The first house is a corner terrace in Bangi. I chose that house because it is affordable with my single salary. At that time, my husband has not decided to work here. So he is maintaining the Singapore house, and I will be maintaining the Malaysia house. That was the initial planlah....
However, to close the deal, it wasn't the perfect timing. My daughter was hospitalized and it was December 2010 I think. Just too many things to handle. The agent pushed me to sign the agreement while we were in the hospital. As much as I like the house, I am not too keen to rush into closing the deal. I don't buy the threat or the sales pitch that the agent tried on me. I was once a house agent..so I know the trick. (thank you Allah for the experience).
The second house went far than that. We did close the deal. One clever thing I did was to pay the 10% through the lawyer, and I chose my own lawyer. My secondary school friend who has her own firm now. We put some conditions as well to protect me especially. Days after closing the deal, it is confirmed that the value of the house could not be more than the purchase price. So according to the conditions I put in the agreement, the deals will be off. As much as I love the house (it is unique - dual entrance... 28 x 80 rasanya...bigger than the usual terrace house and cheap too in my range at that time as it is less than 400k), I have to let go. I will not pay any cash for any house to any owner. You will find out how stubborn I can be in closing the deals.....I do not know what I am trying to prove, but one thing for sure, my stubborness is due to I have no more cash to spend :)
The third house is a dream house. It is a bit more expensive than the 2 houses. The backyard is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo BIG that I can build another house on it. The built-in of the house is small though. Enough for me and the kids. But with guests, expect them to linger outside too so the house would not be cramped. The negotiation of the house is crazy. The owner was asking MYR600k. My asking price MYR500k. Kan? And since the house is nice, obviously I am not the only one that giving the offer. I am serious but at the same time, I am not sure about the built in size. The kitchen is too small either. I love the laundry area that they built outside of the house. Very clever design in my opinion. They closed the deal at MYR580k. Oh well... I am glad I miss it. Allah knows best.
The fourth house was in the close running with the current new house. It is situated in Bangi. Near KTM komuter as well. No deposit for that house. We did not choose the house because there is another house infront of it. Susah guest nak parking nanti. Dalam keluarga I pun sebenarnya, bila pilih rumah, memang tak ada rumah di depan. It started with my father, then my sister, and my brother... aku pun terikut lah sama kekdahnya. Logic jugak reason tu. Don't you just hate to reverse the car or to do three pointer?
Parking space rumah tu limited, walaupun boleh park 3 kereta, tapi tak ada space for the children to play. And the backyard is open concept. Kalau bungalow mungkin ok? Feeling feeling macam kat Australia. Tapi bila link house, erm not quite ok jadiknya. It is so open, the wet kitchen is in the open space. So cik T can come and go as and when they like.
The last and important reason - it did not have a room ground floor. So if my parents or my hubby's parent come to visit, susah lah mereka nak panjat tangga. Lagi satu, bila kita sendiri ni dah tua, Nauzubillah, kalau kita sakit, senanglah sikit kalau duduk di bawah kan.... So itulah faktor2 yang membuatkan kita tak jadik nak book rumah tu.
The house that we purchased doesn't come with huge backyard. Nothing like an australian backyard or american backyard. Nothing like that. Far from the 3 houses that I chose before. But I think enough to make a kitchen garden. 2 or 3 small beds of plants maybe. I am excited about vertical garden. The family dining room will oversee these vertical garden and small beds that I planned to develop.
Have you seen some of vertical garden ideas?
Pls share your ideas. Would really love to learn from you.
ReplyDeleteHi Nor Zill,
ReplyDeleteI would love to materialize all the vision in the above pictures, however, I have not started any of the backyard plan. I was thinking about the vertical garden but I have to fix the wall first. really hate the lubang2 design on it. So it will not be any sooner. sorry about that.