If you are planning to bid for Standard & Chartered Bank's property (Laca case), always remember to register yourself with their panel agent few days in advanced. The purpose is for the agent to apply for you to waive the maintenance fees, quit rent and assessment owed by the previous owner.
If you do not perform the above, I'm sorry to inform you that you yourself have to bear those costs. In many instances, these figures can amount to more than RM10,000!
This only applies to Laca cases, i.e. properties without individual titles being issued. As for non-laca cases, this is not really an issue as the bank will automatically absorb the sum.
The beauty of auction properties with most overseas banks is they will pay up the owing sum directly to the management corporation. As compared with the local banks, they will normally ask the buyer to fork out the money first, then claim back the money from the local banks at later stage, which sometime takes up to one year! Therefore, if you are buying properties through auction with local banks, please get ready the owing sum first as part of your initial outlay.
Over 30 years of experience in Iskandar Malaysia's property market, Johor Bahru -based registered estate agency, Tiram Realty, offers FREE tips and info on the selling, buying, renting and auction of properties in Iskandar Malaysia through the blog.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
New features added to www.tiramrealty.com.my
I'm pleased to inform you some of the exciting updates on Tiram Realty website:
(1) Property Listing - where you can search for the properties you are interested online. If you are interested on listing your property with us, please drop us a email. Do try out our advanced search function under the property listing section as well.
(2) Property Channel - A video channel showing property-related videos online, where you will find FREE tips on home improvement, home decoration, fengshui/geomancy, property news and general information on living in Malaysia.
(3) Newsletter - The first issue of our newsletter, i.e. The Real Estate Insider has been issued and sent out on 24th July, 2007. For those who's interested, please wait no further and register to our newsletter right now!
(4) Property Events - Any upcoming property events will be shown, such as seminar or exhibition.
(5) Podcast - Tired of reading? Have you tested our Tiram Podcast? Let our broadcaster to read out our articles for you. You can even choose to download our article in mp3 format!
Enjoy!
(1) Property Listing - where you can search for the properties you are interested online. If you are interested on listing your property with us, please drop us a email. Do try out our advanced search function under the property listing section as well.
(2) Property Channel - A video channel showing property-related videos online, where you will find FREE tips on home improvement, home decoration, fengshui/geomancy, property news and general information on living in Malaysia.
(3) Newsletter - The first issue of our newsletter, i.e. The Real Estate Insider has been issued and sent out on 24th July, 2007. For those who's interested, please wait no further and register to our newsletter right now!
(4) Property Events - Any upcoming property events will be shown, such as seminar or exhibition.
(5) Podcast - Tired of reading? Have you tested our Tiram Podcast? Let our broadcaster to read out our articles for you. You can even choose to download our article in mp3 format!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Landlord and Tenant #4: What if my tenant run away without settling his utility bills?
Can you imagine a tenant of a single storey terrace house owed the water authority for over RM3000 and get away with it? Howabout a tenant of a half an acre factory owed the TNB for over RM100,000 in few months time? Yes, they do happen to my clients.
Question arises here as to who is responsible for the owing? Many of you will tell me, the tenant, of course. Legally, you all got it right, but practically, it "may" be the owner's onus to settle the owing at the end of the day.
Say, Albert is the tenant of property owned by Tony. Albert left the building without informing Tony, and Albert owed the Tenaga Nasional Berhad for RM6000 electricity bills. The account is under Tony's name. The electricity supply was then been disconnected by TNB.
Two months later, Tony found himself a new tenant, and wanted to reconnect the electricity supply for the new user. TNB's officer will normally tell you this, "we can't reconnect the supply for you unless you have cleared the previous owning."
Two things you should take note here,
(1) TNB do understand that owning is made by the tenant, not the landlord,
(2) TNB has this policy saying that they cannot reconnect the supply to the same property until such time the owning are fully cleared. And they don't really care who's responsible for that owning.
So, in the end of the day, the landlord still has to pay up the owning made by the tenant in order to reconnect back the supply. Hey, wait! There is a court case few years ago telling otherwise! I hear people shouting now, yes, there is a court case which the landlord won, the TNB has to reconnect the supply because the owning are not made by the landlord, but the tenant. However, you need to take TNB to the court for this purpose, because TNB treats that particular case as an isolated case, which they will go on a case by case basis.
Henceforth, if you are facing this problem now, you either pay up the owing, and rent the property out right now, , or you can bring TNB to court for that matter. However, do yo know how long does it take for your matter to bring up to court? Can you afford to wait for the court's final decision and leave your property empty for months or even years? This is what i meant just now by saying, legally yes, but practically no.
