bearbearwong is a very interesting forum member in LYN. His behaviour brought us lots of fun and at the same time, he showed us many things which we should avoid. There are many mistakes he made, and below are 6 mistakes made by bearbear which I think home buyers and investors alike can "learn" from him and avoid them in their future purchases :
Mistake #1 Confused objectivebearbear's intention to buy a property is for own stay. For own stay, the objective is totally different from investment. For own stay, it is 1 of the 4 daily needs (clothing, food, dwelling and transport). Just like clothing, food and transport, we buy a house when we need it (like marriage). We should not delay because it is our need. We can always choose a budget that suits us. But bearbear wanted designer cloth and BMW instead of something more affordable. He wanted those mid-high end housing >RM600k instead of those RM300k+ which is his actual affordable budget.
Moreover, for own stay, the future rise and fall of market price does not affect him. He still have to own the house if the market price increase by 100%. He can't sell it for profit otherwise he has no roof over his head. Likewise, if the market falls by 50%, he will not sell either. A house for own stay is a need, not an investment which could turn into profit or loss due to price movement
Mistake #2 Buying a property is a 1 time decisionbearbear thought that buying a house is a 1 time decision (like marriage). But in fact, almost everyone have the opportunity to upgrade their house in the future. Therefore, we should buy a property based on our own financial ability at that time. We should not think that we will be stuck with a property for whole life. We can always sell it and upgrade to a better property in the future. Thinking buying a property and will stay in it for the rest of you life will make your purchase decision very difficult
Mistake #3 Timing the marketNobody knows the timing of market ups and downs. It applies to any market including stock and property. So, it is foolish to time the market for best price. Instead, the best time to buy a property is when you are financially ready and comfortable. Timing the market is like gambling. If you time the market wrongly, the loss is substantial. Just like the DDDs for the last 5-6 years, they have missed the great opportunity of riding the super bull run which has never been seen in malaysia property market history
Over long term, in malaysia property market history, market price will increase between 5%-10% pa on long term average. So, in 20 years time and beyond, the property will appreciate at least 3 times. Of course, there are ups and downs during the 20 years period, but if a person holds a long term view, the price is on an upward linear trend as history has shown us
Mistake #4 want to wear too big a hatbearbear's salary is only RM4k gross. His saving is only RM40k. But he aspire to buy property in the region of RM600k-RM700k. He has over-stretched his budget. The result would be catastrophic. A property buyer should not over-stretch their financial ability, unless he has backup from PAMA or spouse. With RM4k salary, bearbear should only be looking at property in the region of RM300k-RM400k. However, he even take into account his 3 credit card limit of RM50k in choosing his target property. Using credit card as part of the deposit is plainly a foolish decision
Be truthful to yourself. Weigh your financial ability objectively. Face and social status will be down the drain when repo man knocks on your door.
Mistake #5 getting influenced by his working lifebearbear has a "hazardous" job. His repomen job forces him to meet people who failed financially everyday. When he sees people bankrupt day in day out, he is influenced by them and giving him an impression that many people are facing financial trouble. This could have lead him to believe that most people are not prudent in their financial management and hence, most property buyers are vulnerable to fail. His mindset has become negative and pessimistic. Causing him to read any news and deduce his own findings negatively.
His world becomes doom and gloom and market will crash soon. He cannot see the market objectively anymore. As such, his market outlook causes him to think crash is coming and he should delay his purchase decision.
Property purchase is 1 of our biggest decision. We should be more objective when making such decision. Try to get advice from as many people as possible instead of being influenced by people around you.
Mistake #6 wish the environment to come down to meet his wants instead of working towards achieving his wishHe already has a job. He can work hard to improve his income. If he works towards improving his income by double to RM8k, buying the property of his choice is no more an issue. However, instead of working hard to achieve higher income, he blame the market instead. He whine about the UUU, the flippers, the government etc for causing the price to inflate exponentially until his current salary could not afford.
Instead of working hard, he spend a big proportion of his productive time from 7am - 12 midnight in the forum argue with the UUU and other property buyers. He did not realise he is spending his time unproductively and will not help in his career. He should have use his productive time to work towards how to achieve better career path instead.
We should always bear in mind in this cruel world, nothing will come to you unless you make an effort to achieve it. Ie. there is no free lunch and complaining wouldn't help you get what you wish
I am sure there are more bearbear's mistakes which we can learn. Feel free to add on
p/s if I have time, I will examine the mistakes made by iceman....
Very detailed analysis on the troubled bear bear. Very Spot On . Like hitting on the bulls eye . I feel like his biggest mistake is actually his job being the repomen. I once asked him how about being a doctor who is seeing people die on a daily basis. Should the doctor be crazy and cursing that the world is gonna end soon where human extinction is for real gonna happen? Nonetheless, he dodged my question.
His job actually some how poisoned his mind till he cannot analyze things clearly.
Nov 27 2014, 12:22 PM
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