- 6/5/2025
But in today’s economy, is owning a home still the goal, or just a major financial burden waiting to happen?
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MusicTranscript
00:00I don't want to stay in my parents' home like forever.
00:02It's better to have a home that is truly mine
00:06and I can build my family around it.
00:08So I don't know what your situation is now,
00:10but I have some friends who say that.
00:11I'm like, do you even have a girlfriend yet?
00:13And they're like, no.
00:14But you know, one day,
00:15do you really need to rush into all of these things
00:17when it's not certain yet for you?
00:20You know all the issues that are there.
00:22If there is a plumbing issue,
00:23if there's a leaking issue, you know about it.
00:25No one regretted not buying a house.
00:27But a lot of people regretted buying a house.
00:35Welcome back, guys.
00:35My name is Ymir and this is The Money Goal.
00:38Today, I have Noora with me.
00:39And Noora wants to talk about buying a house.
00:42Oh my god.
00:43Okay, so I am close to turning 30.
00:48Same.
00:48I'm not gonna tell my age.
00:52So I'm close to turning 30 and
00:54and mostly my expenses is like my car,
00:58my parents, insurance,
01:01and just like shopping expenses and everything,
01:04which is manageable, right?
01:06Manageable.
01:06Manageable, manageable.
01:08So I was thinking like my car is about to,
01:11like I'm about to finish off my car payments.
01:14I was like, what else can I do?
01:17And a lot of people keep on saying like,
01:21you know, you should,
01:22the next step is you should buy a house.
01:24You're gonna, you're gonna turn 30 soon.
01:27You're gonna turn 30.
01:28And then, you know,
01:29you're gonna get into this whole time.
01:31Like it's better to buy a house.
01:33It's an investment.
01:34If you're not gonna live in it,
01:35you just rent it out.
01:36So I'm like in two different places.
01:39Like, should I actually buy a house?
01:42Okay.
01:42Okay.
01:42That's a very good question.
01:43I think a lot of people have this similar dilemma.
01:46Yeah.
01:47Is it a good idea?
01:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:48I think a funny thing first is you said,
01:50oh, your, your car payments are about to be done.
01:52So, you know, let's replace that in another commitment.
01:55I have a lot of, a lot of people who say the same thing.
01:57You know, you tell me,
01:58oh, my, my car payment is about to be done.
02:00So I'm thinking I gotta,
02:01I gotta buy another car.
02:02All right.
02:03Yeah.
02:03God forbid I have extra cash a month, every month.
02:06I gotta find another commitment to commit to, right?
02:08But yeah,
02:09I think houses can be a good purchase.
02:11I would say they are better than cars,
02:13because cars is just gonna depreciate all the way, right?
02:15Okay.
02:15But how, okay,
02:16what's the first step of, you know,
02:19looking into like properties and buying houses?
02:22Yeah.
02:23What should, like,
02:24what, what is the first step for doing that in the process?
02:27Yeah, good question.
02:27So first step is for you to answer why,
02:29why do you want to buy a house?
02:30So a lot of the things that you said earlier was like,
02:33oh, your, your car payment is going to be done.
02:35Yeah.
02:36Some friends told you it's good idea to buy a house.
02:38You're nearly 30.
02:39You think maybe it's a good time to buy a house.
02:41Yeah.
02:41But why, why do you want to buy a house?
02:42Okay, because I feel like, um,
02:45I don't want to stay in my parents' home like forever.
02:49I don't want to stay in my parents' home forever.
02:51So I feel like, okay, one day I'm gonna have a family.
02:54Okay.
02:55It's better to have a home that is truly mine and I can build my family around it.
03:02So that's why, that's the biggest reason why I wanted to buy a house.
03:05It's because it's something that I can call mine.
03:08Yeah.
03:08And it's, it's a safe haven for me.
03:11Yeah.
03:12Yeah.
03:12A hundred percent agree.
03:13I think a lot of people feel the same way.
03:14Yeah.
03:14Right.
03:15But I guess the question then is, should you buy now or should you buy in the future?
03:18Yeah.
03:19A lot of people say, oh, um, when I've, you know,
03:21I'm planning for when I have kids and everything and stuff.
03:24So I don't know what your situation is now, but I have some friends who say that.
03:26And I'm like, do you even have a girlfriend yet?
03:28And they're like, no, but you know, one day.
