How to respond in Times of Uncertainty?

Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or under-react…

David Allen in Getting Things Done

What is happening?

Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is affecting almost every countries in the world. Social and economic activities are greatly affected. While we are fighting the virus, we are also facing economy challenges. Severe turbulence in the market with new data, news and stimulation packages, monetary decision by central banks all over the world and etc. are creating uncertainties among the investors and public. This situation will prompt many of us to make many instantaneous decisions daily.

Continue reading “How to respond in Times of Uncertainty?”

认清购买房地产程序,避免被骗!

购买房地产,尤其是属于自己的房屋是每个人梦寐以求的梦想。但,很多时候,一些买者因为不了解程序而赔上辛苦储蓄的金钱。所以,大家是有必要了解正常或一般的购买房地产程序,避免蒙受亏损。小编这一扁是针对马来西亚的程序。

MandariSalesProcess

1。先了解自己的财务状况。

在寻找适合的房屋前,有必要先了解自己财务状况就比较容易锁定适合自己的房屋。在了解自己的财务状况的两个重点。

(一)头期

一般上这等于房产价格的十八仙;也就是,如果想要购买的房产价格是700千,那么就必须准备70千。但,除了房产的头期,其实还有一些费用,比如买卖合约费用,转名费用,估价师费用,保险费用,等等。当然,有些费用是可以融入在房贷里。

(二)房贷每月分期付款

房贷可是现代我国家庭的一大开销。所以,在购买房屋前有必要大约理解每个月的分期付款数额。以最简单的算法(大概30年贷款),把每个月所能够付的数额乘200将是您适合贷款的数额。比如,每个月可以付款3000令吉,那么3000 x 200 = 600,000(贷款数额)。那么就应该寻找650千至700千的房产。(没有考虑银行贷款审核条件)

2。预定适合的房产

当有了适合的房产,首先必须预定。一般上是向发展商或透过地产经纪人购买。无论是透过哪一个管道,买者都会先预定。在预定时,双方都会签署一份预定合约/表格。在这时候,定金一般上介于房价的2%至3%。定金最好是以有记录的方法比如支票或转账,而且应该是转账至公司户口(发展商或地产经纪公司)而不是私人/个人户口。预定表格上除了产业地址,款式,买者,卖者等基本资料也必须注意一些事项:

(一)有效期

一般的预定表格都会限定有效期,也就是在几天内必须签署买卖合约。如不能在有效期内,签署买卖合约,卖者就可以取消然后卖给其他有意的买者。一般上有效期将会介于14,21或30工作天。

(二)取消条件/费用

第二个重要的内容既是如果买者在什么情况下可以取消这分预定合约。最普通的是申请不到房屋贷款,因为如果买者申请不了房屋贷款,那么就无法完成这交易。一般上,在有效期内,买者的贷款申请都被银行拒绝将使这预定合约都会被取消。(被银行拒绝就是买者已经把完整的申请移交了,但银行不批准)那么,在预定表格里,双方可以决定是否全数退还或将会收取手续费。

3。申请房屋贷款

买者可以透过地产经济介绍,或自寻银行,房贷顾问来申请房屋贷款。买者可同一时间透过任何管道向不同的银行申请贷款,但决不能通过不一样的管道甚至不一样的银行分行向同一家银行申请贷款。因为如果一家银行接到两份同样的贷款,银行必须先理请申请最后决定要哪一方代办申请手续才会进行审核。如果无法理请,那么将不会继续审核申请。到目前为止,申请程序是不需要付任何的费用

4。签署银行献义信

当银行批准了申请者的贷款,银行将会发出一份献义信。这份献义信将列明贷款数额,贷款期限,利息,及所有重要的条件。所以,当申请者得到这份献义信就应该小心了解献义信的内容。如果申请者得到多于一分批准,那么可以比较哪一份较于适合自己。在签署献义信时也是不需要任何的付费,但如果签署后反悔就可能需要付某些手续费。当然,有些买者会在这同时购买房贷保险,那么买者只是需要付保险的保费。

5。签署房贷合约及买卖合约

一般上,买者会先签署房贷合约再签署买卖合约或是同时进行。两份合约可以由同一律师楼代准备或是两家分别的律师楼。在签署房贷合约时,律师将征收合约的费用及印花税。(在签署前,买者可以要求律师楼清楚解释费用)如果,申请贷款着把这费用加在贷款数额内,律师楼将不会向买者征收。而在签署买卖合约时,律师楼同样会向买者征收合约费用,转名费等。(这费用是不能加在贷款数额内)买者也必须清楚了解,即使卖者也是聘请同样的律师楼代办,那律师楼还是代表买者而不是卖者。所以律师还是要一买者利益为优先。除了合约费用,买者也必须在这时候还清10%的定金给于卖者。如果,在预定时,买者已付了2%,那么买者在这时候只需要付其余的8%。以上所有的程序都必须是在律师办公室,或是在律师(或代表)见证下完成。

