With the booming property market in Malaysia and continual escalating prices of properties, various property buyers often find themselves resorting to downgrade their ideal home from a two-storey linked house to a two-bedroom condominium. If you are a prospective first-time homebuyer, you are likely to encounter the first of many challenging decisions which is to either get a beginner home or save up for your eternal home. Everyone tends to define differently on what constitutes a “beginner home” or an “eternal home”.
Generally, a beginner home entails a joyful living for the homebuyers for at least five years or merely something that is ideal for a single individual. On the contrary, an eternal home refers to a home that homebuyers can envision themselves living for the rest of their lives when they start a family. As of late, home-buying behaviours have fluctuated as much as interest rates. First-time homebuyers tend to shop for homes that fit their budget rather than preference. Be it a beginner home or the wait for your eternal home, there are pros and cons to take note.
There are benefits when purchasing a beginner home now instead of waiting for years to purchase an eternal home. First of all, the latest base lending rate of 6.6% is the lowest in the past 10 years. Experts and economists have forecasted that this rate will increase some time this year. If you believe that a good mortgage rate is not a feasible reason to compromise on your first home, think thoroughly. The rate whereby you borrow will affect your monthly payment and the amount of interest over the life of the loan.
According to Dr. Lee Ville, Director of New Bob Group, “Apart from that, we should also take note of the property appreciation. Purchasing a beginner home may help to hasten your goal of obtaining a high-end eternal home. Consider purchasing property that will appreciate and give you sufficient equity to put into your eternal home should you sell it in a few years time”.
In addition, there are crucial things to avoid among those who purchase a beginner home. The biggest setback in purchasing a beginner home is to invest in a property that is not able to appreciate in value or has difficulty being rented out. There are not many people in their 30s, let alone in 20s can afford their dream home in this era. With home prices and cost of living spiking up, even a dual-income household is not adequate for any household to sustain a living in urban areas. Thus, waiting for an eternal home may result in an eternal wait as property prices do not display signs of slowing down anytime soon.
So, start aiming for the middle ground and select your first home before it’s too late. It’s viable to consider the price difference between a potential beginner home and your ideal dream home. If the difference can be saved is merely a year, do consider to wait. Nonetheless, if the difference between your RM250,000 one-bedroom condo and your RM600,000 dream double-storey terrace house requires more than 5 years to save up, do aim for a middle ground.
Dr. Lee Ville, of New Bob Group added, “To make a headstart on property investment among beginners, one may turn to New Bob Group, an iconic and pioneer real estate company in Penang”.
“We offer a comprehensive selection of properties at reasonable rates ranging from the affordably priced “River Tropics” condo in Permatang Pauh ( from RM300,000 onwards). As for penang island are the commercial suites called “Tropic Suites” ( from RM400,000 onwards) to lavish three-storey bungalows called “The Manor” and “Preston Oaks” (from RM5 million onwards). I strongly encourage everyone especially first-time buyers to start investing in property for a secured future”.