Hi, I understand your concerns but I have explained both in PM and in public on the risks of buying properties from auction. It is best to steer clear of such purchases unless you have seen it done before or have plenty of cash to play with.

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Added on April 7, 2012, 2:05 pm

Okay, I am going to say something which will surprise you. If you look closely at the facilities agreements, your so called lawyers are actually acting on behalf of the bank and NOT you even though YOU will be PAYING for the bills. It is weird but true. In the sense that if something were to go wrong, your lawyer cannot actually help you. So you do not need to use their panel lawyers for transfer as it is non of the bank business but the vendor can accuse you of picking the wrong lawyer/banker which caused the deal to be delayed and hence penalise you heavily by way of interests or forfeiture of deposits. It can sometimes be a dog eat dog games and survival of the fittest. If you have enough volume, banks and lawyers would usually try to accomodate you. If you are going to see your lawyer once every 5 years or so, don't expect the best of customer services.

I have one single experiences with MAYBANK. I can say out the name of the bank as it is a true case incident which happened some 6 years ago. I bought a LACA property from MAYBANK auction and thought that it would be best to use the same bank so expedite the matter. Loan approval done and ready. But their auction side was extremely slow from missing papers to whatever. Given that I knew the developer quite well, they were even ready with the direct transfer documents (from master to strata) to my name within a couple of weeks from auction. I made a complain to their head of customer services but at the end decided not to follow it up as it may costs someone their jobs. I rather allow these people continue working so that will give me plenty of excuses not to use Maybank. It was delayed by more than 2 months and I had to settle by cash, even though it was entirely their fault.

Great step by step process. My question

Before auction
2. What's the purpose of the title search ?
3. How many days before auction day do we need to register ? (agent say several days but auctioneer say just go on auction day)

After auction
7. Wait for approval from land office (if leasehold)
8. Wait for approval from developer (if master title)

Can you advise on how to do the official search on property? What is the objective of this task?

Facilities agreement is not the same as SPA. So only one lawyer will be used which will be the lawyer, whom you have hired but must be under the bank's panel and that particular lawyer, you will need to pay them (with discounts if they are happy to give you some) but they will end up as banker's lawyers. Confusing? Yeah, a lot of seasoned players didn't know that even. Most lawyers will not sue banks as they are worried that the bank will not give them businesses later on. But you can always complain about lawyers to the bar.

The auction you are going for is by CIMB. That does not mean you need to use CIMB panel lawyers but rather the panel lawyers of the bank you are hoping to obtain loan from.

As for before auction, it is optional to register with licensed auctioneer/agent/bank. Unless you are getting some kickbacks (not so proper) best is you do not register, as some auctioneers may not be ethical enough and "inform" friends to kacau the auction.

After auction, depending on how the POS is worded, you may or not have to top up the balance of 10%. So far since late last year, I have seen all POS for high court do not require the top up. Kindly advise if any of you have seen otherwise. You do not sign SPA for auction properties but MOC (Memorandum of contract). The lawyer will need to help you prepare the transfer documents. At the same time, you need to look for a bank to do up your loan. Best to use the same lawyer for transfer and loan to prevent delays in communications. For auctions you do need to hassle your lawyers to remind them of the 90 or 120 days. Most lawyers couldn't give jack shit and I have seen a lot of bidders who are not able to complete on time and hence the need to pay cash for the balance. A good lawyer with good follow up will ensure that the delay is minimal. Remember time is of essense in completing such documentations.

Could you advise on how to do the official title search? Where to do, how much we need to pay, etc???

4. What i meant was, will the auctioneer or agents play some tricks to jack up the price if I am the only bidder ?

5. I need to look at the floor plan since I cannot go into the house before deciding to go for the auction.
But most people don't want to give. 

what is the final bid price?

How can they simply announce the starting price at rm 220,000 when the reserved price is already stated at rm 200,000 ?

Isn't that unethical ? That's why we need to know all the tricks they used before deciding whether to go for auction.

Finally, I heard that bank themselves can bid for the property.....

Sad to say in Malaysia in the last 1 year or so has been practising the same procedures which I think has more good than bad. In the ever challenging auction landscape, rules are ever changing. Personally I would have went for registration at 9am. I think in the POS it does mention that you need to register before 9.30am. Just need to read it again, i supposed. Auction starting time is dependable on the registrar. And the amount of auctions for that day. Auction is said to start at 10.30am. It will start anytime from 10.30 onwards. Unfortunately you live by their rules. I have seen a lot of time wasting. But unfortunately there is nothing much you can do. I will check in at 9am and go for a quick meeting and back before 10.30 to save time. I had to wait a bit after 12pm the longest so far.

