Aug 7 2021, 01:07 AM
QUOTE(leelianeik @ Aug 6 2021, 01:47 PM)
A lot of auctions and more to come. Be very careful of con agents.. I got myself into trouble for being too naive, stupid, greedy and trusting the wrong agent in my first auction experience. Would like to share so other first timers will not fall into the same mistake I did.
Got trapped into buying a Bumi unit and stuck for almost a year. Still unable to access the unit and having the risk of losing all the hard earned money.
This is my expensive lesson for being too ignorant and greedy.
Saw an auction post in iProperty and propertyGuru on 1 Twin Residence unit. As usual, the price is 40% BMV. Gotten the POS and read through several times. No Bumi status stated in POS. As if I found a hidden germs and was very excited. Greediness kicks in and starts reaching out to as many agents as possible. Some had a bad attitude and said no cheque showing 10% down, won't explore further. Some good agents advise not to proceed as they call up the developer and find out it is Bumi. As Malaysian chinese, no point going in for such a unit with Bumi status.
My sad story starts after meeting 1 particular agent(Alan Tang), very aggressive and tip top service. Calling me several times a day to give an update of this auction(Twin Residence). Dropping by my place to provide all the documents and sharing all his past success stories in helping clients achieve dreams. Wearing branded clothing from head to toes. Speaks politely and and most of all, very professional. All the things I can think of as a professional and honest agent, he checked the boxes. Still not 100% trusting him, I did a few more surveys myself to the unit, ringing up the developer and engaging with several other agents. None encourage me to proceed as this unit is Bumi. I even checked with a lawyer if POS does not state Bumi, will that be Bumi. Lawyer advice not to proceed until I get a clear understanding of the status. With all the doubt, I inform the friendly tip top service agent that I am not comfortable with this auction and choose to let go. Without easily giving up, the agent provides all the supporting materials and with his experience in this industry, at the end, my greediness kicks in again.
2 of the main reasons out of 100 and 100 more that were provided by this agent that convinced me were POS is black and white, if it does not state Bumi, it's not Bumi. Few other past POS which state Bumi were shown to me to make his point stronger. Even if it turns out to be Bumi, and you successfully bid this unit, you can bring this back to Assignee to prove and fight. 100% chance of winning as POS does not state the Bumi status. He even shared that this has been done multiple times under his watch and never fails.
The other reason that is super convincing and carries a lot of weight in my greediness is the existing owner of this unit has a strong relationship with the developer. The developer will definitely side with the owner and tell everyone keen on the unit that it's Bumi. With that, nobody will dare to step a foot into this unit. He even went to the extent to prove that all the phone conversation between me and the developer is just merely through words but his proof is through black and white where POS is not stating Bumi(recording of these words through watsapp still with me).
With these 2 main reasons, the agent sensed my naivety. I give in at the end and proceed with the bidding, ending up winning the bid. The first task I was told by the agent is to focus on getting a lawyer to oversee the entire process while settling the difference of 10% from the winning bid. Within the same week, the difference was settled and I am proceeding with the lawyer that assists me in my current property. I am staying years back but open for options as well. As usual, the agent recommended a lawyer that solely focused on auction cases and convinced me to go against my initial plan. Since this agent provides tip top service and helped me in winning this bid, I go with the agent's advice in selecting a lawyer recommended.
The nightmare starts after paying the deposit over to the lawyer agent recommended. Agent switches from active to passive mode. From him reaching out to me for status on a daily basis to me reaching out to him on what are the next steps to be done. Even the tone of him speaking changed completely. That's when I first felt I am being con and inexperienced in this area. After close to 2 months of paying the deposit, the lawyer started to break the news that the unit I bid is Bumi. I tried my best to convince her that it's not bumi with all the proof from the agent. Guess what, lawyers focusing on this line for more than 10 years are right. 90days period was given to settle all the pending cases, but my case took more than 250 days. Each extension required a penalty fee.
