ategory of Afidie Business
Buying Properties At A Discount
Let me ask you a question: Is it easy to make money?
I can see some people shaking their heads. “Man, if it were easy, then I would be reading this article while lazing by the beach in Bora-Bora. The reason I’m still here at the office at 9 pm is because it’s not easy to make money. And don’t tell me any differently!”
How to make money from properties
“So Azizi, is property a good investment?” The question echoes around me on a weekly basis. “What do you think, ah?”
Since they have asked it that way, I would smile and nod approvingly. “Of course!”
But deep in my heart, I know that while the answer is correct, it is not complete. Of course properties make good investments. But then, the same thing can be said about stocks, unit trusts and a couple of other investments as well. Although they are all good investments, it does not mean anyone can make money from them. Buying the first house you see or the stock that takes your fancy is a sure recipe for disaster. It is a guaranteed formula for exchanging your hard-earned money for a long term headache.
Properties Investment For The New Decade
The times have been good for property investors in the past couple of years. Prices in certain areas, particularly in selected areas of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya have risen significantly, some as high as 50 percent. And as a result of this rise, practically all property investors had made money. In fact, some people have seen their net worth jump up by 30 or 40 percent because of the price rise. For example, a young colleague who purchased their house two years ago saw the value of their house increase from RM950,000 to RM1.3 million today. Of course, the owner was all smiles when they told me the story.
I am happy for them. As an avid property investor, I have benefited from the rise myself, so I am certainly not complaining. At the same time, I must admit that I have some reservation about the whole scenario. The price rise has distorted reality to many investors, including my colleague. Because the price climbed up as soon as he bought the property, and remained at a high level even today, his view on property investment is seriously distorted. He thinks that:
1. Prices will go up as soon you buy a property.
2. The gains will be in double digits per annum.
3. This is normal.
4. Prices always go up.
5. It is easy to make money in properties.
6. He is a super genius when it comes to property investment!
ISSUE #96 - August 2010
SELAMAT MENYAMBUT KEDATANGAN RAMADHAN
Kami di True Wealth mengucapkan selamat berpuasa kepada semua.
Semoga Ramadhan kali ini membawa seribu makna dalam hidup anda.
Why I Invest in Properties
There are a myriad of investment vehicles for the Malaysian public today. While the choices before were just shares, unit trusts and properties, the investment choices have exploded in recent years. For starters, there are over 500 different unit trust funds today. These include Islamic based Funds and Sector Specific funds. Even banking products have developed from the plain vanilla savings and current account. Maybank alone has 11 different types of consumer deposit products, which include Individual Foreign Currency Account. Also, futures, options and even online investments have arrived in Malaysia. In other words, the Malaysian public has a world of investment choices today.
Protect Yourself From The Imminent Financial Collapse
There is one truth about money: if you live high on the hog on borrowed money, the day will come when your world will come crumbling down and the U.S. has been living high on the hog on borrowed money for too long. Things cannot carry on like this forever. I see no way out for them and actually, even Ben Bernanke (the Chairman of the Federal Reserve) agrees: “The large U.S. current account deficit cannot persist indefinitely because the ability of the United States to make debt service payments and the willingness of foreigners to hold U.S. assets in their portfolios are both limited.”
So now I’d like to share some thoughts about the matter, which may help you make a better decision about money and investments. After all, knowledge is good but there is nothing like money in the bank, or more appropriately in this case, gold in your hands.
AVOID THREE EXPENSIVE ERRORS IN PROPERTY INVESTMENT
Since it proved to be a HOT HOT thing, I’m answering more questions this month. As usual again, the questions are presented the way they came in, broken English, grammar errors and all. Enjoy!
QUESTION:
Dear Azizi,
I’m currently using the sample Tenancy Agreement from your book. My tenant and I signed the Tenancy Agreement. But I did not get it to be stamped. (Mine is a low cost flat and the tenant was reluctant to pay for the stamping cost.)
I wonder if it will be of any good in the court of law should I have any problem with my Tenant?
ANSWER:
Yes and no!
Firstly, an agreement does NOT have to be stamped to make it legal. In fact, stamping it does not make it more or less legal. An agreement that is signed by both parties are legal and binding.
Why do people stamp agreements then?
The answer is because only an agreement that has been stamped can be admitted to court. No stamping, no admission.
In your case, if you need to go to court later on, all you need to do is to have the agreement stamped at that time. Of course, you will be charged a higher fee for the late stamping.
The sad reality is that a tenant that cannot afford to pay the stamping fee will very likely be unable to afford the rent payment as well!
AVOID THREE EXPENSIVE ERRORS IN PROPERTY INVESTMENT
Property investment has been a long and experienced wealth builder. Folks had built fortunes throughout the centuries by owning real estate. If it was true then, it is even more so today.
