Challenges....

I think, it's getting harder and harder to become a 'full-fledge' property investor from now on.

Firstly, it's getting difficult to buy a property through auction, as more and more people realized that it's a cheaper & faster way to own a property. Plus, there were some people out there with tons of money willing to pay more then market value of a particular property..The alternative will be, buy a property direct from the developers......

Then came the news that we are no longer allowed to pledge our ASB to the bank for the application of overdraft facilities. Why? Only the banks know and it kinda limits the options & luxury that some of us might have. Those who have managed to 'boost' their wealth this way were lucky in my opinion & I considered myself not-so-lucky as I came into the 'market/industry' relatively late. Earlier this year, I made some plans to boost my ASB through my OD, but with this new rule, I may have to alter my plans. Instead of achieving let's say in 2 years time, it might take me an extra 2 years to get where I initially targeted.....

Just recently, BNM decided to impose a new rule in lending money to buy properties. Some of us must now fork out 30% of our own hard earned money to buy our 3rd property. Again, I felt somewhat a little bit not-so-lucky to enter the 'market' a bit late. Again, I have plans but it has to change following this new rule. To be honest, I don't think I'll buy a property soon. There's no way I'm gonna pay 30% of my money to invest. It could be better if I could the money to be put somewhere else that could give some returns in the future.

These are challenging times for me to be honest. Well, I can't dwell on it much. Of course, there will be some changes in my plans to accomodate these rules. I'm pretty sure there are loopholes somewhere. It's a matter of finding more infos about it....

Having said that, the most immediate reaction from me is to diversify my investments. Be it unit trusts, education plans, insurance plans, ASB, shares, commodities or whatever.