This story was submitted by Lingesvran Battumalai
Here is the story of myself, a 26 years old IT-savvy. My dad and mom are my role models, emotionally and inspirationally.
I am the only child in the family, born in 1990. My father owned a road construction company until I was 5 years old, when he lost his business due to gambling, while got cheated by his friends and the people around him. We lost everything including the house we were staying in. My parents then moved to a rural area in Kapar, Selangor. For 2 years, we stayed in a rented house close to the forest.
In 1997, my parents forked out some savings and bought a double storey terrace in Kapar, Selangor for RM58,000. My early childhood life continued well along again until the age of 13. In 2001, my beloved father suddenly passed away in an accident but the insurance company declared it as suicide. From then on, only his government employee provided fund (EPF) and Perkeso gave us funds to continue living meagerly.
My mother and I faced difficult times without my dad until I reached the age of 17. After my SPM, I started Diploma in Information Technology in KL, while working at the Shangri-La hotel. My college life in 2001 was quite difficult with little funds to survive with. My daily lunch and dinner were only limited to RM4, which barely provide a full healthy meal.
My part time income and the little bit my mom was able to provide me gave me RM50 per week to cover all my expenses. At the same time, I tried to reduce my expenditures as much as I can and saved the money, which helped to cover my tuition fee without having to apply for a PTPTN loan.
This was the period where I learned the most about saving and my mother’s selfless sacrifice to let me continue my studies.
One day, I missed the last RapidKL bus home which cost RM2 and was short of cash to take a taxi back which cost around RM80. That day, I slept at the bus stop in front of KL Sentral Monorail Station. I was terrified! But at the same time, I started to think of a way to redeem my dignity and be a successful person, whom my parents can be proud of.
In 2011, I started my first job as SOC and NOC (Helpdesk) on rotating shifts at Extol Corporation and worked there for one and a half years. In 2012, I bought a medium cost apartment at Laguna Biru, Sungai Buloh for RM109,000, with a downpayment of RM500. My mother who worked as an ironing lady at that time pooled her resources with me to pay the 10% deposit.
Upon obtaining the keys to the unit, we rented the unit out for between RM600 to RM700 per month. Life began to get better for us, and my career took a turn for the better as well when I jumped to ABS Sdn Bhd as a Network Security Engineer.
In 2014, my fiancée’s mother and grandmother forked out RM200,000 for us and along with my real estate earnings, we managed to obtain a 1.5storey townhouse at Seksyen 7, Shah Alam. This was our dream home and we managed to obtain an RM500,000 loan with the help of a friend.
After staying there for only a year, we began to rent out the house due to the high demand of homes in the area as the house was located just next to the Maz International School. We began to get a monthly rental of RM2,900.
On top of that, I encouraged my fiancée to buy a double-storey house in Taman Cemerlang for RM340,000 as she could get a very low-interest rate as a bank staff. The following year, we expanded our portfolio by purchasing the first floor of a shop office for RM180,000, which we rented out for RM800.
Within the same year, we tied the knot with a limited budget of RM20,000 for the wedding as my life partner agreed to spend only on the necessities, so that we would be able to pay a10% deposit for another property.
In the year 2016, I began my career as an Auction Property Agent. My earnings are healthy now and we are going to invest in another townhouse located in Kampar which has a higher ROI of between 7% to 8%. The house will be completed in 2017.
My journey will continue and undoubtedly I will be purchasing other properties. My advice to the newcomers is to save up some cash to manage the time between the turnover of tenants.
What I wish to pass on is that the youngsters nowadays should learn how to manage their own finances such as their balance sheet, cash flow, and mortgage managing as it will be helpful for their future investments. I learned these during my struggle, which thought me the important things in life.
You need to start saving before you start spending. The amount you put aside for your investments will create passive income for you so that you will be able to achieve your financial goal. Appreciate all the property gurus you may meet, and continue learning and studying in your free time to gain more knowledge and kickstart your investment journey.
A tip is that – The Monopoly game will help you understand the nature of Real Estate. Good Luck.
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