Hello everyone,

hopefully I am posting in the right place. I am an expat looking for a place to stay in KL short term. I recently contacted a real estate agent through propertyguru. The agent's assistant sent me some photos of an apartment and I am happy with the price.

Once I confirmed I was interested, the assistant advised me that I had to pay a deposit. I said ok fine, and asked to see the rental contract/tenancy agreement so i could look it over. The assistant has now told me that they will not send the contract without the deposit first.

This seems very strange to me. Normally I thought you can read/see the contract and then agree to pay so you can be aware of what you have to do and any extra payments/penalties you need to know about. I am still living in my country and cannot view the apartment or meet the agent in person.

Is this normal practice here?

Thank you all in advance.

in Malaysia its pretty common to get your deposit to confirm your interest on the rental place.

No it's not.

I would avoid these agents altogether. Did they already give you an account number to transfer money to?

What agency is that? If it's quite reputable then it's quite ok (still shouldn't be normal practice). Make sure any money is transferred to the agency (only).

I haven't received any account details yet. wanted to ask some people who knew a bit more than me before started talking about payment with them. I have been messaging about the apartment via whatsapp for a week or so. I'm ok with paying a deposit but i just want to know what im getting into first.

EDIT: the agent is called Full Homes Realty Sdn. Bhd. They have a website which looks ok and are offering other rooms in the building.

Thanks so much for the fast replies

This post has been edited by ropesalad: Aug 16 2017, 09:17 PM

My advice. View the unit first before paying anything. Photos can be deceiving. Seriously. Can even be a disguise, not the pics of the actual unit condition.

Why in a hurry to pay? Is just a tactics if the agent let you know got other people interest in the same unit as well.

Is a slow down rental market today. Don't worry you are not able to find any units around. There are plenty of choices. So come here, stay at airbnb place while you take your time to choose the correct unit. View and feel comfortable with.

Cheers. And enjoy your stay in Malaysia.

I really did want to view in person but I dont fly over until late next month. I thought i was lucky because i found this agent who would do short term rental for me (<90 days), and a lot of other agents were not interested. I heard from other places also that 90 day rental is difficult to find? seems a bit too long for airbnb etc. but a lot of other agents advertising apartments are only looking for tenants for longer term. I enquired about 6-7 other places before this one and none offered short term rentals.

Ok, its true as most owners are not keen on such a short rental period esp less than 3 months but having said that I don't know whether its wise to pay without viewing the contract first ..it maybe totally one sided
and since you have paid then you will be at the losing end.

Normally if my prospective tenant request for contract to view first without paying a deposit, I have no problem with that but in the end its up to the owner/agents if they agree to do so...weird but true.

So its basically whether you want to take the risk of doing so..

Also pictures may differ from actual..

so again, do you want to take the risk..

Hi, it's usual for agents to ask for a Booking Fee (usually 1 month's rental) to secure the unit before signing the tenancy agreement.

'Deposit' usually means 3 months' rental (2 month security deposit and 1 month utility deposit pursuant to the tenancy agreement)

However it's also prudent to view the unit in person before deciding.

Pictures may defer from actual unit.
View the unit first and read the contract before handing over deposit..

unless you book from reputable web like airbnb

Hi
Many landlords will ask you to deposit token money to hold the place.And some of them are those who will not ask you for the money until you sign the lease. It is better not to pay any amount until you and landlord sign the lease because you have to agree to the terms and conditions that made all necessary changes to the contract.

This post has been edited by simon94bob: Oct 4 2017, 02:08 PM