# Penang Gelugor area condo and cost of living



## Rusty 747

My wife and I live in Singapore and are thinking of Penang as a retirement home. I am British and my wife is Malaysian.

We are looking at buying outright a freehold 4 bed condo in the Gelugor area, near Tescos but before we commit to the expense we need to assure ourselves that we will have enough money left over to service a rather unusual domestic situation.

Although contemplating (very early) retirement we are also looking at adopting 2 Malaysian babies as we are unable to have our own family. Assuming we take advantage of my wife's Malaysian status and use state kindergarten, primary and secondary schools how much RM pcm would you think we would need to:

maintain a 2500 sq ft condo in good order and pay maintenance fees

baby milk powder, diapers etc (2 babies)

run a small car

employ a live in maid

pay all utility bills

grocery shopping

Health insurance for self, wife and 2 children restricted to Malaysia only

Mobile phone, internet, cable TV

Other occasional expenses - clothes etc

We enjoy a very simple lifestyle and do not need (or want) to go out to fine restaurants or buy designer clothes etc.

All replies greatly appreciated - along with any suggestions for items that we may (and probably have) missed out from the above list.

Many thankslane:


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## Sylpheed

Hi there 

I have a young family with 1 kid at 2+, i stay on penang island, just to give you some info on some of the things you've listed. I'm also a malaysian, so i'm speaking from a malaysian perspective (especially in terms of pricing, somethings i consider expensive.. might not be to you, but i'll just give you the figure and let you know the info  )

maintain a 2500 sq ft condo in good order and pay maintenance fees
- usually for a 1.2- 1.5k sq ft condo it would be approx 400k - 700k, if you're looking for a 2.5k sq ft condo, it'll be 1mil++ to 2mil. This is excluding maintenance fees. The area also matters, i'm not sure how much is Gelugor area, but there's plenty around i guess. 

Also, are you buying a finished condo? or still in progress building condo? A finished one is more expensive, but if you're getting a in progress one, some of them have some shady issues, so you might run into problems later. Do do a good research on them 

baby milk powder, diapers etc (2 babies)
- milk powder is approx 70RM - 100RM+ per 1.5 to 1.8kg, my son drinks 1 can each month, 

- diapers : most parents i know would go for the brand mommypoko for night, and other cheaper brands during the day. Prices ranges around 20RM+ for the cheap one and 60RM+ for the expensive ones. 
These should last you 1 month for each jumbo pack.

-run a small car
If you're getting a local one, you cna check out their websites:

if not a local car, the popular choices are honda and toyota. All prices are listed on their websites


-employ a live in maid 
I don't have a maid myself, but i've heard that to get one you need approx 5-8K RM, for initial fee, then + monthly salary (not sure how much).
the danger part of this is there are many cases where the maid can run away.. or the maid has some sickness that after 1 year, they'll have to go back. it is best to get a trustworthy agent to settle this for you.


pay all utility bills
- for mobile phone bills: you can check their website. there's maxis, digi, umobile, yes. 
- for water and electricity, you don't have much of a choice here, just sign up with the main utility company. water bill is ok, electricity can be abit pricy. if you turn on 1 aircon, your bill would be about 100- 200RM, if you turn on more and 24/7, it'll go up much higher. 

grocery shopping
- food is ok, this really depends on your eating lifestyle and such, would you be cooking alot, or just eating out.

Health insurance for self, wife and 2 children restricted to Malaysia only
- You can consult an agent to know more about this also, there are plenty of agents around (they probably can't wait to get your business too). I'm not sure about the price range though. This one is really wide, and really depends on what you want to get in your health insurance.

Other occasional expenses - clothes etc
- clothes are ok, for branded expensive stuff, just go the mall (these things are probably cheaper in UK or US).
- for non-branded and decent clothes, just go to the pasar malam (night market). you can get a shirt for 10RM. Depends on your taste i guess 

We enjoy a very simple lifestyle and do not need (or want) to go out to fine restaurants or buy designer clothes etc.

