Need accomodation at Damansura, Petaling Jaya

I seen suggestions in Expat.com. I want to know some details about Malaysia living.

By the end of the November, i will be coming to malaysia to start my work and i will stay minimum of 2 years.
My monthly salary will be a bit low and it is only 5000RM per month.
We couple need an individual house even it has only one or two rooms with a bathroom.
How much i need to pay rent per month for above said house? my office will be at Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Need room/house rent details which will be near to Singtel Office, Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Also if any Telugu speaking persons, please let me know.

Can Someone please respond to me?


Regards,
Kiran

If you want to consider a flatshare, take a look at www.ibilik.my

If you want private space, take a look at www.iproperty.my  You can search on Damansara and your budget.

Actually, its an extremely low salary for a couple to survive on, especially as the tax rate will be 25% until you are tax resident, then about half that amount.  But you can first claim overpayment back in April 2016.

It is quite difficult for trailing spouses to find work in Malaysia.

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Thankyou Gravitas, Amarat and Jacky Lim....for your replies.

I will look into ibilik.my for houses at Damansara utama.
Seems i can find a room/ house around 1000RM per month.
First, i will be coming alone to Malaysia and after 3 months will come with wife once I get a flat/room.

I have enough time to find a good house. Please mail me@ [email protected] for any updates or suggestions about Room/house at Damasara Utama near to Uptown.

Updates posted by Amarat and Jacky Lim disappeared. Seems admin removed it.

kkumar - yes, its better to put a wanted ad in the classifieds about your housing needs. That way agents etc. can approach you directly with suggestions or offers of help and not advertise on the forum. The worst sin is to spam people's private mail boxes offering commercial services.

Mudah is also a good site to find rooms:

Taman Tun Dr Ismail
http://www.mudah.my/Kuala-Lumpur/Rooms- … 1&st=u

Damansara
http://www.mudah.my/Kuala-Lumpur/Rooms- … 1&st=u

There are bus routes to Damansara Uptown so you could commute using one of these.

Thank you Gravitas. Will search all the sites you mentioned and get back to you for any queries.

Thanks again for your prompt reply....:)

Hi Gravitas,

As you suggested, I have posted ads on different sites mentioned by you. Expecting replies from tomorrow.

Where is Singtel office exactly located? I seen it is at Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, But I don't have any idea of places in Malaysia, So getting confused about different places named with Damansara. Is it Damansara Utama?

May I know the nearest living places to stay around Singtel office for easy office going.

I think you may find the property rentals too expensive close to the office location. It could be twice your budget. But house/flat sharing may be possible. Here is a search based on Uptown Damansara and Indian Couple:

http://www.ibilik.my/rooms/selangor?key … ian+Couple

Here is the Singtel address - but surely you should know that as it would be on the job offer you have received?

http://info.singtel.com/large-enterprise/sgo/malaysia

The area where the office is located is called SS20, SS21, SS22, Damansara Uptown or Damansara Utama.

It may be a good idea to check out your income tax situation. Because if you are going to be paying 25% non resident income tax for at least the first six months in 2015 (and of course rest of 2014) this will affect your budget. Your future employer should be able to confirm the tax situation and deduction for you.

Normal tax on a salary of RM5k per month is going to be 16% which includes the annual personal tax free allowance of RM9k per annum i.e. you are taxed on RM51,000 annual salary. However, you dont get that personal allowance whilst taxed at non-resident rates.  Its just how it works in Malaysia. What is a bit annoying is that if your income was RM1k less per annum i.e. you were taxed on only RM50,000 per annum then the tax rate would be 10%. The tax steps are from 41k-50k (10%) then 51k-60k (16%)

I do advise you to really check out the tax situation carefully.

When you file your income tax form in April 2016, you can claim back any overpayment of tax. So that will be a form of savings which you would get back as a lump sum.

Wow!!! That was an awesome explanation Gravitas. Thank you for the very needed information. I will check with my Employer about this. In offer letter, they mentioned 4300RM as basic and other things as allowances(not mentioned in offer letter). I have cleared from employer about the allowances and i had proof of all those things in mail. But tax will be on 5000RM as per my knowledge.

As per your reviews, it seems i need to find a room/flat at the range of 600RM/month to control my expenses.

Thank you Gravitas. Will be back after some more inquiries.

Usually tax is also payable on allowances (as they are considered income-in-kind as well). You may find it a bit difficult to get a share situation being a couple, but with some persistence you will find somewhere I am sure. Most landlords are not really interested in signing a lease that is less than one year, so you may need to find your accommodation from the outset and not try to change when your wife joins you. There are lots of double storey houses around Uptown Damansara in the SS 20-22 areas. That is where you will probably have most success looking for a rental. But dont expect people to respond to the adverts you have placed on the sites. Landlords expect people to come to them and dont usually look for tenants, especially in an area that is central like Uptown.  So you will probably have to be rather more proactive to find something.

Hi Gravitas,

I can live in a middle class neighborhood. How much far I should go from Singtel office(Uptown, Damansara Utama) to get a middle class area where i can get a house around 800RM/month. We married couple want individual house or a flat for privacy. We from India that too South Indian Couple we cannot live like sharing with someone. I can go on local transport. If it is below 10 Kms, that is good enough. Can I save atleast 1500RM/month? after Tax and other basic expenses?(Anyway 1500RM=28000INR). I am worried about my package now.

In india, at present company there is no growth in Career or Economical. (I can save only 10000INR=500RM per month Max). We are in pregnancy planning. Once my wife conceive she will go back India and stay at her house from then I can save a little bit good. Need your valuable suggestion for home.

The areas around the office are middle class - in fact the whole neighbourhood and several adjoining ones are I would classify as modern and high standard. Its an area which has been developed in recent years to become rather like a business hub outside KL City Centre. But because of that it is expensive. There are some bus routes into the area, but no trains (yet). The MRT will pass through the area at the curve starting from sometime in 2016. I am afraid I dont know the area well enough to suggest any accommodation on a convenient bus route. But I think your budget for a flat or house is practically impossible in that particular part of the Klang Valley and that has commuter routes.

The only suggestion I can make is perhaps look at Flora Damansara in Damansara Perdana. I am not sure about the public transport but it is the least expensive in the locality with condos sometimes going for under RM1000.