Procedure of selling apartment/condo in Malaysia

Document to be signed:
a) S&P - 4 copies
b) Deed of Assignment - 4 copies
c) extra document if you want to help buyer to get higher loan
- document stating that you're giving rebate to buyer - 3 types of document
i) saying that you're giving rebate (S&P price (a) - rebate (b) = real price (c))
ii) saying that I already receive the deposit from buyer (10% of S&P price (a), not (c))
iii) saying that I need to sell at certain price and any price higher will be profit of company
that sell on my behalf. (if you use broker) - I think I'm not going to sign this

S&P in this case (help buyer get extra loan), will stated with higher price. But the extra document in c) will protect the buyer in case I want buyer to cough up the price in S&P hehehe...

Deed of Assignment should not be signed too early in the stage I think. But since lawyer said
that eventhough I signed, I have no power to assign the property to buyer because the power
of assignment still lies with the bank that I still owe loan to. And hey, I believe the lawyer. I was
thinking of taping a video as a proof but the lawyer said I cannot do that since its a P&C between
lawyer and me. :( Maybe I should bring along a secret video or sound recorder. Heck, next time
I'll turn on the sound recorder of my handphone.

Deed of Assignment only signed for sub-sale. If buy directly from developer, there's not Deed
of Assignment while S&P is sufficed. Buyer bank must bank into my loan bank (seller bank) to get the power
of assignment back to me, and I need to assign it to buyer, and buyer need to assign it back
to the bank that he got his loan.

I also need to get consent from developer to sell my house because its still not receive strata
title yet. Developer still hold the master title. And thus I need to pay RM50. Should buyer
pay this? :(

By the way, I've read through the S&P prepared by the lawyer and ask her all sorts of question.
In the end, we discover that she left out a clause that will protect me in case the buyer unable
to settle the payment within 3+1 months (which I can forfeit his deposit). Also I remind her
that buyer should not file a private caveat on the master title (because its going to be strata
title soon and it'll complicate the whole thing).

Document that I need to photostat is:
a) old S&P and other supplementary S&P (car park)
b) loan agreement
c) utility bill (electric, water, Indah Water)
d) assessment bill
e) quit rent (this is paid together with maintenance fees and normally between April to June.
Developer always late in paying this fees)
f) maintenance fees

I also make sure that buyer pay me the sinking fund (this is for old apartment. Now all new
apartment pay sinking fund every month. So cannot get back sinking fund) for amount of
~RM2000.

Hopefully I did not make any mistake.

http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/sale_purchase_of_houses.html

1. Information which a buyer should obtain when buying a house

1. Does it have a separate title?

2. Take a photocopy of the title.

3. Get a photocopy of :-

(a) current quit rent receipt;
(b) current assessment receipt.

4. Make sure you deal with owner of house or his duly authorised agent. (such authority should be in writing). Any other person will not be able to make any binding commitment to you.

5.1. If the house/apartment does not have any title, then get evidence of the seller's ownership i.e. a copy of the Sale & Purchase Agreement (SPA) made by the seller with the developer when he purchased the house/apartment

5.2. If the seller is a Second/ Third hand owner, then he would have to give you:-

(a) 1st SPA made by 1st owner with developer;
(b) 2nd SPA made between 1st owner and seller, (if 2nd hand); and
(c) 3rd SPA between 2nd owner and 3rd owner seller, (if 3rd hand).

as proof that the seller is the owner of the house/apartment.

6. Did the seller take a loan to buy the property?

For most cases, the answer is "yes". In such a case, you should get the seller to provide you with the bank's statement of how much he still owes the bank (redemption statement). With the redemption statement, you would know how much money you can release to the seller and how much is to be paid to his bank to obtain a discharge of the property from the bank.

2. Information relevant to apartment

1) Maintenance and other charges that need to be paid to developer/management committee. You should check that seller is up to date with his payments and there are no arrears due to developer/management committee.

2) If the apartment has no strata title, the purchaser must notify the Developer of the assignment after the completion of the sale.

3. Housing Schemes that are developed by Statutory bodies e.g. Penang Development Corporation (PDC), Perda, PKNS, etc

1) The SPA of such schemes may have restriction on the buyer selling the property i.e. it could not be sold within a stipulated period or without the consent of the government.

2) The title to the property may have restrictions. (the restrictions could be read from the title or search of the title) e.g. property cannot be transferred or charged without State consent.

3) The consent application may take a few months to be approved.

4. Documents you need to sign

1) Sale & Purchase Agreement;

2) CKHT form (form required to be submitted by Vendor and Purchaser to Inland Revenue Department) (now exempted)

3) Stamp Duty form;

4) Transfer form 14A. (If title is issued);

5) Deed of Assignment (if title is not issued).

5. The process involved in getting you registered as the owner of the property (in cases where title is issued)

1) Both seller and buyer sign transfer form 14A.

2) Lawyer sends transfer form to Stamp Office for adjudication to ascertain how much stamp duty is to be paid.

3) Stamp Office then stamps 'transfer form' for a nominal value of RM10.00 and returns transfer form to lawyer.

4) Stamp Office then informs Valuation Department of transaction. Valuation Department then values property and informs Stamp Office of valuation.

5) Stamp Office then issues PDS form to the lawyer. Buyer is normally given three (3) to four (4) weeks to pay stamp duty failing which, a penalty would be imposed.