03:31But the thing is that there's a lot of things you have to consider.
03:32When you buy a house, you're committed to that area.
03:36Let's say if you buy in Ampang, you're basically committed to the area.
03:40And maybe it's good for you now.
03:41But what if one day you move jobs?
03:43Or what if when you find a partner, they work somewhere that's too far away?
03:46Or let's say when you start having kids, you're like, actually, this area,
03:48the schools are not that great, right?
03:50Okay.
03:51So these are the, I would say, the emotional aspects that you have to consider first,
03:53before we even touch about the finances, right?
03:55Okay.
03:56Like, do you really need to rush into all of these things when it's not certain yet for you?
04:01Unless you have everything sorted out, unless you already have, you know,
04:04a husband, you already have kids.
04:06I guess you have a clearer picture of where you guys want to settle down longer.
04:09All right.
04:09So for me, I always wanted to settle down around like Klang, or Punca Alam, or like Sha'alam,
04:16around that area.
04:18Okay.
04:18So, no matter what, no matter what, I always want-
04:21It doesn't matter where you stay.
04:22Yeah, it doesn't matter where you work, I mean.
04:24It doesn't matter if, um, I have a job in like, in the middle of KL,
04:29or even in Melaka or anything, I always want to settle down, yeah, right there.
04:34That thing there, I think, okay, you've basically checked that off, that's good.
04:37Yeah, okay.
04:37Okay.
04:38So then now, it comes into affordability.
04:40Okay.
04:40Right, still, is it the right time to buy now, or is it the right time to buy later?
04:44So I think, first of all, just the very basics, every month right now,
04:47is your income exceeding your expenses?
04:49Are you saving money every month?
04:50Yes.
04:51I put aside for my savings, and I put aside for like, on a, for a rainy day,
04:57and at the end of the month, I didn't, I don't use all of my income.
05:02Income, okay.
05:03And it adds on every month.
05:04Okay, okay, yeah.
05:05I think that, I think that you're in a very good place already, right?
05:08All right.
05:08Okay, but do you know about all the hidden costs associated with buying a house?
05:12No, that's why I'm asking.
05:12Okay, okay, yeah.
05:13So I recently bought a house final.
05:15Okay.
05:15Um, S&P value, which is basically the value of the house that the developer tells you it's at.
05:19Okay.
05:19For me, it was 300,000, so I thought, that's all I have to pay.
05:22Uh, obviously not, so there's stamp duty, uh, and there's legal fees.
05:26And there's like, legal fees for the loan.
05:29Okay.
05:29And there's legal fees for buying the house for like transfer of ownership or something.
05:33Yeah.
05:33So there's all these things that you have to pay.
05:35And they range from between 0.5% to 2%, depending on the value of your house.
05:39So it adds up more.
05:41It adds up.
05:41Oh, okay.
05:42And then you have to buy insurance.
05:43You have to buy insurance for the house.
05:45Yeah.
05:45There are different types of, uh, insurance that you have to get for the house.
05:48Because the bank, they need to know if anything were to happen to you, someone needs to pay me.
05:52Right?
05:53Oh, okay.
05:53The bank's not gonna, not gonna let you take that risk.
05:55I think in certain scenarios, you can do without the insurance.
05:58But most of the time these days, if you want a good interest rate, you have to get insurance as well.
06:02Okay.
06:02And that for me, for 300,000 house was about 15,000, um, insurance.
06:06Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:08Just get added to the house at additional cost.
06:10Somehow you don't want to buy a house?
06:12Wait, but not yet though.
06:13I don't think, it's not meant to scare you.
06:14It's not meant to scare you.
06:15Just, just to be aware of, you know, how much you can afford and stuff, right?
06:19And then you have to factor in renovation, of course.
06:20You can't go in and, uh, sleep on the floor and then let's not save a bit and buy a bed, right?
06:26So renovation costs, uh, I would say depends on how much, how, how nice you want it to be.
06:32But I would say good range is maybe about 10 to 20% of the value of your house.
06:37So that's another thing that you've got to pay, um, upfront, right?
06:40So again, not to scare you, you can, you can save up for this.
06:43You can save up for this.
06:43Yeah.
06:43It's just that.
06:44So, uh, so how's the planning of saving up in towards buying one?
06:48Okay.
06:49So I think what you want to do is, first of all, you said you have your emergency funds,
06:52right?
