First House.

Reading facebook posts on how no one can afford to buy a house just irritates me.

I bought my house when I only started working for about 7 months. It was the most random decision ever made. And this was about four years ago?

My boss (then) actually advised to apply for the low cost since my salary back then was only about 2.5k? Well I bought the forms and all and did try to apply. But then, was informed there was a new medium cost apartment nearby. So gave it a try. Submitted the deposit and whatnots and prayed my name was picked in the draw lots.

So yeah, partly I wasnt ready for any commitment. Who was? I had a 100k ASB loan eating up my ccris space. And I.... havent traveled the world.

Couple of weeks later I didnt receive any message, so I assumed my name wasnt picked. Went to the Developers office to collect my deposit back. But then, she informed that there was a lot of Bumi's units still available, so she was 100% sure I made the cut.

Checked the list and yeah I made the cut. There were 2 types of apartment available then, more expensive one was about RM180k about less 1000sf and theres a balcony. Of course I wanted that.

But on the day for the unit draw lot I missed out the apartment I wanted. My number was 500. So they opened the second apartment available , about 800sf, priced for RM169k (Bumi) and no balcony.

Was kinda devastated. So I called my mum and asked for opinion if I should continue? Ibu hesitated as well cause 800sf seems small.

Then this uncle in front of me heard our conversation, he told me he submitted 5 forms and only one was picked. So I was pretty lucky cause I submitted only 1 and made the cut.

He said why are you letting go yours? Rent the house out later. No one is going to check your house if its smaller by 200sf. The price range would still be RM1000-RM1300 for both. No one is going to bother if theres a balcony or not.

So I continued and was among the first 10 to choose from 300 units available. Rambang mata weh. Tengok tingkat lah. Tengok pool lah. Sembang dengan uncle depan feng shui cahaya matahari lah. Fikir dekat dengan lif nanti bising, ambil tengah sikit. Fikir kalau menghadap pool nanti bising so make sure dekat pool tapi menghadap parking. Abang belakang ni memang terus pilih tingkat 11! Kata he likes the privacy and the view. Okay.

Anyways long story short, I picked my unit. Signed S&P and applied for loan. So dengan gaji RM2,500.00 I did manage to get 90%. That time I only had 1 commitment which is my 100k ASB loan. No car. Goodbye Shinhwa. goodbye concert. And No, I didnt have 11k to pay the deposit, so I borrowed the money from my mum. Instalment la, bayar balik RM500 every month. Sampai mampu.

Here's what you need to know buying from a developer;-

1) most of them offer free legal fees;

2) which means, you save at least RM3k on legal fees;

3) theres a 3 years period for you to wait for your house to be ready;

4) which also means your loan wont be fully disbursed until the house is 100% ready;

5) which also means, you would still have to serve interest to your bank for 3 years (without any repayment of your loan) ;

6) ie : if 10% disbursed you only serve interest for that 10% (depends on your loan - can check with banker)

7) where you could still be prepared for your monthly commitment - so if youre only serving the interest, make it a habit of paying up what you're prepared for in the first place which is the RM700++ repayment ;

8) Which I cheat most of them time, online shopping and shinhwa was more important then

3 years of ikat perut later - and also gaji dah naik sikit - reality hits. It came in two forms - unhappy and satisfaction.

First unhappy reality is facing commitments. I had monthly ASB loan for RM600+ , I bought a car (teehee) monthly repayment was RM950, Insurance RM200+RM70, then the house RM775. Other expenses about RM500, So I'm left about RM500 for savings etc.

I was lucky cause I actually saved a lot with my mileage claims. So I survived on that claims for petrol and lunch money.

Second was that satisfaction of owning a property. A house you could live in with your family Insha Allah. Or even for some extra income. Or even if say Im broke one day I could sell it. Because 3 years later the value of the property has doubled.

So yes, the myth of people saying NO ONE CAN AFFORD TO BUY A HOUSE with RM2,500.00 are partly lies. Lol. You can buy if theres no other commitments. But yes, it is possible to buy a house. 3 years later takkan gaji tak naik lagi kan? If tak naik - please cari kerja tempat lain.

What I wasnt prepared was ;-

1) Maintenance / Sinking fees for apartments;

2) Cukai tanah - Cukai Pintu;

3) Bil air + Bil Elektrik :

4) Renovation ;

5) Kipas lampu perabot.

Yelah, dah ada rumah takkan kosong? haha guess what I did? Withdraw EPF. Haha. Okay-lah kan.