Baru berkerjaya dah dinasihat beli rumah, wajarkah?
Pengalaman kerjaya V telah mencecah 7 tahun sejak graduate dari University Sunway College. Sejak hari itu sehingga sekarang, sentiasa ada insan-insan prihatin yang memberi nasihat supaya membeli rumah. Nasihatnya mudah agar kita senang dapat pinjaman bank dengan jarak tahun pinjaman yang lebih panjang. Ini nasihat selain dari disuruh kahwin cepat.
Sebenarnya, nasihat ni lebih banyak tak betul daripada betulnya. Adakah wajar hanya satu faedah yang disebut iaitu "pinjaman bank yang lebih panjang" maka mewajarkan kita untuk membuat investment yang kita sendiri belum mahir dalamnya. Beli rumah bukan macam beli kereta yang pinjaman maksimumnya 9 tahun. Beli rumah, pinjamannya menjangkau sehingga 20 tahun. Dalam ilmu hartanah, kita kena belajar selok-belok untuk menilai dari segi unjuran nilai tanah dan rumah tersebut dalam tahun-tahun mendatang. Ini semua bukan boleh dipelajari dalam sehari-dua.
Jadi suka V mengingatkan agar sesiapa yang ditakut-takutkan dengan nilai rumah yang semakin naik, kalau tak beli sekarang, nanti harga rumah naik. Ini lagi tak betul. Sebenarnya mereka bercakap seolah-olah sebagai salesman dan bukannya orang yang ikhlas nak menasihati kita. Sebenarnya harga dan nilai rumah bukan macam harga makanan. Harga makanan semakin naik tapi tak turun-turun. Manakala harga rumah ada naik dan ada turunnya. Ada masa pembeli asal hilang keupayaan untuk membayar pinjaman, maka rumah tersebut dilelong oleh bank atau mahkamah sekalipun pembeli merayu kepada mahkamah agar jangan melelong rumah mereka. Namun ketika lelongan sedang berlaku dalam mahkamah itu sendiri, pembida ada kisah ker? BTW, harga rumah tu akan jatuh 10% dari harga asal. Kalau tiada pembeli untuk tempoh tertentu, akan turun lagi 10% sehingga ada buyer.
Itu hakikat realiti dunia kita hari ini. Orang datang menasihati kita supaya beli rumah. Kalau kita suatu masa nanti terjatuh merudum mentadbir kewangan kita, ada orang-orang ni nak tolong kita? Jangan mimpilah wahai sedara...
Harga rumah sekalipun naik, takkan kawasan dalam Malaysia ni dah tak cukup tanah dah sehingga beranggapan hartanah akan menjadi stagnant. Bayangkan kalau kita beli rumah pada suatu tempat, kemudian pada tahun-tahun berikutnya kita berpindah kerja ke tempat lain. Ada tak kita fikir jarak dari rumah ke office dah bertambah jauh. Perbelanjaan duit minyak, servis kereta, moto dan masa kita habis atas jalan-raya jer. Itu semua ada orang tolong calculate kan untuk kita? Sendiri kira yer...
Kalau kita kata rumah tu nanti kita sewakan. Ok la, nk sewa kena ikut harga pasaran dalam kawasan perumahan tu. Tak sayang ka rumah kita nk disewakan? Bukan senang nk melayan kerenah penyewa-penyewa lebih-lebih lagi yang berkeluarga. Hancurlah rumah tu. Itu belum kira kalau penyewa lari tak bayar sewa. Ayah V pernah terkena. Quality time kita habis memikirkan rumah sewa tu jer. Rugi masa dan umur kita kena diambil kira juga. Sesiapa yang rasa senang menguruskan rumah sewa ni, baguslah. Ada yang terpaksa menerima sewa jauh lebih rendah dari bayaran bulanan kepada bank. Tak ker rugi tu?
Antara ada duit dengan ada rumah, untung lagi kalau ada duit. Rumah tetap rumah dan ia tiada nilai sehingga ia djual. Banyak lagi jenis investment yang kita boleh buat sepanjang tahun-tahun kita baru berkerjaya dan membina kekuatan kewangan kita. Jangan tergesa-gesa. Fahami dan pelajari ilmu hartanah. Kalau nak tahu yang mana satu investment yang membuat untung paling tinggi dan dalam masa yang paling cepat jawapannya bukan beli rumah tapi beli tanah.
