Property Investment as a Hobby

This is actually the continuation from Turn Your Hobby to an Income.

My current new and consistent hobby is property investment. Since I bought my first shop, my wife and I always looked for opportunity to visit new property launches. So, our exact property hobby was to window shopping for  new houses. We learned about the property's location, prices, quality and architecture. At the same time, we also learned about the brands. My latest property investment taught me that these activities should be intensified regardless whether I have any sufficient capital to invest or not. For an example, below are two different housing projects and two different house types.

This is a Semi-D house with estimated price for RM600,000 with only half balcony. It has only two rooms at the top floor and two rooms at the ground floor. The dimension is about 80' X 40'. Built up width is 22'.

This is a cluster house with launched price for RM430,000. It has full balcony, 3 rooms at the top floor and one room at the ground floor. The dimension is 70' X 35'. Built up width is 24'.

Which one is more practical to you? First why bother make a balcony if you cannot make full use of it? To add insult to the injury, the half roof which covers the balcony of the Semi-D is just a waste for the sake of better architecture? Is it practical? Imagine if you have two children. Each of them will fight or quarrel to use the other room on the top floor. And the price??

This is one of the benefit if you like to window shopping for properties. You can compare the architecture, size, arrangement, and many practical issues. You can even see the workmanship sample. The cluster houses were sold out last year around June 2013. The developer is going to launch new phase of cluster houses with almost the same design. But the price is estimated about RM580,000! Based on the quality and practicality, I believe these new cluster houses will sold out at faster pace compared to the semi-D houses. Those who want to invest in these cluster houses can contact me for pre-launch information.

I always treat a hobby like an investment. Sometimes you get the return quickly such as relief from work stress. Sometimes it is a long term return like planting a fruit tree. I like to grow vegetables. The harvest is quick and we can quickly consume them. However, if we calculate the return per cost, do they really worth it? If the return you are seeking is more than just money, then it is worth to plant vegetables. But living in a terrace house, land is scarce. So, I grew a manggo tree as soon as I moved into my current house in 2000. The tree didn't bear any fruit until in 2012 for a less than 20 manggos. Last year, the tree produced about 50 manggos. This year I anticipate the tree will produce more than a hundred manggos. In order to make the waiting worth it, I planted a rare manggo tree known as Kuini. Nowadays, Kuini is a rare tree where the fruits are hard to buy in any stall or place.

So, if you make an investment, it is easy to get a good return if it is for a long term investment. Yet, it is harder to get good return in the short term unless your investment have other objective than just money.

Preparation for planting is important. You have to nurture the tree so that it can grow healthy. Thus you can enjoy the bountiful harvest in the long term. So do preparation for property investment is also important. You have to nurture your skills and knowledge in property investment. Only then you can reap the investment return in the future.