06:52Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:52So I think that part is good.
06:53That part is good.
06:54Okay.
06:54So now you want to save up for your down payment.
06:57So you've got to save up for your down payment and your renovation, right?
06:59So these are things that you can do over time.
07:01I think it's completely up to you.
07:02If you can save more for it, I think great.
07:04Put some money, put more money aside for it.
07:06If you can get to about, I think 15 to 20% of the value of a house saved up, then I think
07:10you'll be good to go, um, to buy a house, right?
07:12Okay.
07:13So another question is that, is it better for me to buy the house that is in development,
07:18meaning they didn't, um, rise up yet, the house, or should I buy the one that is already,
07:26it's ready, it's already ready built?
07:28So this one, it's completely like personal preference.
07:30So, okay, for my friends, they told me, I'm not an expert in this as well,
07:34but they told me that for your first home, you should buy subsale.
07:36Okay, man.
07:37Which is, as in you buy it secondhand from someone else.
07:39Yeah, okay.
07:39Just because, um, when you buy subsale, when you buy a house that's five years old.
07:43Okay.
07:43You know all the issues that are there.
07:45Oh.
07:46If there is a plumbing issue, if there's a leaking issue, you know about it.
07:48Okay.
07:49If you buy a new development, you don't know, right?
07:51You gotta like, it's a gamble.
07:53You walk into the house, then you see how it goes.
07:55So then, what if you walk in and there are plumbing issues?
07:57That's another cost that you gotta pay for, right?
07:59There's all these things to consider.
08:00But then, of course, even for me, I would rather have a new house.
08:02So, it's again personal preference.
08:05Yeah, it's personal preference.
08:06Another one is, is it better for lead, uh, for me?
08:10Like, I have a future, uh, I was thinking if I were to buy a house,
08:14it's gonna be a family home for my family.
08:16Okay.
08:17So, is it better for landed or condo or an apartment?
08:22Okay.
08:22Yeah.
08:22Again, this goes back to personal preference.
08:24Okay.
08:25What you prefer, how much you're willing to spend, and all that.
08:29But generally speaking, if you're thinking about it in terms of like,
08:32value appreciation, uh, then landed properties will do better,
08:36or they tend to do better.
08:37Okay.
08:37Yeah, but again, it goes back to preference and how much you're willing to spend.
08:40Because condos will be cheaper.
08:42Yeah.
08:42Condos will be cheaper than landed house, right?
08:44Yeah.
08:44And I guess when we get to that, um, when it comes to thinking about how much you want to spend,
08:48or how much should the house be?
08:51How much am I ready to pay?
08:52Yeah.
08:53Right.
08:53One is, like I said, you've got to consider the down payment and upfront costs about 15
08:57to 20% of the value of the house.
08:59And then it comes to the mortgage payment.
09:00So how much can you afford, right?
09:01All right.
09:02The general rule of thumb for this is that this should not exceed 30% of your income.
09:07It should not.
09:07It should not exceed 30% of your income.
09:10Oh.
09:10So if your salary is 10,000 ringgit, take home.
09:12Okay.
09:13Your mortgage should not be more than 3,000 ringgit.
09:15Oh.
09:16Yeah, because otherwise you'd be in a very tricky situation with regards to the rest of your finances.
09:21So that's what people usually follow.
09:23Okay.
09:23People usually follow.
09:24So it's better to keep it par, um, below 30?
09:28Below 30%.
09:29Below 30%.
09:29Yeah.
09:29Below 30.
09:30Right?
09:30All right.
09:30So then you have, you have options.
09:32You have options for this, right?
09:33Okay.
09:34One is, you get a house that's within your affordability.
09:38Okay.
09:38Where you give a normal 10% down payment and you can get the mortgage at 30% of your income.
09:42Or let's say if you really want a nicer house.
09:44Like, I really want this house.
09:46This is my dream house.
09:47Okay.
09:48But the mortgage will come to 40% or 50% of my income.
09:51Okay.
09:51Your option is, you save up more down payment and you pay more down payment.
09:54Ah.
09:54So that your loan amount comes down, right?
09:56Okay.
09:57And I think it's fine.
09:58I think a lot of people rush to buy a house because they think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
10:03Yeah.
10:04I will never find a house like this ever again in my life.
10:06I have to buy it now.
