All posts by raziq rosman

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4 Secrets You Should Know to Get Your Loans Approved

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Before you head out straight into applying bank loans, there are few checks you must make to ensure high chances of approval. I previously had the chance to have a conversation with a banker who now becomes a businessman and he shared something incredible. You might be wondering “how do I know what to check?” or “how would I know my chances of getting approved?” – well good thing is it is not rocket science. Here are the 4 major checklist you have to follow through.

1. Application Score

In the old days you will normally have to meetup face to face with bankers at the banks. Banks no longer have to see you or you seeing them which may cause biased loan approvals. But things changed, banks have a system these days to screen your loan application. The system is like a score engine that sees through your profile demography such as, your:

  • place of work
  •  home address
  • salary
  • work experience

However, a brilliant tip to get your loan approved is to change your home address. Change my address?! When I say change your address does not mean you have to move to a new home or change your address in your personal ID – it simply means using your parents’, siblings, or spouses home address when you apply your loans in the bank form. Why is this important? Believe it or not banks will also assess your financial strength by the place you stay. In Malaysia, places like Bangsar or Central Kuala Lumpur are expensive places. Banks may fare better for people who stayed in Bangsar compared to those who stayed in a lesser developed area. Bank’s logic is that when you stayed in developed areas means you can afford the lifestyle there which also reflect your financial strength. However, this all depends on where you buy your house, you may get a better approval chance if you buy a house in less developed areas if you stay in there – just try your luck, we’ll never know.

2. Banks Will Assess Your Income Level

This is important because the bank would like to see how much you are earning which also determine your loan payment capabilities. If you don’t meet the banks’ income criteria then you will be rejected – as upset as it sounds. Another good advice is to choose the right bank! What do you mean choosing the right bank? It simply means you will have to ask the magic question to banks, “how much percentage of my income do you recognize to process my loan? “. That’s right! Some banks only recognize 70% of your income instead of 100% for your application. Let’s say your salary per month is RM 3000, if the bank only recognize 70%, that means you are applying your loan for RM 2,100. If a RM 3000 can get you a RM 160,000 worth of property, you might need to rethink your decisions if the bank allows only 70% of the total RM 3,000. The key take away is to ensure that you ask the banks how much percentage of interest do they recognize on customers’ loan applications.

3. Credit Score Report – CCRIS

When it comes to your credit report which have all information regarding your credit score, banks will know everything which in this case recorded in the, “Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS)”. CCRIS knows all about your credit facilities such as PTPTN, car loan, home loans and whether or not you are a good customer – a good customer would mean a good payer from bank’s perspective.

If you are a credit card user, you may wonder, “how am I to know if my credit score is good?”.  just make sure not to use more than 50% of your credit limit –  as simple as that – well, theoretically. But you may also wonder, “what if my credit score is clean? like a piece of white sheet with stains on it” – that won’t be good as well because banks cannot judge your financial behavior such as your spending patterns or how well are you committed to paying any financial commitments.  A good tip is to take up an ASNB loan which has a compounding effect in it since it does not disrupt any of your CCRIS. Not only will it help you saves money, it will also grow while you sleep! you have nothing to lose. However, try minimize using unsecured loans such as credit cards – why do I say this? Banks will think that you are a “credit hungry” person or you don’t have much cash with you when you use or apply many credit cards and this gets worst if you don’t pay on time.

and last but not least….

4. Monitor your Debt to Asset Ratio (DSR)

Let’s say you run short on cash that month but you still swipe your credit card for few non-needful items just because it has huge discounts – Oh man, I haven’t paid my credit cards yet this month! Worst, the bank called you and ask for your payments and it has going like this for few months. Chances are, your DSR is already quite critical because you find it hard to pay your own commitments or are poorly managing your finances which may need your financials restructure.

The standard DSR formula is “all your commitments + any new loan application (in RM) divide by your net income (after tax and EPF deductions)”. Different banks have different DSR acceptance rates. Some banks will approve people with DSR maximum of 60% while some banks prefer 45% (which is quite a good percentage). This apply same to applying housing loans, have read on 4 Great Tips For Getting your Loan Approved !

All and all, my advice is to bite what you can chew – don’t take loans with commitments higher than what you think you can pay. Settle for things you can afford so long as you can have a peace of mind. You are not enjoying life if you get financial headaches to maintain your big houses or great cars – the important thing in life is to be happy and to always know that you have extra money to live off comfortably at the end of the month or as I call it “financial abundance”.

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Wealth

Giving to Charity Makes You Richer

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Money has been mostly what people chase in their life to ensure they can meet whichever needs or desires may come. While many think that money makes them happy – money is actually a tool to make us happy. Some people are happy because they get that new Mercedes, or they get that new pair of shoes, or even that latest iPhone – but what is actually used to have all these? That’s right, it’s money.

