Yesterday was a terrible day for many in Penang. It rained for a couple of hours and the whole Penang was flooded. Do take a look at the images for those who are not from Penang. These were just some of the photos which were being shared in WhatsApp. I could not reach office until after lunch because the floods surrounded my office. My CEO’s father commented that the flood was as bad as the one he experienced 30 years ago. My CEO himself, who was supposed to pick me up for breakfast was in a jam of over 2 hours only to cover 1km of road. In the end, I walked with an umbrella under the rain and had Subway for breakfast. Floods do happen, as all of us know. However, it is worth noting too that all developments with proper development planning would cover the necessary upgrades and maintenance too. For example, deeper and wider monsoon drains and maintenance to ensure all drains are not clogged which may cause flash floods. Of course, sometimes flood happens even to countries which has world-class proper planning…
Coming back to our property investments. Haha. Kopiandproperty.com is still a property related site lah. Assuming we have bought our first property, what should we do next? Well, besides enjoying that purchase and feeling great about it, the time has come for future planning for your next upgrade. I know, you love your current home a lot and that’s totally okay. However, if you are just a working professional, then that first home may just help you quite a lot, financially. Have you started reading more about some other cheaper but upcoming areas? Get to know a few of them, start knowing their pros and cons. Drive around occasionally, have some meals there or even visit some friends who stay there. One day, when your current property has increased in prices, perhaps RM200k, that is when you may potentially use your current property for a new home at the same price that you bought TODAY. In other words, you are suddenly RM200k richer which will now enable you to start your property investment adventure. It does not have to be just one until we retire. Property adventure starts only from 2nd property onward.
During our adventure, maintenance is needed. Are we still saving money when we have a higher salary? Are we buying more than necessary? Are we focusing on the necessity? Did we put the savings to a good use so that it is also growing higher as we ourselves grow older? When I look around me today, I realised that there are many younger graduates who are already achieving more than what I did when I was their age. Are we also maintaining our current lead, expanding our experience instead of staying at the same spot? When we stay at the same spot, these younger managers would catch up and overtake us. Maintenance is thus KEEP IMPROVING and LEARNING and not just staying the same. If I am a CEO today and I could find someone who could do as much as what my manager could for lesser pay, I would hire that person instead of keep giving my manager ever more money just to do the same thing. Let’s be savvy about this.
Remember, as a working professional who wants to continue in our property investment journey, we need to keep earning a good pay. It helps us in saving enough as well as getting our loans approved. Without a good pay, we may face rejections when we apply for our 2nd mortgage, 3rd and so on. Sometimes, we may face unforeseen circumstances, have we prepared enough for it? Insurance, Medical Cards and even EPF nominations? All the best in both the UPGRADING and MAINTENANCE part when it comes to property investments. Yes, I am still working very hard today, just like most of you. Happy working.
written on 15 Sept 2017
Next suggested article: Managing risks, starting strong (Think big, Start Small)
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