I will be going to view a house(just recently got VP few months) and after months of research and waiting, finally I saw the best/cheapest price.
Called the property agent and said yes confirm the price can be given. So set appointment to view this weekend.

After viewing if I am fine with the house, need make booking 3% by cheque. The house about 600k. So I assume I need open a cheque of RM18k to him on the spot.

But before I pass him the cheque...
Questions:
1) Is the above the right process practice in buying a house?(first time buyer here)
2) How do I protect my interest?
3) Any documents involved here?
4) Do I need to check whether this property is under the said owner?
5) What if the agent run away with my cheque? Shall I write the cheque's date as two or three days later to be safe?
6) What if owner(seller) decides not to sell to me few days later?
7) What if my loan rejected? Can I get back my RM18k?

Please enlighten me

when pay booking will have a booking form...
if u wan to protect urself, add a clause to state that subject to bank approval of 90% loan, else deposit to be fully refunded.
the cheque/bank draft will need to be the Agency name(not the agent or owner name)

1. yes
2. too general
3. yes
4. up to you
5. cheque is to the agency, not the agent.
6. there should be a clause where owner have to pay a penalty at par with your deposit
7. there should be a clause where your deposit is refundable if you can prove your loans rejected.

normally its only 1-2% deposit. Rarely you need to foot so much for upfront deposit.

Hi,
I just complete signing s&p yesterday of buying first house too (subsales, first owner buy from developer for investment, basic house).
Hope this can enlighten you.

1. Yes, if not confident try to negotiate to lower down the deposit. My house agent ask for 3% and we negotiate to 2%, both party agree with 2%.
2. what kind of interest ? house loan interest ?
3. Booking form (agent will fill for you), alongside with your cheque number, amount, address of the property, and clause (if owner cancel to sell or your loan rejected)
4. if you feel uncomfortable yes. but most important thing is checking whether your house agent (agency and the person) reliable or not.
5. Need to do research for the agency. When you talking to the agent, see their body language, trust your instinct! Good agent will be easily to look for if you need assistance, not avoiding your call, keeping their promise, and always following up.
6. Normally stated in booking form clause, owner will need to return 3-4x of your booking deposit if seller change their mind.
7. Stated in booking form clause too, for example : subject to 90% loan by 3 banks, means you will have to bring at least rejection letters from 3 banks to get your deposit back.

Tips :
Ask a lot of questions to your agent regarding the house (cukai, maintenance fee, bills, rents if any, warranty for defect, discount, etc).
After put deposit, prepare all the document and submit for loan to several banks.
Get ready for all legal fees when you do s&p and loan agreement.

Hello,

1. About right, negotiate, confirm the price, and prepare check to pay the booking fees. DO NOT USE CASH as there is no paper trail.

2. ALways make sure that:

a) The booking form is as detailed as possible: address, furniture that comes with the house, check number.
b) Include important clauses such as the deposits are return unless 90% MOA/LTV loans are approved, or which ever figure you are comfortable with

3. Just the booking form, and the check. Try not to sign an empty document, where the owner has not signed as well. Let the owner presign, and not you to presign.

4. Yes if you feel suspicious about it. For some banks, you need the SPA/Title for the processing of the loan and your own SPA anyway, a good agent would have a copy of the SPA on hand.

5. The check is written to the agency (with registeration numbers and all) OR a law firm which is registered to the BAR. Never write a check to a person! There may be an exception if it was written to the owner, but there is still risks in that.

6. In Malaysia, it is the seller's market. You can try to put a clause that penalize the seller if he cancels during the booking process, but there is a high chance that they would not want to include the clause and wouldn't sign the booking form. If they cancel after signing of the SPA, that is a different story. Talk and get a good lawyer that will fight on your side. As always, don't listen to the agent's recommendation for the SPA lawyer.

7. As mentioned above, don't forget the clause such as this: "Items 1 through 3 are subject to 90% loan approval by a licensed financial institution of which the earnest deposit is returned to the Purchaser at full amount within fifteen (15) days after presenting a declined letter from a bank."

You have the right to request the Property agent to bring along and show you the current owner's Spa or title or whatever documents that can prpve the ownership of the house. Then keep a copy of that , sign the booking form, pay the cheque and then after owner signed the booking form, match the owner's detail such as name and ic with the spa or title that you got.

Before that you sign anything or view the house through the agent you can also request for the agent's name card and call his/her office to confirm the property agent's identity. if you need any further assistance can just pm or ask around here.

*Btw if you need any lawyer to assist can just pm me. Based at PJ

This post has been edited by Tavia88: Jul 2 2015, 09:59 PM

in the booking form, state down the clause

Very detailed and clearly explained

Lets say, after I give the cheque to the agent and signed the booking form, what if few days later, some part of the house got defect(previously it was fine), what can I do? Ask for further reduction of the house price? But I already signed booking form with selling price stated there.
Any law that protect buyer?

Booking form is not a stamped agreement, and you wouldn't want to spend the legal fees to contest such a small case; unless it is in the S&P, your best bet would be to renegotiate the deal, my recommendation is ask for a discount that applies to the 10% deposit payment when signing the S&P. Otherwise you can ask for the whole deal to be cancelled and your booking fees to be returned.

If you have already signed the S&P, please refer to the S&P. This is why I always tell you guys not to use the buyer's or real estate agent's lawyer. They already buddy2, your interests in the purchase is compromised since no real estate agent would recommend lawyers who give themselves trouble. So you pay for the S&P but he does not side with you, what is the point?

This post has been edited by wild_card_my: Jul 10 2015, 05:15 AM