got preggers…again!

Update: You can now watch the episodes on demand on 4oD (Channel4 on Demand) and you can even download high quality version of the episodes and they valid for 48 hours after first watch.

Related Links
Property Ladder on Channel4
Episode 1: Bishop’s Waltham and Windsor