- the most important thing however, isn't your current life style, or your retirement, it's your 2 babie's future. For me, while planning for my kid's education, it'll cost me more then everything else. (almost like buying another house)

I'm assuming that you would want to put them through private schools instead of public ones? Penang has a handful of private schools around, you might want to check out and see how much they cost.

Here's 2 of them that i know off, fairview is the cheapest one i think. 
fairview.edu.my
dalat.org


One major advantage (for now..) about penang is, penang has a booming medical tourism industry. Many many people from surrounding countries would come to penang for their medical needs. The hospitals are well equiped and their technology aren't that far behind from UK or US. It's also a lot cheaper compared to UK, US or even singapore.

Whether it stays like this for the next 10 years, i guess no one would ever know  the only thing constant in life is change anyway


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## Rusty 747

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. It is most helpful.

Condo would be fully furnished if we can afford it.

We would be happy with a local second hand car and will check out the websites. Thank you. Is car insurance expensive in Penang and is it easy to convert an existing British or Singaporean licence to a Malaysian one?

Thank you also for the schooling details.

Any other replies, comments or suggestions will be most gratefully received.

Thank you.


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## Sylpheed

Hi there

if you can afford a 1mil + appt, i think furnished one shouldn't be much of a problem 

For a local second hand car, i'm not sure if there are any websites for that,but there's plenty of 2nd hand car sellers in penang. You'll have plenty to choose from. 

As for car insurance, it depends on the price of coverage. If you take a cheap car, the insurance shouldn't be that high.


As for conversion of license. I had a US license, when i converted to malaysian license, i didn't need to do any test, just need to do the convert. However, that being said, penang roads are quite "hostile" to drive sometimes, takes abit of getting use to compared to other places. If you're use to singapore, then i guess it's not that bad. I came from texas -> penang, and it was a big jump


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## Rusty 747

Thanks for that. We have been to Penang before and know what you mean about the roads. We got around either by taxi or hotel shuttle bus so were spared actually driving ourselves anywhere.

Initially we looked at the new condos on the North of the island (Cove, Infinity, Skyhome) but they are out of our price range so we are trying to find something nice for about RM1 million or less but with 4 bedrooms, balcony and preferably a sea view. Min size about 2500 sq ft. Doesn't have to be a new unit as long as its in good decorative order.

Many thankslane:


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## Sylpheed

Hmm

try out penangproperties dot com
or mudah dot com

these 2 sites have a good list of properties for sale. Even local people use them


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## Rusty 747

Thanks for that, - most helpful. If anyone else has any info/recommendations about Health Insurance (I have a Malaysian wife who I would obviously like to be included in a joint policy) we would really appreciate it. I have just received a quote from BUPA for the most basic package and it is VERY expensive.

Many thankslane:


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## Sylpheed

you can try prudential or AIA. personally i'm using prudential for insurance.


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## Rusty 747

Working on a worst case scenario (poor UK exchange rates, low interest rates on UK savings etc) if we owned our own freehold condo in Penang which had maintenance fees of about RM500 a month and we wished to run a small second hand car (no car loan required) can I ask, would RM8000 a month be enough to live simply and raise a child - assuming no private schooling. We would like to employ a full time maid but that is not essential.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks lane:


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## Sylpheed

Hi Rusty 

Here's an example www dot mudah dot my/Platino+Condo+Gelugor+Pg-13954215 dot htm

though i think this is way way overpriced...


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## Rusty 747

Thanks for all the helpful replies. We have bought in Batu Ferringhi area and hope to move in early 2013. Budget will be a bit tight, so it looks like a second hand local car for a few years. Can anyone recommend an interior designer who understands western tastes? We are dealing with Ethnic at Gotleib Road at the moment. Very nice people but not sure they understand our rather western design ideas.


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