Home Buyers Guide (Part 5)

Hi Folks,

First Payment (10%) - No Payment Allowed Before Signing SPA.

Do you know:

• That the first payment of 10 per cent shall only be made by you upon signing of the Sales and Purchase Agreement? That the date of signing of the SPA and the date of first payment should therefore be the same?
• That under HDR Regulation 11(2): A housing developer is not allowed to collect any form of payment by whatever name called (whether as booking fee, earnest money, earnest deposit or what not) without a Sales and Purchase Agreement being signed?
• That HDR Reg 11(4) further states that the Purchaser’s solicitor is “entitled to a complete set of the contract of sale including…free of charge subject to the undertaking…to return…in the event…not executed by the purchaser within fourteen (14) days from date of receipt…”?

That is why from the very beginning, it is very important to make sure whether the 'residence' you are buying is on residential land or commercial land. If the former, then above stipulations apply. As for 'residence' on commercial land such as service apartments, the terms of the Sale & Purchase Agreement need not be those that are prescribed in Schedule H or G of the HDR 1989.

In fact, I can show an actual S&P for a 'serviced apartment' near Mont Kiara which terms are significantly different from those of the standard S&P under the HDR - more of these in my subsequent posts.

Douglas.