House buyers in Johor must be adequately prepared when buying the property of their choice. They must be ready with regard to finances and must have a clear understanding of the type of houses offered by developers, said Division Secretary of the Johor State Secretariat (Housing Division) Mohd Radzi Mohd Amin.

“They need to be prepared financially to pay for their down payment as bank-approved loans are usually up to 85%, so the house buyer needs to have a deposit for the remaining 15%."

“There are also house buyers who do not quite understand the type of house they have booked...whether it is a townhouse or a strata house. There have been times when they are unhappy with the houses they booked after receiving the home ownership certificate (SLMR), although the advertisements (by the state government/developer) have clearly specified the house types.” 

He told reporters this after a ceremony to launch the open balloting system for Taman Meridin East affordable housing project at Jalan Kong Kong.

Also present was  Mah Sing Chief Operating Officer, Southern Region, Benjamin Ong. Mah Sing is the developers of the project.

Mohd Radzi said it would be a waste and a setback if the house buyers who managed to get SLMRs did not continue with the purchase just because they had not been well prepared.

"It's not easy to purchase a house, but if they had prepared early, especially financially, Insha Allah (God willing) it will be so much easier," he said.

Mohd Radzi said the project was based on the 'townhouse' concept with each unit costing only RM150,000.

Progress on the construction of the 102-unit project was now about 10 percent and is expected to be completed within 24 months.

There were 11,422 home applicants of whom 559 did not qualify, while 9,582 were eligible but were rejected because they failed to send the necessary documents within 14 days, while only 1,281 applicants qualified and were invited for the project’s open balloting and who received their SLMRs