When buying real estate, beware!!
In The Star yesterday, there was an article which was debating who is responsible when buying a property which presents danger to the buyers.
In the recent landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa, apart from the houses which were lost, there were also many residents who were forced out of their houses for fear of collapsing. Although some of these houses have since been cleared, there are still many who are weary – should they go back to their homes or should they choose to abandon their houses? Many are still paying for the installments and many have invested substantially in their houses. And even though if some are willing to sell their houses, who will want to buy them, knowing the condition of the area as well as in the current economic climate?
In cases like this, fingers will start pointing as to who should be responsible for the incidents? Should it be the government? the developer or the buyer? Some have reasonsed that if there were no demand for hill slope houses, the developers will not be building them. Others have said that the buyers have every right to demand quality housing, which includes knowing that my house will not collapse in the event of heavy rain etc.
And although it is argued that home buyers should demand all sorts of documentation from the developer prior to buying the unit, there is a question if the developer has submitted all the documents and if they want to provide it. This is where fingers start pointing to the government, saying that there should be guidelines, procedures, processes etc.
But really, in the midst of all these finger pointing, who is losing? Who still has to continue to pay the banks? Who are those who does not have a roof over their heads? Who will be dragged to courts for loan defaults and such? And who has to take time off from work, family to go sort it with the authorities, people claiming to have the buyers’ interests at heart?
I personally think that the buyers’ rights are the furtherest from the developer and government minds. We only matter when the project is launched and when taxes are due. Other than that, we are left on our own. So what do we do? Some thoughts are:
1) Ask, ask, ask. Ask the developer questions on the housing development, future development, land titles, land type, what was the land used for prior to the development, are there any potential dangers (they will most certainly say no, but just ask to access their answers), who owns the land adjescent to theirs, what do they think is the intended development will be, etc.
2) Pay a visit to the Land Office and find out more about the land type, ownership, title details, land use, etc.
3) Know your neighbour. What is the profile of the people who will/ are staying there? Are there more families? Singles? Working class? Retirees? These are important considerations seeing that it will impact on our social adventures.
4) Second hand value. If we are buying for investment purposes, we would need to know why some people would be willing to buy it off us. What is the premium people are willing to pay. If we are staying in it, we should also know what is the re-sale value in the event we choose to upgrade or when we are in need for money.
These are only some of my thoughts when considering real estate purchases. What are yours?
