Rent or Buy, Big Decision Either Way!

Today is a public holiday in Singapore known as Hari Raya Haji, a Muslim festival. Aside from writing this journal entry, I plan to study some French, my recent favorite pastime.

Yesterday, after months of dithering, I finally informed my landlord of my consent to renewing my apartment contract for another two years at a rent five percent higher than what I’m currently paying.

It’s certainly not cheap, but I believe it’s well worth the money as it’s the comfortable size for a single man like me, and conveniently located near the subway and bus stations, requiring only 20 minutes of commute time to my workplace.

My goal is to eventually buy an apartment in Singapore, but given that I’m already 50, I don’t want to take out a loan that’s too big and end up being over-leveraged. As long as I’m working downtown, it still makes sense to keep renting a centrally-located place while setting aside cash for my future property investment.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that living in the center of town has brought me substantial benefits, not only in terms of short commutes but also in terms of convenience in meeting friends for dinners and drinks. It’s a fantastic feeling not having to worry about catching the last train or paying for a taxi ride at a hefty midnight surcharge—I can simply walk home after late-night drinks as my place is just around the corner. 

Maybe, years from now, I will finally buy an apartment of my own. When I am retired, I won’t need to be as concerned about living downtown as I am now. I can move to the outskirts of Singapore to get more value for money.

Even in the suburbs, location will still matter in the sense that it needs to be close to the train station and the supermarket. Luckily, the subway system is still robustly expanding in Singapore, meaning that time is on my side: the longer I wait, the more choices of property I will have.

The size will also be important because, while I don’t have a strong desire to possess most physical things like clothes, watches, and tech gadgets, I do like to buy books and definitely want a space big enough to accommodate my own library. It would be heavenly to surround myself with fine books and spend my retirement years reading to my heart’s content, day in and day out.

Speaking of property investments, one of my friends recently bought an apartment in downtown Tokyo. As she is very wealthy, she bought it outright with cash without taking out a loan, so she won’t be affected by the interest rate movements.

I believe she made a sound investment decision for several reasons:

First, the property market in Tokyo is booming lately, with not only wealthy Japanese people snapping up property, but also foreigners from all over the world, aided by the favorable exchange rate of their currencies against the Japanese yen. The value of her property will no doubt keep rising over the next few years.

Second, unlike many other investors, my friend didn’t go for those high-rise waterfront condominiums along Tokyo Bay. Those properties, while looking fancy and boasting breathtaking views, are built on reclaimed land from the sea, making them susceptible to soil liquefaction in extremely earthquake-prone Japan.

Moreover, their constant exposure to sea breeze will inevitably make them deteriorate at an accelerated pace. Her property, on the other hand, is located inland on solid ground, making it much more stable and durable.

Third, my friend bought her apartment second-hand instead of brand new. For some reason, Japanese people like to buy newly-built properties, but from a cost-benefit analysis point of view, it is not a smart decision, as there tend to be much more mark-ups slapped onto new apartments by their developers compared to second-hand ones.

Besides, buyers of brand new properties are completely unaware of what potential structural issues might arise down the road, due to the faulty design or cheap materials used by the developers to cut corners. The real quality of a building only manifests itself seven to eight years after its completion. My friend was prudent and wise in that regard.

Property investment is forever a fascinating topic. Whether I decide to rent or buy, I need to do my own homework thoroughly and not rush into any rash decision. I hope I can make a success of it when it comes time to take the final plunge.

I'm a Fan of Kaori's YouTube Channel

Another hectic week has just gone by, and it’s finally the weekend again. I woke up this morning around 10, and spent a few hours lying in bed, lazily watching YouTube videos.

I’m a heavy user of YouTube and watch it every day without fail. One of the genres of videos I like to watch is English language tutorial videos created by Japanese learners/teachers of English. They deal with such topics as how to grow your vocabulary, how to polish your accent, and how to improve your fluency. Being a learner of English hailing from Japan, with particular interest in developing my fluency, I watch those videos with great curiosity.

I began to study English in April, 1983 at the age of nine, so it’s been more than four decades that I’ve been learning this language. The hard work that I’ve put in over the years has definitely paid off to the extent that I now consider myself a highly advanced learner; inevitably, I find much of the content of those videos too easy for me.

However, occasionally, I do find some content worth watching and highly inspirational for my English learning journey. One example is Kaori Ikuta, an English instructor from Japan, currently based in Portland, Oregon. I chanced upon her YouTube channel last year and began to follow her videos soon afterward.

Kaori grew up in Akita Prefecture in Northeastern Japan, and came to the U.S. only after she became an adult. The fact that she learned to speak English fluently mostly in a non-English-speaking environment makes her learning advice all the more convincing.

But more importantly, the reason why I like Kaori's videos is her practical and no-nonsense approach to language learning in which no “panacea” is presented that can miraculously make you fluent all of a sudden, as well as her warm and personable demeanor.

Kaori's basic stance regarding English fluency is that it can be developed most effectively by consuming substantial amounts of native content, such as books, audiobooks, and podcasts. She also recommends that you constantly practice talking to yourself in English, with a particular focus on developing the ability to speak continuously for an extended period.

I do agree that Kaori's approaches are highly effective and I should seriously consider implementing them myself, especially the practice of self-talk in English. However, one area that I differ from her is my approach to learning vocabulary and grammar. 

I wish Kaori could have mentioned in her videos that for elementary and intermediate learners, conscious acquisition of advanced vocabulary through word lists and dictionaries, as well as a basic understanding of grammar, is still necessary. Without this foundation of knowledge, reading and watching native content in English can become too difficult and stressful for an average learner.

Also, while talking to yourself can be effective in improving your spoken fluency, writing a journal entry in English with the aid of AI tools such as ChatGPT can be just as effective, if not more so, especially in terms of ironing out some of the grammatical kinks in your spoken and written language.

Either way, I remain a dedicated fan of Kaori’s YouTube channel, and will continue to watch her videos for inspiration, hoping one day I could also achieve fluency in spoken English.