Cost of Living in Malaysia in 2020

My experience will be different than others. Suggest people go to numbeo.com to compare their current country to Malaysia.

The cost of renting or buying a house or apartment in Malaysia cannot be easily answered since houses and apartment rents and prices vary enormously depending in size, location, standard etc. They can be cheap of expensive. One thing important is that foreigners have a minimum limit to the price of a property that they can purchase. Cheaper places are only available to locals thus preventing foreigners from buying up all the less expensive properties and thus pricing the locals out of the market.

Anyone living in Malaysia for long term should buy a car or lease long term, but buying is better. Taxi drivers are often crooked. Grab is available and often cheaper than taxis but when it rains and during rush hour the Grab prices get expensive. Trains - MRT and LRT are cost effective but often very crowded in rush hour. There are free Go KL buses in the city so if you can take one then that is great.

Cost of food in a supermarket is alright, and the choice is good. Eating out is also popular because there are foods of every kind to be found in KL and for those on a budget just eat the street food or nasi kandar simple foods.

Health Insurance is very affordable in Malaysia. I paid around RM3,800 for a family of four for full coverage and private room when hospitalized. Being in my late fifties at the time my premium was higher than my wife and kids.

School fees were expensive especially if you have to pay out of your own pocket. My kids went to Children's House Montessori School in Bangsar and we were paying around RM6,000 per child per term. Since they had waiting lists the classes were overcrowded and the fees seemed to go up every year. International Schools are also very expensive compared to some other Asian countries, so also make sure schooling for kids is included in your expat package.

My electric bill was around RM1,000 per month but that is higher than many. It was about RM200 - 300 per month in my previous apartment but changed when I moved into another apartment. Internet and TV were all in one and cost somewhere around RM300 per month. Gas was not central, but using a gas cylinder. Water was cheap and in my last condo the developer absorbed the water bills.

Good info here.
Couple of questions... we are arriving around August for when husband starts teaching post. Kids school fees covered, just some extras to pay like school bus, lunches etc
How expensive and how reliable are car rentals? Say long term - 12mths at a time?
Is tv& internet all one package? It does seem expensive. As does electricity costs.
Thanks

I haven't used car leasing in Malaysia (did it for a year in Bali a while ago) but consider buying a new or secondhand car. The prices can be very low depending on which type you buy. Local cars such as Proton or Perodua are usually cheap. Korean and Japanese cars a few years old depreciate in value quite quickly. Loans are easy to get for cars and the car dealer will arrange it.

Actually I bought a car in 2008 and sold it in 2015 to a company and I think they do leasing. My car was still pretty perfect but I sold it for about half the price I paid for it, a Nissan X-Trail 2.5L 4x4. I bought it for RM91k instead of the normal RM145k because I didn't need to pay tax under the MM2H conditions at that time, and I sold it for RM45k (less than I wanted). SO I think leasing and buying are both interesting.

The television and internet suppliers vary, I mean you have a choice, but in some condominiums there is no choice, You'll need to ask at the condominium management office. For example,, some condominiums only allow certain internet providers (such as "Time") to have fiber optic connection. Their prices are pretty cheap these days:

https://www.timeinternet.net/https://unifi.com.my/personal/home/fibre-broadband

The condo I last lived in only Telkom Unifi for internet or Time for a TV + internet package, so I chose the latter. The TV package was with Astro. Things may have changed, but actually you can check around to see what are the best packages since I left Malaysia about 5 years ago so probably out of touch a little.

https://www.astro.com.my/

I think most people pay around RM200 - 300 per month for electricity, that is using air-conditioners in the bedroom and living room. If you use a fan instead (ceiling or upright standing fan then the bill will be a lot cheaper. I have a family to used 2 or 3 aircons at night and used the one in the living room always where at home.

Currently I have a tenant, a Japanese and Korean tenant in an apartment who pays electric bills of RM150 - 200 each month. However, I installed ceiling fans in the living room and master bedroom so that may be the reason why the bill is low.

Hi Loic,

If you make it as a survey - certain form to be filled, then it would be easier for you to analyze the information and basically structurize it

It will take quite long time for me to remember living costs and to put it in writing

Thanks

The problem with form filling surveys is that they would be unfriendly, not encourage conversation and everyone has a different experience and advice aside from the facts. Also, I hate doing forms and would have zero interest to participate, whereas I am happy to give information on my experience.