6) Lawyer collects stamp duty from purchaser and proceeds to stamp transfer form. It may take about a week for the Stamp Office to return the lawyer the duly endorsed form. After stamping transfer form, lawyer presents the transfer form to the Land Registry/Office for registration. On presentation, you would be the registered owner of the property. However it may take several months (depending on which Land Office) before the physical title is returned by the Land Registry/Office. With the computerization process recently implemented in all Land Offices/ Registries in the country, the process is expected to be shortened.

If you obtain a loan from a bank to buy the property, the title would be sent to the bank. You should get a photocopy of the title from the lawyer for your record.

6. How is stamp duty calculated?

For the transfer/assignment (if no individual title is issued), based on the adjudicated value by the Stamp Office:

		Amount charge (RM)	Percentage	Duty (RM)
	On the First	100,000.00	1%	1,000.00
	On the Following	400,000.00	2%	8,000.00
	More than	500,000.00	3%

For Charge

Stamp duty on a Charge is RM5.00 per RM1,000/- or part thereof of the loan amount e.g. Loan of RM100,000/-, stamp duty is RM 500/- on the original. The stamp duty per copy of the document is RM10/-.

The assessed value is the value assessed by the Valuation Office based on the purchase price or the market value of the property, whichever is higher.

7. Appointment of Lawyers

1. You have the right to appoint a lawyer of your choice to act for you in any transaction whether it is a purchase from a developer or an individual. After all, legal fees etc, are borne by you. You should ascertain that:-

(a) he is a lawyer;

(b) that he has a valid practising certificate for the current year.

Verification of the above can be done with the Bar Council.

Each party to the transaction is advised to retain separate lawyers to protect their respective interests.

A lawyer can:

(a) advise, prepare and /or vet documents such as SPA, deed of assignment, deed of reassignment, deed of mutual covenants, deed of reassignment and loan document. However, the SPA for purchases of residential properties from a developer is a standard form agreement fixed by law;

(b) conduct land, bankruptcy/insolvency and company searches to ensure that there are no surprises, such as a different registered owner, encumbrances (charges, caveats), conditions or restrictions on the title (important for a buyer), or that a party is bankrupt/insolvent;

(c) if there is an individual title, to enter a private caveat to freeze all dealings in the property until it is transferred to the buyer;

(d) send documents/instruments to the Stamp Office for adjudication and arrange for their stamping;

(e) act as stakeholder, to hold all money paid, retain 5% of the purchase price for the purpose of Real Property Gains Tax; and/or to hold the balance of the purchase price;

(f) prepare and witness the execution of statutory forms;

(g) for a sub-sale where the individual title has not been issued, get the consent of the developer to the sale of the property to the new buyer and to undertake the registration of the property in the name of the new buyer. The lawyer should also get an undertaking from the developer not to further encumber the property, and for a development project with a master title, a letter of disclaimer from the chargee of the master title confirming no right or interest in the individual property;

(h) if the buyer takes a loan, get a letter of undertaking from the lender. The undertaking will include an undertaking that it will not foreclose the property if the loan, interest, etc has been repaid/paid; and

(i) present the transfer (Form 14A) and if applicable, the charge (Form 16A) for registration at the land office.

Can a lawyer act for the seller, buyer and the buyer's lender?

A lawyer may only act for one party in one transaction, but may witness the execution of any documents/instruments by any party. A sale and purchase is one transaction and a loan is another separate transaction. Therefore a lawyer can act for a seller or buyer, and also a lender or borrower. However, the solicitor concerned should have regard to any possible conflict of interest situation.

Lawyers are bound by the Solicitors' Remuneration Order 1991 (SRO) and there are scale fees for all conveyancing transactions and secured banking transactions done by a lawyer.

Lawyers are not allowed to give any discount. If any lawyer gives a discount on the scale fees, he could face disciplinary action.

There are fixed scales for lawyers' fees if you, as a seller or buyer, engage a lawyer. (stated herein is for fees only and does not include disbursements).

8. Lawyers' Fees

Click here for the scale of professional fees chargeable by lawyers.

9. House Seller's Guide

Documents/ information you must provide buyer/buyer's solicitors

(a) Copies of your previous Sale & Purchase Agreement and Loan Agreement/Title.

(b) Current year quit rent receipt.

(c) Current year assessment receipt.

(d) Redemption Statement from your bank (if you have charged your house to the bank).

(e) Letter of Undertaking to purchaser's bank to refund purchaser's bank loan released to you in the event the transfer/deed of assignment signed by you in favour of purchaser cannot be registered/is defective.

(f) Income Tax file reference number.

10. Utility deposits

Make sure you make arrangements with purchaser to obtain refund of the remaining deposits i.e. water, electricity, telephone etc.

11. For Apartments

Make sure you make arrangements to obtain the refund of deposits which you have paid the developer. You would be required to provide the necessary original receipts to obtain the refund.

12. Notification of Change of Ownership of House/Apartment to Local Authority i.e. Majlis Perbandaran.

You or your lawyer must notify the Local Authority of any change in the ownership of any house/apartment so that its assessment record could be updated. It is an offence if you fail to notify the relevant authority.

13. Receipt of Balance Purchase Price

Generally, there would be a short time lapse between the payment of the balance purchase price by the purchaser to your lawyer and the date when you receive the balance purchase price from your lawyer depending on the completion of documentation. Please seek clarification from your lawyer.