Lawyer heads up to me at the end of the first 90 days that there are only 2 options I can take. Drop the case and take it as a lesson. Meaning i lost the 10% deposit and the lawyer deposit. The next option is to proceed and request for Bumi status change from the Land Office. I rang up an agent to seek advice and guidance. It was a completely different service. The first thing that was shot at me is "I have yet to get my commission at this unit until everything is complete. If you pull out, I will get nothing". I was wondering, I am bleeding money on the maintenance and penalties monthly, he is worried about his commission. I wanted to opt out using the method said by the agent that POS not stating Bumi, the agent said that you have to work with the lawyer. He can't help much. I was like falling into the biggest scam of my life. I reached out to the lawyer about pulling out, Lawyer said that by pulling out, 10% will be lost and not refunding a single cent on the lawyer deposit. Lawyer said there is no such thing as POS not stating Bumi. It's the bidder's responsibility to check which is also stated in POS. That's the most difficult decision I've ever made. End up i choose not to lose the 10% deposit and proceed with the bidding. Month after month, no response from the Land Office but the penalties still run. Lawyer taking sweet time as no damage hits them. I have to reach out to the Land Office on my own and check each pending. Standard reasons given are due to MCO, Land Office short handed. But the maintenance fee, water bill and penalties have to proceed. Lawyer managed to get consent from the Land Office to the Bumi Status at the end June 2021. But at this time, the Developer office went into lock down. Up to today as i write this, i got all the documents developer request to access the unit but unable to access due to the lock down.
Learning from my mistake, never trust an auction agent easily. If asked 10 agents, 9 say bumi and 1 says non bumi, trust the 9. And if 9 says bumi and 1 says non bumi, run away as fast as you can!! I am not sure what happened to this agent, I lost contact with him for months and I trust he already got his commission. Hence I am just another victim to him. Hope all the beginners like me don't make the same mistakes I did and be more vigilant in stepping into auctions.
Assume only add in all the penalty charges due to extension (less than 10k), the "bumi lot" winning price should be still cheaper than non bumi lot lelong price of the same size. Got trapped into buying a Bumi unit and stuck for almost a year. Still unable to access the unit and having the risk of losing all the hard earned money.
This is my expensive lesson for being too ignorant and greedy.
Saw an auction post in iProperty and propertyGuru on 1 Twin Residence unit. As usual, the price is 40% BMV. Gotten the POS and read through several times. No Bumi status stated in POS. As if I found a hidden germs and was very excited. Greediness kicks in and starts reaching out to as many agents as possible. Some had a bad attitude and said no cheque showing 10% down, won't explore further. Some good agents advise not to proceed as they call up the developer and find out it is Bumi. As Malaysian chinese, no point going in for such a unit with Bumi status.
My sad story starts after meeting 1 particular agent(Alan Tang), very aggressive and tip top service. Calling me several times a day to give an update of this auction(Twin Residence). Dropping by my place to provide all the documents and sharing all his past success stories in helping clients achieve dreams. Wearing branded clothing from head to toes. Speaks politely and and most of all, very professional. All the things I can think of as a professional and honest agent, he checked the boxes. Still not 100% trusting him, I did a few more surveys myself to the unit, ringing up the developer and engaging with several other agents. None encourage me to proceed as this unit is Bumi. I even checked with a lawyer if POS does not state Bumi, will that be Bumi. Lawyer advice not to proceed until I get a clear understanding of the status. With all the doubt, I inform the friendly tip top service agent that I am not comfortable with this auction and choose to let go. Without easily giving up, the agent provides all the supporting materials and with his experience in this industry, at the end, my greediness kicks in again.
2 of the main reasons out of 100 and 100 more that were provided by this agent that convinced me were POS is black and white, if it does not state Bumi, it's not Bumi. Few other past POS which state Bumi were shown to me to make his point stronger. Even if it turns out to be Bumi, and you successfully bid this unit, you can bring this back to Assignee to prove and fight. 100% chance of winning as POS does not state the Bumi status. He even shared that this has been done multiple times under his watch and never fails.
The other reason that is super convincing and carries a lot of weight in my greediness is the existing owner of this unit has a strong relationship with the developer. The developer will definitely side with the owner and tell everyone keen on the unit that it's Bumi. With that, nobody will dare to step a foot into this unit. He even went to the extent to prove that all the phone conversation between me and the developer is just merely through words but his proof is through black and white where POS is not stating Bumi(recording of these words through watsapp still with me).
