Property Investment 101: Waiting for the perfect property to come to me
Waiting till opportunity knocks?
How many of us are waiting for opportunities today?
This is a great quote to summarise opportunity. “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.” — Abraham Lincoln.”
Do we wait for opportunities? For example, waiting for the perfect life partner? Maybe not for finding the perfect partner, that needs effort. Cannot just wait.
It’s not true for property investment too. For property investment, opportunity does not usually knock yeah. It’s usually we go and find it ourselves. This is based on my own property investment journey since 2004 when I purchased my second property. My first property was in 2002 when I was 25 years old. Haha. Now you know my age in 2024.
First-time property buyer?
If we are buying property for the very first time, that’s not yet considered a property investment. My personal definition of property investment is that your second property will be the start of your property investment journey. That first property? That’s really more of hedging against inflation and make sure you definitely will be ahead of inflation which will continue to affect us every year.
How everything to started?
Just like many Malaysians, I am always waiting for the perfect property to buy. In fact, my perfect property also kept changing! In 2002, after deciding that I needed to buy my first property, it took me 6 months to actually sign the Sale and Purchase agreement. It was a perfect property because the living room was big. (relative okay, at the time, it was big for me) Rooms were small though but my focus was living room and a separate wet and dry kitcheng. This first property was just 730 sq ft. Yet, it was my perfect property at that point in time, with my salary at that time and with my view about what’s a good property at that time.
Then, I found a ‘better’ perfect property.
My second property (Penang condo) took 3 months to come to a decision. I was worried that I would go bankrupt eventhough the property price was only RM247,000. that’s in 2004 yeah. So, RM247,000 can buy you a very good condo in Penang of 1,258 sq ft and it comes with its own small forest hiking trail! Erm… I only went twice throughout my 6 years stay there.
Somehow, I felt that there must be another perfect property elsewhere, not for own stay but for investment. My third property (KL condo) took 1 month to decide. I was there on a holiday, saw the unit and viewed almost immediately. Then some negotiations and 1 month later, I was signing the papers. This same condo would one day become my first home in the Klang Valley when I moved to KL in 2014.
Then, I found another ‘perfect’ property
I should stop in KL, right? So, my 4th property (Kota Kinabalu apartment) was next and it took just 24 hours. I got to know a special discount on the last day. So, I tt the downpayment and the brochure of the project arrived a few days later. Oops. Erm… okay, what is a perfect property then? If it’s perfect, there should just be one, right? Anyway, here are some learnings after buying the properties I kept thinking was a perfect fit for me at that point in time, at that particular place and etc.
The property investment journey has continued since then and I bought properties even during the MCO periods of 2020 and 2021. Here are 4 key learnings.
#1 – Waiting for the Perfect Property Price?
Honestly, it’s usually found 20 years after it was sold. I repeat. It’s usually FOUND 20 years after it was sold. Haha. Below RM300,000 for a landed property within a mature neighbourhood with a good location and full of amenities TODAY? Well, 20 years ago, I am very sure anyone being asked to pay RM300,000 for that same property would have to think until the cow comes home before they could decide to buy. Or they still decided not to buy and to regret today.
TODAY, that person who bought it for a low six figure could now sell it for 7 figures. We NEED to be able to understand that there’s that thing called ‘Future’ as well. Just do not buy the wrong property yeah. Not all properties appreciate even if most usually do because of effects of inflation.
#2 – Waiting for the Perfect Property Location?
This is also usually found many years later. Sometimes, 10 years or more. Think of any mature neighbourhoods? There were NO rows and rows of fully-occupied shoplots when it first started. There were no such thing as banks, cafes or anything you think you needed when the location first started.
Further away, one could think about those ex-mining lands perhaps? At the time, everyone kept saying these are mining lands… We NEED to be able to also start understanding about the development’s phases and act accordingly. We can buy at the end, of course, but be prepared to pay the highest yeah.
#3 – Waiting for the Perfect Size within Perfect Location and Perfect Price?
Haha. This is like winning a lottery yeah. These days, we want bigger units BUT today, if developers were to build bigger units in some of these awesome locations, there’s no way they could price it anywhere near a price which most of us could afford.
Thus, they took an obvious way out. Build it smaller so that even at a high price per sq ft, at least the final price looks achievable to many who just want to stay in that location. Or they built it further away… It can be a perfect property to buy, whether smaller or bigger.
#4 – Waiting but not preparing.
I have too many friends who continue to ask me where to buy but at the same time has taken no action whatsoever where savings are concerned. We need to save money while we are waiting yeah. There’s no such thing as I found the property and then only I start saving money.
Well, for many of my friends who continue to say they will buy soon… They needed to spend those money on something else, somehow. Thus, that savings never happened and of course the prices kept getting ever more expensive… Then, somehow the blame is that prices became expensive and not because they did not buy or prepare.
Conclusion
These are the 4 reasons why it’s super tough to wait for the perfect property to buy. Super tough is not impossible but it becomes impossible when we do not follow up our thoughts / waiting with the earning and investing action. Home prices wait for no men. Perfect property to buy meanwhile depends on action.
Drawing a trend line over 20 years for example and we will see property prices rising. It’s only a question of whether it’s above the inflation rate or below the inflation rate. Oh yeah, occasionally a crisis comes to open up a window of opportunity.
During the crisis time though, I am just worried that many people during those times are scared to buy. Then, they may say that they could not buy because banks refuse to lend. I rest my case. Happy waiting.
Thank you for reading! Please do share if you believe others could benefit too. Thank you.
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