Here are the reasons why YOU should NOT invest in properties:

1. CAPITAL

You need tons and tons of money at hand. If you think you will just make do with the 10% down payment, you are so WRONG! What other stuff do you need to pay for?
1. Stamp duties
2. Loan agreement fees
3. Sales and Purchase agreement fees
4. Valuation fee (subsale properties)
5. Insurance or takaful
6. Quit rent

If you happen to buy a subsale property and get a lousy law firm to handle your case, do prepare some cash to pay the vendor (seller) some late settlement charges. It happened to me recently and I am still trying to figure out what actions I can take towards the law firm...any suggestions? I won't be shaming the law firm just yet....takut kena saman!

This one also tak tentu cukup!

2. LAWYERS

I have yet to find a good lawyer. A few of them let me down really bad.

1. As mentioned above, one law firm in charge of my loan agreement made a whole lot of delays resulting in me having to pay for late settlement charges. When I tried to get an explanation; the person in charge was always busy or not in office....for the past ONE MONTH!

2. Another law firm had some issues with their staff. Apparently their staff wasn't given due credit and wasn't paid any salary. Who gets caught in the middle? The client. My money was songlap-ed and my case was gantung tidak bertali. For months, nothing was done. Fortunately, the people at the Commercial Crimes Unit of The Royal Malaysian Police did a good job in tracing the culprit and getting the money back. Now. I am waiting for things to settle...clock is ticking!

Having said that, I would not advice anyone to bypass the lawyers and just do everything themselves. I would gladly pay for the lawyer's service. There is just to much paperwork for a normal person to do!
Anyway, if you have a good law firm to recommend, do contact me!....Please...I dah frust habis!

3. THE PROPERTY



If you bought a brand new property, do make sure you go to your unit as soon as you get the keys. DO NOT delay inspecting your unit. Look out for cracks or any defects. Run the tap for a few hours to find any leaks. If it rains cats and dogs, it may be a blessing in disguise; you might be able to find leaks on the roof earlier on...before you actually move in. It takes time for the developer to fix the defects as well. So don't move out from your rented place as soon as you get the keys....give it some time.

If you bought a property from the secondary market, do set aside some funds to spruce up the interior. Some doors might need to be replaced. A new paint job with some interior decor might allow you to increase the rental rate of your unit (if you intend to rent it out).

4. MAINTENANCE

If you own an apartment or a condominium, you are expected to pay maintenance fee and a sinking fund which is usually a few hundred Ringgit. If you have NEVER paid for the fees while enjoying the facilities such security services, swimming pool and gym; SHAME ON YOU! Part of communal living is that you have to share the burden. The swimming pool doesn't clean itself.

Do bear in mind though that the utilities rate and fees differs between a serviced apartment with a COMMERCIAL title and an apartment with a residential title. If I am not mistaken, commercial titled residences are subject to GST starting April 2015 (please correct me if I am wrong).

5. HOLDING POWER

The last foreign land I went to: Hong Kong

For the past few years I have seen people around me travel all over the world. Korea, Japan, Australia and Europe. I have seen friends driving around in a VW Passat and Golf GTi. I haven't been anywhere else other than Malaysia. The last overseas trip for me was Hong Kong; more than 2 years ago. I still drive a 12 years old car (and counting). This delayed gratification ideology is killing me!

Every time I want to spend, my brain always tells me not to;

"Eh, where got money! Later you need to pay for the mortgage. If tenant cabut, how?"
"That old car of yours can breakdown anytime...where you want to korek money?"

Well, those are my reasons why YOU should NOT invest in property.

But I will continue to try investing in properties though. I believe in Robert T. Kiyosaki's method of "strengthening your asset column". It has been a long and difficult struggle. Thankfully I have a wonderful supportive wife. We managed to pull our resources together to get through hard times. It's my way to get out of the rat race. I can't be MOfrust all the time....I need to move on an be MO-kurang-frust-sikit! 

MOfrust