But believe it or not, people tend to become happier when they commit a portion of their money not on themselves – but towards other people. People will become happier when they contribute to others, they feel life has a meaning because they feel like they are making a change – and indeed they are!

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By now you will be asking – man, how will by giving to charity make me richer?

Based on an article from the Entrepreneur, a research from The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey by Harvard University stated that giving more of your money for charity leads to higher income. This fact takes into account of the differences in race, religion, age and other personal characteristics in America. How is this possible?

According to another research from the United States and the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University provided an essential example – $100 increase in income per person leads to an increase in $1.47 of additional money given to charity. Simultaneously, an increase in the same $100 given to charity boosts GDP by a marginal $1,800. It is amazing to observe that small amount of money channelled into the society would impact such large multiplier effect and stimulates economic growth.

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There is also another research called “Feeling Good About Giving” conducted by Harvard Business School discovered that people who experienced positive events such as receiving cookies or finding dimes in a payphone place are more likely to help other people afterwards which is believed to be due to the happiness they felt. This is further backed up by another experiment conducted where a group of people were to report their general level of happiness after disclosing how their monthly expenses are utilized; either towards personal use and/or public social purposes.

Surprisingly, people who give more money for charities experienced greater happiness. I would say that is also a type of richness in life, I mean, there are people out there who have billions of dollars in their banks but are still unhappy, worried or sad most of the time – hey, look on the bright side! You are already rich when you are happy and content with what you have and found meaning in life – that’s a great deal!

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Analytically, when people feel happy – they will give more money towards other individuals or institutions for charity purposes. Simultaneously, when we look on a countrywide perspective, the charities (be it in money or other forms of charities) distributed will then encourage people to spend in the market. As a result, the country’s productivity is boosted – hence resulting in economic growth.

What happens if there’s economic growth? More of the consumers will have better incomes or stronger purchasing power – it will become a continuous cycle of pure goodness. Not only you are making yourself feel happy but you are also helping people become happy too! More people will have high likelihood to make charity and help more people who are in need. If ever, you feel like things always go wrong in your life, try and give charity a shot – who knows what you might discover along the way. Giving is living and you will always get more than you give. 

General Finance, Wealth

What’s the difference between master title, strata title, and individual title?

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Whenever you are purchasing a property or you went for a property purchase inspection, people always say things like, “don’t worry this unit has strata title issued already” or “this unit is great but it is still under master title” – why is this so important? It’s important to know as it affects your property purchase process especially in terms of time. In this article we will discuss on master title, strata title, and individual title.

Master Title

Having a master title means one thing, the property is under a major/parent grant which is usually the property developer themselves. The master title will eventually be released as an individual title (normally for landed properties) or strata title (normally for high rise buildings). However, the title release will depend on the property developers in terms of how fast they settle their land purchased from the government through self finance or banks using bridging finance. In Malaysia, it may take 3 – 10 years on normal circumstances.

Strata Title

Unlike master title, strata title is issued for high rise properties. Having a strata title means you are now the rightful owner of that small unit up the apartment – finally! This implies that the land lot has been split evenly to all respective owners. This also means that it will be easier for you to purchase or sell the property without consent from the property developers.

Individual Title

Similar to strata title, individual title is normally issued for landed properties. Having an individual title means that the property is under the ownership of the individual who purchase the property. The issuance of individual title is normally much faster compared to strata title. Sometimes, even though it is a landed property but in a gated housing areas with guards and facilities – the property can be considered as strata title (as it is in a shared areas, similar to the concept of a serviced apartment) and not an individual title. Hence, do ask your developers whether your property is under which title as each title has its impact on your whole purchase process.

The links below might interest you~

https://hustlerinvestor.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/3-surprisingly-creative-ways-to-make-money-from-properties/

General Finance, Wealth

MRTT vs MLTT? Get yourself insured before buying a property

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Any other people should be aware and act to include themselves with an insurance coverage once they are able to afford one. You can consider yourself lucky if you start paying at a young age because the younger you are – the smaller the insurance premium you have to settle. I have heard many stories where people buy a house then suddenly – wham!! They got into a major accident and unable to work again. What happens next? He couldn’t pay the loan installments, banks put his house on auction (lelong), and the poor fellow lost his home – all because he didn’t get himself insured. Maybe you are thinking it’s too early to get insured or maybe you are concerned that it would take huge financial impact on you. My advice is get yourself insured while you are still healthy because insurance company would have high chances of turning you down if you apply when you are critically ill. Believe it or not, you can get yourself covered for RM300,000 by only paying RM 100 a month, small sum for a big life changer. Here are two types of insurance for starters:

Mortgage Reducing Term Takaful (MRTT)

MRTT basically will only get you covered on a single property and it acts as a safety mechanism for the banks in the event that the borrower (us) gets a total permanent disability (TPD) and could not work anymore to make the bank loan settlements. However, with MRTT – the banks will still be paid in full by the insurance company on the whole property price if the borrower faced TPD.