This practise of increasing the reserve price has been happening since 1 year ago when they sort of reform the entire country's high court auction system. POS seemed to be standardised and if you read carefully, it says that if there are more than 2 bidders, they will raise the reserve price. Do blame the auction snakes who had been out there trying to outsmart the system. Unfortunately for genuine bidders, it will prove to be a hassle. One final word of advice, do learn to play by their rules. Otherwise your only other option is NOT to bid at all. Cheers and good luck.

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Added on April 20, 2012, 11:13 pm

Not too sure on that, perhaps someone else can help. My stories are all from personal experiences. Cheers.

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Added on April 20, 2012, 11:14 pm

For the first story, it is impossible and I don't think the court registrar would want to risk his or her job by increasing the price if there is ONLY ONE bidder. However, if there are more than one bidder, then it is stated quite clearly in the POS, that the court has the power to increase the first bidding price.

FYI, it was RM50k per bid for a dslh with reserve price at RM430k. Bailiff set the starting bid at RM500k. It seems to be a norm for hot properties nowadays. Maybe the bailiff wants to cut the process shorter.

Anyway, there is plus point to raising the reserve price and increment amount....helping genuine buyers. False buyers could be those who are making a living out of "settlement" or the owner's people trying to jack up the price. With a higher stake, these people would think twice before they raise their hands in the courtroom.
To me, the increased reserve price is no big deal because eventually the final price will be much higher anyway.

most of the prop i went they started with slightly higher than reserved price, as long as got 2 or more bidders.
it's at their sole discretion on the quantum of increase... what i see so far is, if more ppl, they increase the increment, or if reserved price is high, they increase the increment.. to shorten the process...

it's normal to start late as well... for late registration... try sweet talk or act innocent..

Yup. It is also to make their lives easier as some final bidding prices can double the reserve price.

Whether they accept late registration or not will depend on your luck mostly....get one in good mood, they will accept anytime before the auction starts. However, in this kind of matter, it's better be punctual la. 

The judge increase the reserve price is because there are more than 1 bidder. Normally the judge will only do that if more than 5 bidders. If let say the judge adjust the reserve price and no bidder wanted to bid, the deposit will not be forfeited, but if a property got more than 5 bidders and judge increase few k, definitely sure got ppl bid one, just those who has lower budget got no chance to raise their hand only.
And, if single bidder for sure the judge won't adjust the price, it will be sold to the bidder at the reserve.
And sure there's reason why the judge adjust/increase the reserve price. You will know it if you have more experience in auction property.

Not true for high court cases. Unfortunately some would actually blacklist the bidders if they refuse to bid at the increased price. I know it had been done before and seriously there is nothing you can do about it. Afterall, if you want to go auction, then you have to follow the high court rules.

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Added on April 22, 2012, 12:53 am

They can set the increment level they want and there is really nothing you can do about it. In fact that system does weed out the non-serious bidder, sad to say.

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Added on April 22, 2012, 12:55 am

Deposits will not be forfeited but unfortunately for some high courts, they will ban you and blacklist you for a duration of time. If it is a single bidder then that person would have won the auction at the reserve price and would need to pay the balance within the 120 days stipulated time.

I find it interesting that up until now, there are still some people who cannot tell the differences between high court/land office auction and LACA. There are two entirely different types of auctions and have different rights to the bidders.

you went for the usj1 dslh?

actually you can ask your agent to register for you.. if he has your i/c copy.

Bad luck. You should know the traffic situation in KL.

Maybe next time , try to be there at least 3 hours earlier.

Go and chit-chat around that area while waiting.

It wasn't the norm some 1 year ago. It became a norm when the snakes are plying their businesses like nobody's business. These measures are supposed to be there to protect genuine bidders and to prevent hanky panky. AFAIK, the POS has spoken quite clearly about it.

Yeah it is under the National Land Code, but you can be certain that sometimes NLC is not being followed. I had once went to an auction where there were more than 200 bidders and increasing as there is a Maybank branch beside the land office, so people were asking their relatives to go to the bank and buy bank drafts (so that they can share the presents santa clause has brought) until ADO came out and said the auction is off due to irregularities. He does have the power to do so given and his reasons were that he was afraid there may be a riot later. There is also this other land office case where the auction was called off after registration close which was against NLC given that there were no irregularities and plenty of genuine bidders. A few gungho people wanted to challenge the ADO with police called in by many "strongly connected" individuals and press. But yet land office rules. Would anyone actually troubled themselves to sue the land office?

