I could not, I am just too poor to buy!

My colleague actually said this during lunch today. ‘I am looking at many condos but I could not afford them. I am just too poor to buy!’ The colleague is in finance and is definitely earning more than enough for a decent home, even if not luxury condos or gated and guarded properties. He said he was looking but has not yet decided where to buy. He has another 9 more months to decide as he would be getting married in September 2017.  Actually, he has less than that because he cannot be buying a place today and moving in tomorrow. I shared with him that he can try looking at the WHY instead of WHERE to manage the affordability. He said he does not want to buy too far away because it would mean long travelling times and that’s bad. He also said that he is not rushing because in a worst case scenario, he would just continue to rent but instead of a room, he may get a home instead. He’s from Johor and working in KL today.
I told many friends before that should I be changing job again and I have to move to another city, I would still choose to buy in the new city instead of renting. They asked me about the possibility of me staying at the job for only a while, then what would happen to the home that I bought? My answer was very simple, I would rent it out or sell it if the price is right. Of course for the first 6 months, I would most probably be renting a place instead first while I compare, view and deciding to buy. If I could not afford a place at the new city, I would sell my home in the previous city. However, my view remains the same. If others love to rent, I would love to rent to them. I am no longer a rental person. In fact, when I moved to KL from Penang, I worked my last day on a Friday and drove to KL on a Sunday morning to start work on a Monday morning. Yes, seamless because I had a small condo bought earlier which I have rented out. I have more flexibility!
Generally, properties do not appreciate suddenly. It crawls up slowly during normal times. However, the rise is based on overall property price. Thus if it’s 3 percent per year, it’s 3 percent on the property price. RM400,000 x 3 percent up is still RM12,000 per year or RM1,000 up every month. The only reason why we remain poor was because we did not want to have slightly less comfort today for a more comfortable tomorrow. Seriously, when we did not use part of our salary for a property, where would the money be going anyway? Hopefully the answer is a positive one instead of a materialistic one. Happy working, saving and buying.
written on 23 Dec 2016
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