These days MRTT are made mandatory by banks in Malaysia because there have been many cases years back where borrowers make MRTT as an optional matter and in the end faced TPD. Resulting their properties to be auctioned and banks consequentially have to sell the property at lower price. MRTT will normally be included as part of your bank loans during your loan application process. Have a read on “4 Great Tips For Getting your Loan Approved” for better insights to have a successful loan application. For MRTT, you may get covered for only one property and that the monthly payments reduce over time (which is good, maybe?) – but so does your coverage (covered only in specific period) gets reduced and the coverage will no longer be available to you after the contract period ends. MRTT is especially beneficial for people with less dependents/ family members.

Mortgage Long Term Takaful (MLTT)

Unlike MRTT, MLTT covers you forever but you will have to pay forever until you pass away. Well it does cover you forever but it also requires you to pay forever? how do you take advantage of this? The answer is to start as early as possible! The earlier you start paying your insurance, the cheaper the premium you will pay. Also, the amount you pay monthly will be fixed forever – unless you are willing to increase the amount of  insurance coverage when your salary increased. You can decide whether or not to top up your coverage anytime in futures to come.

Finally, the best thing about MLTT is that if you are faced with TPD – your house will be fully settled completely. Let’s say your property loan is RM 200,000, your insurance stands at RM 300,000 – your house will be fully paid and the balance of RM 100,000 will be distributed to your family members 🙂 This way your family won’t suffer too much of a harsh time in your death and you  can rest easy knowing your family members are in good hands.

Key Notes:

  • You may fall critically ill anytime and when you do, you may not able to work, when this happens – you can’t pay your bank loans
  • In the end, you will lose your property to lelong (auction) – you may have no place to stay anymore, family members will be in hard times.
  • The younger you start paying the premiums the better, because the premium paid is determine by your age, the younger you are, the lower your premiums will be.
  • In event you can’t pay your loan due to critical sickness, the insurance will help settle all your loans, provided you take an insurance that covers the property price your purchased. Start young and get protected fellow hustlers!”
Property

Making money while you sleep – the compounding bank account (ASB)

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When it comes to investing, you don’t have to become a genius or squeeze your brain to the extreme by figuring out stock investments, index funds, gold investments and many more complicated investments out there. In this article, we will talk about an investment that can make money while you sleep – It is a financial instrument that helps multiply your wealth by many folds. Even Tony Robbins, one of “Top 50 business intellectuals” by Accenture, really stressed on the potential power of compounding in his book, “Money: Master the Game”. But knowing how much the compounding power holds such super potential, how come we don’t see many people taking advantage of it?

“If you don’t want to work, you have to work to earn enough money so that you don’t have to work”

– OGDEN NASH

Based on the book “Money: Master The Game”, the key to having your financial freedom is to work hard enough and accumulate massive abundance of money – which then makes the money work hard for you. This compounding technique is your main road to financial freedom and acts as your freedom fund. Cutting to the chase, the main criteria to make money while you are sleeping is as simple as – discipline, have a portion of money to put aside in your bank account, and  having determination not to disturb the portion allocated. But I would like to think of the money you put aside not as your savings – but investments; investments that will grant you your dreams!

This would require you to make a significant financial decision in your life. What decision? It is the fixed amount of money that you are willing to set aside every single month out of your income stream. How much amount of your money you are willing to park inside your bank account and leave it untouched no matter what happens in your life, no matter how desperate you are – that is the sacrifice. But heed my words that your sacrifices won’t be in vain for the money you put aside will keep on accumulating and grow, and keep on growing on dividends until you see that the income it produces on compounding effects will be big enough to help with your lifetime needs and wants and for the people you care.

“Riches are not an end of life, but an instrument of life”

– Henry Ward Beecher

Some examples that have compounding effects are like the retirement scheme in The United States, 401k – or in a more relatable context in Malaysia, the Amanah Saham Berhad (ASB). Let’s take an easy example:

 If you take a 100,000 loan for 30 years. Every month you put in RM 650 – this would give a return of approximately RM 8,000 a year for the first year, and you will have about RM 17,000 the second year. How does this happen?

1st year

If 1 month = RM 650,

12 months = RM 7,800 (this is the amount you will save in your bank for one year)

With an average of 7% return annually for ASB,

You will get RM 7,800*1.07 = RM 8,346, you just invested and obtained a great amount of approximately RM 8,000 a year!

