This story is submitted by Asma Binti Abdul Muhaimin
Sweltering on a hot afternoon in my small plywood-walled enclosure; I decided I had had enough. I was sweating all the way through my thin mattress, rotting on the floor. Everything smelt dank, as was my mood. I huffed and turned to my side.
At work, my colleague had suggested for me to look at studios; but how much do studio apartments cost in Malaysia? Are there any in my area? Barely 2.13333 seconds later, thank Google, PropertyGuru pops up with the answer.
This was, in 28 years, the first time I considered purchasing property. I had no idea where to start, but I did know what I wanted. I discovered that as in many other matters in life, it is important to know what you want first; then you can work out the feasibility of what you want.
I decided to call one of the agents. Again, I had no real knowledge of buying property; just one sticky, sweaty, icky girl desperate to find more amiable living conditions. At times, it felt like each answer just led to more questions.
For starters, how do I know what my budget is? Again, I return to the mighty Google, and to find things like “home loan calculator”, and various A to Z articles on buying property. My agent was very patient, and worked with me to find what I wanted.
This is where a lot of friends came in to help. They furnished me with ideas, advice, and little bits of encouragement. It was the motivation from them that kept me going. One colleague went with me from home to home, just so that I wouldn’t have to do it all alone. Even the agent was surprised I had such a good friend to keep me company in this emotionally challenging endeavour.
Surprisingly, choosing a unit wasn’t as much of a nightmare as I thought. I saw a unit, and went back yammering to my colleague over how the unit was just like a hotel room, and that my luggage bag would stick out if I put it at the corner, and my dry cleaning would barely fit the large built-in closet.
He looked at me and said “Well for someone who says she hates the place, you seem to be planning on moving in already!” That stuck to me. That really stuck to me. Next thing I knew, I arranged a second viewing. Now it was up to the agent to find an owner willing to sell me a unit at a price I could afford.
We all know the trials and tribulations of financing a house, so I’ll spare you that. What I can say is that not only do I have a happy non-sticky home to come back to each day, but also I have found my soulmate in the process! He was hiding behind the luggage bag all along.
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