I recently placed a 2% booking fee with a real estate agent for an apartment that I like. I got a receipt for the cheque that I issued and the agent told me that if anything did not go through I would get back the 2%.

But what I am worried now is another document which I signed. It's some kind of document which requires both buyer's and seller's signature to confirm the house price. The form seems to be from the real estate company. Since this is the first time I am buying a house and the seller and I cannot sit sign together, I signed the document first and the agent promised me that he would get the owner's signature by this week.

I have personally met the owner, but I am still having doubts on whether there can be any hanky panky tricks that they(agent/seller) can pull on me. The agent told me that he will give me a copy of the signed form which has my signature and the buyer's signature too. But suddenly i just thought of it, is it possible that he can forge my signature on another form that states a higher price and give me back my original form? Then at the S&P stage I will be surprised with the form he takes out later?

Lemme ask you, if you were to sit down all together and sign the papers, would you have higher confidence? What guarantee in this case that you can get to avoid being cheated?

What you can do is to check with the real estate agency on the agent if he/she is genuine. And make the cheque to the company, not agent's name. Within 14 days you need to sign the SPA, so from now till then ask you lawyer to check on the prop as well. Future date the cheque so that seller only get the money once all check out. LEt the lawyer/agency safekeep the money.

meejawa

TS, The document that u and the owner signed is the Letter of Offer. By execute it, means both party agree to buy and sell respectively at the stated price. i don't see any hanky panky stuffs from the story u told.

Meejawa is right, for your peace of mind, u can check online whether your real estate agency is in the list of The Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia website.

2% booking fee should be payable under the agency's name, they are acting as a "stakeholder", i dont think post dated cheque is allow though.
the remaining 8% is payable to the appointed lawyer, make sure don't share the S&P lawyer with the owner.

as long as the agent is legitimate, there's nothing to worry about...yes, there are loads and loads of documents to sign...and u won't know what the contents of the documents are...even the S&P...u wont read all of it before signing...most of the time, u just sign..and most of the time, there's nothing to it...nothing to worry about..

my friend, that's a dangerous advice to give. i don't think it's okay at all to just assume there's nothing to worry about.

the documents and S&P are printed out so that you can read the contents thoroughly.

Yeah, dont do that, friendo.

My advise is, days prior to sign the S&P agreement and facilities agreement, ask the lawyer to give u a copy for u to go through first, call them up if stumble anything u dont understand, they will explain it to u. On the day signing the documents, bring the copy u had earlier, compare it with the one that u need to put your john Hancock, if it's the same, sign it and the lawyer will proceed to the stamp duty office for stamping purposes and etc etc.

Hey thanks for the advices. Actually there is one more thing I want to ask.

I have signed the 'Letter of Offer' at RM200k. However, I wanted to have a higher loan so that I can cover some of my downpayments. Now economy not so good, so thought of doing this.

The thing is, my agent told me that this is possible but the S&P has to be raised to RM230k so that the bank can loan me around 85%. Now I am quite worried that the S&P is the most important document and the owner can actually force me to pay the whole RM230k since it the binding agreement. The agent told me that I should not be worried because there is the offer letter that states RM200k and there will be another special agreement between seller and Real estate office at RM200k. He told me not to worry, but I thought of having some advice here.

Is there any chance that the S&P shows the exact property price (in my case Rm200k) and the loan can go till RM230k? Thanks.

Yeah, that's what i worry as well. what i have heard is, u can try ask your borrower to mark up the valuation of the property, example, the renovation of the units can be counted as part of the market value as well.

This has been done many times. Not to say everytime it's safe tp do so, but just to let you know it's not something that is so out of ordinary. Make sure the "other" document is rock solid, that is binding as well. But of course, when this really ends up in court, everyone's a criminal la..

Simultaneously on signing SPA for RM230 k, get the seller to give u a receipt of RM30 k paid in cash by you.

honestly.. what laywer can do for u if the snp not favour to you?

The 2% that you gave to the agent, they will keep it when the S&P is signed. That portion is due to the seller, but since the seller must pay him 2% commission, then the agent will take this 2% instead so he doesn't have to chase seller for the commission later....safe for him mah if later the seller don't want to pay commission after S&P signed(which has happened before).

If yo want to get a higher loan, then you have to put a higher purchase price. Risk is on you because you want to do exploit loophole. But bear in mind that the bank itself will have to get a valuer to assess the worth of the property itself...if the valuer values it at RM200k max, the bank will still loan you 85% based on RM200k.

Also, if you value at RM230k, then the lawyer will charge you lawyer fees based on RM230k, and plus for any extra private agreement you have between buyer and seller. And you will have to pay stamp duty based on RM230k instead of RM200k to. All this adds up to initial costs, unless you're desperate(which in this case you should not buy this property in the first place). So my advise is just stick with RM200k.

cheers,
minolta

If the agent is a well reputed then he won't cheat... he has to remain in business after all.

Never sign any documents until you have read every word and understand what you are signing. Get your S&P lawyer to explain whatever you do not understand... that's why you are paying your lawyer. He has an obligation to explain until you are clear on everything.

Also raising the S&P to 230k is a bad idea. As minolta pointed out, you'll end up paying more for the stamp duty and legal fees because the duty and legal fees are calculated as a % of the purchase price in the S&P.