2nd year

Assuming the monthly payment is the same as 1st year, you will still pay full RM 7,800 a year for the second year.

But,

The calculation would be calculated as dividends on top of dividends, what do you mean?

It means,

[RM 7,800 (full year payment) + RM 8,346 (first year payment + 7% dividend)]*7% = what do you get?

RM 17,276!!

Who would give you RM 17,276 in two years?! Plus, you can now put a 10% deposit for a RM 170,000 house now – simply awesome. So how much can the amount grow to in 5 years? – it is RM 47,995 but this excludes yearly or quarterly bonuses that the banks may announce which means the amount should be higher than RM 47,995, crazy right? The amount will keep on accumulating like a snowball because it grows dividends on top of dividends from previous years. Having all the necessary capital, you can now take steps to proceed to know the 5 things you should consider before buying your first house or you can start by knowing the basics of buying a house through the 7 steps guide to buy a house – the complete guide – it is all up to your own pace.

“My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.”

– Warren Buffett

Now imagine a bigger vision – after 30 years that 100,000 loan you took may have stretch to RM 600,000! just by applying consistency and discipline – who will give you RM 600,000! let alone RM 1000! Using the power of compounding you will be able to achieve financial freedom!

But always and always make sure to have that minimum amount saved in your mind and take action to do the needful, put the money in your compounding bank account. Tony Robbins advised, “turn your should into your must!” and in this case having that clear mind to achieve financial freedom and make that fixed amount saved in your bank account must be your must! This is only the surface about investing and we are not even talking about active aggressive ways of investing. all you need is discipline and patience after making that calculation and follow through to your plans, goals and visions so that you can cater a happy life for you and your loved ones.

 

 

Personal Development

4 Unbelievable Ways You Can Maximize Your Rental Income

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The best thing about property investments is the capital appreciation of your units and rental incomes. However, waiting for the capital appreciation to get high enough to turn it into cash when you sell it may take a long time. This is when rental income play a vital role to ensure you are winning the rental game. Since properties normally have rental limits based on your rental agreement or size of the properties, the question is – how do you maximise your rentals?

1. Crunching the numbers, focus on Return on investment (ROI)

When you want to invest, always know what you are investing in. Otherwise, it would be called gambling rather than investing. Like any other investments you should make the calculations and see whether or not the property of your choice are worth the money you invested. This is why I recommend you to use Return on Investment (ROI) as your main formula.

You must be interested in ROI rather than the total rental income you received. Why do I recommend the above?

“You must be interested in ROI rather than the total rental income you received.”

Lets take an example, you bought two apartments at:

General formula,

Return on investment (ROI) = rental income per year/total purchase price of property

1) RM 100,000

Rental income per month = RM 300

Rental income per year = RM 3,600

ROI = 3600/100,000 = 3.6%

2) RM 200,000

Rental income per month = RM 300

Rental income per year = RM 3,600

ROI = 3600/200,000 = 1.8%

Looking at apartments 1 and 2, which one would be a better investment?

It would surely be property number one! There are two reasons for this:

1) Apartment 1 has a better return on investment than apartment 2

2) This means that with lower amount of capital (apartment 1), you can obtain a better returns than using higher capital (apartment 2) – thats amazing.

This part of the article is considered as a gem in the property investing game and many property investors overlook this part which made their money grow slow or in other cases – results in a bad investment. You are in great advantage to read this.

2. Focus on multi-family complex properties

While you may think a bigger and more expensive property will give you better rental returns – it may but not as frequent as a multi-family complex properties. So what is a multi-family complex?

It is basically properties that have multiple units in one building or complex such as flats, apartments and even condominiums. Most successful property investors gained their cash cows from investing in a multi-family complex. The main reason why these types of properties are the best investment is because the rent is still affordable on most occasions and these units are suitable for temporary stay. Normally, people on general would opt for a landed house if they wanted to settle down. Those who decided to rent are:

  1. Families (be it short or long term)
  2. Students
  3. Office workers
  4. Tourists

Eventhough these types of properties are slightly difficult to sell, it would not be a major concern if it is situated in a prime – hot area.

3. Keep track of rental market

With a property in your hand, you must treat it like a business when you are making investments. Simply renting it out may give you a decent return – but also keep in mind that rentals will increase with the value appreciation of the property. Hence, always keep track of the market rental rate around your neighbourhood area and also the value of your property to get the most out of your rentals.

4. Find and keep good tenants

This is one of the factors that most investors take lightly. With good tenants, they will help you look after your property properly and most importantly – pay your rentals on time. By doing so, your unit would have lesser damage, have longer rental returns because you want to keep good tenants, and lesser headaches! One of my properties is currently being rented out to a kind married couple and even after a year of them staying there, the house still looks like it was renovated few weeks ago – I am quite relieved to have such good tenants. Eventhough they are renting it slightly below the market rate – I don’t mind because they gave me lesser things to worry and they are looking after my house very well. Therefore, finding good tenants will surely result in an unbelievable way to maximise your rental incomes.

