Type of property – Residential Property

Property in Malaysia can be categorised into many different type, but personally I will categorise into two type - Landed and High-rise.

I don’t have much experience on commercial property which including land so my main focus will be covering those common type of property for buyer buying for own stay. The terms using here are commonly used by Malaysian when talking about property. This post will focus on residential property.

I will be referring to “Malaysia My Second Home”, a licensed company by Ministry of Tourism Malaysia for the definition of type of property and talk more on that.

Landed

Landed property as the name itself is means a house that build on a land and the surrounding it belong to the owner. Basically, it means a single unit of house build on land = landed property.

There is many type of landed property in Malaysia that cater for different demand.

Linked house/Terrace

“It’s a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls. The first and last of these houses is called an end terrace, or end house or corner house, usually larger than those houses in the middle. Terraced house normally have open spaces at the front and back. Each row may consist of 10 to 12 units depending on the width of the house, as it have to comply with the regulations of the Fire Services Department that each row shall not exceed 130 feets.”

Basically, terrace or linked house means a row of house that all sticks together and you only got space at the front or back. This is very common in Malaysia especially in older days around 1990s-2000s where most of family will stay in terrace. In Malaysia, more commonly we will see double-storey now compared to last time where there is still single-storey for better utilisation of land.

Semi-detached

“Semi-detached house or often called as “Semi-D” consist of pairs of house built side by side as units sharing a party wall. Each house’s layout is normally a mirror image of the other one. Semi-D house have front, rear and any one side open spaces.”

I would say that Semi-D is actually half of a Bungalow. Where you will get space at front, back and one open space. Imagine of cutting a bungalow unit to half. 

Bungalow

“A bungalow is a type of standalone building. It is also known as detached house. These detached houses have open spaces on all sides.”

This one simple. You got a land, you build the house you want there that different from others.

High-rise

Condominium

“A condominium, or more commonly named “Condo”, is a form of house unit in a multi-unit dwelling building where each unit is individually owned and the common areas such as walkways, recreational facilities are jointly owned by the unit owners. The owners and occupiers of condominiums are subject to rules and regulations of the condominiums.”

Apartment

“An apartment is a self-contained housing unit that occupied only part of a building or a section in the building. The occupied share a common area like lobby, car park, lifts, etc. An apartment normally consist basic facilities like swimming pool and guarded.”

Flat

A flat self-contained housing unit that occupied only part of a building or a section in the building. The occupied share a common area like lobby, car park, lifts, etc. 

The main difference of all these high rise is actually the facilities and overall build-up of the building.

Condo is the most ‘atas’/high class among all these three that come with all the facilities like nice swimming pool and gym. Apartment would be the middle class where they also got the same facilities but is just so-so kind of facilities that not so nice. Flat is the most basic of high-rise that probably the only facilities is the playground and carpark (some got no cover some more!).

In current market, we will see more Condo supply which probably due to better economy condition compared to 1990s where people looking for better environment to stay with better facilities. Apartment and flat now is more commonly being tag as low cost house/development as you can’t charge much with minimal facilities right. 

Which to buy? Landed or high rise?

There is no definite answer for this. Either landed or high-rise, both has their own pros/cons and different people may have different preference.

People who prefer spacious space and easier access to their home would think landed is better. Bigger house with double storey that can fit bigger family. You can park your car right inside or in front of your house. In case you forgotten something immediately after you leave the house you can enter house easier.

Those that like facilities like swimming pool or gym then would think condo better as you don’t have to purposely drive out for that. Some may also think that condo will have better security as most of condo will be guarded. There may also be people with smaller family prefer smaller space as you don’t need double storey to fit a family with four members.

However, if we go back to the most basic or reality problem. Landed or high rise may not be a choice for you. You got no choice. If you don’t have a certain amount, probably flat or apartment will your only option.

Landed with more land area, the price definitely will be much higher than condo which is much smaller area. You can’t expect in the same area, you paying the same for 2,500sqft and 1,000sqft right. 

To me, the first question will be how much budget I have. From there, I will need to choose do I want to stay near to city? If the answer is yes, then I will need to expect that the property that I can get will be a smaller unit and may not be landed. OR if I insist to go for landed, then I will need to compromise by staying far away from city. 

All is about $$$.