This is a story of how a Malaysian woman was convinced by her parents to buy a property as an investment for her future, but now regrets the choice as she feels like it doesn’t align with the life she wants. With the long repayment of the loan in front of her, she feels stuck in her situation.
I graduated from university not too long ago, and was able to secure a job right after my internship. I started with earning RM3000 right away which was not a bad start. I lived not too far away from my work, and was renting a room in a shared space in Petaling Jaya for RM500 a month.
This left me with enough to save and the rest I would spend on going out with friends, weekends and short vacations during the holidays.
About a year into this lifestyle, which I truly enjoyed, my parents started convincing me and my brother to invest in a property together. He’s a couple of years older than me and working in KL. At first I didn’t want to buy a property as the monthly commitment would be quite high and I wasn’t sure where I wanted to live in the future. My parents told me that it would be a good side income in the future and would be more of an investment.
An Investment For The Future
One day my parents found a new development property being sold in Kota Kemuning. The township was well developed with lots of different facilities and amenities. They got me and my brother to follow them to the show unit one day and were convincing us to invest in it together. They even offered to help us with the 10% down payment on the RM500k property.
I think I just wasn’t sure what I wanted, and at that time it seemed like a great idea to have a side income in the future.
We decided to take out a loan for the remaining RM450k, as that was our only option. The monthly repayment came up to RM2500 for the unit. That meant that me and my brother had to contribute about RM1250 each every month. This was a huge jump from the RM500 I was previously paying for my shared room.
In the end, I decided to move back in with my parents in Klang as I couldn’t keep up with almost half of my salary going towards the monthly commitment. My parents welcomed me back, saying it was a good idea to save money on rental.
The Freedom Has Been Lost
While I currently save RM500 on rent, I now have to travel much longer. My usually 10 minute drive can sometimes reach up to 45 minutes in rush hour. This additional time in traffic often leaves me exhausted by the time I reach home.
It has also made it so inconvenient to hang out with my friends and go out on weekends. I used to live in a central location where I would sometimes take a train home after going into KL city. Now, I always have to drive back and account for that.
I have also lost my privacy since moving home.
I was so used to living in my own space and doing my own thing, that living with family again has been hard to adapt to. My mom often comes into my room to clean it or do laundry and I feel uncomfortable that she would see my personal items. I have resorted to hiding things, which makes me feel like a teenager again.
On weekends, I enjoy sleeping in till a bit later and having a lazy morning, but recently I’ve found myself awake early because my parents want to go out for breakfast together. They are usually awake by 5 or 6 in the morning, and by 8am they are already knocking on my door asking me to get ready.
No Light At The End
I’m still waiting on the property to finish developing so I can move in there, and live alone.
My brother is earning significantly more than me and is still able to rent his own space in KL and I don’t think he has a plan to move to Kota Kemuning. I figured since I’m already paying half my salary, I might as well live there.
I’m not sure what will happen when the time comes, but it seems to me that for the next 25 years I will be figuring out how to pay this loan back.
Part of me just wants to leave everything behind and go work on an island, away from everyone but having myself attached to this loan makes it impossible. I’m hoping to increase my salary in my next job that will afford me the possibility of living alone again.
Have a story to tell?
Share your story on our Facebook page and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
I Made Sure My Ex-husband Lost Everything After He Cheated On Me With A 21 Year Old Influencer
More from Property
“I Thought I Had Made It In Life,” Shares M’sian Woman Who Regrets Buying a House
This story is about a M'sian woman who regrets buying a house after finding out how much she must spend …