General Finance, Property

4 Great Tips For Getting your Housing Loan Approved

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1. Usage of credit cards

There is nothing wrong with having 10 credit cards but you must pay on time. The problem with credit cards is abusing the given credit amount – you swiped your credit card one time.. and then one more… and another swipe.. and at the end of the month you found out you have used more than you can pay – yikes!

I attend a talk by a professional bank officer regarding credit cards and it was an eye-opener. I found out that bankers will see you as having little money the more you use your credit cards. It is also recommended that you use a maximum usage of 75% of your full credit amount – recommendably 50% for better chances of getting your loan approved.

It is also recommended that you use a maximum usage of 75% of your full credit amount –

recommendably 50% for better

chances of getting your loan

approved.

It was also discovered that if ever, there is a record that shows you paid your credit cards late – there is high likelihood that your loan applications get rejected. To sum up, high use of credit cards equals high chances loan applications gets rejected.

So what’s a good credit card practice to get most of your loan applications approved?

  1. Maintain good track record of credit card payments
  2. Maintain credit card usage approximately 50% of total amount

2. Status of work or company

Lets say if you are a creditor or a bank yourself, would you be concerned what your debtors are working as? – of course you do!

From bank’s perspective, they do not know how credible you are and whether or not you are able to meet your commitments. This is why what you work as and who you work for are important.

Banks would normally opt to lend to people from companies with credible backgrounds and track records. A company that always pay their employees’ salaries or EPF fees late are excluded from being reliable.

The lenders would also need to have a job that can proof to the banks that they can ensure a continuous income to meet their monthly commitments to the banks. Banks would normally see contract-based workers as risky lenders because their work contract can be terminated at any time. But then again, in this situation maybe you will be able to convince the banks by your high savings amount – that may work.

3. Savings

Having a certain amount of savings is an extra point you get from the banks. It would be much easier for banks to assess your risks and behaviour from the money you saved. The best amount of savings is around 6 months of your salary – why so? This is because in normal circumstances people are able to settle down and look for a job or to restructure their short term plans within 6 months – I call this the calm down period.

‘The best amount of savings is around 6 months of your salary’

Savings can come from anywhere such as bank accounts, asb, tabung haji, or an investment account. However, savings are not income. Incomes are money that comes in your bank account on regular basis with an estimated amount each period unlike savings which you don’t earn on them.

What if you own company shares or you act as a shadow director for a company and receive dividends on it? Is it considered as income?

Yes! It is an income and I urge you to save the dividends as banks would see the dividend incomes as part of your earnings. Save around 30% to 40% of your income as this will help banks to determine your capability and credibility to meet your commitments with the banks – remember, every dollar you save is a dollar you earn.

4. CCRIS records

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The Central Credit Reference Information System or commonly known as CCRIS is a system that helps gather credit information from borrowers who participates in financial institutions – banks, insurance brokers, or private companies in normal circumstances and produces credit reports (contains outstanding loans, special attention account, or bankruptcy status of a person) that will be utilise by the financial institutions. CCRIS record is important to gauge our financial capabilities.

So, what is a good CCRIS record?

  1. Your credit report shows 0:0:0. This is the ideal record because the higher the number means no months having outstanding loan. PTPTN, housing, and car loan is normally included as part of CCRIS assessment.
  2. No 12 months outstanding credit payments.
  3. No outstanding amount in your special attention account. Take note that you may thought that the card can cancel itself after you have used up all your credits with the intention of not using it anymore and you think its okay not to manually cancel it – this is where it gets scary. The credit you didn’t pay will be transferred into your special attention account and it will be there forever until you manually call the banks to cancel and pay the outstandings. Whenever you want to apply for a housing loan, make sure to clear any outstandings you may have due for a long time.

To sum it all, you will be able to obtain higher chances of getting your loan approved by applying the 4 main tips as aforementioned. Also, you may need to take into consideration of what you can actually own. Sometimes the banks may approve of your loan but you may face difficulties to pay the banks’monthly installments – so don’t bite more than you can chew. Take things slowly and enjoy your wealth growing process.

Property

5 Tips to buy a house in your 20s – This is the best time

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These days people complain that it is getting harder to buy a house than the good old days – wouldn’t blame them. Pressing matters such as increase in costs of living has lead to lower purchasing power by consumers worldwide.

However, such matter should not stop us from achieving our dreams – right? Would you not dream of owning a house now more than ever? The price of properties will keep on rising and imagine how high it will push in the future.

