Attractive house launches, really?
In the papers recently, there has been a series of property campaigns which are aimed at making it easier for prospective home owners to own a home.
Most notably are the Parade of Homes by Sime Darby as well as the 5/95 campaign by SP Setia. Last week, I also came across PKNS doing the same thing.
Among some of the goodies in stall, termed as financial incentives include things like guaranteed buy back provisions, special (or minimum) down payment, free stamp duty and legal fees, early bird rebates, no interest during construction period etc.
All these goodies are further enhanced with the all time low BLR. The recent competition amongst banks to offer the best rates are also contributing to the owing a home frenzy.
The thing that struck me when I saw this was if we know what we are getting ourselves into? Don’t get me wrong, I am all for owning a property. But what about those who buy it now because of all the goodies, but then realise some time later, that they cannot commit to the monthly dues on a long term basis?
I think what we need to do is to assume that all these goodies are not in place. Do we still want to buy a house? If yes, then these goodies are a bonus to us.
But if the answer is no, I think we need to stop and think a little before putting in the money. What if the BLR goes up? This will impact on the monthly repayments. Can I still afford it? Am I buying it now because of the minimal money I need to put in? The freebies? What is the motivation?
I am sure that many people, like me, will feel overwhelmed with the purchase of a house. The monthly commitments on top of the annual insurance payments, maintenance fees, sinking funds and the occasional repair works can set us back quite a bit.
By all means, go visit these launches. Mark down all the ones that interests you. Go back home, sit down and poke your calculators a bit. Sleep on it, get up and poke your calculators again. Doing this 5, 6 times and then decide if you will still buy the property.
Whatever your decision is, make sure you are not buying because of short term attractiveness, but see the long term affordability.
