Hi Dario, I'm a first-time buyer (buying subsale) and need your advice on the following:

There was a buyer for the apartment, but after he paid 3% deposit and engaged a lawyer to draft the SPA, he decided not to buy anymore. Then the agent offered to sell it to me and said that I should use the same lawyer to reduce the legal costs. The agent also told me to straight sign the SPA without signing Offer to Purchase first.

Questions:
1. Is it ok to proceed directly with SPA without the Offer to Purchase?

2. The lawyer quoted the following for 230k freehold apartment in Bukit Jalil
a) SPA fees: RM2060
b) Lodgement of Private Caveat & RPGT Submission & Submission of Borang I: RM 650.
c) 6% Service Tax: RM 162.60
d) Stamp duty: RM 1800
e) Disbursements: RM766
Total: 5438.60

On item (b), is CKHT2 for RPGT Submission? If so, then the fee is RM 200. Plus, Private Caveat of RM 350 and RM 100 for Borang I (this fee is also posted by another member so I think it should be ok)

My main concern is the disbursements charge.
3. Are the title search, bankruptcy search, etc (those items billed under Disbursements) already done before the preparation of SPA? If so, I think the previous buyer should bear those costs. Is my request reasonable?


4. Do I get a copy of all those documents obtained from the various searches?

Your early reply is much appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for your advice Dario.

If I still need to negotiate with the lawyer on his charges, does it mean that the lawyer would not work on the S&P until we both agreed on the price?

I found out from this forum that bankruptcy search costs 12 per pax.

How to determine how many pax is involved in the bankruptcy search?

Hi Dario,

I'm going to meet the agent and the seller's lawyer to look at the seller's apartment title, SPA, latest quit rent receipt, and other relevant documents. I know the agent would have the Agent Authorization Letter.

Does the lawyer have similar letter to state that the lawyer is acting on behalf of the seller?

If the documents are satisfactory, I will give the agent 3% deposit by cheque. In the event that the seller does not want to sell to me anymore before signing the S&P, I want to ensure that I get my deposit back, plus all legal costs that I incurred.

Do I need to prepare a letter stating the above? If so, can the seller's lawyer sign the letter on behalf of the seller?

Hi Dario,

I found out from my lawyer that the title is still under the developer's name and the developer does not want to do a direct transfer to me. So I have to wait for the vendor to get the title in her name first and then transfer it to me. And this process could take 6 months. Does that mean that I could only get the keys to the apartment in 6+3+1 months after the S&P is signed?

Besides saving on the disbursement costs, are there any other benefits of retaining the same S&P lawyer as the loan agreement lawyer?
Is the loan agreement is standard version, or is it like the S&P for subsale property?

Thanks!