This story is submitted by Emrull Iqbarullah Bin Md Yusub
It was the year 2006 and I was preparing myself to get married and settled down. I worked overtime to fund the wedding, as well as to pay the initial deposit for the house I was about to rent. It was my friend who told me there’s a new apartment called Mentari Court near Sunway Pyramid.
The apartment comes with basic facilities such as swimming pool and smart card entry system. There was also a KTM Station located within a short distance.
It was a newly developed apartment at that time. Hence, I had ample rental units to choose from. After a proper survey, I chose a partially furnished unit for RM750 per month. I was also lucky as my company provided rental-subsidy benefit. Every month, my company will pay RM650 directly to the landlord, and I was only required to top-up RM100.
However, things turned otherwise due to the economic crisis in 2008. My company undertook cost-cutting measures, which also include scrapping the rental subsidy. With the income of only RM2,000 per month, I struggled to pay the full rental plus with my hire purchase installment. My wife was a full-time housemaker then.
Due to my struggle, I decided to purchase an auctioned property instead, as it will be cheaper compared to other newer developments in the market. But with no knowledge or whatsoever on purchasing auctioned properties, I turned to Google to find the answers I need.
I Googled for the market values and read blogs to acquire knowledge. As per the advice given on the blogs, I also inspected the unit prior to the auction.
During the auction, my mother in law accompanied me to help, in case I run short of cash to pay the 10% deposit. The situation there was quite similar to what was explained in the blogs. I sat calmly at the back row with a hope can monitor who is my competitor in the auction. There was quite a number of people.
The bidding was quite tensed and not as I expected. Luckily I won with the price of RM99,000.
Beginning from that day, I developed a passion for property investment. I learned that medium cost apartment have good capital and rental appreciation as well. I bought another apartment in 2009, followed by a similar apartment in 2010. In the same year, I acquired a condominium. After the year 2010, the price of newly developed properties skyrocketed.
I received the keys of my condominium in the year 2013. After moving in, I volunteered to become a member of Joint Management Committee (JMC) during the AGM.
Overall, my journey in property investment was quite smooth and have benefitted me financially and spiritually. The cancellation of my rental subsidy turned out to be a blessing instead, and I believe it is possible due to the prayer of my elders.
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