Buying A House

My sister will be back this Thursday; she's on biz trip around SEA and Malaysia will be one of the stop after Manila. The last time I caught up with her was during my Hong Kong trip 2 months ago.

Owning a house in Hong Kong is almost near to impossible to any working individual. A mere 600sqft condominium in HK will cost in the region of approx. RM1 million just like the one my sis is staying now in HK. So, this idea of buying house in Malaysia struck us early this year. A million ringgit you can be assured of semi-D in Damansara area. So I am doing the job of scouting for a new house and it will be one of the agenda when I meet up with my sister later this week.

Our mission is to purchase a new place at least by end of this year after I paid off my other miscellaneous commitments & debts. Frankly speaking, when comes to buying a house, the very first consideration will be; whether that property is going to be our own place or just a mere investment. We came to consensus that it will be our own place and of course with this we then shortlist a few area/community that we like best.

Damansara been always my top of mind when comes to a place to stay; the organized infrastructure & community are the main reason; schools, hypermarts, dining places, road access & transportation. Being the most sought after area, the properties around Damansara area are highly priced. Landed properties will be in the region of RM350k and above and reasonably good condos will be priced in the region of RM300k and mind you this is minus renovation.

So finally, I found a pretty reasonable place and bearing the name Damansara in its address which within our budget. There is this very nice condo located in Sri Damansara which just completed over 2 years; low density & new. Although I still have to pay the RM1.60 Samy Vellu's project LDP toll, I like the place pretty much as it has greens & near to most of my best buddies stay. My friend just bought a link house in Sri Damansara and will move in anytime this year, another best buddy of mine stays in Selayang. My mahjong buddy stays in Kota Damansara and thinking of normal drinking places in the Curve, it looks like almost confirm we will go for this place.

Reasonably priced at the region of RM220k, we still have a budget of around RM80k to play around the renovation. Now talking about the dollar & cents, here comes the mortgage loan part. Many factors and calculations needed to finalize which bank you will go for your loan. The BLRs, MRTA, MLTA, SPA fees, legal fees, etc. Wise decision needed as once you are bonded with a bank, there is a certain period that you cannot refinance or pay off as there will be a penalty imposed.



After signing off the S&P agreement and finalizing the loan, the mind draining part will be the renovation & furnishing. I do hope some of my ID friends can perhaps give an advice or even to the extend of drafting a simple plan for my ID. Then locating a certain budget and comparing quotes from the contractors, different contractors needed for different renovation; kitchen, bedrooms, curtains, air conditioning, security, the list just goes on. Headache isn't it? And with limitation in budget, a lot of things that you wanna do it at a go, you are hesitated. Owning a dream house is never easy, that is for sure.



I would probably save quite a substantial amount of $$$ on furnishings based on the nature of industry I am now. Too many things boggling my mind now and hope that I can pull through it properly. And when this dream is achieved, let's party in my new place ya.

Don't worry, I will prepare a wish list after I am in the final stage of pimping my own place. Save your money for that ya as I AM BROKE NOW!!!

:)





PS: Apology to my best buddy, Sean. You had helped me in my toughest part of life, I hope to pull through this mid-age crisis I am experiencing now. Thanks for understanding always, it is not easy to find a buddy that will stick to you thick & thin and support you in whatever you do. Will be at my best to settle everything in this couple of months to come (you know what I mean, and I mean it). Thanks!