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Added on April 22, 2012, 7:23 pm

Not true. You can always give a certified copy of your IC to your agent and let them register. I don't know who you can complain if the high court dares to reject your agent. Fact is, they don't even know if it was your agent that inserted the bank draft. Normally for high court, you need to deposit your things into a box.

Like Micheal said, this practice only started about a year ago where the property auction scene becomes hot. Surprisingly, the auction scene is still hot compared to your normal sub-sale. Is this practice going to last? Nobody knows. By right, the increasing of price should happen when there are two bidders or more. Then again, the ultimate say is with the judge.
Congratulations on your giving your virginity (to auction)!
Although you did not manage to get some action, take it as a learning experience. Don't you think you learned quite a bit on the field? Even if you actually bidded on that day, you might not win. Nowadays, the final price of hot properties are almost on par with the market price, with some even exceeded. Mind if I ask whether the final price exceeded your budget that day?

Well, 10k is quite a bit for a 200k prop. Just out of curiosity, would you ever consider going over your budget?

To be honest, if you have not given your bank draft to your agent then I supposed the bailiff is right in rejecting. If it was an auction I am going for, and there is someone who is late, I would raise my objections as well. But I supposed with this experience, in future you will be more aware of timing issues. Good luck.

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Added on April 23, 2012, 10:45 am

There is a couple of time, when I realised that there is no subsale in that region and I die die want to have the location, I am happy to pay a slightly above market premium in auction. The beauty of auction if you are a snaky person, is you can reap a lot of benefits post auction.

In fact post auction is where the actions are. When do you move in? When do you renovate? When do you chase the inhabitants out? How do you chase the inhabitants? Who are the people you use for your work done? Etc. I have a few advantages as I have a team which had been doing all these for me. Like the bankers who would approve the loan quickly so that the lawyer who would make sure my loans are drawn on time, then having the necessary people to make the appropriate police reports, breaking into the house via a various numbers of means (tailored to individual inhabitant), to schedule workmen to work. These are the exciting part of auction. To share my latest experience. I bought this run down house from auction in the second week of April at RM230k. Managed to convince one of my tenants to take the place at RM3,500 per month with the condition I can settle them in before the end of this month with the rental to start in May. Managed to get bank loan in third week of April with lawyers preparing drawing down this week. Work began last thursday with nearly 15 workmen and will be done by today. Furnitures will come in wednesday, electrical fridge, tv, washing machines on thursday. Tenant will move in friday. All in all precise clockwork. It can be done if you have the experiences and the team which has been following you. My workers have been with me for more than 8 years.

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Added on April 23, 2012, 3:16 pm

As per my above post, the biggest advantage with auction is that I could use the property straight away. Of course this is if you know how to do the right things and pull the right lever. The thing is, if you have known me in real life, I bet 50% of your purchases will be from auctions, with the occasional "don't mind the above market price premium" paid. I could probably get back some of these premiums from the 120 days draw down period.

hmm, nowadays auction final price is close or higher than the market price. therefore, any advantage of choosing to buy at auction ?

i have lose interest in auction after knowing all this info ..... sigh

the agent is trying to cari makan from the title search and commission if their client successful winning the auction. they r putting advertising the lelong at reserve price. means, the price may or may not increase. even if the auction got called off, they may get the commission from the tittle search service they offer to client[s]

as for the title search, you have to go to the land office, and the land office will charge for the title search. So the agent which offer this service will impose extra charge to the client if the client want the to search for land title. But if not, the agent just get the commission if they win the auction property.

The more people call the more they have the chance to give this services to cari makan.

frankly i never did any title search but from my understanding the search cost RM30++. Maybe Any experience bidder can confirm this. so the agent sshould charge higher due to transportation, runner commission and so on. you also can do the title search but its kind of troublesome. if the auction got canceled, your search will just be a waste.

By right, the agent shouldn't charge so much if there are many enquiries, they only search one time and then photocopied the rest.

why title search not necessary for high court case? some of high court case got caveat. from my understanding it takes more time to remove the caveat than the given time to settle the payment to bank

regarding the title search service, not sure how much the agent charge. anyone can confirm this?

ive seen high court case with private caveat , so i dicide to back off .... private caveat should be better than gov cavet. as michael said, he will not touch auction with gov caveat