[yellowtip]

Hi,

Does anybody here live in 8 Waterloo Road in Yau Ma Tei?

I'm curious about this building as the price per square foot is fairly low compared to the surrounding areas.

This project was developed by Sun Hung Kai, is a little over 3 years old, is located right next to the Yau Ma Tei MTR station. All really good points.

What I'm trying to figure out is... why is it so affordable? What's the catch?

Bad construction quality? Bad management? Bad facilities? Bad neighborhood?

[Alby]

The surrounding neighborhood is considered old and some what sketchy just around the corner on Shanghai Street there are many massage parlors offering extra special massage services for certain clients.

The building construction fine and building security is superior. There has been an effort by the government to bring new economic vitalization to the area and raise the quality of the neighborhood this is gradually happening but not fast enough for others.

[yellowtip]

Originally Posted by Alby

The surrounding neighborhood is considered old and some what sketchy just around the corner on Shanghai Street there are many massage parlors offering extra special massage services for certain clients.

The building construction fine and building security is superior. There has been an effort by the government to bring new economic vitalization to the area and raise the quality of the neighborhood this is gradually happening but not fast enough for others.

Thanks for the reply Alby,

Do you live in this building?

If so, would you mind giving me some pros and cons of living here?

Thanks in advance.

[Alby]

hey yellowtip

I am not living in the building but have considered it in the past but decided to put my money elsewhere - no fault of the building.

I honestly like its location and find it to be close to everything. Offers a better sense of what local culture truly is like - "good bad and the ugly" - more so than most places.

A bonus is that the price of going out to eat in Mong Kok fairs slightly better than eating out in Wan Chai, Soho and Central however the cuisine choices differ as well.

There are a limit number of expats in the area those who do live there tend to work out towards Kwai Chung area or going out towards Kowloon Bay / Kwun Tong also some work for HSBC in Tai Kok Tsoi.

The mid - higher floors tend to have less noise from the street but that would be the case in most places I imagine.

These are just some thoughts that come to mind immediately.

[yellowtip]

Originally Posted by Alby

hey yellowtip

I am not living in the building but have considered it in the past but decided to put my money elsewhere - no fault of the building.

I honestly like its location and find it to be close to everything. Offers a better sense of what local culture truly is like - "good bad and the ugly" - more so than most places.

A bonus is that the price of going out to eat in Mong Kok fairs slightly better than eating out in Wan Chai, Soho and Central however the cuisine choices differ as well.

There are a limit number of expats in the area those who do live there tend to work out towards Kwai Chung area or going out towards Kowloon Bay / Kwun Tong also some work for HSBC in Tai Kok Tsoi.

The mid - higher floors tend to have less noise from the street but that would be the case in most places I imagine.

These are just some thoughts that come to mind immediately.

Thanks so much for your reply.

Your situation is very interesting.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your decision to not buy there? ...or was it completely unrelated?

Also, do you keep an eye on property prices? DO you know what property prices have done in 8 Waterloo Road since you decided to pruchase somehwere else?

My apologies for all these question, but I'm trying to find out the downside/risk of buying there.

Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

[Alby]

Over the course of the next 2 to 3 years I already know of two new developments for housing developments happening, not far from there in Tai Kok Tsoi.

Plus with the MTR putting in a Southern Link rail line that will end right next to Kowloon Station - the value is sure to increase but by how much I don't know.

The location of the building is already a bonus.

Plus gradually there has been a densing down of the 'shaddy & sketchy' businesses ... before they use to go from the Langtham Hotel Area in Mong Kok to Kansu Street in Jordan now they seem to be only in a smaller 1 or 2 block area. I suspect that when the new developments breakground that they will relocate or be more discrete but others on the board my offer a differ opinion.

[rkhl]

8 Waterloo, simply put, is just a typical recent residential development located right next to YMT subway station.

The developer tried to market it as upmarket property when they first launched the development thru glamorous ads campaign - it is rather funny considering the location: right across the street to the west is a household waste collection building (rather poorly run); a block away sits the defunct YMT cinema & fruit wholesale market "chaotic" is the right word, nightly RIGHT AFTER midnight with all the trucks unloading/loading fruits and crates plus all the manual labour going on and trash thrown around freely & unchecked; to the south its the famous HK landmark or rather interesting thing to stumble upon but hate to be neighbourhood of, Temple Street Night Market, which runs nightly fr 6pm till 1130pm-ish; and last but not least there sit two coffin specialist shops rightly east to the site for the dearly departed.

I used to live around that 'hood and enjoy the exotic aspects of the area & its ppl. I treat it as a pad for nightly crash and love that I could reach anywhere in HK under 30mins. Nothing more.

However if I ever wanna purchase a flat in Hk I would rather shop around for something that has less negative aspects surrounding the location. Afterall some 97% of the population here is Chinese.

Rent before you buy gives u a much clearer picture of the property and location. Don't just jump right into it for the superficial market upswing. Understand that historically speaking around 65,000 flats are available in the HK market yearly. '07's drop to 55k is merely a dip thx to previous local administration's inept management and economic downturns.