Property Prices

Greed and idiocy,  that summarize it all, enough said.

So I take it many of these houses on the market are not really serious about selling within a time limit. Basically the owner just put the house on the market with a very high price and hope it will be sold eventually and that could take years.
I feel by the time such house get sold with that price, the inflation would have consumed most of the gains.
I am planning to move to Malaysia in few months and I will be looking to buy a bungalow in Negri Sembilan . Any body has recent experience going through buying a bungalow.  How helpful are the agents in navigating you through this?

Thank you

First of all,  you should know that as a foreigner you are allowed to buy a property,  but with a minimum purchase price of 1m ringgit,  anything below that,  you can't.

Your best friend should be a good property lawyer. All agents are pretty much the same, only caring about making their commission any way possible, even if a transaction ends up not going through they still want something, so be careful with any documents you sign with property agents including giving them exclusivity etc - it's all in the fine print, as they say. Cross out parts of any agreement if you don't agree with and get then to initial those parts before signing at the bottom, or have your lawyer go through anything before you sign. Or better still, just view the houses with them and sign nothing until you have made a decision.

Property prices have come down, but for those who are not pressed to sell they will keep their prices high and not really care. You can ask the agent to show houses where the owners are desperate and need a quick sale. Buyers who are divorcing, near bankruptcy, moving overseas etc. If you are taking out a bank loan then you could ask the loans manager about any properties under bank foreclosure and perhaps pick up a bargain.

By the way, if the property prices are excessively high, this reflects purely on the owner and not the agents because but listing a property too expensively means it has less chance of selling so the agent will make nothing. Agents tend to want landlords to price their properties reasonably so they stand more chance of making money.

But as I said, find a good lawyer and make sure to ask for your discounts. I have a great lawyer in KL and I pay approximate 50% of the normal total price for a transaction, but that is because she is a friend. But for most buyers they can get perhaps 30% off just parts of the lawyers fees.

By the way, are you looking at new properties, old ones or properties not yet built. If you are buying from a Developer there are often several discounts you can get such as early bird discounts, using the same bank as the Developer and so on. I've bought (apartments) with 8% discount from the normal selling price once all the discounts have been applied.

Thank you for the information.
Just wondering why  would someone list a property for sale if they have no intention to getting it sold and hence avoiding paying the agent.
I am not really looking for a new development as heard some stories about things not turning out to be what is expected. So I will be looking for existing Bungalows (not tool old).

Again thank for your input

Usnahawk wrote:

Greed and idiocy,  that summarize it all, enough said.

Sounds like we share an opinion. Agents manipulate prices all over the world to the point one wonders if their mummies and daddies are married.

Sometimes wealthy people or people with a property without a loan who are not in a hurry to sell will put their house for sale at a normal price, I mean before the stagnation of the Malaysian property market (which began around 2012) and irrespective of Covid which has had a big effect on the property market. Owners still want to get as much as they can and perhaps expect for potential buyers to negotiate the price down.

New developments are generally safe as long as you do your research on the Developer and stick with the dozen or so biggest developers in Malaysia.

But most of my earlier properties were older ones (always apartments) so I think that's fine. You should get better prices anyway. I would just choose your property and make an offer a couple of hundred thousand less than the asking price.

So what is the typical wait period from the time you agree on the price of the property to the time you receive the keys. In US the average is 45 days and mostly for the bank to do its work.

From my experience, it usually takes about 3 months mainly due to waiting approval from the land office which takes longer for foreigners than for locals. Once a price is agreed you'll need to pay a booking fee of 2% or 3% of the purchase price to the agent (this is the first down payment) and sign the Agent's Letter of Intent to purchase the property. Then the main Sales and Purchase Agreement is worked out between the lawyers on both sides in usually the next 15 days, afterwhich you'll pay another 8% and sign the S&P Agreement. Then, when the land office has given approval and everything is complete you'll need to pay the balance and your lawyer will hand you the keys. It's a little more complicated than that but that's the gist of it. Your lawyer will also check that all outstanding bills have been settled by the vendor and that the property is not tied up in any pre-existing legal issues, and that everything is in order to proceed. If the property is freehold and you are purchasing with cash then on completion of the Agreement your lawyer will also give you the strata title which you need to keep in a safe place (mine are kept in a bank safe deposit box). If you are taking a loan then the bank will keep the strata title.

On another note, if you are taking out a loan with a bank, the bank will probably automatically deduct an annual fire insurance premium from your account that is roughly 10 times more than if you do it yourself. Even if you already have fire insurance they will still charge you and it is up to you to each year provide the bank with proof that you already have your own fire insurance policy (with their bank as the assignee) in order to get them to return you the premium they will have taken from your account.