My reminder to you all is, whenever you collect your rental from your tenant, please remember to obtain a paid copy of receipt for the utility bills at least on a bi-monthly basis.
Question arises here as to who is responsible for the owing? Many of you will tell me, the tenant, of course. Legally, you all got it right, but practically, it "may" be the owner's onus to settle the owing at the end of the day.
Say, Albert is the tenant of property owned by Tony. Albert left the building without informing Tony, and Albert owed the Tenaga Nasional Berhad for RM6000 electricity bills. The account is under Tony's name. The electricity supply was then been disconnected by TNB.
Two months later, Tony found himself a new tenant, and wanted to reconnect the electricity supply for the new user. TNB's officer will normally tell you this, "we can't reconnect the supply for you unless you have cleared the previous owning."
Two things you should take note here,
(1) TNB do understand that owning is made by the tenant, not the landlord,
(2) TNB has this policy saying that they cannot reconnect the supply to the same property until such time the owning are fully cleared. And they don't really care who's responsible for that owning.
So, in the end of the day, the landlord still has to pay up the owning made by the tenant in order to reconnect back the supply. Hey, wait! There is a court case few years ago telling otherwise! I hear people shouting now, yes, there is a court case which the landlord won, the TNB has to reconnect the supply because the owning are not made by the landlord, but the tenant. However, you need to take TNB to the court for this purpose, because TNB treats that particular case as an isolated case, which they will go on a case by case basis.
Henceforth, if you are facing this problem now, you either pay up the owing, and rent the property out right now, , or you can bring TNB to court for that matter. However, do yo know how long does it take for your matter to bring up to court? Can you afford to wait for the court's final decision and leave your property empty for months or even years? This is what i meant just now by saying, legally yes, but practically no.
My reminder to you all is, whenever you collect your rental from your tenant, please remember to obtain a paid copy of receipt for the utility bills at least on a bi-monthly basis.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Property Auction Tips #5: Should i bid for a caveated property?
This is a question posted to me by one of our Tiram blog reader. Apparently, she came across a Proclamation of Sale (P.O.S) of a property in Kuala Lumpur which she's interested in buying. It so happened that the property has been caveated. She then sought advice from few registered estate agents on the issues on caveat, nevertheless she couldn't seem to obtain a satisfactory answer.
This is what i would do should i come across any caveated properties in auction:
(1) Talk to the P.O.S lawyer on the nature of the caveat in questioned, and the possibility of removing the caveat,
(2) Obtain second opinion from my panel lawyer on the possibility of removing the caveat,
(3) Should i get both negative answers from both lawyers, i won't even market the property to any of my client at the first place
(4) Should i get conflicting answers from both lawyers (and yes, lawyers do differ in their opinions sometime), i will also advise my client not to bid for the property.
I've always told my client that buying properties is a happy thing to do, but it may turn out to be some not so delightful event should you get yourself caught up with some legal predicament.
Always make sure that you know what you are buying.
This is what i would do should i come across any caveated properties in auction:
(1) Talk to the P.O.S lawyer on the nature of the caveat in questioned, and the possibility of removing the caveat,
(2) Obtain second opinion from my panel lawyer on the possibility of removing the caveat,
(3) Should i get both negative answers from both lawyers, i won't even market the property to any of my client at the first place
(4) Should i get conflicting answers from both lawyers (and yes, lawyers do differ in their opinions sometime), i will also advise my client not to bid for the property.
I've always told my client that buying properties is a happy thing to do, but it may turn out to be some not so delightful event should you get yourself caught up with some legal predicament.
Always make sure that you know what you are buying.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Iskandar Development Region #6: New updates on Nusajaya
These are some of the happenings in Nusajaya City:
(1)Columbia-Asia Hospital commencing work by September 2007, a 70 beds hospital at Medi-Park
(2)University managed by I-Carnegie commencing work by September 2007
(3)Estimated first yacht will be sailing into Puteri Harbour at Nusajaya by December 2007.
(4)Detailed incentive package for IDR will be published by September 2007.
Looks like September this year will be an exciting month for all of us who's interested in the progress of Iskandar Development Region.
(1)Columbia-Asia Hospital commencing work by September 2007, a 70 beds hospital at Medi-Park
(2)University managed by I-Carnegie commencing work by September 2007
(3)Estimated first yacht will be sailing into Puteri Harbour at Nusajaya by December 2007.
(4)Detailed incentive package for IDR will be published by September 2007.
Looks like September this year will be an exciting month for all of us who's interested in the progress of Iskandar Development Region.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Real Estate Tips #16: Are you planning to visit a mapex/property exhibition? Here's what you should do.
