Concerned about the rising trend of one-million-dollar resale HDBs, CNA recently invited me to share a commentary on my views on being prudent when it comes to buying your first home.
You can read the full article here (click to head over to CNA's website). In the meantime, here's a quick summary of key points I wanted to emphasize:
- Affordability is my #1 criteria.
My mother was retrenched during the Asian Financial Crisis. As a result, I grew up watching her stress out over the monthly mortgage and household bills.
In my memories, I remember her going around to borrow money from relatives and friends, just so she wouldn't have to stop our tuition classes
(we had Chinese, abacus and drama then) and still have enough to put food on the table for us.
It wasn't easy for her, and while we managed to overcome the crisis eventually, it took her several years before she finally repaid her debts....