We are family of two. Husband and Wife. our monthly expenses is around 4000 MYR including Studio room rent, rood, electricity, internet and & fair entertainments.

Electricity, to me a high bill is strange. In 20 years I never paid more than RM50 per month. My current bill is RM48 which is high. I have to be more careful with lights.  I very often had free electric because if the bill is below RM20 there is no charge. Water is RM4 per month and same with gas.

Chamins budget sounds reasonable. Im a family of two:
Food 800
Rent 700
Net 73
Util 60
Car 150

There will always be other surprises that boost the budget but for basic expenses 2K can be done---if there is discipline and willingness to forego luxuries. This wasnt always the case. When I first came, everything seemed cheap and I easily spent far more. But when you live here for a while you realize nothing is actually cheap, its just relative when salaries are compared to other countries like USA. When I started to think like a malaysian the cost of living went steadily down and I kicked myself for being so wasteful in the past.

cvco that's very little to pay for a monthly electricity bill. I know that we used at least 2 air-conditioners at night time and one in the living room most of the time we were at home. Also RM700 for rent is super cheap. Were you living in KL or somewhere else? I know there used to be studios for RM700 per month at one place I lived in at BB but that was for around 500m2 and about 10 years ago.

Property purchases in Malaysia is a minimum of MYR 1million for any Expats who wish to buy KL properties, while the last I heard in late 2019 is there's a minimum of MYR 2million for properties in Selangor state (Strata titled).

There's no minimum for renting so it might be more feasible to rent when you are just moving here and looking to keep cost down. Then upgrade further down the line.

I heard that the minimum of MYR 1 million might be going down. Prior to becoming a million ringgit it was MYR500,000 and prior to that it was just MYR250,000. If the minimum does go down it will help stimulate the property business for foreign investment. However, I believe one of the several reasons that the government did increase it to MYR 1million is because foreign investment in property was making property unaffordable for many Malaysians who were being forced to purchase a residence further and further out of the city.

But as far as purchasing property in Malaysia goes, at the moment the market is stagnant and you can probably pick up some great bargains. If you wait down the line and the market picks up then prices will be higher. If you have MM2H or plan a long future with Malaysia then now might be a good time to purchase, especially with the added negative aspect of Coronavirus. If landlords are unable to find a tenant they may be willing to sell much cheaper than they normally would. Also bear in mind that the huge profits that we were making 10 or 20 years ago are never going to happen again. If you can make 10% profit on selling a property that you purchased 5 years ago then you are doing well.

Shill88 wrote:

cvco that's very little to pay for a monthly electricity bill. I know that we used at least 2 air-conditioners at night time and one in the living room most of the time we were at home. Also RM700 for rent is super cheap. Were you living in KL or somewhere else? I know there used to be studios for RM700 per month at one place I lived in at BB but that was for around 500m2 and about 10 years ago.

We live on the mainland side of Penang. I was in KL for 12 years and now Penang for 8+.

Electric. The difference of a high-low bill is aircon which I dont use. I have 3 aircon and i think the last time I used one of them was a least a year ago. Two fans take care of it, and doors and windows open for breeze. Right now its 27c, hardly a need. Even in KL I hardly used aircon but I noticed that expats ran all their aircons all the time because they wanted an ice-cold environment to counter the humidity. One aircon costs RM6 per day. (3 x 6) x 30 = 540/month. The fact i pay RM48 average isnt because im a cheapskate, its because 1) i hate the transition from a cold house to walking outside and being blasted by the heat. Even in a hotel where you might keep the temp at 22, then you open the door and the hallway is 35. I HATE THAT! So I want the different temps similar, it just feels better. 2) I noticed very few locals used their aircons. Maybe they were trying to save money, I dont know, but they didnt use them. At first, it was difficult for me to accept this, its so hot why NOT use it? But over time I got used to it and they were right. YES, if it gets too hot like 33-36, yes run it for a while, but fortunately those days are few where I live. My bill of RM48 would be much less if I just changed refrigerators. I have an old Panasonic thats very inefficient and sucks the power. The newest inverter models use 50% less power. Is it worth spending RM1300 for an efficient frig to save RM20 a month? Good question. Thats RM240 a year, with life expectancy 15 years = RM3600, with the frig paying for itself in 6 years. Had I done that 8 years ago I would be money ahead already. Again though, how much longer will I be here? I could be gone in two years and then throw the frig in the dustbin? You could win, you could lose, thats why I havent done it. But yes, I could even get the electric bill lower than RM48, possibly down to the RM20 level where its free from the electric company.