Before you go, you should :
(1) Determine your purpose.
Are you looking for a house at a particular locality? Are you searching for a shophouse for investment purchase? Are you looking at a single or double storey terrace house? How many rooms i needed? Too many questions? Well, to make things simpler, just answer the following questions:
- What's the locality you wanted?
- What's the type of house you wanted, single/double house, or apartment?
- What's the value added facility you wanted? Security features, larger carporch or etc?
(2) Determine your budget.
What sort of initial outlay can you fork up? If you are looking for a residential property, you should be looking at minimum 10% outlay, as for commercial property, you need to have minimum 20% of the value of the property. You may notice many developers now are coming out with an easy entry package which may need as low as RM1000 as initial outlay to buy their product/houses. Don't feel skeptical about it, because these are genuine package. Besides the first payment of the property, there are also some incidental costs such as legal costs, stamping and etc, this will amount to another 5% roughly.
Besides initial outlay, the bank's installment comes into the picture. As a rule of thumb, the monthly installment should not be more than 1/3 of your monthly income, or not more than 40$ of your monthly net disposable income.
Now that you have determined a purpose and budget, you will then be more focus as you step into the exhibition hall. Here's what you should do as you arrive:
(1) Stay Calm
You will be surrounded and flooded by flyers, brochures and sales person. Just stay calm and accepting flyers and put it aside, as you can read it later when you are back home.
(2) Plan your trip
Look for an exhibition hall map, if any, and decide a logical track where you won't repeat the same booths again and again and get lost. Go for a quick one round to have a feel of what's available there generally and take note on those comes within your purpose and budget as targeted booths.
(3) Visit the targeted booths
Now is time to go to the targeted booths , and here's what you can do there:
- Look through the master plan of the project, and its adjacent development
- See the model house
- Obtained detailed brochure, which entails design of the house, price, package, built-up area, land size, actually location and etc.
- Ask the sales person should you have any question, don't be shy, they are more than happy to answer to your questions.
- Register with the developer if you want more information to be sent to you in future
- Check the developer's background with the sales personnels
- Find out who are the bank panels, some banks may offered special rate for particular product for this developer
- NEVER BUY ON IMPULSE, i've met plenty of first-time house buyers who regretted purchasing their first house, don't go and become one of them.
(4) Visit the bank's booths
- After knowing what you might want to buy, now it's time to chat with the bank officer to see your financial standing, whether or not you are eligible and affordable to purchase the property you wanted.
- The more financial information you give to the bank's officer the better, i.e. monthly income, commitments such as car loans and etc.
- The bank's officers can normally calculate your monthly installment on the spot.
- Don't get confused over the different package offered by different banks, just obtain the brochures/flyers and study them when you are back home later.
- Here's some questions you might want to ask the bank's officers:
(a) What's the rates offered?
(b) What's the installment payment i need to make?
(c) How long can i borrow?
(d) What's the margin i can borrow?
(e) What's the incidental cost involved?
(f) How much do i have to pay the MRTA? How do I make myself covered in the "correct" way? Please refer to my previous articles on the MRTA insurance.
(g) Can i make prepayment? What's the cost involved?
(h) What's the penalty if i switch the loan? How long are you going to bind me?
Always remember, getting information from the property exhibition is only a first stage of purchasing a property, you should then pay a site visit to gather more information, such as actual showhouse, construction stage, orientation, road's level and etc.
(1) Determine your purpose.
Are you looking for a house at a particular locality? Are you searching for a shophouse for investment purchase? Are you looking at a single or double storey terrace house? How many rooms i needed? Too many questions? Well, to make things simpler, just answer the following questions:
- What's the locality you wanted?
- What's the type of house you wanted, single/double house, or apartment?
- What's the value added facility you wanted? Security features, larger carporch or etc?
(2) Determine your budget.
What sort of initial outlay can you fork up? If you are looking for a residential property, you should be looking at minimum 10% outlay, as for commercial property, you need to have minimum 20% of the value of the property. You may notice many developers now are coming out with an easy entry package which may need as low as RM1000 as initial outlay to buy their product/houses. Don't feel skeptical about it, because these are genuine package. Besides the first payment of the property, there are also some incidental costs such as legal costs, stamping and etc, this will amount to another 5% roughly.
Besides initial outlay, the bank's installment comes into the picture. As a rule of thumb, the monthly installment should not be more than 1/3 of your monthly income, or not more than 40$ of your monthly net disposable income.