But, when will the best time be to buy a property? My opinion has always been NOW – but one must proceed with right knowledge and always be aware of the opportunities and threats that lies ahead, one must proceed with the right info and knowledge.

Here are 5 tips to buying your property in your 20s.

1. Get a stable job

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With a job that can give you a sustainable monthly income, you will be able to know which type of property you would want to buy. Banks will also be able to be comfortable to loan you the fundings knowing you have a steady income to pay your monthly commitments.

2. Savings

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Be it a savings in the local bank accounts, ASB or 401K – just SAVE! When you know which type of property you want to buy, you will be able to know the amounts you need to allocate for your savings. Savings are mainly important for the 10% loan deposits and payment of legal fees during property acquisition stage.

However, I would highly recommend saving your money in an account that has compounded effects.

All you need to do is to ensure that you allocate certain amounts every month to put into your bank accounts and watch the money grow – disipline is key. After few years, you would be surprised how much your savings have multiplied.

3. Be aware of housing promotions and schemes

These days there have been many promotions made by developers and even the governments, the offers made differed in every countries.

In Malaysia, there is Skim Perumahan Rakyat Satu Malaysia (PR1MA), Rumah Selangorku, Perumahan Penjawat Awam Satu Malaysia (PPA1M), Skim Perumahan Mampu Milik Swasta (MyHome), and Rumah Mampu Milik Wilayah Persekutuan (RUMAWIP).

With the right housing schemes and financial capability, you may be able to own your first house – at a cheaper price!

4. There is nothing wrong starting with a small house

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Now that this post is about owning a property in your 20s, I am assuming most of those who reads this are finding ways to buy your first home yourself.

Some of you might decide to buy a low range priced property or a medium range property but whatever it is – I advise not to bite off more than you can chew. This is simply because you might not know the whole property game yet and might risk a lot of money if you buy straight up a big house which means more money at risk.

Take your time and progress slowly. However, if you think you are capable enough to buy a big house and you are ahead in the property game then why not?

If an opportunity comes and you can already buy a big house in your 20s – you are good to go!

On the other hand, the good thing about living in a small house is that it does not necessarily mean you are not doing good in your life or are behind your other peers – you are only in your 20s.

Also, there is high likelihood you’ll be happier too when living in a comfy small space. You will get to spend more time with your family and all spaces on the house are occupied. Unlike living in a big house where everyone is doing their own thing in their private areas in addition to the extra marginal maintenance you have to pay for the extra spaces.

All and all, there is no right or wrong when you want to buy a house for your own stay – it is all about your personal preferences but remember to always know what you are buying and the full potential of your purchase.

By owning a small house you don’t have to strain your budget too much, get to spend on other your families.

Also, owning a small space will help you get better rentals as majority of society these days preferred a smaller space to stay due to temporary work placement and the rising costs of properties.

5. Learn the property market

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Real estate cannot be lost or stolen nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full and managed with reasonable care it is about the safest investment in the world.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Of all the 4 tips aforementioned I believe this is the most crucial. Without learning the property knowledge you might be buying a property:

  1. At higher prices
  2. In an area that would not have development in 5 years to come – a dead town area
  3. That is build with low quality, or
  4. That might be a scam

This will get you into very hard times and may even lure you into a financial crisis if you are not aware.

You should opt to know what are types of properties that are best for investments, the whole process of buying a property and many more. But knowing that you are reading this article would mean that you are doing your best to do what you can to get the best out of your property investments and I know you will get to your destination someday – keep hustling and learn continuously!

Property

5 Traits of a good property to invest and get good rental

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Yes, you have read it right – the 5 traits of a good property to invest! In this article I will focus more on structural factors that can boosts a property’s value and with high possibility making the investment you will never regret out of it. Here are the top 5 traits.

1. Public transport

Accessibility factor has been the trump card out of all other factors in most times – who would not want to stay in a house that are convenient to go anywhere? You don’t even need to worry about traffic or where to park your car at your destination. This is why most properties that are beside train stations or bus stations has the best rental occupancy rate – people think its convenient.

2. Shopping mall

Doesn’t it tire you when you have to wait for a cab or a bus after you have your hands full of shopping bags or you are working at the mall and it is too far to walk to the train station to get home – it’s dreadful. Which is why having a property near a mall is one of the most strategic area to invest. Speaking about the rental game, you will be able to attract anybody to rent your unit or you can even pull in mall employees themselves, which is better because they normally would want to rent for at least 2 years.

3. Hospital

Having a property near health care centres have always been a comfort for everybody. People in general have higher likelihood to rent a unit near hospitals because you will never know when you are going to fall sick and the best thing is to know the hospitals are nearby – which one less thing to worry, right? Not to mention that the health care employees such as nurses or doctors might be interested to rent a unit nearby.