Rent. Condos cost a lot more because of guards, pools, gardens, gym, etc. Unless a house is a villa, renting a house like a two-story terrace house is still low. You have no security other than a front gate and yes there are robberies but if you keep things locked up and eyes open, you will likely be fine. But why am I not in a condo? Well, I used to in KL and threw away a huge amount of money. In the old days I paid RM1500 at least and thought, why am i not buying? When you pay 700, closer to the actual cost of living, it makes you feel you are not wasting. But therein lies the problem, you ARE  wasting but at another level. This doesnt mean you should seek RM100/mo rent, it means one needs to buy. I didnt buy because my investment was in the productivity of goods, and because I never thought Id be here long. In hindsight, I should have bought SOMETHING. Either through my company or wife I could buy below the limit and its still a goal to build a house if I dont at least buy a flat to rent out or keep for the future as a place to return to for holidays. Fine but why havent I done THAT? Because largely ive come to loathe Malaysia and am really not sure i'd want to have a SEN in this wretched country, even a bank account. OK, so why dont you leave?? Because I love my interactions with lovely Malay girls and i love roti canai. Im a mess. I have to slap myself and wake up about everything.

Another note about house vs. condo living. Despite being much cheaper, its very difficult to rent a house. The first reason is extreme racism and xenophobia on the part of landlords and neighborhoods. I live in a 100% chinese area and they DO NOT want others in here. They want to keep it pure. I was only able to rent because my married landlord is gay and he strangely and wrongly thought I was gay too. Simple as that. Also, and very importantly, landlords look at your situation and weigh whether or not you living in their house sounds suitable and reasonable to them, namely that you are normal with a wife and kids and solid employment which they define as either that you work for a branded company or have a shop right on the street for all to see. Your reasons for renting anything are your own business but thats not how they see it which is another ugly side of Malaysia. I showed up as a single man wanting this big house and it seemed so unreasonable to the landlord he tried to talk me out of it. I said truthfully that for the first time in Malaysia i wanted SPACE! The bedrooms are empty--i love it, the open, uncrowded space. Just bear in mind that landlords here have a very narrow vision of the world and want everything to fit into a nice, tidy, little box. Remember the Asian way---a row of nails on a board, the one nail sticking out gets nailed back down.

One more thing about this rent. I pay RM700 for this big house and its gotten cheaper over time because the landlord has never raised the rent. We never had any contract and we have an unspoken and un-agreed to understanding: I pay CASH at his door on the 1st of every month and he doesnt raise the rent. We also have a second unspoken and un-agreed-to thing, he doesnt raise the rent and I dont squawk about repairs. Now, this is wrong. When you rent a house, even a fused light bulb is paid by the landlord. ALL repairs are on the landlord. He was good and fast about this during the first two years and then disappeared when I needed something. So i pay for urgent repairs like plumbing or electric and I let go everything else. When he gets this back he will have to pay a lot to prepare it for the next tenant. That said, when something big happens like a big roof leak, sure I chase him and force the repairs. I have a strange electric problem in the house, maybe its related to house grounding and its serious. I may have to chase him. Again though, had I made trouble for each and every repair, he could raise rent 10-15% a year and I would be paying a lot. So I have to weigh whats worth paying myself to escape that. My overall position is that since Im renting and not owning, keep the bill low. On the other hand, I wouldnt mind a rent increase if he would bring the place back up to the mark. Its time for that and it would be OK. Maybe the house running down is also impetus to leave. We'll see.

One more thing about renting a house or condo. Landlords have it in their minds that when you take the place, you are on your own and take care of everything and pay everything. This is NOT correct and NOT the rule. I know landlords who try to force the tenant to pay their real estate taxes and standing water-electric charges and city charges and fines and everything. Never pay any of those. Landlords take the position AFTER you rent that since you are using it, why should they pay anything? BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO THATS WHY. By all right, landlords should be reserving at least 10% of rent for repairs and upgrades but people here are highly averse to parting with money, it has to be pried from them with a big crowbar.

