Before I started to get serious with property investments, I always have my mind set to buy a house but am always confused – should I stay right away? Or should I rent it out first? Then I think, “maybe..just maybe I can find a house that can do both! One that can be easily rent out and I can always choose to stay there when I’m ready – or so I thought”.
Turned out it wasn’t so easy to decide because if I choose to rent first, I might have to buy a smaller property first which is not in my interest. I don’t have much time to accumulate enough money to buy a landed house at that time – a landed house in a good location that can be rent out while I hold no serious commitments and when I’m ready then I can just decide to move in.
On another hand, if I decide to buy my first house to stay then I might have to wait longer time to gain enough money to buy one decent house. Might take me another year.. Might take another 2 years – anything can happen within those years. I have this landed house that I marked my eyes on for quite a long time. It was in a neighbourhood I once grew up – it’s a peaceful place and located strategically in the centre of the small town I live in. But I know that by the time I accumulated enough money, the value of the houses there would jump higher than now.
The probability of not being to buy that house would be quite high and I might missed out better opportunities not buying cheaper properties for rent now. Why? Because the other property I had my eyes at that same time was another awesome apartment, quite small about 650 square feet, but in a prime area of Kota Damansara – a great place with many property boosters like hospitals, universities, malls and strong rental power.
It was quite a dilemma to decide which was the better options. So I studied how many property gurus who started from nothing and now end up making millions. I discovered that most of them started out by renting their homes – it was their first step to a financially free life. One of them was my coach who started from a small business helping his mother selling foods in a school canteen. He bought his first house before turning 25 and rented the house for 3 years before buying another one. All the hard work paid off as he became a property millionaire when he was already 30 years old by diversifying his rental incomes into various businesses and keep buying more properties along the way – pretty smart eyy!
All in all, it is actually up to you to decide whether you want rent first or stay first, why? Because everybody is different – if you have extra money, why not buy two houses (one for rent and one for staying), if you have limited funds then maybe you can consider renting it out first, or.. if you think you want to start a family then it may be better to buy for stay. There’s no right or wrong to this question because it is all up to your own preferences. The type of property that is the best for me may not be the best property for you.
The key takeaway I learnt is to use whatever you have..whatever was given to you – be it skills, money, assets, or anything you have and try to use them to provide value in the market. I listened to a talk by Jim Rohn – an exceptional motivational speaker, he advised that the fastest way to make huge money is to provide value to the market. I think that’s a good way to tune our minds to do good in life. When we provide value to the markets, we are practically solving societal problems. I hope this article helps you to have an idea of what you should do if you are ever in this situation because I did! Despite all the decisions you have to make, I know you’ll make the right choices – best of luck!
The Hustler Investor 