Every day, there are hundreds (might be thousands) of people crossing the Second Lane (Linkedua) and Tambak Johor to go to work in Singapore.
According to an article in TheVocket.com, the are 400,000 Malaysian currently working there. Most of them are Chinese and Indian.
And only about 10% are Malays. This statistics is based on 2016 and predicted to grow in numbers as of now.
On average, there are 150,000 users using both routes going in and out from Malaysia to Singapore and back, and 75% of them are Malaysian.
The question that we gonna explore today – is it viable to buy a house in Johor when you are working in Singapore?
For some of us, they will think like this:
“Isn’t it crazy to go to Singapore and back to JB? So tiring!”
It is tiring, imagine you need to que at the custom and going through massive congestion on daily basis.
But if we look at the exchange rate of Ringgit to Singaporean Dollar, many would agree with this idea. There’s huge saving if you buy a house in Johor.
Let’s take a look at the cons of this idea first.
Here is the fact. There is no perfect thing in the world, and this is part of the lifestyle of living in Malaysia but working in neighbouring country.
You have 3 options:
This would be the most effective and efficient options available, but it will take a toll to your mental and energy.
Say, you live in Gelang Patah. The time taken for you to get to Singapore would be around an hour and a half.
The toll fee and ‘entry pass’ would cost around RM17 not inclusive your petrol spending.
This one is the most effective and less intensive mentally and physically.
The average time taken would be around 2 hours. And this includes time taken from your house to the bus stop, and from the bus stop to your workplace.
There will be a lot of people ‘running’ to catch the bus at ‘checkpoint’ in Malaysia/Singapore.
This is because they want to secure a seat in the bus, if you’re late you need to stand up all the way throughout the journey.
The cost would be around RM16 per day. It is cheaper than riding your bike.
This is the most comfortable option, though the cost is quite high and inflexible. In my opinion, it is not worth if you’re driving alone.
The cost that you need to fork out is around RM110 (SGD 35) for the ‘entry pass’, RM22 (SGD 7) for toll, and RM16 (SGD 5) for parking fee.
Hence, to make it cost effective, it is better to car pool.
All of this options mentioned requires you to get up as early as 5AM, so that you won’t be trapped in traffic congestion and arrive at your office at appointed time.
If all this is not a concern for you, then there would be no problem for you to live in Johor and working in Singapore.
It is a great news for those who have flexible working hours and able to work from home.
So, what is the advantage of owning a house in Johor but working in Singapore?
As we have mentioned before, the exchange rate from Ringgit to Singaporean Dollar achieved a new record high.
This means that even though you have a huge payslip, doesn’t mean that you have to spend a lot. You still have better options.
Iskandar Malaysia is three times bigger than Singapore. This is the biggest factor for those who work in Singapore to buy a house in Johor.
In other words, you can get a bigger property in Johor, compared to the property in Singapore at a cheaper price point. If you have extra money, you can do renovation at fair price.
At Johor, you have a lot of opportunities to buy property at below market value. It is just a matter of effort.
With a high cost of living in Singapore, it is not surprising that many Malaysian are willing to go through traffic congestion every day.
It might be difficult to buy a house and survive there. Housing price is not the same as in Malaysia.
You can have a lot more savings which you can use for other things.
Many people love to spend their time watching movies and shopping.
But, the options in Singapore is limited. That’s why even the Singaporean are spending their leisure time in Malaysia. They can drive easily to Johor, Melaka or Tioman for pleasure.
You have plenty of entertainment option and easy access to all these activities at a fair price.
This kind of lifestyle is amongst many factor why there’s lot of local prefer to stay and at the same time, for Singaporean to buy a house in Malaysia.
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Referring to all the points mentioned above, it is not an odd thing if more Singaporeans choose to buy property in Johor in the future.
Who knows? Someday, it might be a normal thing.
If you’re Singaporean and serious about buying house in Malaysia, I would suggest to research thoroughly all the options available.
