Hi,

What are the things we need to take note when buying 2nd hand house to avoid scam or being cheated? E.g; if downpayment were paid but the owner changed his mind?

While I'm browsing house for sale recently, there are quite a number either still occupied by owner or still tenanted. Is there higher risk in buying occupied property? Cause a friend mentioned before, if the owner refuse to move later, we'll acquire long process to make him move. Is this true?

Get a good S&P lawyer that has lots of conveyancing experience and you can trust. The lawyer will know what to look out for to protect your interest...

Make all payments via your lawyer... do not pay the owner directly.

Assuming that you are not buying an auction property, the risk does not come from evicting the owner. I would think the bigger risk is ensuring that:
1. you are really dealing with the real owner and not someone pretending to sell you a house that they do not own.
2. the owner sticks to their part of the deal and does not run away with your downpayment
3. the property is not encumbered (ie charged to a bank or have caveats placed on it that prevents the property from being transferred to you)

Have the lawyer do a title search (to make sure that it is not encumbered) and an IC search (to sure it really the person selling you the house is really the owner)

Get supporting documents as evidence of ownership..
1. assessment bills
2. cukai tanah bills
3. electricity bills, water bills, utility bills, etc
4. owner's original S&P with developer

If the property is charged to a bank, your lawyer will make payments to the owner's bank (instead of the owner) to get the property discharged

The bottom line is get a good lawyer that you can trust... get recommendations from your relatives and friends.

This post has been edited by gilabola: May 30 2009, 08:12 PM

Thanks for your advices. Will take note of these points. BTW, just wondering what's the thing to look at when seeing a 2nd hand house? Water stains at ceiling etc?