Yet at the same time, there are far too many people who fall into financial difficulties because they invested in real estate. I personally know of one of my own colleague who is up to his neck with debts because of property investment. When you sit down to think about it, isn’t it odd? The same investment that is making some folks rich is sending others to their doom! Although there are obviously many reasons leading to this situation, one glaring point is that the people who are making money know something that the others don’t. Now, while one do not have to have a PhD in properties to make money from it, it is also obvious that the more you know about it, the more money you will have.
Properties are also straight forward. The more properties you own, the wealthier you will be. As to why this is so, the reason is simple: a person who has financial difficulties will never come to the situation of owning five or more properties; he has enough problems even to own one! For a guy to own five or more properties, he has to know what he is doing and should be a master of his finances already. While there are always exceptions, that is the rule of thumb when it comes to properties.
Now, the three common errors folks make in property investment are (1) buying in the wrong location, (2) buying the wrong type of property, and (3) making decisions based on what happened in recent history. Unfortunately, all three errors are very costly, very expensive and also very demoralizing.
EPF Isn’t Enough
One of the tragic occurrences in life is retirement. Retirement is not tragic; it is a great thing. However, the same cannot be said about the life during retirement. The carefree lifestyle that we dream of – travelling around the world and doing things that we like, free from money worries – is exactly that, just a dream. Most retirees will never get anywhere near those dreams. Not even halfway.
Why not? Because most people do not have sufficient money for retirement.
When You Should Borrow Money To Invest
One of the most common question I get is this: is it a good idea to borrow money to invest in investment ‘x’ (the ‘x’ can be unit trusts, ASB, properties, business, Bank Rakyat shares, etc., etc.)?
Let me answer the question in real world terms.
What to do with your money in uncertain times
I’ve received a number of queries about the current financial turmoil raging in the US and basically throughout the world.
“What do you think of the subprime crisis in the US?”
ASB loan mmg dah lama dah kat Mesia ni, tapi masih ramai yang ragu2 samada berbaloi ke invest pakai loan atau pakai cash jer? pada aku, aku amik loan pasal nak disiplinkan diri menyimpan, ye lar, kalau harap cash masuk setiap bulan mmg susah la bro. Dgn cara ni, aku paksa diri aku menyimpan…
Lagipun charge yg di kenakan agak rendah, baru2 ni Maybank promote flat rate for the rest of the loan tenure, bukan staggered macam dulu… Lupa lak bape rate nyer ari tu.
The Imminent Collapse of the Financial System
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the state of the current financial system in the world today. And I’m getting this sinking feeling about the whole thing. I’m beginning to develop the view that the current system cannot go on for much longer. It is so tipsy that it is not a matter of ‘if’ it will collapse anymore. Instead, it is just a matter of ‘when’.
It would take a book by itself (and perhaps even more than one!) to explain the points in complete details. But I’ve decided to summarize the points for your benefits. I must forewarn you that this article is a bit longer and also more complex than the usual. It needs to be – we’re talking about the state of the current financial system here!
The Book Of Excuses
One of the funny things (at least it’s funny to me) is hearing the excuses people give to justify why they are not rich. What’s ever funnier is that the people call them “reasons”; I call them excuses.
Throughout the years, I’ve heard excuses such as “I don’t want the responsibility” to “people would come to rob me” to “I’m too young” to “I’m too old”! I’ve heard the works and now would like to share them with you.
Salam,
Artikel ni saya copy & pasted dari email yg saya dapat. Semoga ianya menjadi panduan bagi diri saya dan kawan2 semua….
Assalamualaikum wbr..
Ketagihan Internet
Adakah kehadiran teknologi maklumat dan internet dalam dunia ini telah menjadikan sesetengah kelompok individu menghidapi sejenis penyakit atau kecelaruan yang dikenali sebagai ketagihan internet (internet addiction disorder) atau pun ketagihan komputer? Adakah ia sejenis penyakit baru, yang sebelum ini tiada dalam istilah perubatan? Atau mungkinkah sejenis gangguan yang telah sedia ada dalam diri individu terbabit, sama seperti ketagihan dadah dan arak, tetapi ia berlaku disebabkan oleh komputer dan internet? Adakah komputer atau internet juga boleh menyebabkan ketagihan?
According to Chinese astrology, I am a tiger. “Rrrr!”
Right about now, some people are nodding their heads and uttering the words “No wonder”. Some others are saying, “I knew it.”
As a male tiger, following its namesake, I’m supposedly fierce, moody, strong and protective of my turf. I don’t know; the description applies to practically all the males who ever walked on this earth!
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