Even if you do business in Timbuktu, it would be prudent to have an agreement, more so when you're the party who is supposed to get paid. Fees is not subject to scaled fees for conveyancing, and differs from lawyers to lawyers.

Then you should've prepared a better quotation/contract with a full set of terms n conditions. Small firms doesn't mean you have a small firm mentality and subject yourself to be bullied by unscrupulous clients. I know a graphic designer who has a so-called small firm but his TnC for his customers is around 20 pages and is iron-clad in his favour.

Hi Dario,

I am in a dilemma. Recently I bought my first property, signed the loan agreement and SPA 2 months ago but I found out that the developer (quite reputable one too) has some issues with the local council. Apparently the licenses granted by the local council was for the extension of the existing hotel on site and not for serviced apartment. Another issue is there is not enough carpark being allocated for each unit and also lack of a secondary access road. The surrounding residence protested many times to the media.

From what I heard this project might not take off at all. My concern is if this project is cancelled, am I liable to the bank for the loan that I have taken? What will happen to my downpayment and deposit? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you sir.

Hi Dario,

Recently, I just sold one of my property through agent at RM700K. I agree to pay RM9K as his professional fee. Somehow, he collected 2% from the purchaser as earnest deposit as stakeholder. He told me that once the SPA is signed, the balance shall be refund to me. There is an agreement (GENERAL AUTHORISATION TO SELL) signed by agent and I.

There are purchaser solicitor and vendor solicitor were appointed.
The SPA is about to execute. I had run through the SPA draft but in the payment wise did not stated that the balance of earnest deposit will refund to me. The only thing that was stated is 2% payed by purchaser to agent as stakeholder. I had consult my lawyer, the lawyer said this agreement is between purchaser and vendor, NOT the agent. So, the lawyer advise me to request the balance from the agent BEFORE SPA. I also told this to the agent but he refuse to pay me the balance since he following company policy.

Is there any problem?

What if I sign the SPA? Will the agreement (GENERAL AUTHORISATION TO SELL) between agent and I void?

Please advise SIFU SIFU.

Hi all, need some advice here.

I am about to sell a property through a RE agent.
The agent wanted to charge 3% commission and ask me to bear for the 6% GST on the commission as well. Is this the normal practice?

A project is rarely ever cancelled. It will either be delayed or abandoned. I think it is still early for you to have any worries as it has only been 2 months. They have 24/36 months to complete the project anyway.

If the project is abandoned, you would still have to service the interest of your loan to the bank. That is the risk you bear. You can sue the developer but if they are broke to complete the project, surely they would not have a cent left to compensate the purchasers. So The result would be that you would lose your deposit paid.

Your lawyer is right. The SPA is between the purchaser and you. It cannot include any arrangement between you and the agent.

What are the contents of the agreement between you and the agent?

According to this site, the agent can charge a maximum of 3%, but it shld be negotiated between the parties before you appoint the agent.

http://www.lppeh.gov.my/fees.html

With regard to the service tax (not GST,mind you. That has not been implemented yet), the agent is bound to collect it from the client and pay it to the govt. Do ensure that you get a receipt for it though.

Dario, thanks for the reply.

The contents contain:-

I [NRIC] the registered/ beneficial owner for the property situated and as known as [ADDRESS] do hereby appoint you [The Agent Company] to be our agent for a period of Three(3) calendar months for the sale of the mentioned property to any person(s) at the selling price of RM700K or nearest offer upon the following terms and conditions:

1. In consideration of you service for the sale of the above property, I/We hereby agree to pay you professional fees of 3% of the sale price plus 6% Government Service Tax on the professional fees upon the execution of the Sale & Purchase Agreement with any purchaser introduced by you at any time within the said period, irrespective of any delay/failures to obtain the necessary approvals/consents from the relevant authorities by me/us.
(the 3% of the sale price plus 6% Government Service Tax was corrected by his pen into *Total Commision Fees + GST = RM9,000 (RM Nine thousand only))

2. You are authorised to accept on my/our behalf an earnest deposit of 2% of the Sales Price or best offer and to deduct therefrom your fees due upon the signing of the Sale & Purchase Agreement.

3. In the event the transaction is aborted by the Owner/Purchaser before Sale & Purchase Agreement is signed but earnest money or forfeitable deposit is paid. I/We agree to pay you a fee equivalent to 50% of the earnest money of forfeitable deposit or 50% of the agreed full fees, whichever is less.

4. I/We fully indemnify [The Agent Company] against all claims by the Purchaser(s) if I/We for any reason whatsoever, do not proceed to execute the Sales & PUrchase Agreement after the earnest deposit has been collected

5. I/We hereby authorise you to put up a "FOR SALE" signboard at the said property and advertise in any media or in any other forms/activities to promote the sale of the said property.

6. This instruction is given to you in my/our Company's Capacity as:- registered proprietor


This agreement is signed by me and signed in the presence of the agent. Somehow this agreement, my lawyer said is not valid (may be I always rush the lawyer) and advise me to collect before SPA

Is this agreement bind to the Agent Company and not the agent person?

What if refuse to proceed the SPA where the agreement is signed by my brother and the TITLE is under my name? Do i need to pay any compensation?

Is there any problem? Is this agreement valid and the balance of the deposit will be refund upon SPA signed?

DARIO pls help...

