1. Buying the land

It all started in 2001. We (me and my wife) decided to buy a land in Kuantan. We surveyed a few areas and asked some people around since we are not very familiar to Kuantan. I also made some search in the internet. I took a look in one of the elite area in Kuantan. The housing area is very near to most places. However the price of the land is way off my budget and it is a leasehold (that means that you only own the land for 99 years only). The price at that time is RM18 per square feet. So, a 10,000 square feet land will cost you RM180,000. If you plan to build a house which cost RM250,000, the whole cost of your house will be RM430,000. Since you must also plan for the accessories (grills, alarm, fences, lights, fans, aircons, kitchen cabinet, garden, etc), the total cost can reach RM550,000. This is way off my budget. I am not that rich, only a government servant. So my search continues. We found another area which is slightly further away about 2o minutes from Kuantan and it is a freehold. At that time, the land cost RM9.50 per square feet. The land is nearly ready about 60% during that time in 2000. I went to Kuantan and make a visit to the land and immediately paid the booking fees of RM1000. Since our land is in a corner with some crooked margins, we got a further discount to RM9 per square feet. In total the land cost us RM90,000. If you include the lawyer fees, I would say it cost me RM100,000. You can get a cheaper land which only cost RM5 per square feet. It is usually an agriculture land. You have to spend to build the road, sewerage and etc. For the RM9 per square feet that i paid, the roads, sewerage, electrical outlet, phone outlet and water supply are ready to be used. Today, my land will cost RM150,000 if i decided to sell it (a very good investment, a price increase of more than 50% within 5 years).