Hi Steem-ians!

Blessed Sunday to you all!

As a wrap of yesterday's hype for Team Malaysia's First Ever Steemit Official Meetup , time to go back into reality and start my REAL TASK at hand.

(Besides man-handling the mothership of #teammalaysia discord)

Which is...

Finding a home for me and my elderly parents

 
I have always heard from my friends about how it is to find your own home; but I didn't know it could be THAT challenging!

Off I go, being super naive thinking that what you see in the advertisement is more or less the description of the house; not realising because of the owner privacy act the seller can refuse to give their photos to the agent to promote.

So you really do need to look at the description closely and see if the agent that posted the ad of the house for sale says "This photo is for illustration purposes. The actual house may not be the same as in the photo" clause.

Another possibility is that the house is so bad that the agent could probably only take the photos inside of the house, and purposefully omitted the real bad condition of the unit and would say, "Of you'd probably need to do a lot of work on it"; and yet can still try to sell you for almost half a million MYR because of its strategic location near the city center, irregardless that the area of the housing is a tiny bit dodgy or it used to have flash floods, which could still lead to the possibilities of future flash floods as well.

(I am not allowed to show you the real house's outside condition, but I assure you, the whole roof had to be torn out and rebuilt. That can cause me 40,000 MYR just to do up the roof, the bathroom and fix the master bedroom, re-wiring, and piping... and could cost even more along the way)

My learning curve:

One thing for sure, I have learned that when you are searching for the house your first impression of the house and its surroundings is VERY IMPORTANT! It has to come from either God's prompting, or your gut telling you what your senses are picking up.

Some could stomach a truly run-down house and vision its true potential of how great it could become, provided he / she has the time and the resources to do so; and if you can't stomach the house's condition or its surroundings when you are around the area, most likely you know the house is never meant for you.

But why on earth would I trouble myself to buy a property instead of just renting one, knowing that you are almost debt free?

(I can tell you, being almost debt free is just so liberating!)
 

Good question. I asked that myself too often times.

 
Yet, (you can laugh as much as you want) right before I re-joined Steemit (long story, but most of my #teammalaysia members would have heard that from yesterday's meat up) during my birthday surprise my pastor actually prayed for me and told me this one verse of encouragement.

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.
Psalm 37:23 - 24

I knew that whatever biggest decision I have to make, I cannot make with haste and I cannot make with other people's opinions, but His guidance and direction.

For those who are not Jesus freaks (like me haha), call it as your instinct if you prefer.

I could easily just pick the easy way out and rent a place, with my parents and my family dog, and it would be a happy ending. Full stop.

But when you know that your expenses will be totally wasted if you only rent a place to house your parents because the difference is just not too huge of a difference, it is time where searching a property could just be the right time and moment for you.

Sometimes, a leap of faith could just be the thing you need to move forward in life

 
I have always thought of having a place of my own but never really get around as my savings were all used up for my own studies abroad, settling my mom's medical bills, seeing the world and other not too wise expenses.

Yet, deep in my heart, there was this voice that speaks:

It is time

No more lingering around, wasting my time to see the world and really shoulder the responsibility to be grounded for a very good purpose for the future.

And it so happened that I encountered Steemit once again right after that prayer, met the awesome #teammalaysia family, working hard to make an impact for Malaysia and at the same time my parents really need closer watch on them and more time spent with them.

I personally wouldn't count as - co-incidence

Maybe, this could be a great testimony that a struggling Malaysian could really have his / her dream come through with the encounter Steemit

With God's help, wisdom's direction, and a platform of opportunity, maybe, just MAYBE.

But that is not all THAT simple.

To be able to afford a property in Malaysia (as its citizen), one must understand what are all the charges that is applied into your purchase on how you choose a (mortgage) home loan :

Some Factors You Need To Be Aware of When You Choose a Home Loan

Margin of Financing: the margin of financing is also known as the loan-to-value ratio. The margin of financing is the amount of your loan expressed as a percentage of the property's value. The lower the margin of financing, the more 'equity' there is in the property. The margin of financing could go as high as 95% (of the value of the house), and is assessed on factors such as:

• Type of property
• Location of property
• Age of the borrower (THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT)
• Income of the borrower (THIS IS ALSO SUPER IMPORTANT)

information extracted from imoney.my

Please note, the 95% financing is for first time owners.

 
Other important add up charges you may need to consider is:

Some common fees and charges you would expect to incur include:

• Stamp duties: Sale & Purchase Agreement (0.5% to 1.0%), Loan Agreement (0.5%) and Transfer of Title (1.0% to 2.0%)
• Disbursement Fees: varies by state, land office and type of property
• Processing Fees: one time charge by the lenders (up to a few hundred ringgit).

information extracted from imoney.my

AND ANOTHER STRONG REMINDER IS:

Your re-payment of the housing loan can be equivalent to almost DOUBLE of what you have loaned from the bank.

YES. It is true

So, am I giving up hope of trusting my God (and my gut feeling)?

Maybe a view like this could change my mind.

Or maybe if I can find another 900 STEEM in 1 week, the whole ballgame could change!

So stay tuned with my continuous challenge, and see what I can offer and how Steemit (and its community) could play a huge impact in how I could land myself a place of my own.

The limit of success is now, truly how much I limit my imagination.

You can also view my previous post of this challenge by clicking this image.

If you support this adventure of mine , I don’t mind an upvote and a cheer; plus, follow my progress as I contunuously take on this journey to finally get a doable place to stay for me and my parents; unfortunately with a heavy heart my family dog can’t stay with me.

(No thanks to MBPJ States Council)

Thank You for Your Time

Please click on the logo to read why I have this project of 1000 SBD at the first place.