A friend shared an ebook on property investment. Reading half way and skim through till the
end, I found out that it is a good manual on what to do if you want to buy a house.
Buying a house is a tedious thing, involving a lot of agreement, paperwork and
numbers.I learn it from experience.
It was in 2009. I had just started working for almost a year and lived with my brother’s family. My only financial commitment was my car. At that time, the economic had just about to recover from 2008 economic crisis. There were many houses on auctions as the result of economic downturn in the previous year. At that year, my brother was actively hunting for property since there are many good properties available in the market. While surveying the property, my brother came across a house that was on sale with a very good location and quite affordable. The owner wanted to let go of the housing since they were moving to the other state and they had nobody reliable to take care of the house.
It was in 2009. I had just started working for almost a year and lived with my brother’s family. My only financial commitment was my car. At that time, the economic had just about to recover from 2008 economic crisis. There were many houses on auctions as the result of economic downturn in the previous year. At that year, my brother was actively hunting for property since there are many good properties available in the market. While surveying the property, my brother came across a house that was on sale with a very good location and quite affordable. The owner wanted to let go of the housing since they were moving to the other state and they had nobody reliable to take care of the house.
After my brother suggestion, I decided to buy the house.
Why?
1)
The price was reasonable/affordable for a
freshgrad salary.
2)
The BLR at that time was the lowest in 20 years
(5.5%)
3)
The bank offered interest rate of BLR-2.05%. Good
deal huh…
4)
I heard that property investment has high return
5)
I thought
I was rich….haha….(it was before I learn what I had to pay for buying a house)
Honestly, i didn’t have any real knowledge about buying a
house. I just go with the flow. I didn’t even understand how BLR work. After a
few months being an official proud home owner, the reality hit me.
1)
I just realized that BLR increased. In fact in
2010, Bank Negara revised the BLR for 3 times (increasing trend). It turned out
I had to pay monthly mortgage about 30% higher than I expected.
2)
The lawyer agreement cost you thousand. It was
just a wordy document with repeated term and condition….but it did have value
in court.
3)
Since it wasn’t new house, I need to fix some of
the things around (not even a renovation). And it cost about 5 figures.
Apparently, I wasn’t that rich…haha
4)
Now and then, I will face problem like leaking,
broken pipe….it’s minor but irritating.
5)
The bank will chase you like a loanshark if you don’t
pay on-time. Even it’s only one day late.
6)
You have to pay cukai pintu, Indah Water bill
and insurance. I still don’t understand the insurance but it sort of come with
the loan.
But along the way, owning a house teaches me a lot of things;
1)
I started to understand the BLR movement.
2)
Managing expense/budgeting to cope with
financial commitment. It was hard at the initial stage but along the way, as
the income started to balance out the monthly financial commitment, I got some
extra space to spend some money around.
3)
Being more disciplines in managing my expenses.
Pay mortgage on time…actually I just issue standing instruction to the bank.
4)
If you own a house, you need to know a good/reliable
handyman. Mine wasn’t the best, but he’s ok.
5)
The risk of losing my job…huh…must love your job
unless you find better.
When it comes to property, I still have a lot to learn. Nothing is as easy as it sound but do not
settle less than you deserved.
.
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