Your case is same as me. My agent also collected 2% earnest deposit and agreed professional fee is less than 2% earnest deposit.

Once the SPA is signed, my agent requested a few first SPA pages and the SPA page with purchaser and vendor signature (do not need to wait the SPA to be stamped), then Agent's company account department issue cheque and receipt acknowledgement letter for me to sign.

I've received the balance earnest deposit refund within 1 week.

This post has been edited by WEELIN1012: Sep 24 2012, 10:34 AM

You issued the cheque in favour of the agency right? Then your cause of action lies against the agency. Doesn't matter about the agent. Money is with the agency anyway.

That can't be possible. The SPA would be prepared in the name of the registered proprietor. Of course the person whose name appears in the deed has to sign, not anyone else. Unless there is a PA.

Hi Dario

Appreciate some advice on the following.......

My house in under 3 names....me, my mum n my sis (equal share)

a) If i would like to transfer the title to my name i understand that i would get 50% of the stamp duty for the portion transferred from my mum to me and no reduction for the my sister's portion to me? is my understanding correct? Is is possible to obtain a further discount for my mum's portion?

b) the MOT to be paid would be based on the market value of the house as determined by the land office? For eg if house valued at 800k, MOT would be RM18k so 1/3 each would be 6k so i need to pay 9k (3k for mum portion and 6k sister portion) ?

c) would it be correct to say that the best way to to do this would be to transfer my sis portion to my mum first and then subsequently transfer the 2/3 portion fr my mum to me?

d) is it possible to do the above transfers concurrently with loan documentation for a housing loan simultaneously? i would like think option b would be feasible but not option c .......

thanks

Hi Dario,

I'm refinancing my parents' home. The loan amount comes to RM206k, and the legal fee is about RM5.3k. Is that a reasonable amount? I took a RM275k loan before and the fee was about RM3.5k. The current loan has a list of charges that I don't understand. Is there anything that is out of place here? Also, if I decide that I can't afford the loan and want to pull out, will there be any charges? Thanks!

1) Facilities Agreement 1,892.46
2) Memorandum of Charge 200.00
3) Discharge of Charge (16N) 300.00
4) Entry of Caveat 200.00
5) Withdrawal of Caveat 150.00 2,742.46
(Add) 6% Service Tax 164.55
2,907.01
Disbursement
1) Stamping on Facility Agreement (Original) 1,000.00
2) Stamping on Facility Agreement (2 copies) 20.00
3) Stamping on Memorandum of Charge (16A) 40.00
4) Stamping on Discharge of Charge (16N) 10.00
5) Registration Fee on Discharge of Charge (16N) 70.00
6) Registration Fee on Charge (16A) 120.00
7) Stamping & Affirming Owner Occupation 14.00
8) Stamping Letter of Offer 10.00
9) Land Search 120.00
10) Entry of Caveat 340.00
11) Surat Akuan - Entry of Caveat 10.00
12) Withdrawal of Caveat 80.00
13) Loan Document Fee - OCBC 100.00
14) Bankruptcy Search 90.00
15) Phone, Printing,Fax, Courier & Postage 200.00
16) Traveling Expenses 200.00
17) Miscellaneous 50.00 2,474.00
5,381.01

Hi Dario sifu,

I had recently bought a house with SPA signed on 13/07/2012 everything looks OK but recently I was told that the bank and the developer have some issues in the undertaking.
The bank is not agree with some clauses in the undertaking while the developer is firm on their clause. This case has been delayed for almost a week now and my SPA completion date is near where it would be around 13/10/12. There seems to be no end of this issue and I am afraid I will need to bear the penalty charges if delayed. FYI, I have a common lawyer for SPA and Loan.

1. May I know if the dispute is between bank and developer, do I still need to pay the late interest penalty?
2. If yes, what can I do to protect myself as I am not involved in the delay? I feel it is very unfair to me.
3. Is the 3 months completion date include weekend and public holiday?
4. Based on your experience, can my SPA completed on time if they finally agree their undertaking by this week?
5. Shall I highlight this issue to my lawyer to prevent any penalty by developer?

What shall I do?

Thanks in advance.

a) Yes. No further rebate. The 50% sum is fixed.
b) Yes.
c) No.
d) The rebate is only for transfer out of love and affection only. That means that there is no SPA and no loan involved. Just an MOT with a clean transfer. After that you can apply for a loan and charge the title to the bank as collateral.

Whether it is fair or not, do compare with the many samples in v1 of this thread. Many samples and comments there.

Legal fees does not only depends on the loan sum. It depends on type of property and type of loan as well.

If you pull out after signing the letter of offer and if a loan lawyer has been appointed and work done, you might need to pay some fees. How much ? Depends on the bank and loan lawyer.

1. Yes.
2. There's nothing you can do. Perhaps follow up closely with your lawyer and find out how he plans to resolve the problem.
3. Yes it does.
4. Hard to tell since I do not know of other factors. Your lawyer would know best since the whole file is with him.
5. Your lawyer should be sorting it out right now himself, as the matter cannot progress unless one party budges with the LU. Most likely it has to be the developer who has to issue a new LU as banks are very 'skema' and always refuse to move out of their comfort zone when dealing with things.

Thanks Dario!:)

Hi Dario thanks for your reply

Just wondering why is the answer No for part C....besides it being time consuming