'My own home, at last!'

PUTRAJAYA (July 24): After waiting for more than 10 years, housewife Hafizah Abdul Rahman and her family now has a home of their own, thanks to the FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme.

Hafizah, her husband and their four children have been renting for more than a decade in Semenyih, Selangor and over the years, the couple has applied for numerous housing loans but failed to get approval for any of them.

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"All my many applications to banks for a housing loan were rejected. Why? Just because my husband and I prefer to pay cash for all our purchases so I do not have any credit card track record!” said Hafizah after signing the Sale and Purchase Agreement and FundMyHome agreement to their first home today with her husband Mohamad Azhar Md Zahir.

"I still cannot believe it! My own home, at last!" exclaimed the 34-year old mother of four children.

Eager to own their own home, Hafizah and her husband who is a self-employed programmer had first heard about the FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme event when they attended the launch of the scheme in February this year officiated by Housing and Local Government Minister (KPKT) Zuraida Kamaruddin.

Hafizah had met Zuraida then and had voiced her frustrations in getting a house of her own to the minister. Now, five months later, she now has a home to call her own under FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme.

“We are so excited and can’t wait for the day when we move in to our new and first home!” said Hafizah.

Developed by EdgeProp Sdn Bhd (EdgeProp) and officiated by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in November last year, FundMyHome is a platform that brings together first-time homebuyers and institutional investors in a mutually supportive relationship.

Under FundMyHome, buyers only need to pay 20% of the property price. They do not need a bank mortgage so there are no monthly repayments. The remaining 80% of the purchase price is contributed by participating institutional co-investors, who will be sharing the upside in the future value of the property. 

Hafizah is not the only one celebrating. At an event at KPKT officiated by Zuraida today, Hafizah and close to 20 new first-time homeowners received their FundMyHome+DepositKu documents after signing their SPAs. Witnessing the joyous occasion was Zuraida, EdgeProp Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and other senior KPKT officials.

The group of happy new home owners, accompanied by their family members, were among the first batch of successful applicants of the FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme, an initiative to help Malaysians, especially those in the B40 group, to own their first home.

One of the homebuyers Muhamad Syafiq Fikri Nordin was in high spirits upon completing the signing of the agreement papers to his RM309,000 apartment under the FundMyHome+Depositku scheme. With his wife and child in tow, he came to know about the scheme via his property agent.

Having faced loan rejections, Syafiq says: “It has been tough obtaining loans. I feel FundMyHome+Depositku is a welcome move especially to help homebuyers who are not yet financially stable. Therefore, I am very excited to be able to finally purchase an apartment for my family.”

He hopes that more developments will be offered under the scheme in future. “I have several friends enquiring about the scheme but unfortunately, most of the available projects have been snapped up,” added Syafiq.

Nur Saidatul Izuanis Salleh, 22, who was also one of the successful homeowners said the scheme is an excellent platform for young homebuyers especially fresh graduates like herself.

Likewise, due to her age and being relatively new in the working world, securing a loan is no easy feat. “I believe FundMyHome+Depositku is perfect for fresh graduates who want to purchase their first homes,” offers Nur Saidatul.

She also has a few words of advice for the young ones like herself. “Start early. Read a lot about property during your university days. There are usually seminars and talks by property developers held on campuses. Take that opportunity to better understand about property and that will help you on your first home purchase.”

Meanwhile, Nur Saidatul hopes that the government will encourage more such schemes to be made available to better aid the people in obtaining homes.

Another new home owner Mohamad Faris came to know about FundMyHome+DepositKu when he attended a property seminar early this year and realised that the scheme could be a good opportunity for him to own his first home.

“FundMyHome and Depositku provide an easier entry to own a home and does not financially burden myself with high down payments as well as monthly housing loan instalments.

"I could use this in five years’ time to save more money while owning a starter home and giving my family a better living environment,” said the 29-year old online business operator.

Faris was also impressed with FundMyHome's property choices as the participating developers are reputable ones with good track records.

Some of the homeowners under FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme today received their documents as participants of the scheme from Zuraida in an event in Putrajaya today.