10:08But speaking from experience, speaking to all of my friends and stuff.
10:11Yeah.
10:13No one regretted not buying a house.
10:16But a lot of people regretted buying a house.
10:19No one told me like, ah, five years ago, I saw this house and I should have bought it.
10:23Very rare lah.
10:24No one really says that.
10:25Yeah.
10:26Yeah.
10:26Let's just find another one.
10:27Because a lot of people like around my age as well, they're like more to,
10:31it's okay to rent for the rest of their lives than actually buy one.
10:36Correct.
10:37Yeah.
10:37Yeah.
10:37So this, again, it comes to preference.
10:39Yeah.
10:40So I was also a very, I was very into renting.
10:43I thought renting was very good.
10:44Yeah.
10:45Because one, it can be cheaper.
10:46Yes.
10:46So you know when you buy a condo, you have to pay for maintenance fees.
10:49You have to pay sinking fund.
10:50Yeah.
10:51Yeah.
10:51Right?
10:51This is for like the guard and everything.
10:52Yeah.
10:52And you have to pay for those every month.
10:54And then if you have any issues, you have to pay for it yourself.
10:57Whereas if you rent, you don't have to pay that.
10:58Right?
10:59That is true.
10:59Yeah.
11:00Yeah.
11:00The big benefit of renting that I prefer now is that it gives me flexibility.
11:04All right.
11:05Because I don't know where I want to settle down.
11:06But I guess you do.
11:07You do.
11:07I do.
11:08Whatever it is, I want to settle down there.
11:11Yeah.
11:11For me, I want to live close to work.
11:13I don't like to travel to work.
11:14I'm not a one hour each way every day kind of guy.
11:18If I work in KL, I'll move to KL.
11:20If I work in Shah Alam, I'll move to Shah Alam.
11:21So I wanted that flexibility.
11:23Okay.
11:23Where I could do that.
11:25And also because I'm someone who has a variable income.
11:28I don't know where things will be.
11:29I just want the flexibility of if things get bad, I can down work.
11:34Right?
11:34Okay.
11:35Yeah.
11:35So another one is that you see a lot of these rumah selangku and what do you call it?
11:42Rumah wait.
11:42Yeah.
11:43Rumah wait.
11:44Is that actually helping in people trying to get a house and everything?
11:49Yeah.
11:50I think those are really worth it actually.
11:51So I myself, I bought a Rumah wait recently.
11:54Yeah.
11:54So because there are government projects, these developers still have to build it up.
11:59But I think it makes affordability a lot better.
12:02Right?
12:02It makes affordability a lot better because the condos are kept at a certain price.
12:06Okay.
12:06For mine, I think all Rumah wait is fixed at RM300,000.
12:08Oh, yeah.
12:09Yeah.
12:10Which is also why I bought it.
12:11Because to me, okay, at least for my affordability right now,
12:14RM300,000 is very comfortable for me.
12:17Right.
12:17Very comfortable where I don't really have to worry too much.
12:19Yeah.
12:19So how's the process of you getting there so that I can just like walk through it as well?
12:24As in my process like that?
12:25Yeah.
12:25So process step by step or like thinking about the finances and stuff?
12:28The process of getting that house and also financial as well.
12:32Okay, okay.
12:33So I guess I'll get to before I decided to buy a house.
12:36So I knew like, okay, every month, this is how much money I had left over after all my
12:40loan expenses. So I can afford a house at this price.
12:42Okay.
12:42I didn't want to buy like a very expensive place like my forever home because like I said,
12:46I don't know where I want to settle down yet.
12:47Yeah.
12:48But to me, this Rumah wait was a really good deal at RM300,000.
12:51So I knew I could afford it comfortably.
12:54So I thought, okay, let me buy this first.
12:55This to me, I also considered like a backup because currently my rent is a bit high.
13:00It's higher than what my mortgage would be.
13:02Okay.
13:02So I was thinking if one day things go bad, I can just stop paying my rent and just stay
13:08at the Rumah wait and it's cheaper.
13:09Yeah.
13:09It's a downgrade for me.
13:10So this was like a safety net for me.
13:12Okay.
13:12That was my process.
13:13Right.
13:14And to actually getting the Rumah wait, you just had to send some application to the government
13:17and then they'll tell you whether you're approved or not.
13:19Once you're approved and then you get the developer to settle all your loans and stuff.