Now that you have determined a purpose and budget, you will then be more focus as you step into the exhibition hall. Here's what you should do as you arrive:
(1) Stay Calm
You will be surrounded and flooded by flyers, brochures and sales person. Just stay calm and accepting flyers and put it aside, as you can read it later when you are back home.
(2) Plan your trip
Look for an exhibition hall map, if any, and decide a logical track where you won't repeat the same booths again and again and get lost. Go for a quick one round to have a feel of what's available there generally and take note on those comes within your purpose and budget as targeted booths.
(3) Visit the targeted booths
Now is time to go to the targeted booths , and here's what you can do there:
- Look through the master plan of the project, and its adjacent development
- See the model house
- Obtained detailed brochure, which entails design of the house, price, package, built-up area, land size, actually location and etc.
- Ask the sales person should you have any question, don't be shy, they are more than happy to answer to your questions.
- Register with the developer if you want more information to be sent to you in future
- Check the developer's background with the sales personnels
- Find out who are the bank panels, some banks may offered special rate for particular product for this developer
- NEVER BUY ON IMPULSE, i've met plenty of first-time house buyers who regretted purchasing their first house, don't go and become one of them.
(4) Visit the bank's booths
- After knowing what you might want to buy, now it's time to chat with the bank officer to see your financial standing, whether or not you are eligible and affordable to purchase the property you wanted.
- The more financial information you give to the bank's officer the better, i.e. monthly income, commitments such as car loans and etc.
- The bank's officers can normally calculate your monthly installment on the spot.
- Don't get confused over the different package offered by different banks, just obtain the brochures/flyers and study them when you are back home later.
- Here's some questions you might want to ask the bank's officers:
(a) What's the rates offered?
(b) What's the installment payment i need to make?
(c) How long can i borrow?
(d) What's the margin i can borrow?
(e) What's the incidental cost involved?
(f) How much do i have to pay the MRTA? How do I make myself covered in the "correct" way? Please refer to my previous articles on the MRTA insurance.
(g) Can i make prepayment? What's the cost involved?
(h) What's the penalty if i switch the loan? How long are you going to bind me?
Always remember, getting information from the property exhibition is only a first stage of purchasing a property, you should then pay a site visit to gather more information, such as actual showhouse, construction stage, orientation, road's level and etc.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Real Estate Tips #15: Seminar on Southern Johor Development
Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents , Johor Branch together with the cooperation of University of Technology of Malaysia and Land & Mines Johor are conducting a seminar on SOUTHERN JOHOR DEVELOPMENT: PROSPECTS & CHALLENGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY at The M-Suites Johor Bahru, 27th & 28th June 2007.
The seminar topics are as follows:
1. Iskandar Development Region - Embarking into a New Horizon;prospects and challenges
2. Iskandar Development Region - The need for a balanced development
3. Challenges of the Malaysian Torrens System in to the 21st Century
4. Environmental Management Issues
5. Latest Amendment of the Strata Title Act 1985 and the Incorporation of Gated Community Schemes
6. Introducing new paradigm in housing industry: developer's perspective
7. Introducing new paradigm in housing industry (certificate of completion & compliance, build then sell, one stop centre, gated and guarded community, latest amendment of strata title act): Government's perspective
8. Making build then sell 10:90 concept work
9. Business and Investment Opportunities in Southern Johor Development
10. Southern Development: The way forward
11. Certificate of completion and compliance: new role for the architect
12. The concept of waqf as an instrument for real estate development in IDR
All topics are given by prominent speakers. The fees are RM600 per person, including notes, refreshments and lunch. For enquiries, please send me a email to boonping@tiramrealty.com.my.
The seminar topics are as follows:
1. Iskandar Development Region - Embarking into a New Horizon;prospects and challenges
2. Iskandar Development Region - The need for a balanced development
3. Challenges of the Malaysian Torrens System in to the 21st Century
4. Environmental Management Issues
5. Latest Amendment of the Strata Title Act 1985 and the Incorporation of Gated Community Schemes
6. Introducing new paradigm in housing industry: developer's perspective
7. Introducing new paradigm in housing industry (certificate of completion & compliance, build then sell, one stop centre, gated and guarded community, latest amendment of strata title act): Government's perspective
8. Making build then sell 10:90 concept work
9. Business and Investment Opportunities in Southern Johor Development
10. Southern Development: The way forward
11. Certificate of completion and compliance: new role for the architect
12. The concept of waqf as an instrument for real estate development in IDR
All topics are given by prominent speakers. The fees are RM600 per person, including notes, refreshments and lunch. For enquiries, please send me a email to boonping@tiramrealty.com.my.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)