Last night I had an appointment with the mortgage advisor. The title to the land that I was buying will be available next month and I wanted to see what my options were. In short, I had just the one option. A lot has changed since last November when I first explored the idea of building the house that I wanted on the land that I had just agreed to buy.
About a month ago, I had lost the permanent casual job that I had, there was no expected pay raise from my full-time job, and some extra hours that I usually do now for the company might be curtailed. To summarise, my earning capacity has decreased and so has my borrowing ability.
So that one option that I had? It’s to borrow enough to just pay for the land now and decide later about building on it. I will be losing out on approx. $14,000 in the first home-owner’s grant but that’s not too bad. With a lot of people rushing to get the grant, current home building prices are artificially inflated anyway.
I was a bit disappointed of course but going into yesterday’s meeting, I already had an inkling that that was to be the outcome. Although I’m very glad that I didn’t get the land title back in May when it was supposed to have come out. I would have decided to start building and thus borrow more money based on my higher income then. With my reduced income now, I would have been stuck with loan repayments that I can’t afford. I think I dodged a bullet there, phew!
So yeah, my dream house? Maybe later. It can wait. In the mean time, I am going to enjoy my mother’s housekeeping and hospitality just a little bit longer.
11 Responses to “Dream house? Maybe later.”
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I think it’s a wise move. Afterall you’re in no hurry to find a place to live. Meanwhile, maybe you can plant some trees so you can harvest the fruits to sell. Kidding of course…
Then again, worth considering. My parents sublet a small plot of land to this guy.He plants basil for sale. Basils are so hardy and do not require much care. He cuts the young basil leaves for sale 3x a week.The more he trims the plants, the faster the shoots grow. He makes an additonal S$2k a month just harvesting. No tending required at all except watering.
Oh gosh, I hope for all the best for you for your dream home
That sucks, but you definitely dodged a bullet there!
You’re brave staying with your parents though…I’m ten years younger than you and when I moved back home for a few months I almost went crazy!! Not that I don’t love my Mum but we just can’t live with each other anymore….also, unlike your Mum, she refuses to cook/clean/do the washing for me cause she says I’m too old and should do it for myself…plus if I move back home when I have a full time job, she makes me pay board and do lots of the grocery shopping! So basically I don’t have the advantage of saving that much money OR or having home-cooked meals and getting cleaned for but have the disadvatnage of feeling like I’m 16 again and not being able to bring friends over/guys over whenever I feel like it!! I’ll take independence any day!! I think it’s differnet in your culture though; Western parents are tougher in this way LOL (I know that in Korea they can’t move out til they get married).
Good luck with the house hunting!!!
blur ting: hey that’s a good idea. Not specifically about planting basil, but using the empty land for another purpose temporarily.
rinaz: hah thanks thanks!
girlstar7: you brought this up before about me living at home but even among non-Asians it’s not uncommon as you think.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/home-help-keeps-kids-from-flying-feathered-nest/2005/07/12/1120934245331.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/money/no-empty-nest-just-a-very-crowded-house/2006/03/20/1142703285601.html?page=fullpage
And although they don’t ask for it, I pay them board and I help out with the groceries and chores willingly. It’s only fair.
I Read the articles and I agree: it is mostly a generational thing. They even made a movie about it: ‘failure to launch’ with Matthew McCoughaney (wrong spelling but anyway)! I havn’et seen it but remember the ads: about a guy in his thirties who is still living at home. It is particularly common among people in their twenties these days cause people are getting married and having kids later.
In my fathers day, men ( here in New Zealand but I think the same was in Australia too ) were able to buy a section, and do a lot of the house building themselves, peoples families would come help on the weekend, usually you would have a mate who was a plumber, and one who was an electrician. You would go help the Plumber put up his roof, he would come and do some of your plumbing and show you quickly how to do the easier parts of it.
And all on one wage, women were just mothers, nothing else. Now TWO wages isn’t enough, plus we work many more hours a week.
Life has gone sour!.
moo: Totally agree you’ve dodged a bullet there. There is nothing worse than overstretching yourself…which is what happens here.
Besides, am sure mommy moo is glad to have you in the house for a few extra years
Yup, a few more years of me and Snoop!
Ask your mum to grow vegetables, then you will all get organic vegetables on the dinner table!
Heheh, she already plants herbs and vegetables in our backyard now.
[...] journey started back in October 2008 and as you’d know, I’m not planning to build a house on it because I can’t afford it right [...]