V120 vs V160: which Forest City golf villa should you buy?

The two layouts side by side

Lot, built-up and room counts are the standard plans shown on the home page. The floor-by-floor figures are from a published breakdown of the same plans. Renovated villas differ, so check the plan and the sale documents for the unit you are buying.

Where the extra 883 sq ft really is

The V160 is 883 sq ft larger than the V120 on the published figures. Yet its lot is only one foot wider. So where does the space come from?

Add up the two indoor floors of the V160 and you get about 2,120 sq ft. The V120 is 2,034 sq ft. That is 86 sq ft more indoors, roughly the size of a store room. The other 797 sq ft is open terrace.

So the honest way to describe a V160 is this: a third bedroom and a third bathroom fitted into nearly the same indoor footprint as the V120, plus a terrace bigger than a 753 sq ft two-bedroom condo in Medini. If you were expecting larger rooms, look carefully at the plan. If you want to sit outside in the evening with the course in view, that terrace is the whole point of the layout.

A terrace that size in Johor weather also needs looking after. Ask the owner when the waterproofing was last checked and whether water ponds after heavy rain. On a villa that has been locked up for long stretches, it is the first thing to look at.

What sellers are asking now

I went through the first 20 of the 36 landed sale adverts for Forest City Golf Resort on EdgeProp on 2 October 2026. Six were two-bedroom villas listed at about 1,980 to 2,180 sq ft, which is the V120 and its close variants. Two asked RM950,000, one asked RM1,080,000 and three asked RM1,500,000.

Four adverts were three-bedroom villas at 2,917 sq ft, the V160 size. Two asked RM1,600,000 and two asked RM1,800,000. Three more three-bedroom villas listed at about 2,300 sq ft asked RM1,600,000 to RM1,680,000.

Look at the last column. Agents quote the V160 at RM549 per sq ft and it sounds cheaper than a RM737 V120. Take the terrace out and the same villa is about RM755 per sq ft of indoor space. The V160 is the more expensive villa on every measure that counts rooms you can air-condition.

The spread on the V120 is the other thing to notice. RM950,000 and RM1,500,000 for the same layout cannot both be right. With V160s on offer at RM1,600,000, a V120 at RM1,500,000 is priced RM100,000 below a villa with one more bedroom, one more bathroom and a terrace. I would not pay it. These are asking prices on adverts, and the developer price list is given on request.

Rent tells the same story

On the same day, most two-bedroom villas in the resort were asking RM2,500 to RM3,800 a month, with RM3,000 the most common figure. Most three-bedroom villas asked RM3,800 to RM5,000. Three V160 adverts asked RM10,000 with nothing in the advert to explain it. The full breakdown is in my Forest City golf villa rental guide.

Put rent against price. A V120 bought at RM950,000 and let at RM3,000 a month brings RM36,000 a year, about 3.8% gross. The same villa bought at RM1,500,000 gives 2.4%. A V160 at RM1,600,000 let at RM3,800 to RM5,000 gives about 2.9% to 3.8%. All of that is before service charge, garden upkeep and empty months.

Nobody should buy either villa for the yield alone. You buy for 2,000 sq ft of landed space, two 18-hole courses outside, including the Jack Nicklaus Legacy course, and a resort that states about 5 km to the Second Link. The rent only tells you which purchase price is sensible, and it points to the lower end of both ranges.

If you are a foreign buyer

The general Johor floor for a foreign residential purchase is RM1,000,000. A resale V120 advertised at RM950,000 is under that line. The RM500,000 figure you see quoted applies to qualifying purchases from the developer under the Special Financial Zone MM2H route, and buying a villa does not by itself grant MM2H. The conditions are set out on the MM2H page.

From 1 January 2026 non-citizens pay a flat 8% stamp duty on a residential transfer, and Malaysian permanent residents are excluded from that rate. Johor also charges a foreign buyer a levy of 3% of the price for the state's consent to the purchase. The table below works out both on each asking price. Zone incentives depend on your own eligibility, so ask what applies to you before you count on any relief.

So a foreign buyer is shopping at RM1,000,000 and above. On today's adverts that leaves the RM1,080,000 V120 or the V160s from RM1,600,000. A V120 at RM1,500,000 makes no sense next to either.

Transfer duty and the Johor levy on each asking price

After the price itself, stamp duty on the transfer is the biggest one-off cost, and it is where a Malaysian and a foreign buyer part ways. Malaysians and permanent residents pay 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% from there to RM500,000, 3% up to RM1,000,000 and 4% on anything above that. Non-citizens pay 8% on the whole price.

The levy is the part most price lists leave out. Johor charges a foreign buyer 3% of the purchase price for the state's consent to the transfer, with a minimum of RM30,000. That rate has applied since 1 July 2025. Before then it was 2%.

Duty and levy together come to 11% of the price on every villa a foreign buyer can take. On the RM1,080,000 V120 that is RM118,800, which is RM91,600 more than a Malaysian pays in duty on the same villa. Johor's land office counts a Malaysian permanent resident as a foreign interest, so a PR pays the tiered duty and still pays the levy.

Going from the RM1,080,000 V120 to a RM1,600,000 V160 adds RM20,800 of duty for a Malaysian buyer. For a foreign buyer the same step adds RM41,600 of duty and RM15,600 of levy, RM57,200 in all. That is about 19 months of rent on a V120 at RM3,000 a month, paid before you get the keys, so be sure you want the third bedroom and the terrace.

The first-home exemption is for Malaysian citizens and stops at RM500,000, so it does not reach either layout. Duty on the loan agreement and legal fees come on top. With the scale legal fee added, a foreign buyer's bill is RM130,850 on the RM1,080,000 V120 and RM193,250 on a RM1,600,000 V160. Each line of that sum is set out in the guide to buying a golf villa from Singapore. Ask your lawyer to quote all of it on the exact unit before you sign.

Who should take which

Take the V120 if it is the two of you, if this is a weekend and golf base, or if you are a Malaysian buyer who wants to stay under RM1,100,000. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms over 2,034 sq ft is generous for a couple, and there is less house to maintain when you are away.

Take the V160 if parents or children will stay, if you want a guest room that does not double as a study, or if you know you will use the terrace. The published breakdown shows two indoor floors for both layouts. Adverts often call the V160 a three-storey or 3.5-storey villa, which points to the terrace sitting above the bedrooms. If someone with bad knees is moving in, find out on the plan which floor each bedroom is on before anything else.

Check these before you pay a booking fee

• The size on the title or sale agreement. Two-bedroom adverts list anything from 1,980 to 2,178 sq ft, so ask which layout it really is.
• The latest service charge statement from the resort management, and whether the seller is up to date.
• The terrace on a V160: waterproofing, drainage, and any roof or enclosure added without approval.
• Golf. Owning a villa does not include membership or green fees. Confirm the current arrangement with the resort.
• Which way the villa faces. A course view and an internal road view are not worth the same money.
• The title, checked by your own lawyer, for the exact unit.
• The commute, if anyone in the house works in Singapore. Bus fares and car charges are worked out in the Forest City to Singapore guide.

My take

For a couple, the V120 at RM950,000 to RM1,080,000 is the buy, and a foreign buyer needs the one at or above RM1,000,000. For a family, start with the V160 adverts at RM1,600,000 and negotiate down from there, since two sellers are competing at the same figure. Tell me which layout and your budget, and I will send the current developer price list and the resale units worth viewing this week.

Questions buyers ask about the V120 and V160