Shill88 wrote:

I heard that the minimum of MYR 1 million might be going down. Prior to becoming a million ringgit it was MYR500,000 and prior to that it was just MYR250,000. If the minimum does go down it will help stimulate the property business for foreign investment. However, I believe one of the several reasons that the government did increase it to MYR 1million is because foreign investment in property was making property unaffordable for many Malaysians who were being forced to purchase a residence further and further out of the city.

But as far as purchasing property in Malaysia goes, at the moment the market is stagnant and you can probably pick up some great bargains. If you wait down the line and the market picks up then prices will be higher. If you have MM2H or plan a long future with Malaysia then now might be a good time to purchase, especially with the added negative aspect of Coronavirus. If landlords are unable to find a tenant they may be willing to sell much cheaper than they normally would. Also bear in mind that the huge profits that we were making 10 or 20 years ago are never going to happen again. If you can make 10% profit on selling a property that you purchased 5 years ago then you are doing well.

Hey, yes you are right! The new threshold is MYR 600,000 as per the Budget 2020 announced by Finance Minister (at the point of announcement) late last year. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct … hw_vVZybQM

That is great news for expats. That means expats can now buy lower to mid priced apartments which should stimulate the market a bit, once the Coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Expats should also know that you don't need to have MM2H in order to purchase a property in Malaysia. Either buy it cash, or else meet the minimum income required by your bank in order to get a mortgage. Most of my loans have been 50% and didn't require any proof of income, but that is something that you can try to negotiate with your bank. Obviously with a decent income you can borrow more.

There were a couple of reasons for lowering the "floor" for foreigners. You are correct that one was the fact that setting the floor for foreigners at RM1-2 million was driving the market upward. By forcing foreign buyers and investors to purchase at those levels developers had a choice...go for the big bucks or build more moderately priced units. Foreigners who could not afford such exorbitant prices were forced to rent. Y


This produced an overhang, many million dollar units went empty and because of the floor developers were not going to reduce the price as RM900K or RM800K would eliminate the expat market. So you end up with vacancies...or maybe discounted rentals.

So by dropping the floor it would both encourage building more units in that price range (which also carries over to the Malaysian market) but also clears the overhang.

IMO having any sort of minimum is stupid. The rationale was to prevent Malaysians from having to compete with foreign buyers but the evidence of the market demonstrates that developers will go to wherever they can make profitable deals. If you allowed foreigners to even buy RN400-500K units that would drag the market with it for those foreigners willing to accept smaller studio or 1BR apartments. The State planners/politicians are not very competent in predicting economic behavior. But there may have also been other factors...relating to developer/politicians "interactions" that played a role.

And MM2H recipients always obtained a reduced floor..determined by individual State governments.

If the MM2H recipients were able to obtain a reduced floor, instead of paying MYR1 million for a property in Kuala Lumpur, how much was that floor? The last couple of apartments I bought were MYR750k and MYR1.4 million and new construction, but I didn't know that I could have bought cheaper ones, not that it really matters as I really wanted to add those two apartments.

My thoughts on expensive apartments such as those over a million ringgit are that the more expensive the apartment, the bigger the mortgage and the bigger the rent that you need to request. Clearly the higher the rent, the lower the percentage of tenants that will have the budget to pay. I'm not necessarily for not setting any limits but certainly being around MYR500k - 600k makes things more interesting for potential investors.

However, property is still stagnant at the moment. I owned a couple of 3 bedroom 1850 sq ft apartments about a ten minute walk from KLCC some years ago. I was Chairman of the owners Committee at that place too. I think I paid around MYR600k each for them. I sold them both back in 2012 and 2013 for MYR1 million and MYR1.1 million. Now, a friend of mine who has a garden level apartment in the same condominium is putting his for sale, and whereas his garden view apartment should be priced higher than mine, he has been told the current value is just MYR1.2 million which is what he is listing it for. I mean, as an investment that really isn't very good since the value 6 or 7 years ago was about the same.

It's all established by the State. In some States and Districts there is no benefit for being on MM2H (Terenggamu, Pahang, PJ,  Negeri Sembilan, Malacca) in others it can be quite substantial.

