ACCENT: BY MELINDA ROOS

A place to call home: House-hunting is not an easy task. Get it right because finding that special place can make or break the delicate first few months of transition in a foreign land.

A guide to finding the right home for your stay in Malaysia

ONE of the key aspects in settling down in your new country of residence as an expat is finding that one special place that you can call home.

It is very important to get this matter right because it can make or break the delicate first few months of transition in a foreign land.

Anyone moving to KL from abroad would have done ample and adequate research on this and would have identified key geographical areas where they might consider finding suitable accommodation that meets the needs and desires of the family.

Primary considerations in this decision include proximity to work and school, in cases where there are children involved. Other points to consider would be the kind of community you would like to live in as well as budget requirements.

Generally, expats prefer to live in areas where there is a considerable concentration of others like them, simply because while it is great to go on an adventure to a foreign land and learn about new cultures, it is but human to feel a comforting sense of being among people who are more or less going through the same experiences as you are.

This lessens the feelings of isolation, the glaring reality that indeed, you are far from your own friends and family, in a strange and very different country.

Here are a few lessons I have learned the hard way:

• When you are still in the process of viewing houses, and you are not the first occupant, check if the previous tenants maintained the house properly.

We once viewed a house that looked like a tornado just hit it. The mess was unbelievable; dirty clothes strewn everywhere, a turtle in the bathroom, a cat somewhere, a garden with dog poop and all. Give it a few more months and the house would definitely qualify a slot in the TV show Hoarders. But we could see the house’s potential through it all and it had a good vibe. It just lacked the proper care. So we went ahead and signed the contract.

It has been four months since we moved in and we are still dealing with a lot of repairs and contractors, minor leaks, and appliances that do not work, just because they were not maintained properly.

So you have to ask yourself if you are okay being more like a caretaker of the house in the first six months, as opposed to feeling like a tenant who gets to sit back, relax and enjoy your new house once you move into it.

• Do not move in immediately the day after the previous tenant left.

Allow time for contractors to finish their work properly. Do request from your agent or landlord, whoever you are dealing with, to have all renovation and refurbishment work done and completed, and the smell of paint has evaporated. Take your time. It is worth it.

• A good landlord should hand you a list of contractors and go-to persons you can call in case something breaks.

This list should include carpenters, plumbers, electricians, curtain suppliers, maintenance guys, drinking water and cooking gas delivery people, as well as technician contact numbers for all the household appliances that comes with the rent in case these break.

Demand for this list from your agents. Do not sign the contract if you do not have this list because trust me, this will save you a lot of heartache, spikes in blood pressure and marital fights.

Ask your agent how responsive your future landlord is. Some landlords just want to collect rent; others are very helpful whenever a problem arises in the house.

• Explore the neighbourhood. Ask the neighbours about the house. You would preferably want to do this without your agent, or the landlord’s agent, to get a more objective feedback, as neighbours do not have vested interests in the property you are looking at.
• If you hear the house has had water leaks in the past, run. No matter how beautiful the house is, no matter if it is a corner property with just the right rental that matches your housing budget, run. A leak in the ceiling is not worth it.

We moved into one of the communities touted as the best place to live in Kuala Lumpur. Two months later, a small water leak that was left unattended for two weeks became a major hole in the ceiling. We were surprised how a tiny drip turned into a mini rain shower right smack in the master bedroom.

After this one was finally fixed, another leak revealed itself in the walk-in closet. A couple of months later, the leak reappeared in the bathroom, and then in the family room. It was almost like playing cat and mouse.

We were lucky the ceiling did not come crashing down with all the leaks it went through. Two other houses in the neighbourhood were not so fortunate when the whole living room ceiling collapsed, leaving a gaping hole and destroying the furnishings and appliances.

It baffles me how a high-end development could succumb to such low plumbing and construction standards.

• If you can imagine yourself living in the same house for more than two years, make sure a fixed percentage increase rate should be included in your contract; a 10% to 15% increase would be reasonable. Anything beyond is just pure, plain greed on the landlord’s part.

Back in February of this year, at the end of a two-year stay, it was time to renegotiate the house rental contract. Despite the leaks, we were willing to extend because the alternative stress of moving was the least favourable choice.

My husband and I agreed that our starting point was to propose a zero increase in the rental to compensate for all the inconveniences we went through with the leaks.

Our landlord had other plans. He told us that some property agents had informed him that there were a lot of expats interested in his corner-lot house and willing to pay the price he proposed, which was a whopping 38% increase in the rental amount.

It was a very short meeting. I was not prepared to pay a single cent more than what we already did; my husband was willing to pay a 15% increase even, but I was not going to give our landlord that satisfaction. So four months ago, we moved into a new house that we love, despite all its imperfections.

To this day, our previous house is still vacant, unoccupied despite a hundred viewings and still counting.

I wish someone had told me all this while we were house-hunting, but as they say, wisdom comes from the experiences we go through.