From Mr Y, a viewer who wrote in by email
Mr Y is 28, a structural engineer in Singapore earning about S$5,000 a month, and has just received Singapore PR. Last year he bought a Bukit Jalil unit for about RM625,000; the developer covered 8% of the price, so he paid only 2%, about RM12,000, which is refunded at handover around July 2026. He may not return for five or six years, worries that Malaysian engineering pay would make the loan a burden, and already has a six-figure ringgit portfolio in stocks and bonds.
Should he rent out the whole unit, rent it room by room and keep one room for visits, or let family stay, and how much should he spend getting it ready for tenants?
“Rent the whole thing out, and you focus on your career in Singapore.”
Rent out the whole unit and run it like a business, furnished for the tenants most likely to live there. Keeping a room for monthly visits or lending it to family wastes it, and there is no hurry to move back.
Why
A spare room costs more than a hotel
Keeping a room empty for a monthly trip home costs more than staying in a hotel, and his family already have their own home. Sean is against holiday homes unless you can pay for them in cash.
The tenant decides the fit-out
Ask who will rent there: families, professionals or students. Families want a practical kitchen and a calm design; students need rooms with separate locks and single beds. Renting by the room is not always better: in Mont Kiara whole units do better, while in mixed areas rooms can earn more.
Have more than one way to cover the loan
A loan of about RM600,000 means an instalment of about RM2,700. If the whole unit rents for only RM1,800, three rooms at RM600, RM800 and RM1,000 would bring in RM2,400. Family-oriented projects often ban Airbnb, but medium-term stays for visiting professionals are another option.
RM12,000 won't furnish a rental
Workmanship has become expensive and RM20,000 no longer goes far; Sean's rough guess for a quote here is RM35,000 to RM38,000. Doing it yourself saves about 20% but needs time on site, which is hard from Singapore. Spend where tenants notice, such as a large smart TV and a washer-dryer, not marble floors or plaster ceilings.
What to do
- Check what similar units nearby rent for, and compare it with your instalment.
- Get an itemised furnishing quotation from an established company to use as a benchmark, and ask where any much cheaper quote cuts costs.
- Furnish for the most likely tenant, aiming for the lowest cost with the most visual impact.
- If you may buy public housing in Singapore later, check how owning a Malaysian property affects your eligibility.
- Keep building your career and savings in Singapore, and revisit moving back once your portfolio reaches six figures in Singapore dollars.
Editorial Note: Summarised from Sean Tan's full episode. The quoted answer is in his own words; the rest is our paraphrase. Figures reflect the recording date, so check current rates and rules before acting on them.
ASKING SEAN #317 | CHOOSING THE RIGHT PROPERTY IS HALF THE EQUATION
Sources & Verification Data
Summarised from Sean's full English captions for Asking Sean #317. The quoted answer is verbatim; everything else is paraphrased. Figures are as Sean stated them in July 2026. Sean recommends The Makeover Guys, who furnish his own investment units, and his channel carries a discount code for them.