With these 2 main reasons, the agent sensed my naivety. I give in at the end and proceed with the bidding, ending up winning the bid. The first task I was told by the agent is to focus on getting a lawyer to oversee the entire process while settling the difference of 10% from the winning bid. Within the same week, the difference was settled and I am proceeding with the lawyer that assists me in my current property. I am staying years back but open for options as well. As usual, the agent recommended a lawyer that solely focused on auction cases and convinced me to go against my initial plan. Since this agent provides tip top service and helped me in winning this bid, I go with the agent's advice in selecting a lawyer recommended.
The nightmare starts after paying the deposit over to the lawyer agent recommended. Agent switches from active to passive mode. From him reaching out to me for status on a daily basis to me reaching out to him on what are the next steps to be done. Even the tone of him speaking changed completely. That's when I first felt I am being con and inexperienced in this area. After close to 2 months of paying the deposit, the lawyer started to break the news that the unit I bid is Bumi. I tried my best to convince her that it's not bumi with all the proof from the agent. Guess what, lawyers focusing on this line for more than 10 years are right. 90days period was given to settle all the pending cases, but my case took more than 250 days. Each extension required a penalty fee.
Lawyer heads up to me at the end of the first 90 days that there are only 2 options I can take. Drop the case and take it as a lesson. Meaning i lost the 10% deposit and the lawyer deposit. The next option is to proceed and request for Bumi status change from the Land Office. I rang up an agent to seek advice and guidance. It was a completely different service. The first thing that was shot at me is "I have yet to get my commission at this unit until everything is complete. If you pull out, I will get nothing". I was wondering, I am bleeding money on the maintenance and penalties monthly, he is worried about his commission. I wanted to opt out using the method said by the agent that POS not stating Bumi, the agent said that you have to work with the lawyer. He can't help much. I was like falling into the biggest scam of my life. I reached out to the lawyer about pulling out, Lawyer said that by pulling out, 10% will be lost and not refunding a single cent on the lawyer deposit. Lawyer said there is no such thing as POS not stating Bumi. It's the bidder's responsibility to check which is also stated in POS. That's the most difficult decision I've ever made. End up i choose not to lose the 10% deposit and proceed with the bidding. Month after month, no response from the Land Office but the penalties still run. Lawyer taking sweet time as no damage hits them. I have to reach out to the Land Office on my own and check each pending. Standard reasons given are due to MCO, Land Office short handed. But the maintenance fee, water bill and penalties have to proceed. Lawyer managed to get consent from the Land Office to the Bumi Status at the end June 2021. But at this time, the Developer office went into lock down. Up to today as i write this, i got all the documents developer request to access the unit but unable to access due to the lock down.
Learning from my mistake, never trust an auction agent easily. If asked 10 agents, 9 say bumi and 1 says non bumi, trust the 9. And if 9 says bumi and 1 says non bumi, run away as fast as you can!! I am not sure what happened to this agent, I lost contact with him for months and I trust he already got his commission. Hence I am just another victim to him. Hope all the beginners like me don't make the same mistakes I did and be more vigilant in stepping into auctions.
Taking above 1027sqft unit as an example. Bumi lot unit sold at 311k. Non bumi lot unit will be at least 350k.
1. The correct party to check whether the unit is under bumi lot or not is to get confirmation with the developer. Not bank. Not agent. Not lawyer. If you refer to lawyer, the lawyer will still need to check with the developer. Only the developer holds the answer.
2. POS will not state all information. Depending on which auction bank. Example of important information not stated:
- Bumi lot status
- Strata title issued status
- Final 5% or 2.5% due to the developer (for newly VP property as bank did not disburse this amount due to the borrower start default during progressive interest)
- Number of parking lot for this unit
3. It is possible to still pull out after winning and during name transfer time, got this bumi lot issue. The auction bank will refund you the 10% amount due to their mistake on not stating bumi lot. The unit will be re-auction bank again but the POS will state bumi lot this time. You may go through the POS again. Some banks very clear cut will state in the T&C.
However, any outstanding fees you paid to the management office or legal fees paid to engage lawyer will not be refunded.
Finally, is always a risk in lelong. Hopefully is a happy ending in the end. I mean the unit successfully convert from bumi lot to non bumi.
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