Hi Guys,

I need some urgent comments and opinion here as I am about to sign the agreement to purchase to put down the deposit:

I'm purchasing this condo which I went to see the 2nd time. The first time (early march), the owner (call him mr X) did not have any agent, so I dealt with him directly and visited his place. His place was quite nice but quite pricey and it was the first unit of the condo I ever visited so after visiting, I didn't do any follow up etc. So I went on to visit other units along the weeks. Ended up, this unit from mr X is the nicest one so far and even though quite pricey, after factoring in the unit which is quite well kept and the fittings such as kitchen cabinet, plaster ceiling, I decided to buy this unit from mr x.

So I checked the property listings and noticed his unit is still on sale (2 weeks ago). So i called up the number which is from an agent to take a look at the unit. I told the agent that i have seen the unit before and that i will be bringing my sister in law and mother in law to view the unit. She said ok. I also asked her before i visit whether she told the owner, she said yes. Ok..then on the day i visit MR x's unit, my wife noticed he was quite angry and defensive and was quite shocked it was me again..I believe the owner wasn't informed by the agent that I was coming the 2nd time..the owner seemed quite angry..i knew he had an appointment but dont know what time..so nvm, apparently the agent told me that my initial time that I told her i was able to visit the unit which was 5 pm on sunday was pushed to 5:30 due to her (agent) personal issue (couldn't make it at 5). So apparently the owner was ok with the original time, only the agent couldn't make it..ok fine. So I dropped a mail to the owner to notify the owner about this issue. I didn't apologize or anything because I believe it was not my fault anyway, and told the owner via email that the agent didnt inform him about me checking out his unit the 2nd time and bringing my in-laws to visit..guess what? He didn't reply my mail at all. Ok fine.

Last wednesday (7 april) the agent sent me a draft agreement to purchase for the deposit payment. There were some clauses that didnt favour my side. So I decided to get a lawyer for this. To my horror this lawyer only replied once, suggesting a suitable clause, but the owner's lawyer disagreed and gave us a different clause which again, is not favourable to my side..to cut things short, this first lawyer that i wanted to hire really sucked and not professional at all. So I got myself another lawyer which was SUPER professional. By the time this took place, only yesterday was I able to reply with a more suitable clause for the agreement.

So basically took 1 week just to get the agreement out, still not signed for deposit. So I decided to send a mail to the owner to apologize for the delay caused by my first lawyer that was sucky. I wrote a very polite email to the owner and expected a reply. The owner didnt reply my mail AGAIN like the very first one. I'm sure the email address is correct as his agent forwarded the mail with his email in it, so i'm sure i got the right email. Before I sent this email, I called the owner at night about 9:30 pm. There was no answer on the phone despite calling twice...

Now i'm quite worried that this owner may not seem genuine enough to want to sell to me or is angry with me or something..i dont know. Also, I noticed on the property site, he updated his property listing two days ago with no changes..basically he updated to get pple to notice his property as the property site search engine would display the latest entries. Not only that, on the 11th (basically few days after the agreement was drafted by his agent), he hired another property agent to sell his unit. Price was marked up 5k from what I was paying. Appears to me he is either not sincere in selling to me, or is basically thinking since the deal is not on yet, he might as well try to get a better price.

Now with what I have said, do you guys think I should still proceed to buy this property? I think overall the unit is nice, but the owner seems quite rude by not replying my mails and doesnt seem sincere to sell the unit to me. And yet today, everything is in order and I'm suppose to sign the agreement to put down the deposit. Should I go ahead still or otherwise? Need your urgent and honest advice.

P/S: My wife said she is fine and its up to me and she told me that we don't have to worry that the owner might do anything to the property as we have our lawyers to take care of the clauses in the agreement and S&P.

Just find another one... there is always a better one...

Why you want to buy this unit?

The unit is quite good of all those i have seen, so that's why i've tolerated till now.

aiyo...
why you go thru the agent for the second visiting/seeing the unit?

since u know the owner before, just directly go to him lah.

You go thru agent, make him pay some $$$ to agent. Sure he not happy lah.

Go thru agent also need to pay deposit to them one isnt it..i believe normally need agent otherwise deposit pay to who? owner direct? wouldn't that be dangerous

i disagree with you. if he doesnt want to pay agent fee, he shouldnt find agent in the first place.

my advice to TS, $$ is inside your pocket now. shouldnt be so desparate or the seller will increase the selling price.

should survey for the market price in that area and the max $$ you willing to pay for the house.

once the selling price above your max $$, just go for other option or waiting for the seller to lower down the selling price

The thing is, the place i'm buying is very hot and at the price i'm buying for the condition etc, is quite ok although a bit pricey but still acceptable. Its just within my budget (max). This issue is more of the owner issue but my wife and colleagues said just go ahead if I like the place

Since you engaged an agent, you should deal with the agent instead of the owner.

yes, that's what i'm doing. thank god i deal with agent cos this guy really have attitude problem really. the agent said she brought few of her clients to see the unit, they dont even talk to the potential buyer or anything..very cold kind of behaviour

I mean the purpose of buying this property.
Own stay or investment.

its for own stay. i've already put down the deposit upon advice from my colleague that we're not buying the owner, buying the house and we're not gonna see him forever so dont care him..haha

Cyberjewl, power is in the hands of the buyer, not the seller. Even if you have gotten a good deal, that doesn't mean it's really good, if the owner is hiding something from you.

I suggest you to find out more about this property (owned by him) before you make a choice.

I think the owner isnt hiding anything, its just that he has a really bad attitude..the agent told me he is like that and she (agent) has met even worse sellers.

usually it is best that owner not talk to buyer, as some agents also dislike that.

as long as u like the prop, don't have to care too much about the owner. just make sure ur lawyer is protecting you.