Jangan terikut-ikut dengan mentaliti Melayu yang beria-ria suruh kita beli rumah. Ini semua pemikiran Melayu la. Itu belum cerita lagi, orang Melayu kita suka bagi nasihat pada anak-anak termasuk anak-anak jiran sebelah supaya kerja government. V pun pernah terima nasihat sebegini. Alasannya rezeki lebih terjamin. Tu yang bila orang government mengundi Pakatan Rakyat, dikatanya tak mengenang budi. Rasanya diaorg tak tau kot, gaji orang government ni seluruh rakyat (tanpa mengira dia umno atau PAS) yang bayar melalui cukai dan rezeki bukan manusia yang bagi tapi Allah Taala. Ini gila punya orang. Sudahlah gila, jahil pula dalam agama tapi mengaku Islam. Tak caya, sila tanya orang ameno, hanya ameno jer yang mampu membawa kemajuan, terbaikkk, pemikiran khurafat lagi menyesatkan.
Ada pula mentaliti Melayu bila pinjam bank, dia tengok monthly payment berapa. Tapi dia tak tengok berapa jumlah lebihan interest yang dia kena bayar. Hakikat sebenar kekayaan ialah bukan berapa banyak harta melalui pinjaman bank yang kita buat tetapi kekayaan sebenar ialah keupayaan kita untuk mengumpul dan mengelak meminjam dari bank. Memang kita perlu pinjam dari bank untuk sebab-sebab yang munasarawak tapi lihatlah berapa total interest yang kita kena bayar dan bukan sekadar tengok monthly payment. V sendiri pun sedang memohon pinjaman peribadi tapi V tetap insist dengan bank supaya tempoh pinjaman adalah singkat supaya total lebihan dari pinjaman tu tak terlalu banyak. Samada bank bagi atau tidak, take it or leave it. BTW, V pinjam dari bank Islam yer.
Jadi selepas graduate dan berjaya mendapat kerja, fikir dahulu sebelum melabur atau berniat mahu membeli rumah. Ini kefahaman V yang belajar tentang pengalaman seseorang yang mahir dalam ilmu hartanah, tulisannya sangat bernas dan bagus untuk difikirkan dan V simpulkan dalan entry kali ni. Sehingga ke hari ini V masih belum bercadang untuk membeli rumah kerana keutamaan V ialah untuk consolidate semuaaccumulated wealth dan mentadbirnya mengikut dasar kewangan Islam. Harta adalah kurniaan Allah Taala dan bukan berfungsi sekadar kelangsungan kita untuk terus hidup tetapi untuk kehidupan seterusnya.
Disini V nak kongsi satu cerita daripada wall pesbuk kawan V di bawah ni. Baca dan fikirkan. Baca sampai habis tau!!!
Ah Kau is a guy who sells newspaper every morning next to your apartment, and you are one of his daily regular customers. Before dashing off to your office every day, you will go to his small stall and buy The Star newspaper. Wearing a newly pressed shirt, a tie, and a pair of Clarks shoes, you grab a copy of The Star, pay RM1.20 and exchange smiles with Ah Kau and greet him.
"Apa macam Ah Kau ini hari? Bisnes ada baik?"
The normal greeting like you do every day. Yes, Ah Kau doesn't speak English. He speaks Chinese and knows a little bit of Malay. He speaks a little bit of Malay but with a very thick Chinese accent.
"Biasa saja... ini bisnes aa, kadang kadang baik, kadang kadang tada untung oo...."
"Biasalah hidup. Kadang kadang ok, kadang kadang tak ok." You give Ah Kau a pat on the back. You smile and walk away and get into your car. You start the engine and start driving to your office, a multinational semiconductor company located in a premier industrial area.You are a young and promising finance executive and the future looks bright for you.