4. Offices

Properties near office areas generally would be attractive to the workers working there – specifically young executives. There have circumstances where some young executives or fresh graduates starting their first job would opt to move to the city or state-hopping from their suburbs or villages. (add stats!) This provides golden opportunities for landlords near office areas to have a good rental margin.

5. Education Facilities

One of the business that have the least impact towards economic downturn – education sector and the people in it. Even when the economy is not doing too great, there will always be people going to school or universities. These people will always need a place to stay and they might stay on their own or with friends which is why having a property near education facilities are a great investment. It can help generate continuous rental returns. After one semester ends, another one comes – it is constant and sustainable. Students, teachers, lecturers, or even the general workers at these places will normally opt to find a nearby housing area to rent.

Property

7 steps guide to buy a house – the complete guide

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According to CNBC, in their article “Here’s why millions of millennials are not homeowners“, the number one reason people can’t afford properties is because they can’t afford the down payment and number two would be not being able to qualify a mortgage loan. While some people think that the process of buying a house is complex, here is the good news – it’s pretty simple!

You may have drove into neighborhood areas, flipped through newpaper or the property websites and think that you are getting serious to commit – you think you are ready to buy a house. This guide will take you into simple steps to help your purchase experience more straightforward.

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Step 1: Finding the right house

It never was easy to find the right house – even for myself. It takes a lot of time and effort to do this. You are going to have to check your financial strength, search on multiple websites, and ask someone with experience or a property coach – if you find one. Its a lot of work! Things like getting yourself insured or knowing “What’s the difference between master title, strata title, and individual title?” takes a lot of time and energy to absorb. But then again, this is the place you are going to live in or the asset that will grow you money. My property coach always said “if you don’t sweat looking for properties then you are not doing enough”. None the less, it is also the most exciting process to buy the right house. You may come across 2 or 3 houses shortlisted and I encourage you to visit all of them – you won’t know what you may missed!

Have a read on MRTT vs MLTT? Get yourself insured before buying a property to know what kind of insurance – in general, you would need to get a head start in your property investment journey.

Step 2: Call an agent/owner to inquire the property

Now that you have scoped down your choices, it’s time to call an agent for inspection – yippie!

This particular part is quite easy as most properties on sale or lease is either through a direct owner or an agent. Normally there will be advertisement boards at the front of the said units or listed in the property websites. But wait! This is very crucial step because you might have to wait longer if you screw up here – why?

Because we have to be careful of scams as some owners or agents are fake ones out there. How do we identify them? Here are some ways to ensure you won’t get scammed, I suggest the precautions as below:

  • Request a land tax invoice/original sales and purchase agreement from the owner. This is to show that the owner owns the property by paying taxes to the government
  • Request a ‘Real Estate Negotiator'(REN) number from the property agent. This can be done by asking for a card. You can check their numbers in the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, and Estate Agents Malaysia or your country’s respective Boards’ portal to see if their names are listed in the web. If they don’t, you may want to opt for another alternative to buy the house you wanted.

After all the verifications in terms of reliability is made for owners and agents, you can now rest assured and be in a more comfortable position to proceed with the inspection of your dream property – thumbs up!

Step 3: Arrange for an house inspection

During the inspection, make sure that there is no damage that may go unnoticed so that it will be easier to prove to the agent or owner that a certain damage has been there even before the purchase.

These are the things you should ask during house inspections, ask:

  • To take pictures of the property
  • How old is the property from the day it was built
  • Has the land title been issued. Strata title (for high rise properties), individual title (for landed properties) and master title (for any type of properties not given any individual or strata title)
  • Is there a caveat still attached to the property?
  • How is the rental potential?
  • Is it a leasehold or a freehold?
  • Why is the current seller selling the unit?

There are many other questions but these are the questions I consider important to know when buying a home.

Step 4: Put down a booking fee 3%

After you have made up your mind and you think that everything is good to go – it’s  booking time!

You will have to transfer 3% of the total purchase price of the property. That means RM 4,500 for a RM 150,000 worth of property. This payment of 3% is inclusive of the total of 10% deposit that you need to pay as part of the purchasing policy set by Malaysian government.

The balanced 7% will have to settle through a lawyer – not through AGENT or OWNER! as some people got scammed by paying all 10% to an agent or the owner – this is very important to take note.

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Step 5: Apply a bank loan and sign letter of offer upon bank approval

After you have placed your booking through payment of 3% – time to look for a banker!

Normally you would just apply to multiple banks. After that it is a matter of waiting for an approval decision by your banks – sometimes some of the banks will decline but hey, you still have few banks approved on your application. The last step is to compare the interest rates as derived from the bank loan agreement.

