Make the right choice

23/11/2001 The Star By Daniel Hor

For many of us, buying our very own home to live in is one of life's biggest goals and dreams.

Years of hard work go towards earning enough to pay for that downpayment and subsequent loan repayments for the purchase of a house or apartment.

It is therefore no mystery as to why many of us find looking for a home to be a very emotional and time-consuming affair - we want to ensure that the culmination of our blood, sweat, and tears over the long years do not end in disappointment or anything short of finding the "perfect" home.

To that end, here are some tips to keep in mind before going on a house-hunting search:

• Like many things in life, spending some time in preparation beforehand can save you  a lot of time later on. Resist the urge to rush out to look at houses before you complete your research.

• Unless you are incredibly rich, you'll need a loan to finance the payment of your future home. Shop around to see which financial institution can give you the best deal you can get and and work with them on a loan that you are financially comfortable with to determine the budget you have.

• Determine what you are looking for in a home, general things that you want or do not want, such as location in a particular area, landed property rather than apartment-type units, accessibility to specific facilities (such as schools, major highways, commercial areas), and so forth.

• Once you have determined your budget and needs, stick with them and eliminate choices that do not meet your requirements. Doing so will save you a lot of time, for instance, if you know right away you cannot afford a particular house, allowing you to move on quickly.

• Get the services of a real estate agent to assist in the buying process because in Malaysia, buying a home through an agent will not incur any additional fees, as the seller will pay your agent the commission.

• If you are using an agent, use his company's resources to give you a list of potential properties that you might wan to look at. Otherwise, a check in the local newspaper classifieds or ads can yield a lot of results as well.

• When you are out there looking at potential houses, keep a detailed checklist on the property you are inspecting. This is so that you are able to refer back and keep track of what you liked or disliked in a particular place, and is especially important if you are seeing more than a few places.

• If the property that you are considering is new, and yet to be completed, it might be a good idea to do a background check on the developer. Use the internet or other resources (you can also try approaching them for information) to find out how they have fared in other projects in the past. There's nothing worse than ending up with an abandoned project mid-way into construction.

• For new properties under construction, you should be able to visit a showroom and obtain a map to see if the area or a particular unit's location or specifications meet your criteria.

• If the property is not new (e.g. a second-hand house), make sure you do a thorough initial inspection of the house and another one before you close the deal. It would be a good idea to have someone knowledgeable on property matters, such as your agent, along with you when you make these inspections.

• If the property you are inspecting is currently occupied, make sure you get in writing with the owner on specific details such as dates of moving out and moving in, ensuring that it is not on the same day. There should also be an agreement in writing on what the house's condition (for example, cleaned up with none of the previous occupant's unwanted property) before you move in.

• During your final inspection of a second-hand home, make sure you inspect places that were previously covered by furnishings, such as carpets, cupboards, and wall pictures, to ensure that there are no defects.

• If you are buying a much older house, keep in mind that you may need to fork out additional payment to fix or replace aging equipment, such as electrical fittings, rusted metal grilles, or damaged wood floors.

• Also keep an eye out for potential problems such as flaking paint or water-stained walls as they may indicate leakages or plumbing problems.

• Location and accessibility can never be too important. Is the area you are considering easily accessible via major highways or roads? You might also want to see how traffic patterns are like during rush hours so that you know what you are getting into.

• While being near main roads mean easy accessibility, property directly facing them is generally less desirable because of the additional noise and air pollution. Also, keep in mind that in such cases, you would be prohibited from parking on the curb outside the house.

• Having a good mix of different retail outlets and amenities nearby is useful, especially if they offer services you may use regularly, such as eateries, banks, petrol stations and launderettes, However, beware of being located too close to large commercial areas, as there may be traffic problems.

• Schools, especially large ones, are another potential regular traffic problem. While they offer an added convenience if you have school-going children, you should still ensure that there are other means of access to your home that will bypass most of the school traffic, especially in the evenings when the afternoon school session ends and people are returning from work.

• You should also take special note if there is a place of worship nearby as traffic problems in a relatively calm area may not arise other than on specific days or times of worship.

• If you are looking for an apartment or condominium, one thing to look out for is the number of available units. Having a high number of units in an area may mean considerably less privacy and more people sharing the use of common facilities.

• Another thing to look out for at condominiums are the maintenance charges. Even though you may fully own a unit, maintenance charges will still need to be paid for, regardless of whether the unit is occupied or not.

• Finally, you might want to pay special attention to feng shui or other superstition-related issues on the potential property. While you may not believe in them, many others do, and this can affect the future sale value of your property should you decide to move.

Finding the right house to make a home isn't easy, but with these handy tips, a lot of patience, and a little bit of luck, getting your dream home can definitely be made easier.