Through the MM2H scheme, foreigners are able to purchase properties located in Kelantan, Melaka and Sabah for only RM500, 000, and RM300, 000 for properties located in states such as Perak and Sarawak. In Penang the floor for MM2H is RM 500,000. In Kedah there is no restriction for MM2H at all. There are however some restrictions as to how many units one can purchase and how long you have to hold them before reselling.

https://www.iproperty.com.my/guides/gui … -malaysia/

My guess is that the property market will continue to stagnate, or even decline as restrictions on travel for foreigners (quarantines, work visas, use of condos for brief visits, etc.) are introduced. I mean who will work for undertake tourism in Malaysia if they have to stay/pay in an expensive hotel and get deep nasal swabs for two weeks?

Not very nice news about Real Property Gains Tax increasing from 5% to 10% as it just counters the good news about the minimum buying price being lowered. Also, if I have understood that chart correctly, having MM2H doesn't make a difference in KL although it does in other parts of the country. Also, paying 30% RPGT for selling a property within 5 years is a lot, especially when there probably won't be much money to be made anyway. So basically, lower minimums and higher taxes.....get the foreigners to invest more but tax the heck out of them. You can only really look at investing long term it seems or not at all.

What I will say is that having a good property lawyer can save money. My last two sales should have cost me MYR12k and MYR14k in lawyers fees but my lawyer charged me half of that. Previous to that, with larger law firms I just go the usual 25 - 30& discount on certain fees which didn't amount to much discount.

Good info here, we are arriving around August for when my wife starts teaching in Malaysia. Kids school fees covered, just some extras to pay like school bus, lunches etc

I like the environment here, but the internet here is slow compare to many countries.

Shill88 wrote:

Not very nice news about Real Property Gains Tax increasing from 5% to 10% as it just counters the good news about the minimum buying price being lowered. Also, if I have understood that chart correctly, having MM2H doesn't make a difference in KL although it does in other parts of the country. Also, paying 30% RPGT for selling a property within 5 years is a lot, especially when there probably won't be much money to be made anyway. .

Is the Real Property Gains Tax on the "Gain" (i.e. profit) on the sale or is it on the entire value of the property? Profit (or gain) would be "sale price - purchase price" and perhaps might also include the cost of improvements or repairs tossed in. 10% on the "gain" is vastly different than 10% on the sale price.

BTW In Sarawak the minimum buying price actually went up...from RM300,000 to RM600,000 (Kuching) and RM500,000 (elsewhere).

cinnamonape wrote:

Shill88 wrote:

Not very nice news about Real Property Gains Tax increasing from 5% to 10% as it just counters the good news about the minimum buying price being lowered. Also, if I have understood that chart correctly, having MM2H doesn't make a difference in KL although it does in other parts of the country. Also, paying 30% RPGT for selling a property within 5 years is a lot, especially when there probably won't be much money to be made anyway. .

Is the Real Property Gains Tax on the "Gain" (i.e. profit) on the sale or is it on the entire value of the property? Profit (or gain) would be "sale price - purchase price" and perhaps might also include the cost of improvements or repairs tossed in. 10% on the "gain" is vastly different than 10% on the sale price.

BTW In Sarawak the minimum buying price actually went up...from RM300,000 to RM600,000 (Kuching) and RM500,000 (elsewhere).

I've sold six apartments in Malaysia so far, and the lawyers held back about 5% of the selling price to pay for the RPGT, which was always based on the selling price minus my buying price, in other words based on the gain or profit. So actually it has never been all that much. There was one time where the tax department took about a year to refund me the balance after the sale was completed and the 5% withheld, and only after I went to their offices to push them was the balance returned to me. My lawyer had been trying for ages.

Can two people live comfortably on 2200 dollars a month in Georgetown?

Your saying 2200usd oer month exclusive house rental and food allowance and car rental or transportation cost?

If the 2200usd is net for your own salary yes it would be ok. Or make an overtime to make more.

But should be ok if you ask me

Tbirds77 wrote:

Can two people live comfortably on 2200 dollars a month in Georgetown?

thank u for your reply. well appreciated.

Depends who the two people are. Define "live." And is this USD? Im two people living on one-third of that including having a car so you have to explain more about what 2200 is intended to pay for.

I am currently using this provider for internet. http://timeinternet.my/

Excellent info.
I am planning to move to Malaysia in few months. I start looking at insurance companies to buy a policy from. Do you mind sharing the name of the insurance company you bought from.
Also I take the health insurance you quoted is monthly. Correct?

many thanks

Fred