A year goes by and things look pretty good on the track. You decide to marry your fiance and have your new wife moves in to your place. Both of you feel happy because you can save more money as the two of you will be sharing one apartment and can live as one.
Ah Kau is still selling the newspaper as usual. Sometimes in the morning your wife gets the newspaper from Ah Kau instead of you.
A year later a child comes along, and you decide to buy and move into a newly developed condominium just across the street. This place is bigger so it will be perfectly fit for the 3 of you. But since both of you are working, you decide to get a maid to take of the household and your kid.
By this time you're offered a managerial job from another multinational; the remuneration package offered is much better in terms of the pay, contractual bonus, medical benefits, ESOS scheme and a few others which make it impossible for you to decline. So you join this company happily.
You get busier. You realize that you spend less and less time with your family. When your department is busy preparing for the next audit, your working hours become more and more ridiculous. Any internal issues arising in the office means you'll be stuck in the office until 8 or 9 pm. Sometimes, during the weekend, you'll spend your time in your office, buried under paper works and documentations, instead of taking your family for a walk in the park.
One morning, on your way to get your copy of The Star, you realized that Ah Kau is no longer in his stall. So is his rundown motorbike. Instead, there's another young Chinese guy at the stall. "What happen to Ah Kau?" You ask out of curiosity.
"Oh, he is still around, but he is no longer taking care of this stall as he has opened up a new grocery shop down town. I am running this newspaper stall for him."
"Ok," you smile. You feel happy for Ah Kau. "At last he manages to improve his life."
Your normal life continues. A year passes by and at the end of your company's fiscal year, you're rewarded for your effort with a 5 months bonus pay-out by your employer. Wow. Now that is a very handsome reward. You feel your effort has been equally compensated. To celebrate, you decide that it's time to trade your 5-year old Proton Wira to the latest Honda Civic model. It won't be much a problem to you to get a loan scheme from the bank as your pay slip will provide you an easy gateway to access financial help from any bank.
One day, the hardest reality of life hits you right on the face. The company that you've been working for years announces that they're moving their business to China for cost and competitive reason and has ask ed you to find a job somewhere else. "What?" You scream out cold. "I got a lot of liabilities on the card! Who's gonna pay for my mortgage? My car? My credit card? My gym fees? My bills?" You yell like there's no way out.
This is the first time you feel let down by your own employer. All your hard work seem to go up on the smoke. You feel sick. You now hate your company. On the way home, you stopped by at a mamak restaurant for a cup of teh tarik while pondering about your future. Alone.
Suddenly you saw this new, shiny BMW 3 series being parked nearby. And to your surprise, it was Ah Kau. Yes, Ah Kau who used to sell newspapers nearby your old apartment. "What happened to old Ah Kau?" You whisper to your self.
Ah Kau still recognizes you, and sit next to you, and shared his story. To make it short, Ah Kau had accumulated his money from selling newspapers to open more stalls, one after another. Every new stall is run by his workers so that he focused on opening more and more stalls, which in turn give him more and more money. Over the years, he had accumulated enough cash to open up new grocery store while at the same time buying more assets to grow his wealth. And his current wealth and success is achieved without any loan or financial help from banks and other financial institutions.There you go. That's the story. While Ah Kau is set to become financially free, you're back to where you're started before. Ground zero .
Before leaving, Ah Kau gives you a familiar quote, "Biasalah hidup. Kadang kadang ok, kadang kadang tak ok." He gives you a pat on the back and walks away.
In reality, if you're observant enough, there are a lot of Ah Kaus out there, that you will see every day and every where you go. The names are different, but inside them is every character of Ah Kau. They might be Uncle Dorai, Ah Chong, Pak Abu, Makcik Gemuk, Pak Man nasi lemak or others.
They look to be struggling on the surface, but if you look carefully and compare with you life, many of them are living with little or no liabilities. They ride an old 'kapcai' bike. They live in an old rundown house. They don't have credit card to swipe. They wear a 10-year old shirt and short. No new, shiny Toyota Harrier. In short, their living means are far below than yours. But what you don't realize is that many of them can save more money than yours, and over the years generate enough money to expand their business, or invest in properties. Their asset columns are much thicker than that of yours.