切忌,如果在签署了买卖合约后,若买方无法还请其余的数额(自付或贷款),所有已支出的费用(律师费,估价费等)都无法取得退款。10%定金也即将成为赔给卖者在时间上的损失。在签署后,买者将会获得3+1个月的时间把其余的数额付给卖者。(如果已获贷款者,贷款银行必须在时间内把贷款数额付给卖者)3+1个月意味这3个月是合理的期限,如果已进入第四个月,那么卖者将征收利息。这是一般上的程序。在一些情况下比如不是永久地契或分层地契等的产业需要更长的转名时间,那么那将不会构成超出3+1个月期限的状况。(确实有个案是需要超出一年甚至更长的时间)

6。移交钥匙

等待一切手续完毕,律师将把钥匙移交于买方。所以,这可能要等上几个月或是更长的时间。买者如果是有需要在特定时间得到产业,应该在购买前向律师或合格房产代理了解。

How Does GST affect Property Purchasing Process?

No hotter topic than GST at this moment with less that 48 hours to go. It’s challenging and when google search  research was done on the web for few days, found that many discussed the impact and possible effects of GST on the property market. What we would like to discuss will be the direct impact on every steps on the Property Transaction process.

GSTProperty

Kindly refer back to the earlier discussion for the process of purchasing a property : https://ethanetteh.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/what-should-i-do-next-buying-a-property/

  1. Placement of Booking
    1. No GST to be charged at this stage as no actual transaction taken place yet at this moment.
  2. Application of Mortgage Loan
    1. If there’s payment of processing fee to be made, the processing fee is subjected to GST, but at this moment no processing fee is charged and therefore no GST involved.
  3. Acceptance of Loan
    1. At this stage, most of the time, no charges involved unless the set-up fee charged by bank for Flexible Loan (Typical amount: RM 200), this Set-up fee is a service charged by Bank and therefore is subjected to GST. Subsequently the monthly maintenance charge (Typical amount: RM10) or redraw charge (Typical amount : RM 10 to RM 50) are also subjected to GST.
    2. Besides that, mortgage protection plan, MRTA or MLTA also signed at this stage and since both are life insurance, no GST should be charged unless Critical illness or others riders included.
  4. Valuation Report
    1. Valuation report is required only for Sub-Sale of completed property. The valuer needed to provide a valuation report for the Open Market Value of the property to bank and the valuation fees will be subjected to GST.
  5. Signing of Sales & Purchase Agreement (SPA)
    1. Up to this part, all the above involve both Residential (GST Exempted) and Commercial Properties. For the discussion below, only commercial properties which are subjected to GST apply unless otherwise stated.
    2. During signing of SPA, purchaser will pay the down payment of 10% and this is part of the transaction, therefore, the down payment is subjected to GST.
    3. The Legal Fees for SPA documentation and Loan Documentation are also subjected to GST, but this is merely to replace Gov Tax charged earlier which is also 6%. The Memorandum of Transfer (M.O.T) and Stamp Duty payable to land office will be excluded for GST.
  6. Commission to Real Estate Agent
    1. Commission payable to Real Estate Agent is subjected to GST. For the common practice in the market, the booking fee paid by potential purchaser is normally treated as commission to Real Estate Agent, this will cause some complication as Seller will need to pay GST for the amount of Commission or brokerage fees paid to Real Estate Agent. (Regardless Commercial / Residential Property because this is payment of commission to brokerage agent) (for more details: http://gst.customs.gov.my/en/rg/SiteAssets/industry_guides_pdf/Guide%20on%20VALUERS%20APPRAISERS%20and%20ESTATE%20AGENTS%2031102014.pdf} )
  7. Interim/Full Payment to Seller
    1. Either under construction or completed property, for ease of discussion, every time a payment is done to the seller, the purchaser will have to pay GST. i.e. in the event of completed property, when Bank pay the balance sum to seller, purchaser will have to pay the GST of that amount.
    2. In the event the property was under construction, the scenario is still the same, whenever Developer invoices for interim payment, the purchasers will have to pay the GST. This also apply to property which is currently under construction which has not been fully paid up even though the property was purchased 2 years ago.
    3. Example. Mr K purchase an office unit in year 2014 and is 60% completed. The next stage billing comes in the month of May 2015 (10% of the purchase price), bank will release the 10% as the loan was offered earlier but Mr K need to pay the GST for that 10%. With this, Mr K actually need to prepare additional 6% for the remaining 40% which is additional 2.4% of the initial purchase price. At the moment when this article was written, no banks is financing GST.
    4. For more details, refer to Guideline from Royal Malaysian Custom Dept. : http://gst.customs.gov.my/en/rg/SiteAssets/industry_guides_pdf/Revised/Guide%20on%20Property%20Developer%20%20updated%20draft%20as%20at%2011%20Mac%202014%20-%20amended%20_1.pdf

Residential property was listed under Exempted Item for GST which is different from Zero Rated Item. For Exempted item, input tax could not be claimed, hence, it will be transferred to end-user even the final price is not subjected to GST. Item 5 & 7 discussed above do not apply to residential property.

*For reference and discussion only. Discussion was made with understanding of author on the material available. Kindly email to ask@ethanteh.com for further discussion.