Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Things I Wish I Knew Before Buying a House


I was 23 years old when I bought my first house. Yes, it's a small house but I was proud of it like heck. It was a dream and when I finally got it, I felt like a winner! (Read more about it  here)

 When I think about that day, it makes me smile. In it, I saw my hard work came to life. All the scrimping and all the ramen-diet I was doing didn't go to waste. It goes to show how being frugal can, sometimes, make your dreams come true. 


As much as I am happy I finally got a house, there are things I wish I knew before I let go of my 1.3 Million:


  • I wish I knew the power of good debt. I should have apply for a mortgage, pay the house every month and invested the rest. 


  • I wish I knew about investing, compound interest, stock market, mutual fund and the "power of time" at that time. I would have invested earlier rather than buying a house.


  •  I wish I checked the location and the house personally before buying. I just did the checking in the Internet. I let my cousin and my mom checked the property. Since my mom liked it, I said yes. 


  •  Since my brother was going to college nearby, I wish I just let them rent a house or a room instead of buying one. It would have saved me money plus, Cebu isn't really a place I'd like to live  so buying a property wasn't  necessary.


  • I wish I knew about foreclosed properties. I would have checked on that avenue  first before deciding to buy a house.


Don't get me wrong, I don't regret buying  it but if only I've known more about buying properties, like I do now, then it would have been so different. 

At least I have a house I call my own to go to when I finally come home for good in 4 months! 


7 comments:

  1. I'm also interested in checking out foreclosed properties when the time comes for us to buy a house. And great list by the way, I'll definitely file this for future reference.

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    1. I know,right? Forclosed properties really are worth checking before deciding to buy a house. PNB usually emails me with forclosed properties list. Some of the properties they mentioned is too low a price but I really can't put my foot forward coz I really want to check the property personally first. As with investing with forclosed properties, experts say you need to look at 100 houses before you'll find 1 house worth investing.

      I've been reading and watching about forclosed properties now (HGTV) and it gave me a lot of ideas about buying a forclosed house,renovating it,flipping it and all that stuffs provided you know the "real" price of the property. Buy low,sell high lang ang drama like the stocks.

      There are a lot of forclosed properties in the Philippines and not a lot of people know about it. Maybe I should be an expert in the field! Haha! Or wait for the housing bubble to pop there (if there is one,needs more research ) then hoard properties when the Philippine housing market is at its lowest.

      Diba and damning properties there left and right and I fear that maybe it'll become like the "housing bubble in America" but I really need to look into that before concluding that it is really a bubble that it will eventually pop

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  2. Hi! I just want to say that I really love your blog. I always find myself coming back here and checking if you have a new post. Sobrang helpful and nakakaenjoy basahin. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and habits about investing and other interesting stuffs. One of my fave blogs. Godbless and more power! :)

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  3. Oh wow! Thanks for the nice comment! This made my day! Makes me want to post more.:)

    Thanks and I hope you'll check more often!

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  4. Hi thanks for the tips. I'm curious about the mortgage. On which institution is the best way to to get a mortgage loan: PAG-IBIG or banks?

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  5. Wow! I've been your avid reader. This helps me a lot in deciding to purchase a house. Isip isip muna for now. Tiis lang muna at my parents house which I renovated. It's not my ideal place to stay and retire.

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  6. I'm a single OFW and I realized how difficult it is to apply for a loan kahit financially qualified. Gusto ng bank na may co-borrower pa dahil daw single.

    So I decided na mag-ipon muna and buy a house on a budget. Repair can be done gradually later which I did. Magastos din ang renovation but may freedom ka na mamili ng materyales, paint, etc.

    Sa mga gustong bumili ng bahay at lupa, gawing priority ang pag-iipon at hindi ninyo mamamalayan na malaki na pala ang inyong naipon. Keep you eyes on the goal/house. :-)

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