Blog

Secondary Properties or Subsale Properties are properties that has been bought by an individual person before and is now selling it to you. Or in other words, properties that you are not buying directly from Developers are considered Subsale Properties. 1. When You Have Found the Property That You Like When you have decided to buy a property, the first step is towards placing a booking fee. The booking fee ranges anything from 1% - 3% of the price of the property depending on the requirement of individual sellers. And if you purchase through a real estate agent, your booking fee will normally be much more secured as compared to if you pay the booking fee directly to the owner of the property. This is because a professional real estate firm will normally prepare a Letter of Offer for you to sign and a standard terms and conditions will function better to protect your interest as a buyer. For instance, terms and conditions that will normally be included are the terms of refund if your loan is not approved by financial institution. If you pay your booking fee directly to owner, then no such protection of booking fee might be afforded to the booking fee that you have paid. Remember, when you make the payment of the booking fee, never pay directly to the Real Estate Negotiator’s personal bank’s account, only pay into the Real Estate Firm’s bank’s account. This is because in Malaysia, only the Real Estate Firm is legally permissible to hold your money in their Client’s Account. Your money is not afforded the level of protection once you paid it individually to an individual person, be it to the Vendor or the Real Estate Negotiator’s personal bank account. And when your housing loan is approved, your appointed lawyers will prepare the Sales and Purchase Agreement as well as the Loan Agreement for both you and the Seller to sign. You as a buyer is expected to pay the remaining balance of the down payment upon signing the agreement. 2. What are the costs I need to be aware of ? There are 4 costs related to the purchase of a property that you need to take note of, namely : a) Legal Fees b) Stamp Duties / Memorandum of Transfers (M.O.T.) c) Valuation Fees d) Loan Agreement Before you place your booking fee, make sure you have confirmed who will pay how much for what. And certain places has their normal market practise in who are supposed to pay what. For example, the cost of M.O.T. is usually shared equally by both Seller and Buyer in the city of Kuching while it is normally the Buyer who pay for all of the M.O.T. if you buy a property in Kuala Lumpur. 3. What else do I need to know ? First of all, do know that when you are buying a secondary property, there is no defect liability period. So, it would be wise to keep an eye out for any common as well as expensive defects such as roofing problem or water leakage. Secondly, perhaps more important than the first one, is to make sure that the Seller that you meet and see is the registered owner of the property by checking and referring the land title or previous Sales and Purchaser Agreement when you sign on the Letter Offer. A professional trusted agent will make sure that the person who signed on the dotted line on the Letter Offer is a verified registered owner of the property. Lastly, it would be the best to put it in writing if the Seller has promised to include some fixtures and furnitures in the sale of the property to avoid potential conflicts and to ensure a smooth handover. 4. Signing of Sale and Purchase Agreement When you sign the Sales and Purchase Agremement, it will take approximately 3 months for the whole transaction to conclude if you are getting a financing from banks. If you are getting a Government Loan from LPPSA, it will take about 6 – 9 months for the whole transaction to be concluded. That’s it. Happy Buying ! Written by : Colin Wong Estate Agent E-2814 Affluence Properties