After you made up your mind and think you can live with the payment terms set by the banks, you let the banks know that you are ready to commit and you are all set! You will sign the Letter of Offer – this will officially grant you the funds you need to own your dream property.

“never sign sales & purchases agreement before you sign the  bank’s letter of offer”

You might get stuck with a property worth thousands without having a funder if you sign the S&P first before getting funded by the bank. That means, you may incur debt worth thousands which can get you into serious trouble for many years – so take note.

Interest Rates = 5% (base rate) + 1.3% (profit rate)

In most cases the profit rate does not or unlikely to change because the banks already set it at fix amount but the base rates are more likely to change over time – so pick your rates based on the profit rates of the banks!

Have a read on 4 Great Tips For Getting your Loan Approved to know more about loans 🙂

Step 6 : Appoint a lawyer

Now that your bank loan is approved – you have actually went through the storm. Now it is just a matter of appointing a lawyer to settle the rest. The lawyer help you prepare the ‘sales and purchases agreement’ and also the ‘loan agreement’ in order for the banks to be able to reimburse the agreed loan amount you made with the bank through the sign of the ‘letter of offer’ as stated in step 5.

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Step 7: Sign the Sales and Purchases Agreement

Here is the moment you are waiting for – yahoo! Now that everything is in place, once you sign the Sales & Purchase (S&P) agreement – you can now wait to receive the keys to your dream house and ready to move in!

Having to read this article to the end means you are really serious about buying a house – hope you get the dream house you wanted, good luck with the house hunt!

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5 things you should consider before buying your first house

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Nothing beats one of the best feelings rather than having a roof over your head but the greatest thing to know is – you own it! After working for about a year right after college, I managed to buy my first house. I went through all the process – finding the right house at the right place, did my credit checks with the banks, and arranged a house visit with a property agent which I get to trust. Overall, it was not a straight forward process as there were many questions I asked – whether the land title has been issued, the current unit’s market price , or even the issue of why the current owner is selling the unit. Here are the 5 things you should know before buying your first house.

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1. Do you want it or do you need it?

Whenever you decide to buy a house is always to determine whether you need the house? or do you want the house? .Need and want are two different things and are quite simple to distinguish, that is in theory. A need is something that you really require to carry on your daily life; a want is something that springs out of your desires and may not be very crucial to your current life.

If you think you can finally buy a property without stressing out your life too much – then you are all set! However, in some cases buying properties may get you in heaps of trouble – having to settle the loan installments late or always on a tight budget, then maybe you need to reconsider your purchase decisions.

hugo-sousa-383214-unsplash.jpg2. Is the house for investment or for your own stay?

This question changes a lot of things if you ask yourself. If you consider to buy it for own stay, you might want to buy the house in a descend environment, be it in a suburban area or the city. You might also prefer a better house condition if that’s the case, Then again this is all up to personal preferences. However, it will be quite different if you buy a house for investment purposes because you would need the house at places with high population, malls, offices, public transport, and etc. to get good rental income.

 

jacob-townsend-771573-unsplash.jpg3. Do you have an exit plan?

An exit plan should always be the planning stage in case if your property purchase could go haywire – fake property agent or owner, or maybe unsettled installments down the road. These possibilities must be simulated so that you will be able to anticipate preparations if these scenarios happen – yikes! But at least you will be able to know just what to do and panic less if it does happen, right?

rawpixel-252130-unsplash4. Do you have enough money?

As cliché as it may sound, yes, it is important to assess your ability to purchase the said unit. This is because there are times where property agents only wants to secure their share of bargain, their booking fees of 3% out of the total 10% deposit. Sometimes, these agents do not assess our financial credibility. It is up to us to assess our own so that we won’t lose out.

Let’s give an example,

You want to purchase an apartment costing RM 170,000 and you have a salary of RM 3,000 – which is still alright. You also have in your savings RM 17,000 which is just enough to pay for your 10% deposit of RM 17,000 from the apartment’s total cost. There is still to pay for the legal fees which is by the lawyer, oh no! this will normally cost around RM 7,000 that needs fork up. Hence, always take into consideration all costs associated with purchasing a house including the hidden costs and you will do fine.

florian-van-duyn-511440-unsplash5. It is alright to wait.

Sometimes it is just better to hold your purchase. I am not saying that you should not buy a property at the soonest, sometimes if you hold for a moment and reassess your decisions then you might think – nahh maybe this property is not too good a deal or you might just realise that you may be in a worsen condition if you proceed with the purchase. Being in a situation where you don’t have to worry about your daily finance is better than having to maintain a house and constantly struggle to meet ends meet – but that is just my personal opinion. Not all property investments makes great money – some of the investments might get you into serious financial trouble, learn and plan right. To sum up, buying a property is always a great idea especially if you have the stable financials and the right knowledge.