13:24Yeah.
13:24Just very general.
13:25Yeah.
13:25But my thinking was I didn't want to buy a house until I knew I was going to settle down.
13:30Okay.
13:30And I wanted to buy a nice house.
13:32Yeah.
13:32I don't want to buy like a 600,000 ringgit house and then as I progress in my life like,
13:37oh, I'm going to upgrade to a 1 million ringgit house and oh, I'm going to upgrade later on.
13:40Yeah.
13:42I want to go nice straight away.
13:43Yeah.
13:43I want to be like, okay, this is my house I want to buy and it's going to be expensive.
13:46And I can't afford that now.
13:47Yeah.
13:48I'm just going to keep renting.
13:49Yeah.
13:50That's my thinking as well because I feel like if I were to buy, I'm thinking of it not right now
13:56I'm going to buy.
13:57I have that plan and I'm just trying to save as much as I could.
14:01Yeah.
14:01And I want exactly like you.
14:04I just want to buy a really nice house up front.
14:07Exactly.
14:07Right.
14:07Yeah.
14:08I don't want to like, oh, keep moving, moving and as of my life upgrades.
14:10Yeah.
14:11And I feel like it's no rush.
14:12It's no rush.
14:13Right.
14:13You can just keep renting.
14:14A lot of people think renting is throwing money away.
14:17Yeah.
14:18It's throwing money.
14:18But to me, it's buying flexibility.
14:20All right.
14:21Buy a house is a 35 year commitment.
14:24We haven't been in life that long.
14:25All right.
14:26We've been in life less than 30 years.
14:28I'm going to commit to a house now.
14:29Yeah.
14:30Just because my friends told me, you know.
14:32Peer pressure.
14:33Exactly.
14:33And this is a really great talk right now.
14:35So my initial is just I have to keep on saving.
14:39Yeah.
14:40I have to know exactly what I want and look at the places that is either developing or about
14:47to have a house and look at the comps.
14:49Right.
14:50Yeah.
14:50Exactly.
14:50And until then, you can just keep renting.
14:52I think the key to most people is the key takeaway is don't rush.
14:56Yes.
14:57Don't rush into a house.
14:57I think a lot of people from my first job, I had a boss who was late 20s.
15:01He rushed into a house because he thought it's an investment, right?
15:04Right.
15:05But there's so many better places to invest, honestly, because a house is not so easy to
15:11liquidate, right?
15:12Yeah.
15:12It's not so easy to sell.
15:13If I invest in stocks, I can sell it anytime I want.
15:15Yeah.
15:16True.
15:16So instantly, tonight, I get the cash.
15:17Yeah.
15:18With a house you can't.
15:18Yeah.
15:19Yeah.
15:19And it really locks you down.
15:21I've said this before in the previous episode, but I don't like commitments.
15:24I like to extend relationships, but I don't like financial commitments.
15:29I don't like financial commitments.
15:30It really ties you down.
15:31And for people our age, I think it's good to have flexibility.
15:33Yeah.
15:34It's good to have the freedom to do what we want and to tweak things if we need to.
15:38All right.
15:38Yeah.
15:38Okay, okay.
15:39Yeah.
15:40This is so much fun.
15:41Now I know what I want.
15:43Yeah.
15:43So I guess the key takeaways from this is, number one, don't rush until my house.
15:47Just keep saving, right?
15:48Just keep saving to my house.
15:50Let's say it takes you a while to decide or to find your perfect home.
15:53Yes.
15:53Imagine by then you already have 50% of the value saved up.
15:56I mean, perfect.
15:57Then you don't have to worry so much about, you know, your monthly expenses, your renovation,
16:01how you're going to pay for that, you know?
16:02If you can pay for your renovation upfront with cash, that's like, perfect, right?
16:06Then you don't have to take a loan and a lot of people feel stuck underwater
16:10because they spent a bit too much.
16:13Yes.
16:13They spent a bit too much on their houses.
16:14Yeah.
16:14So take your time.
16:15I think there's no rush to it.
16:16Yay.
16:17All right.
16:18Nice talking to you, Nora.
16:19Nice.
16:19Thank you so much.
16:20All the best with your housing journey and I hope we find the right one for you.
16:23Yes.
16:23I'm going to be saving up for my new house.
16:25All right.
16:26Thank you guys.
16:27See you in the next one.
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