Starting A New Phase In Life? Start It With A New Home

We’ve all been there before, finishing school, and looking forward to building a new life. It doesn’t matter whether you have graduated from university, trade school, or even just secondary school. We’re all looking forward to finally being free, and to make a name for ourselves, independently of our parents. And the very first thing in our minds?… Finding a new place to call home. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re seeking to rent a room, a house, or eventually invest in one yourself. You can’t plan out the rest of your life without a secured home base.

A model house, and a key on a table, symbolising the ownership of a home. — A new home, the beginning of a new chapter in your life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s just a room or a whole house, multi-storey property or landed, rented or inherited.
Image by TierraMallorca of Pixabay

Establishing Home Base – The Common Starting Point For All

Let’s imagine you’re a fresh graduate in automotive engineering. You lived with your parents all through school, only moving away at the commencement of varsity life. But for all intents and purposes, you’re essentially still “living” with your parents. Upon graduation, and having received your first job offer, things will inevitably change. For one thing, home was a predominantly residential area, within an agricultural zone. Most of your neighbours work in or around the plantation industry. And you just received a job offer in a car manufacturing factory, a good two hours’ drive away from home. Hence, staying with, or near your parents, makes no practical sense… You need to find a new home base…

A decorative plaque hanging on the wall, saying "Home Sweet Home", and a white vase, with a green plant next to the plaque. — They say that home is where the heart is. But where you set your home will also affect other aspects of your life too.
Image by Julian Hochgesang of Unsplash

For starters, your new home base has to be near your new office. A rented room will do for now. But extrapolating a few years into the future, you’ll have to upgrade to a rented house pretty quickly. And if things really work out career wise and financially, perhaps even purchase a home. A sound investment into the future for marriage and raising your family. But the question still stands – Where can you plant your flag, and build your new home?

When it comes to deciding where to plant your flag, and build your new home base, accessibility is key. And to determine the accessibility, nothing beats the DCTC formula, an acronym for Distance, Cost, Time and Convenience.

(1) Distance

Generally speaking, this is the physical distance of your primary travels. In this case, the distance from your new home base to your workplace. Needless to say, the nearer it is, the more convenient it’ll be for you. However, there’ll always be a limitation to this. Your new workplace is located within a heavy industrial zone. That means, no residential areas in the immediate surrounding. The next nearest residential zone is a great place to start. But take note that the closer it gets to the industrial zone, the higher the rent will be. There has to be a compromise between distance and rent.

Direction signboards, pointing to multiple directions, towards major cities of the world. This symbolises where home is in the world. — The shorter the daily travel distance, the less stressful your daily life is. But don’t forget your not-so-regular travels too, like back to hometown.
Image by Dr Jorge Reyna of Pexels

Then factor in the distance of your secondary travels – in this case, to your parents’ home. Factor in also leisure travels, like the weekly trips to commercial areas too. Whether for grocery shopping, or even entertainment. And eventually, the distance to the school for your future children. The less time you spend on the road, the more convenient it’ll be for you.

(2) Cost

We are not only talking about the cost of rental, or even the outright purchase price of your dream home. It also involves the cost of living in that particular location too. Is food cheaper or more expensive in that neighbourhood? Is the overall price of the amenities there higher or lower than other locations’? Generally speaking, the higher the socioeconomic status of the residents there, the higher the cost of living will be. The more desirable the living conditions are, the higher the cost of living will naturally be.

Close-up of a pair of hands counting money on a table. Also visible are a notebook, a pen, a smartphone, and a computer mouse. This symbolises the cost of home ownership. — There’s a value to everything, including convenience. Hence the more desirable the location, the more expensive it is to live there.
Image by Kaboompics.com of Pexels

One of the biggest contributors to the living cost involves travelling… Specifically tolled roads. Sure, private tolled roads cuts down your travelling time, making it a breeze to drive. But there comes a point when it becomes a financial burden. Are there any toll-free alternatives available? If so, how much inconvenience will it incur? Multiply that with the number of times used, and compare that against the convenience of plying tolled roads.

(3) Time

This somewhat relates with the two mentioned above. If you receive an emergency call from home whilst you’re at work. How long will it take for you to drive back home to tend to the emergency? If your son has an accident at school. How long will it take for you to drive from your office to his school? If you can’t, then how long will it take to arrange for somebody else to attend to his emergency?

Close up of a table clock, symbolising the nature of time. — As the saying goes, time is money. But unlike money, you can’t trade time. You can buy more time, but you’re essentially buying somebody else’s time as your own.
Image by Sonja Langford of Unsplash

As the saying goes, time is the ultimate currency. Are you willing to establish your home farther from your office to save on rental? And then spend more time driving the distance daily? Or would you prefer to spend the money to buy more time? The less time you spend on travelling, the more time you can spend with your loved ones at home.

(4) Convenience

Having your home close to all the amenities you’ll need is great. Consider all the services that you need, or might need. Is there a hospital nearby? What about other non-hospital medical facilities? Green lungs within the your housing neighbourhood? A place that you can go for some fresh air, and perhaps some exercise whilst you’re at it? What about other basic necessities, like laundrettes or barbers? A home improvement centre for all your home DIY projects? And more importantly, is there a mall nearby for your retail therapy?

Wide-angle view of inside a mall, with two rows of retail shops. — Visiting a mall for some retail therapy is a great way to destress after a long week at work.
Image by Heidi Fin of Unsplash

And don’t forget to plan for the future too. Is there a daycare centre to send your kids to whilst you’re at work? What about a school nearby to send your kids to? A university for when they complete secondary school? If you plan to have pets, are there any veterinary clinics nearby? Don’t forget about a place to board them when you’re away, whether for holidays or work. And if you don’t intend to drive, how’s the public transport system there? Is it comprehensive enough to satisfactorily serve everybody in the township?

Setting Up A New Home Isn’t All That Hard

As the adage goes, the value of real estate depends on three things – location, location, and location. But as you can see from above, choosing where to build your new home is more nuanced than just location. Sr James Tan of Raine & Horne developed the DCTC formula above to simplify the decision process. It’s now easier for first timers to navigate setting up a home base, and plan for the future. As we all know, purchasing a home is the biggest investment most of us will ever make in our lives. Hence, it makes sense for us to learn all we can, and avoid any common pitfalls.

Sr James Tan, Associate Director of Raine & Horne. He’s a Registered Valuer and Estate Agent, with decades of experience under his belt.
Image by Sr James Tan and Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd

Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd is a Chartered Surveyor and Registered Valuer. They have international affiliations in several countries, and eleven offices in Malaysia alone.

Are You Ready To Establish Your Own Home?

I spent several hours talking to Sr James Tan, and getting to know about the real estate valuation. And by the end of that afternoon, I realised that I knew almost nothing about real estate. All those quantifiable formulas we discussed quickly overrode what little general knowledge I knew about real estate. And DCTC is merely one of the several formulas that Sr James Tan shared with me. Trust me when I say that we barely scratched the surface about real estate valuations. Interested to learn more about real estate valuation? If so, drop Sr James Tan an email.